A day’s journey into the mountains, we completed our rite of passage. Not visiting a mere holy site, The Grasping Well was an actual living being. Despite all I had seen before it, my understanding of organic life was sufficiently challenged. Sentient obelisks rotated above rippling cosmic blackness. Limbs reached out from the pit, hands opening and closing to reveal hidden oculi, only to have them disappear moments later. I would have been struck by fear had it not been for my guide. His tranquility and awe in its presence was most assuring.

A short story from my book project Numinous.