Every time I fell asleep, I kept returning to those horrid landscapes. The roads were hard to walk, and the distant high mountains were a constant discouragement. The only comfort was that I wasn’t alone. A giant spider was accompanying me, spinning a thin thread that I could use as a guide rope.

“Don’t let go,” it said, “and you will never get lost.”

But even with the guidance, the journey was arduous. One path led me into a mountain of flame. The thread showed me how to avoid the fire, but my feet still burned. Then, once, I came across a dark valley. I found my way through it by holding on to the thread, but walking for hours through the darkness terrified me. “When you were a child, adults taught you that if you lived the right way and behaved properly, everything would be fine,” said the spider. “But they never taught you that even if you do nothing wrong, life can still be hard. Here, even if you are on the right path, your journey will never be easy.”

I knew why I was here. It was because my life had been a failure. I lost my job. My boyfriend stole all my savings. I would soon be out on the street, and I had no friends to turn to. They say hell is within all of us—I finally understood what that meant.

“How much longer to the exit?” I asked.

“You will get there when you do,” the spider replied.

“Mr. Spider, sometimes you remind me of my childhood pet,” I said. “Are you?”

“I am just your guardian spirit. I will be with you till the end.”