Note to self: "no cheese"

I think this is from Nevermore. I can picture Poe saying it aloud to someone. Real fatalistic guy, that Poe.


"Life is a maze, full of narrow, dark paths and blind turns and dead ends. You wander aimlessly for a while, just long enough to lose the entrance for good. Then you get smart and start drawing on the labyrinthe walls, little Xs over the ways you've already gone. You're sure that there's cheese in here somewhere, or at least a way out, so you go through all the paths one by one. Each leads to a dead end, but you don't get discouraged. Your feet get tired but you don't stop. You eliminate them one by one, carefully following each to its end before moving on to the next.

A long time goes by and your feet ache with walking. There aren't that many paths left to try, and there's this wriggling thing inside your head, growing like larvae. Doubt. Fear. You meet dead end after dead end. You're getting desperate. You start to run, not even bothering to mark the walls anymore. You know the maze well by now, you can see it in your mind. You know. You know the truth now but you're too afraid to admit it to yourself.

Finally you come to the last passage, the last path you've never tried. You turn the corner with tears in your eyes and your feet going out from under you, and you crumple against the blank wall at its end.

And it's only after all that time, all those wasted years and careful plans that came to nothing, that you realize there is no exit to the maze, and there is no cheese either."