It was ornate, perhaps grandiose even at one time, but dulled by age and thick with glaze of tannins in the air. While garnering a second glance was rare, deserving a third was impossibly so. By and of itself, hardly a prize, but within, it held infinite possibilities. A treasure trove of wonder awaited the explorer.
A shift in gaze revealed whole galaxies of unexplored possibilities. From airy and wonderfully whimsical, to stodgy and slothfully archaic. As each world opens up, it can swallow you whole, and by the time it spits you out, if you’re lucky, a little bit of it stays with you. Memories, yet to be made, await the lucky traveler passing through. Time stands still, even as the choices overwhelm, creating a giddy dizziness of delight. Memories, never made, pass the waiting traveler gloomily by.
And in the blink of an eye, falling back and feeling shaken, though not too stirred, in front of this grandiose and dull and kind of thick thing.