There was a man. Or he thought he was a man, or rather he thought he was a man after he regained the capacity to think. He awoke, and found himself in a strange position. He seemed to be in a wide, open room. The room was too wide and to broad to see any walls, so he wasn't sure he was in a room. Everything was a pleasant cool white, and the floor he was laying on and the air he was breathing had pleasantly cool feel. He wasn't too sure where exactly he was. He wasn't exactly too sure that he was. In fact, he wasn't exactly too sure of anything. He tried to remember something, anything. The only thing that came up was the pleasantly cool feel of this place. His name, where he was from, anyone he knew, even what he looked like, it was all gone. He was certain of one thing, though. He didn't like this place.

He got up from the floor. He was sore. He figured he must have been laying there for some time, but then again he wasn't sure how he would know that. He looked down at what he was wearing. It was simple clothing. A pair of old blue jeans, a unadorned black t-shirt, and a pair of scuffed boots. He figured he must not have been well monied, but then again as far as he knew, he was a king. He turned around for reasons not entirely known to him, and was met with a surprise.

There was an older gentleman standing not far from him. He was dressed in a simple grey wool suit, with an iron grey cane with light grey hair and a bushy moustache. When he saw the old man, the man who awoke let out a small eep. This was met with a small chuckle by the old man.

“Well, you were the one who decided to turn around. Never be surprised to see the unexpected when you are the seeker, my boy,” the Grey Man said. The Grey Man approached the other man, and unexpectedly the man backed away a few steps. The Grey Man chuckled once again.

“Ah, now you see why you are here, my boy. You are a coward. You are afraid of me, an old man? There is no reason to fear. You found this place unsettling. You found me imposing. Yet what has either done to garner such reactions? Do you regularly cower in the face of old men?” The Grey Man said.

The man looked at his fellow. He knew he was right, but he was feeling defensive. “I'm no coward,” he said. That's when he noticed the draw in his voice. It was familiar. That's right, he told himself. He was from Tennessee. Then he heard further chuckled from the Grey Man.

“You gain boldness, but it is for naught but show. The coward tries to hide his face because he is afraid of what the others see. Come, you are here to see who you are by seeing who other are,” the Grey Man said. He turned and started walking.

The man was beginning to get worried. Should he follow, or stay here? He reckoned the Grey Man didn't mean ill to him. He was afraid to be alone, so he set off in the same direction, hurrying to catch up to the clunking of the grey cane against the floor.

“You are going to see stories here, my boy. Stories that stretch beyond realms of men into realms of courage. You will see things from places no one has seen from the outside, things you will never had imagined. You will also see familiar things, things from the past and from the recent present. The stories you will see will all be different, but will all speak of perspective and courage. If I do my work well, and if you are workable yourself, by the time I am done you will be both bold and brave. A monument to what you could be,” the Grey Man said without breaking stride.

“B-but where am I? Why am I here? Who are you?” the man stuttered out worriedly as he attempted to keep pace.

“Hmm? As for why, I just told you. Where and who are still waiting for realization, realization.” The Grey Man stopped. The awoken man almost fell over as he tried to abruptly stop himself. “We are here. Simply open your eyes and your mind, and observe what is to come.”

There was no warning to what the old man had foretold, as simple word from a stranger are no brace to having one's world ripped of laws that make their very foundation. There was a light, a whoosh of sensations entirely indescribable. Emotion lost meaning in this light, and reality had no definition. For a brief moment, the man lost all aspects of self in the light that filled him. Then the visions came.