Traversed the column of light and like arms reaching out in front trying to reach something out of reach, I saw the many branches that kept intertwining to form a solid structure able to stand on its own.
This continued for a few seconds until the path of tangled branches reached the edge of the cliff. And as if it were a tree, once the large wooden structure touched the ground, the branches that had been extending to reach our current location, stuck like roots embedding themselves deeply and fiercely, clinging tightly to the earth where the pearly sand danced like waves in the ocean.
I had to step back a few feet to avoid any possible collateral damage but even if I had been all the way to the edge of the cliff, I doubt I could have seen the source of this…bridge?
The bridge extended far beyond what my sight was able to perceive, so after a couple of more attempts to try to look into the distance I gave up and started to look at the bridge.
It was a structure made purely of branches that seemed to be alive moving in all directions, perhaps sliding in order to find their place…
Although the branches were sticking out on all sides giving the bridge an uneven appearance to the floor it had formed, the structure in general looked to the naked eye without many imperfections in a straight direction except that it had curved slightly when its roots landed on the flatness of the pearly sand cliff.
The vines moving like snakes once again caught my attention as they stopped wriggling along the ground and began to move to the extreme sides of the large structure.
They dipped into the corners of the bridge and blossomed upward from them just like a flower, creating walls for the entire structure or as far as I was able to see at least.
But the vines didn't stop with that, they continued to curl upward until they bent curving and creating an arch that connected with their opposite ends, the vines didn't stop intertwining until they completely covered the top of the branch path, creating a roof for what now looked more like a tunnel of branches than a bridge.
And when the branches moved again I realized that this strange construction process had not yet come to an end.
At the front at both ends of the structure, the branching continued its work, creating a kind of railing base that extended some distance from the rope that held it to the bridge, from the rope down the swooping branches joined the ground branching out to the floor as before, giving it more the appearance of a wild railing although this kind of wild railing did not fit with its final piece that looked much more refined than the others.
The rope that held the other pieces of the railing together as a whole structure gave the impression that it was not made from the same branches that created the bridge, the rope looked more like a ribbon of snow than branches intertwined into a rope.
I then turned my eyes inside the tunnel-like bridge to notice the change in it. The branches had been cleared from the floor of the structure revealing a smooth floor made entirely of the same material that the rope seemed to have been made of…snow?
I imagine the branches were cleared from the ground when they were moved up to create the roof but…
Moving closer to the structure to see inside, I slid my fingers from the end of the railing to the rope, it was a different texture than what I had already preconceived, almost the entire structure of the railing seemed to not match the texture that I let my eyes see.
And while the final part of the railing had a texture that matched what could be seen with the naked eye, a carved piece of wood with a shape similar to that of an exclamation mark. The other parts that made up this strange railing had a unique texture.
The snow rope felt soft and fluffy like wool and the branches underneath it had a texture more like porous rock than tree branches, no, it was more like a combination of both tree bark and rock porosity.
An energetic current of wind passing through my hand intrigued me even more, as I ran my hand along the branches that had fervently dug into the ground beneath the rope of snow, creating the handrail in the process. It was an invisible force that rose and fell steadily and dispersed into the center of the branches.
With more curiosity than before I returned my attention to the tunnel of branches and started to walk into it.
For some reason I had stopped feeling scared and was now too calm to wait for my guide's directions and continue exploring on my own.
Approaching about two meters from where the tunnel started I took another step but stopped when I saw steps emerging in front of me.
The steps were directly connected to the bridge, which had erased the previous curvature of the bridge, giving this time a completely straight aspect to it.
They were made of a material that resembled ice or that could be ice because of the cold they emitted and of a turquoise color, but despite their beautiful appearance I did not stop to admire the steps as I had done in the past.
With all the curiosity I was feeling I found it hard not to leave the steps behind, and although I didn't think it through I had the intention of running off and going as far into the tunnel as I could, as if I were a child again trying to find treasure.
But I didn't run for fear of leaving my companions too far behind, instead I settled for walking fast. Passing through the icy steps I entered the tunnel and walked with haste, as if something would be taken away from me if I didn't.
My first view of the inside of the tunnel or the bridge was not very good, everything seemed to be dark and I could hardly see anything, had it not been for the few stars that lined up in a row illuminating a couple of meters I would have been impossible to see anything, although almost the entire tunnel was full of darkness thanks to the stars I managed to see a little of the walls that were inside the tunnel which did not match the way they looked outside.
They were walls composed of a porous material… like the…, like the handrail, but in these walls there was no material that resembled the bark of a tree, it was more as if these walls were composed entirely of a single rock that extended along the entire length of the bridge or as far as the lights of the stars let me see.
My curiosity was not appeased in any way and tired of continuing to wait I decided to go on my own, but before taking the next step the same feeling as before stopped me, telling me to wait mentally, I stood still involuntarily.
I watched the three creatures step onto the bridge, walking past me looking at me with a gesture of joy or what looked like a smile as if they were looking at a child who had discovered something amazing.
The three fireflies positioned themselves in front of me with their backs to me and uttered something in their language.
The stars that had been helping me to see with their light disappeared as the entire bridge was illuminated.
The porous stone walls that gave the bridge a cave-like appearance extended a few more meters and the turquoise ice floor created by the steps ended in the same area, reaching what I assumed was no more than five meters long.
But what caught my attention the most was what followed after the turquoise floor area. Resembling the interior of an old mansion from the books I had read, the hallway extended for some distance until it ended at a musty old wooden door that didn't fit in with the elegant hallway.
Along the hallway there were a large number of candle holders on the sides, the candles were responsible for illuminating the hallway with their flame, so I found the candelabras hanging from the ceiling full of candles somewhat exaggerated, although unlike the large number of candle holders on the walls, there were only three small candelabras distributed along the corridor until reaching the neglected door, the first at the end where the elegant corridor began, the second in the middle of it and the last one placed a short distance from the worn door.
And although my intrigue pressed me to know the reason for this my curiosity took another turn.
It was snowing, though it was more like an event controlled by something rather than a natural cause, magic?
Maybe not but… magic was supposed to be something mythical, something not real that was kept only in fiction and in people's dreams and illusions, but with everything I had seen I wasn't sure anymore, from the beginning everything seemed unreal.
Although it could also be an effect created by some device, I thought seeing how the falling snow perfectly respected the boundary between the turquoise ice and the elegant corridor that followed.
Watching the snowflakes falling rhythmically I took another look at the white floor of the corridor, although I had already seen it out of the corner of my eye, this time I knew why it looked the way it did.
So all this snow had accumulated here giving it this beautiful appearance, taking advantage of the fact that I could move again I walked ahead of the three fireflies once again which had also started to move.
I walked until I reached the border between the two styles of hallway and crouched down to check what I already guessed to be a touch of snow.
Yes, it doesn't seem to be any different from the railing.
Checking that the snow rope outside the tunnel and the floor of this hallway were made of the same material for its softness to the touch, I asked myself another question.
What would the actual floor look like?
Starting to dig into the snow to see the actual floor of this structure, I found nothing but snow.
And yes… my hunch was coming true…
The snow floor was perfectly aligned with the turquoise ice, as if the snow on it was the real floor and not the layer covering it.
Yes, the snow layer was perfectly flat even when the snow was constantly falling non-stop and did not show any imperfections in it, and if it followed the same level that the turquoise ice had then the floor of the elegant area of the bridge should not be lower then…right?
I kept digging until the snow was gone. Leaving a small hole in sight I peered through it, only to see what I had seen before at the edge of the cliff.
Stepping back a little I witnessed the snow I had removed earlier moving on its own, passing through my hands to fill the hole I had made, until the snow accumulated completely filling the space perfectly and returning the floor of the hallway to its original state of perfection.
That premonition I had felt before…how was it that I managed to guess something like that, I didn't know this place but…did I know…this was the actual floor of this bridge…
The three reptile-like fireflies flew past me and flew swiftly until they reached the door, where they turned to look at me.
This time it was not necessary for any thought to enter me to know what I should do now… yes, those thoughts were theirs, right?
Could it be another premonition, although I had already thought about it before.
I walked to the door at the end of the corridor where the fireflies were waiting for me, but with just the first step I was amazed. I was floating, or something like it, my feet could not touch the ground and my feet stepped just above it, although that did not prevent me from walking, it seemed that I was stepping on another platform, an invisible one.
Why had I been able to dig in the snow then?
I couldn't help but be fascinated by this, why was I floating, but I kept just above the snow and didn't reach the ceiling.
Feeling something cold falling on me I looked up, it was still snowing but… now that I thought about it, why not? Was this event affecting the candle flames and besides, why? The snow falling on me was cold and rough and not comfortable and soft like the snow on the ground. I couldn't help but ask myself questions and the curiosity I felt seemed to overflow like river water in a flood.
I kept walking, I wanted to get as fast as I could to the door where the fireflies were waiting for me. I wanted to discover more…see more, find answers maybe , I wasn't sure why I was so excited but I wanted to keep exploring this new environment.
I stopped abruptly when I felt someone tugging hard on my coat. It was my new companion, unlike me she didn't seem enthusiastic at all, she looked somewhere between stressed and scared as well as worried…That the trumpets didn't calm her down, they were still singing with their beautiful sound but apparently they hadn't had the same effect on her as they had on me.
Calming my anxieties for the first time after a while, I walked with her in silence, until we reached the door where the fireflies were waiting for us. Passing through it we entered an immense space, this time it seemed that we were in the same outer space somewhere in the universe, the place was full of stars although this time they seemed to be unreachable, besides them there were figures too similar to galaxies and a strange figure in the center of all of them as the center of attention.