I woke up slowly. I was groggy and disoriented. I tried to piece together where I was and what had happened. But for a long time, I couldn't figure out much of anything.
I started moving through the terrain. I didn't really have a plan, though. I wandered rather aimlessly, looking for clues to help answer those nagging questions: Where am I? How did I get here? What is happening now?
The open countryside I was passing through was frequently beautiful—even inspiring. Over time I began to notice certain features in the terrain didn't seem to fit right with the rest of what I was observing. It was as if there was a hidden layer lying below and intermixed with the visible landscape.
When I finally noticed the hidden layer, I found it was actually pretty easy to observe—if you knew to look for it. So I practiced looking for it. I soon realized just looking for that hidden part made me feel better as I journeyed along. And then it hit me: the hidden layer was really a coded message, left behind for me to discover.
So many questions. Who left the message? Why did it have to be encoded? What was the message? No answers at first. But over time, I began to decode little fragments. I learned:
I'm a citizen of a far-off country. The Great King of that country sent me here to this realm as an ambassador.
A powerful adversary subdued and drugged me with an addictive poison that caused me to forget about my mission and lose my way. Now I'm stranded in enemy territory.
The Great King Himself has arranged for my rescue. All I must do is follow the clues He has left for me, and have faith that my rescue is guaranteed.