她的故事
She was sitting in the midst of people, surrounded by noise and laughter. Everyone had gathered at her house today to celebrate her seventeenth birthday. She was the happiest girl that day, she believed. She had the whole world lying in front of her, waiting for her to explore and she could not wait to start. While she was surrounded by people she loved, she could not wait to start her journey.
She opened her eyes after blowing off her candles and realised that she recognised not one person standing in the room. She darted up from where she was sitting and started to search frantically. For the familiar faces that always greet her with a smile on their lips and kindness in their eyes. For the ones that have been with her all this while.
She could not find them.
She looked down at her birthday cake and saw that there were twenty-three candles on it. She thought back to the not-so-distant past and wondered how time had passed her by so fast without her noticing it.
She did not know what to do. Everyone around her seemed puzzled by her reaction and she decided to try and join in the fun. To laugh along with the others, to be part of this new group. And yet, she could not stop the pang of loneliness that insisted to haunt her. Tried as she might, she realised she did not belong where she was.
She wanted to scream. She screamed. A desperate call for help. To anyone who would extend a hand. To anyone who understood what she was going through.
The people sitting next to her jumped up in shock and looked at her in bewilderment. She herself did not know what was happening. She just wanted to get away.
She started running and running and running. Heavy clouds turned the sky darker and darker every minute, bringing with it a warning of a storm ahead. She did not care. She just knew she needed to get away. The wind beating against her face felt so refreshing and, for a moment, she felt revived.
She ran until she was exhausted and looked around her. She was in the middle of a forest, with trees as high up as those she had seen in books. They seemed to be looking down and laughing at her, not with her. Never with her.
She wondered how she wound up there. She looked down at her hands and saw that they had wrinkled with age. She touched her face and discovered lines that did not exist before. She put her hand on her head and felt her hair. It had lost the vigor of youth. No longer was it soft and silky and smooth. It felt coarse and dry and lifeless.
She panicked. Had time flew by her again? Did she miss out on more things? How old was she now? Where are all the people she knew? What happened to all the things she was familiar with?
She looked back the way she came, trying to find an escape from this dark forest. But the trees around her seemed to have grown taller and taller, shrouding her in a cloak of darkness. She could no longer see anything, not even the hands in front of her.
In the distant, she could hear the foreboding of a storm. Within minutes, heavy rain pelted down from the sky. She stood there and drenched herself in rain. All her distress and anxiety was washed away by the rain. She closed her eyes and reveled in the moment.
She felt calmer and more at peace with herself than she could ever remember. She opened her eyes and saw a shimmer of light, beckoning her to it. She grope in the dark, slowly walking towards the light. Her body was frail and weak, and she could only managed a few steps before she had to stop and rest.
She did not know how long it took her but slowly and gradually, the light grew stronger and her surroundings grew brighter. She thought back on her life while she was walking. Reminiscing about the good and the bad. She rejoiced for the happy times and she tried her best to come to terms with the sad times. She realised that she should never have ran away, that she should have stayed and embrace the change that had happened. After all, that is what life is all about.
She walked and she walked until finally she reached a clearing. There was a beautiful lake with a nice cottage nearby. She walked to the lake and looked at her reflection. She was a bit taken aback, but she was not surprised to see an eighty-year old lady staring back at her. She had to say that despite everything that had happened, she had aged rather gracefully.
She went up to the cottage, intending to ask for a cup of water and maybe a biscuit or two. She knocked and there was no answer. She called out and no one replied. Gingerly, she tried to push at the door and it slowly drew open. She peeked inside and it was very dark. She reached for the switch and turned on the lights.
"Surprise!!! Happy birthday!!!"
She blinked and looked at the people gathered in the room. She glanced at the mirror by her side and, this time, she was shocked at her reflection. She was back where she was - seventeen, young and fresh.
