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The cover art depicts a plank-constructed room with two doors, one labeled 'the easy way,' the other labeled 'THE HARD WAY,' two glowing fairies on the left wall, and a tent with a sleeping child in the right foreground under a round skylight overlooking the starry sky.

♫ Zahnfee-Walzer ♫

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I enter the corridor. It is broad and short, and at its end are two doors. The left one bears the inscription “The Easy Way,” while the right one says “The Hard Way.” Ha! You can’t scare me! I grip my sword. With my gear, my training, and my unyielding will, what could possibly stop me? I place my hand on the handle of the right door. Am I not stronger than those who are faster, faster than those who are wiser, and wiser than those who are stronger than me? The door is already slightly ajar. But then an outrageous question strikes me, challenging everything: Who do I really need to prove anything to?

It’s a decision made in an instant, yet I don’t hesitate: I choose the left door. Before I realize what’s waiting for me, I wake up in my sleeping bag. For a few moments, I’m slightly disoriented because here, in the middle of the wilderness on the Appalachian Trail, there are no corridors or doors in sight. It was a dream! A good dream. Somehow, I feel like I’ve made an important, life-altering decision. I’m proud of myself, unzip the tent, and savor the bitterly cold morning air in my lungs as I start preparing breakfast.