Places that should exist but can't really be said to exist in the stricter sense. Though everyone who's ever been to one will certainly understand what I'm talking about. I am not the first one to come up with this subject and I sincerely doubt that I shall be the last. It's kind of funny though. How we always try to give things form as soon as we can't touch them with any of our more mundane senses. Sometimes you just feel, sometimes you just know. How do you portray a state of mind? How do you describe a state of soul? Talking of strange places...

Hell. Commonly visited in times after crisis. When you're in the midst of terror of pain, you're not in Hell. Not yet. Hell is what comes afterwards, before the reconstruction begins. It's a devastated place, ruins, wasteland, absence of hope. Absence of reason. The lack of everything that makes you human and therefore it is the most humane place imaginable. And it is pure catharsis. You can feel safe in Hell for the certainty that things won't get worse, that you have reached the bottom of the abyss, gives you a perverse feeling of security. You're screwed but at least you know. And when you've reached the point where you don't even care anymore... congratulations. This is Hell.

Heaven. It's not our place and we will never be able to stay long. We're only guests there, which, believe me, is a good thing. Heaven is innocence, belief, lack of knowledge. Heaven is naiveté. It can be a nice place sometimes. But it catches fire quickly. And for most of us it burned down to holy cinders a long time ago. Better forget it.

The World's End. There has to be a place where everything ends. A place that only consists of endings, of closing doors, fading lights and dying breaths. Worlds, ideas, stories, lives, everything ends here. There is nothing essentially good or bad about that, it's just a fact. It's how things are. Everything ends. It's a good place to come and think. To sit down and ponder on things. There is only one tiny problem. Once you're here, you can't go on. Not in any direction. There is only one way, which is the way back where you came from. By some this is considered a drawback. Others call it convenient. At least you don't get lost.

The Dreaming. Not to be confused with dreams, the kind that comes to you when you sleep. The Dreaming is a place. It is the origin of all dreams and nightmares. Whenever you start imagining, building, hoping, creating, shaping... you're always knocking at the same gate. When ideas come floating to you, inspiration surging through your veins, when new worlds beg you to create them, you've entered the Dreaming. But also when you are caught in terror, immortal fears, dreadful images and visions. Worse than reality. The face of all your fears. That is the Dreaming as well. It is admittedly a twisted place.