Gateway to Eden.
This, was a dream. I've never studied the meanings of dreams, nor worried about them. I'm not particularly religious either, or even spiritual but here it is, finally, because it was such a complete dream. A story, and it's not often an author can honestly say, it can to me in a dream...

Once upon a time there were two girls, the best of friends who spent the most of their time in each others company. One day they were playing in the woods near their home, laughing and joking, unaware that they were slowly drifting in their play towards the deepest darkest part of the wood. They finally came to a stop, looking up to find themselves at the entrance to a pitch black passage, wrapped into darkness by bowed trees. It was the Devils Passage, rumoured to be home to a fearsome beast. They froze, grasping each others arms.
"We shouldn't be here." The youngest tugged as if to leave.
"Please! It's probably just a tunnel of trees people use to play practical jokes on their friends, nothing more."
"You're not going to go through are you?"
"Yeah, I am- just to check it out." She turned and held her friends hand "If it is a tunnel I promise I won't just you here. We can both go through it together okay?" The other girl nodded, and watched her friend give a casual wave before plunging into the tunnel with confident strides, quickly disappearing into the darkness.
"Boy It's dark in here." The light from the entrance disappeared and she stopped. It was totally black. Just nothing. She shut her eyes, willing herself to adjust to this new darkness.
But when she opened them again her face lit up with joy. She was standing in a lush golden forest, a carpet of snowdrops, bluebell and thick grass. Everything was beautiful. "This must be Eden!" She exclaimed in wonderment, crouching down to feel the silken petals of one of the plants.
"You can stay here forever."
She smiled at the warm idea, unperturbed by the way it had come from behind her, even though no one was there. The smile slipped. "I would love to, I just need to bring my friend, I..."
"You can't."
"I must I..."
"You can't."
"I promised- I must, I have to!" With that she turned and ran, back towards the darkness of the tunnel. Behind her she felt the voices sadness as it watch her go, but she didn't look back, running like the wind, plunging back into the darkness, desperate to get back to her friend before she had the time to leave. She called out, but nothing came to her, her absent words smothered by the darkness. So she kept running, finally bursting out the tunnel, coming face to face with her friend, who paled and quivered, looking as if she had seen a ghost, starting to back away. From the tunnel entrance the elder girl tried to call out, to comfort her, reaching out. But no words came and she watched as her friend turned, and ran.
"No, wait!" She silently called, her heart breaking in two. Left alone a single tear rolled off her cheek glistening with memories of eden, and tumbled to burst upon the ground. Letting out a sigh she faded away. From nothing to nothing.
No one passed that way again, the gateway standing until the Earth burnt and itself returned to nothing. Clawing thicket bushes grew around it, an ugly unyielding barrier. But in its centre, within the space in front of the gate grew a single snowdrop, that lasted the whole year round, a memory of the beauty of Eden.