I dreamt of a series of underground caves.* There were four of
   them clustered together. The only access to them was from
   climbing down hand-carved stairs that were awkward.* You had to
   face the wall and climb down and trust the steps would be there
   when you took the next step.* It was the only way down. Once you
   got there, depending on which stairway you went down, each cave
   was owned by somebody who was selling something that was
   produced from inside of the cave.   Three of the shops in three
   of the caves were owned by one large company.   The final cave,
   which seemed to have the most promise, produced things from a
   purple rock.   Once I arrived down the scary scarecase where you
   have to face the wall on your way down and cannot see where
   you're going, turned out to be disappointing.   It was beautiful
   - and the stuff they sold was real.* But it was processed rock,
   manufactured into this easily workable substance that was bouncy
   and gel-like, in order to create evenly sized blocks that could
   melt inside of one of another, to produce works of art.   I was
   impressed and repulsed at the same time by it all. I would have
   been _more_ impressed except I doubted it was even real.* It had
   *just* enough fake in it that all of the machinery and all of
   the things I could see that were extracting the rock, processing
   it, adding this gel substance to it, could have all a big lie.
   Well, the owners and workers entirely ignored me.* I didn't
   exist to them.   So, I picked up a plate that was made by the
   material.* There was a light crusty silver paint on the top of
   it.* I pushed my fingernail through it.* I made an impression.*
   I saw and felt the real rock underneath, in its processed form.*
   But I was convinced it was real enough. My fingernail impression
   the only clue that I was ever there, and nobody having seen me
   put the fingernail impression into the silver covered purple
   plate, I went back up the stairs.   Then I wondered:* If I had a
   cave, what would I do with it?   Would I sell things at the
   mouth of the cave?* Open it up to the public for exploration?
   But how would I make money if the cave was my only possession
   and my only source of income?* How could I provide tours while
   _also_ making money?* How could I keep people save from getting
   harmed from within the cave while also showing them the natural
   wonders within? Then I woke up, make coffee, and wrote this
   down.   I think the cave is me.* I barely even know what that
   might mean.