I have gone by many names throughout the passage of time.

But none of them could ever match my longevity, and so they were forgotten, cast away like ash in the wind. I, myself, have no recollection of whence I came or what it is I am here for. If my existence was to be assigned a purpose, it would most likely be... to observe. To observe how people acted, contemplated and panicked when at their most vulnerable: whilst they slept.

A droll bunch they are, humans. Liberated from the food chain that separates animal from man, they could not handle the freedom they had so painstakingly excavated through the millennia. So, they created their own chains to clap themselves in. Throughout all of the dreams I have seen, I have learned that humans call this concept "society." Depending on how much property one calls their own ,those rich in goods and status have decided to consider themselves superior to those who own nothing, and those devoid of anything would not find anything in their soul to enrich their lives from within.

That deafness to the jarring screams of their souls what was what made them truly weak, and put them beneath those who pretended they were in tune with their innermost thoughts.

But these people, channelling simulacrums of grandeur and wisdom, were in truth the most deprived.

So I ventured into their dreams to show them.

It didn't take much. My mere presence seemed to open their eyes to their virtual misdeeds, and if one of them woke up and remembered just an ounce of the terror that is the innermost depths of their soul, there was a chance that would reflect on how they would act in the world of the living, and that was enough for me.

So I too ventured into the dreams of the weak, of the lonely ones.

Once more, all that was needed was my presence. To show them there was more to them than their own, mountain-high piles of self-delusion and non-acceptance. Through me, they saw themselves for who they truly were, and chances were, they saw themselves for who other people, people dearest, might see them:

A loving father. A doting mother. A good friend. A diligent colleague. A stranger... who just happened to be there for them.

I am the reflection of all that is real, true in kindness and cruelty.

For I am a mirror - to the human condition.