Ding and Omni

Ding ran into the forest. Something was following him. He knew not what, but he was questioning whether the forest was the right place to run. His breathing was labored but he couldn't stop. He could still feel its presence. He could see a road ahead, but something was off about it. Ding's legs got heavier the closer he got to it. When his foot fell onto the pavement, he could no longer move it. It wasn't stuck, it was just too heavy.

"How does it feel, Ding?" A voice rang out from every direction. "To run so diligently, and in the end it didn't matter. You can't outrun what has already consumed you." The sky went pitch black. "You see I control reality down here."

The ground beneath Ding's feet disappeared and Ding was in free fall. "Please stop!" he screamed out.

"Stop." The omnidirectional voice laughed. "You misunderstand, we're a bit past that. Stopping would have been possible a day ago, maybe even 12 hours ago. But now? No, I wouldn't be able to contend with that."

"Please!" Ding screamed. "I don't want to die!"

"Die?" Omni replied. "You'll find that you're quite physically safe here. Your mind may be another matter though. Falling with no end in sight, I imagine that gets to the senses before long. You are free to leave just as soon as you figure out how to."

"Please let me go! I'm sorry for whatever I did to you."

"Ding, do you mind if I call you Ding? You see the problem is I can't let you go. While this is my mind, I haven't much concept of what's outside it, so I can't let you go because I don't know what to let you go into, and I can't let you exist here peaceably because you don't belong here. Your only choice really is to escape. Others have done it, but it's beyond my reasoning, which is weird because I'm omniscient down here, I think, anyway. If you do manage to escape, kindly tell others to stay away. It's uncomfortable to have people poking around here."