He went up the escalator to the second floor, then turned right toward the bookstore.

After rummaging around the various aisles, looking low and high, opening and glancing at a few books now and then, he hastily left the place, much to the relief of the sales clerk who had silently followed him around and picked up and replaced his discarded books.

Then, catching the escalator to the third floor, he went into the movie house, glanced at the billboard, picked one at random, and purchased a ticket. The movie did not interest him much, so he switched between various movies playing on that day in the various theaters. Finally, he left.

Still on the third floor, he thought he might find it in the store that sold scented oils and soaps, but despite sniffing at a few sample bottles and disturbing the entire crew who were working the shift that morning by his frantic behavior and inane questions, he did not find it there.

Descending down the escalator, he paced the lower floor, peering anxiously in one window after another, but somehow nobody seemed to be selling it.

What are you looking for, young man? asked a pleasant stranger, incongruously dressed in the habits of a monk, a rough, dark brown piece of single cloth that descended from his neck down to his ankles.

The answer!

Well, you wont find it here, in this pavilion, its only for those who seek temporal and perishable goods. Come with me.

After seizing the young mans hand, the monk led him into a store for candles and incense sticks and as soon as they parted the curtain behind the counter that led to one of the back rooms, they stepped into a wormhole in time-space.

Transported to a bleak desertscape, red, sandy, and with a hot dry wind ruffling their hair, the monk showed him the mouth of a dark cave and urged him to follow inside.

Miles later, after crawling on their hands and knees for the most part, they spied an illumination. Initially, it was a faint glow, but the closer they got to it, the more the light managed to wind around the corners and shine on them.

When they came to the vast cavern, it appeared so suddenly that they almost tumbled out of their tunnel into it.

The rocks of the entire cavern reflected a pale blue tone that at once calmed and excited them. The light came from the depth of the placid pool in the middle of the magnificent chamber.

Youll find the answer there, said the monk, pointing.

Walking over to the pool, the young man looked into it and because it was so clear, he saw that it was of infinite depth. He also immediately intuited that the answer to all his problems was reflected back at him. Seeing his own face and the lines of the years etched in them, he saw his image smile back at him.

How can this be? he asked, perplexed. It appears that I AM THAT I AM.

Yes, its strange but true, said the monk, YOU are the answer!

But before the young man could object, the alarm clock rang.

Fred Perry realized that he was late, jumped out of his dream and his bed, dressed up in the clothes that he had strewn at the foot of the bed the nigh before, and without even brushing his hair or his teeth, rushed out of the door.

At the factory, as soon as he had punched in the time clock, he sighed with relief, not realizing for a single moment throughout the rest of the day as he stood by the conveyer belt and placed the caps on the bottles that passed before him that he had shut the portal of infinity behind him.