Walking down the corridor I realized I'm in a foreign place. The wide, empty corridor seemed daunting and what was even more frightening was the heavy indigo doors on my sides. The corridor seemed eternal and the darkness was giving me butterflies.
‘Regrets.’ , ‘Mistakes.’ , ‘Grudges.’ , ‘Broken dreams.’, ‘Fears.’, ‘Weaknesses’, …. These were the door labels on my left and as I looked ahead, I got a glimpse of all the negativity in my life. I swiftly averted my sight to my right hoping to find something, anything to enlighten my soul. And I did. The doors on the right read: ‘Moments of joy.’ , ‘Dreams come true.’ , ‘Prayers to God.’ , ‘Achievements.’ , ‘Character strengths.’…..and another eternal trail of doors but ones that gave me hope. Suddenly I realized where I am, this must be a record of me, of my life and all that I’ve ever done, even all that I’ve ever thought of. I wondered if I were allowed in, if I could see what had been stored in here about me. I steadily pushed open the heavy, metal door labeled ‘Moments of joy’ and what I met inside was nothing like what I’d expected. I had imagined rows and stacks of drawers, all filled with folders which had a written record of my memories, but that isn’t what I’d found. Instead I felt I was drawn back to my past as a spirit trapped in a glass jar. I couldn’t move, no one could hear me but I could see and I could feel. I could clearly feel that joy I’d felt at this very moment of my life, on this memory. The memories reeled in or rather I slid through them. I saw myself at the age of 5 being given a certificate, I had come first at the final term exams. Next, I was 7 singing with a choir on stage at a social event. Then I found myself 8, doing a poetry recitation at a cultural event, in school - I was so proud to have been chosen. The memories reeled on and on. I may have gotten tired if this were a movie but this was me almost reliving the best moments of my life. Eventually I saw myself looking as old as I look today. This was the prize giving of an inter-grade speech competition. I saw myself next at another school competition, an inter-grade debate competition, staring at the astonished but impressed judges convincing them on how money should really be spent on medical research. The audience swirled and changed again, I saw myself collecting the medal of achievement for my IGCSE results, -there’s one memory I never forget. And here was another one - the rollercoaster ride in which I conquered my alto phobia. The memories soon ended, and the journey seemed short. I was left in a dark room, with the open door as my only source of light.
I walked back into the corridor. ‘Regrets.’ , I read the label. ‘ It’s okay, I don’t think anything can make me feel too bad now,’ saying that to myself I walked in through that door. Minutes passed, nothing happened, and I began to wonder if there was something I hadn’t done. I squinted my eyes in the dark trying to find a switch, a button or even a table, but there was nothing - this was an empty room. I realized then, that I had never had any regrets. I had always gone to bed with the same thought: What’s done is done. I can’t change what’s happened, I’ll just have to make the next day better, make the best of all I’ve got.
I walked out of this room feeling no less cheerful than I had felt before. When closing the door, I noticed a subscript : 0%. ‘So I could know how much of these rooms were full without entering,’ I whispered to myself. On my left, I knew ‘Grudges.’ was empty and that information was probably stored in ‘Weaknesses.’ I never had been able to stay angry at anyone for too long, in fact, I don’t think I have ever really been very angry. I walked on, inspecting the remaining doors ahead. ‘Fears- 34%’, I wondered what I would see. Reluctantly, I entered making sure I stayed as close to the door, my escape, as possible. I saw nothing. Gradually I realized this room was different, I was supposed to listen, not watch. I heard my thoughts, but here they were loud – as if coming from a microphone. And I also felt my fear creep under my skin as I heard them, how I didn’t want to be left alone, I didn’t want to lose my family and friends, how I was scared of my exam results and who I would grow up to be? What job would I get, would it be enough for me? Am I on the right track? Will I ever get to attempt at my dreams? What if I never get to make my parents proud?….Questions, questions that left me blank, those were my greatest fears. I rushed out of the room, I didn’t want to hear any more. I shivered and rubbed my hands together for warmth. I realized I did see but these weren’t things that have happened yet – our fears are only about the future. What I saw was in my mind, I visualized my nightmares come alive.
I wanted to leave this corridor, now! I wanted to go home and have a warm glass of milk sitting beside Mom but I didn’t know how to leave. ‘Character strengths.’ ‘This’ll be the last.’ Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and walked in. I couldn’t hear my thoughts, I was empty. No visions, nothing in front of me or in my memory. ‘What happens here?’ I walked deeper inside. A wooden table sat at one corner, I looked around for a chair but there were none. There was a stapled bundle of pages lying there, but I couldn’t recognize the handwriting. A voice started to speak as if to herself,
‘You might not agree to it all but that’s only because you’re modest. You’ve always been a very caring friend, you’re a very good listener and are certainly very patient. Thank God, I found you – who else would listen to all my talk like this? You’ve always been ready to take on responsibility and have never let anyone down, but I guess if you were less willing it would actually be of help to you. You know people take advantage of you always being there to help, but you never cared about that either. You’ve always stood up for the right, even when everyone else backed out and you know I’ve been there to back you up whenever I could. You’re honest, loyal, trustworthy and dedicated, and that’s why I’m proud to have a friend like you. I hope I always have you by me, even when we’re geographically apart – I wouldn’t want to lose you. I also know you’ll keep in touch because as organized as you are, you never forget to do what matters most and you’ve never been miserly. I know I can never find someone as creative, hard working and thoughtful as you, so I won’t try. But I also wish you were a little less practical, maybe then you could have more fun. Then again, that is helpful, well usually. I know you will have successful future, because you are determined and hard working. And when you reach your dreams, I hope I can still be there for you.’
I know this was the voice of my best friend and I don’t think I needed anything else to brighten my day. If my friends can believe in me, I can believe in myself too. This might have just been a dream, but I now know what I really want, and who I will become. Someday, when I return to the corridor I’m going to make sure I see, ‘Fear- 0%’ and ‘Dreams come true- 100%’ and until that day, I won’t stop, I won’t give up.`
) is about 'you'. Did I mention I always Adored you're writing? It brings out a bigger meaning than just words. You're awesome and I'd better end before it's too late...hehe 
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