Willow awoke with a start and pulled the quilt cover up over her head, the fabric sticking to the beads of cold sweat on her brow. She had had scary dreams before, but never had one felt so real, or so significant. Even now, in these waking moments where the dream-world's details usually became vague and indistinct, she could clearly recall every detail. The meaning, however, was far from obvious.
Paradise...
She racked her brain. The dream had taken place in her family home, the rooms had seemed larger, she'd sang the strange song she had learned as a young child... Everything pointed towards her childhood, her memories...
Wait! She sprang out of bed and went to her wardrobe. Underneath various blankets and rugs was the large wooden box that contained her memories, things of significance she'd gathered over the years. She rummaged through letters and photographs, souvenirs and trinkets, until she found what she was looking for.
When Willow was seven years old, her grandfather, who she had loved very dearly, had disappeared while flying over a largely uncharted area of the Amazon. Her parents could only assume that he had crashed, and Willow was devastated. Life went on, and for five years they heard nothing. On Willow's twelfth birthday a parcel had arrived in the post, containing an intricately designed wooden puzzle box. The contents, if any, were unknown, as they'd never been able to solve the puzzle. And carved into the base of the box, seemingly in her missing grandfather's hand, were the words 'For Willow - something I picked up in Paradise.'
As she had countless times before, she started to fiddle with the box, running her fingers along the grooves, rotating the corners, pressing on certain points. Suddenly there was a click, and the box fell apart, the separate sections clattering to the floor. Willow gasped.
For in her shaking hands she held a shimmering golden sculpture made from hundreds of intertwined rods; a beautiful three dimensional version of the symbol she had seen on the door and then in her dream.