parable of the castle

This is life:

You are alone in a dark, abandoned castle. It's midnight. Quiet and cold. The drawbridge is up and the gates are locked. You wander, aimlessly and lost, from room to darkened room.

You know that somewhere deep in the castle there is one light burning. A tiny, weak candle. Sometimes you happen to walk into the right room and there it is, warm and comforting in spite of its weakness. Then you lose it again, because you can't stop moving. Still, in your loneliness and despair, you know: it's there.

Hope.