There was a girl running. She ran to exercise, to stay in shape. She was on her daily route when she decided to run a different route. She was tired of the same old route, and wanted some change. Turning left on a street where she usually turns right, she came upon a row of houses. It wasn’t too much of a difference, so she concluded it would be easy to find her way home.
As she was running she began to thinking about her life and her family. She thought about how much she loved her mom and dad. She thought about the apartment she lived in with her cat. She thought about her best friend, and how she had just recently moved out and moved into her own place. The girl thought about the friends in her life, and how she wronged some of them. She remembered the fight she had with her boyfriend the other night, and how they called the whole thing off. She remembered the look on his face just before he walked out the door…
Her eyes began to tear. The road ahead of her became blurry, and she had to stop for a moment to clear it up. She tried to think of something else as she began her run again, but her first best friend at school came to mind. They were inseparable up until their junior year of high school. She remembered when her best friend moved away to a different state. She never saw her again. They tried to keep in contact through email, but it didn’t work out.
Once again, she tried to think of something on a lighter note, but she immediately thought of her sister. Before she realized it, she was running faster. She remembered the car accident she was in. She remembered seeing her sister’s dead body lay in the open coffin during her funeral, and the pale look that was on her face. The emotions she had tried so hard to suppress were overwhelming. She could not control them anymore. She was crying as she ran not paying attention where she was going. She did not care anymore. She wanted to run away. She did not want to go home and face another day of pain in her life. She kept running, far away. Not caring where she was going.
Hours passed by and she hadn’t realized it. When she finally ran out of energy, she came to a stop. She was exhausted and out of breath. She closed her eyes for a moment and saw the faces of all the people she had hurt and the ones who had left her. She had difficulty breathing from the running and the emotion. She felt so alone and very frustrated with herself. For years she had pushed people away, and now there was no one but herself. After, she finally caught her breath, and the tears stopped. She stood up, and looked around for the first time.
She did not know where she was. Looking around there were no buildings or landmarks to be found. There was not even a mountain range on the horizon to spot out. Behind her the road continued out of sight, and in front of her the road stopped at the edge of a cliff. Beyond the cliff was a never ending ocean. The waves crashed against the rocks. She stood there frozen. She looked up at the sky, and could only see the clouds. There was no sun or sky to be found. The temperature dropped as well. She was not sure when it did, but it was cold now. It was nicer earlier, so she didn’t have a coat with her. No birds flew in the air, and there were no boats on the ocean. Confused, she turns around and headed back towards town.
She ran for hours on the lonely road looking for the town. There was nothing. She did not even see a different road to take. It was just the same road that went on and on. Another hour passed by, and she saw something on the horizon. She ran faster towards in hopes of civilization. It was her own mistake for not paying attention to where she was going. If her emotions hadn’t distracted so much, she would have been at home having breakfast with her friend. She decided she wasn’t going to take a route she wasn’t familiar with if it was going to get her lost like this.
As she came upon it her hopes began to fade. Instead, emptiness entered in. She stopped and stared at the ocean she just ran away from. Suddenly, she felt alone and vulnerable. No one was in sight for miles, and it was such a vast area. If she screamed no one would hear her. If she was in trouble no one would come to her rescue. It was very frightening.
No one was around, but she could have sworn that there was somebody behind her. She immediately turned around, but it was just the empty road she came from. She started to cry again, and wished she was back at home with her family. She wished she could see her friends again, and not where she was now. She faced back to the ocean, and slowly sat down. There was nothing she could do. She was stuck in this place. She was lost.
As she watched waves crash onto the rocks she curled up into a little ball. Tears flew freely from her face as she thought about everything she had taken for granted. She thought of her friends, family, co-workers, and everyone who was always there for her through rough times.
She lost all track of time. She sat there for who knows how long. Her watch stopped working the moment she realized she was completely lost. The sun behind the clouds began to set. As it got darker, it began to lightly rain. The cold drops hit her back. She shivered a bit, but she did not care. Only the loneliness filled her mind. A noise came from behind her, but she did not bother to check to see if someone was there. She had been hearing those noises all day. She had lost all hope of ever returning home. She closed her eyes and lied down on the cold wet road, and fell asleep.
A cool breeze woke her up as it brushed past her, and sent a chill down her spine. Besides the rain stopping, the weather had hardly changed. She stood up and looked around in hope of something different. That maybe it was all just a bad dream, but unfortunately nothing had. She still stood by a cliff, along with the lonely road. The emptiness was there, the coldness lingered, and she still felt very alone. The ocean’s waves grew larger with each crash against the rocks, and she hugged herself watching the water.
She heard footsteps behind her as usual. Being alone for hours with no noise but the ocean’s waves, she thought nothing of it. She began to think she would be stuck in this place forever, never being able to go back to her life. Her normal life. She saw herself in the future standing where she stood now in front of the ocean loving and hating it. She saw herself expressionless, just living out another empty day. What if I forget who I am? The thought made her shiver and tears began to well in her eyes.
She heard the footsteps again, and this time decided to turn around. There stood a man thirty feet away from her. He wore dark blue jeans with a green t-shirt. He had messy blonde hair, and his face was dirty as well as his clothes. His smile was friendly, but his blue eyes stared at her intensely.
“Hello.” He said.
Her face was expressionless, as she stared back at the stranger. “Hi,” She said softly.
“How are you doing?” He asked innocently.
She just stood there the same, unchanging, saying nothing.
“I understand that you don’t want to answer my question. Most people don’t when they are alone like you are right now.” He walked closer to her, “but eventually you are going to have to talk to me.”
“Who are you?”
“Let’s see. I could be anybody. However, it’s not who I am that matters, but what I can do.”
Her face changed for the first time, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He smiled. It was one of the most terrifying looks she had ever seen. All of the sudden she felt fear, and wished she was no where near this man.
“What if,” he began, “Your whole world fell apart? What if everyone you knew and loved died before your eyes?”
Something strange was happening. They were not alone anymore. Her friends and family slowly started to appear before her. Her apartment also appeared in the background along with the buildings around it. In fact, everything began to change. She was no longer standing by the ocean. She was at home in front of her apartment staring at her friends and family who were smiling at her.
“You love them, correct?” He asked her.
She hesitated then said barely above a whisper, “Yes, I do. With all of my heart.”
He nodded.
An earthquake came out of no where shaking and cracking the ground. The buildings began to fall on top of them, and the ground completely opened up. The girl wanted to save them, but found that she could not move from where she was. There was a separation between her and her family, and she could no longer reach them. She started yelling at them to get out of the way of the falling building, but all they did was stand and smile at her. Rubble from the buildings fell on top of them, crushing them. Tears began to stream down her face, as she watched helplessly. There was nothing she could do for them. More debris fell from the sky. One small piece hit her on the head knocking her to the ground. Blood trickled down her face.
“There it goes. Your whole world, your whole life just died right before your eyes.” He knelt down to the ground, “and there was nothing you could do about it.”
She began to sob. Just then, she wished she could have spent more time with them. She spent more time in depression and self-pity that she forgot the people who truly loved her. Her body began to tremble. It might have been the earthquake. She wasn’t sure.
She closed her eyes, and opened her mouth, “Just kill me.”
“I’m sorry what did you say? I can’t hear you! Speak up!” He taunted her.
“Kill me! Just kill me already! That’s what you came here to do isn’t it? I don’t want to live anymore!”
He waved his finger at her, “Tsk tsk. You shouldn’t say stuff like that. It’s not good for you to think that way. Besides, I’m not allowed to kill you.”
“Just shut up. You haven’t helped me in anyway. Go away!”
The moment those words left her lips the earthquake stopped and everything disappeared. She was back on the edge near by the ocean. The man was gone as well.
“What just happened?” She asked herself.
Once again, she was cold and alone with no way to get back home. Even though she felt sadness, she couldn’t help but feel relief knowing her family is fine and alive. She sat down on the ground looking out at the ocean lost in her own thoughts remembering all the good memories she had with her family and friends.
Who knew how long it had been, seconds, minutes, hours, days? Time did not seem to exist. She had lost all track of time just staring at the waves crashing against the cliff edge. Ever since that man showed up, she had been thinking a lot about her family, and how much she missed them. For so long, she took them for granted and only thought about herself. She was a fool. Is that why I am here? She pondered the thought. Could this all be happening because there are things in her life that she needed to fix or figure out? If that were true, how does she get back?
The wind picked up a bit, and water from the waves sprayed in her face. She could taste the saltiness of the water in her mouth. It surprised her that the water managed to get up that high, for it had not done that before. She spat out the water the moment it reached her mouth. The taste of salt water was disgusting. Even when she would go to the beach with her family when she was younger, she hated going into the water because of the smell and the taste. She spat three more times just to get the saltiness out of her mouth.
“You know spitting is a bad habit.” A voice said from behind her. This voice was different from the other. It was older and kinder sounding.
She turned around to see a man standing with a half smile on his face. He looked to be well over 55 years old, and he wore a business suit. This man had the same stature as her dad. She wondered if he would be nicer than the man before.
There was a long pause of silence. She was not sure what to say to him. Too many things came to mind. She hoped that if she stayed quiet long enough, he would start talking.
“You know we could do this all day, but no matter what you have to talk first.” The man said.
Confusion swept over her face. Did he just read her mind? Does this happen often with people, these two characters are just used to people not talking, like what the other guy said before? If that were the case, then she had to come up with something to say.
“So, does this happen to people often?” It was the first thought that came to mind, and the first to leave her mouth.
He smiled at her, “Yes, people go through this like you are now. However, it’s different for everyone. You see the ocean and a long road leading no where, others will see blackness or on top of a building, it all depends on the person.”
“But why? How do we end up in these realities that we cannot escape?”
“Technically, it’s your own fault.” He said giving a look of sympathy.
“What do you mean?”
“Come,” he brought out his arm, “walk with me.”
She still was not sure if she should trust him or not. He had not done anything harmful yet, and his demeanor seemed different from the previous man. Maybe she could trust him. She walked forward and linked her arm with his. Together they walked on the road away from the ocean. Even though she knew this road lead to no where, she continued to walk with this stranger with the slight hope that maybe he will guide her home.
Time had started again. A small breeze brushed passed her face and she could feel the warmth of the sun piercing through the clouds. The weather was changing. The silence between them was rather peaceful. She took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. The man next to her gave a little chuckled.
“What is it?” She asked.
“You seem to be finally enjoying it.” He took a deep breath in as well.
“What am I enjoying?”
“Life.” He said, “You were too worried about being lost and stranded on a cliff edge, that you didn’t take the time to enjoy the quietness and sunshine.”
“There wasn’t any sunshine until now.”
“What about when you were running trying to find your way back or when you feel asleep? You didn’t notice the weather then.”
“I don’t understand. How does this relate to me not enjoying life?”
“Name a time you have enjoyed doing something since your sister’s death.” He stopped and looked at her.
She thought about the past few years. After her sister’s death, she had sunken into depression and barely left her house. Her parents would visit her often, so would her best friend. For months they visited her, comforted her, and tried to bring her out. They started taking her shopping and helped her look for a new job. It was then that the best thing for her to do was to keep busy. She got a job. She never stopped working since then. Her friend tried coaxing her into enjoying life a little more, and that’s when she got a boyfriend. Of course, that did not last at all. He felt like things were not working out, and that she was a workaholic. When she thought about it, she had not had any happiness in her life for the past few years.
“I guess it’s been a while,” she said sadly. She was beginning to understand why her parents and her friend visited her so often. She did not realize how much they cared for her.
“How about you go home and start living.” He extended his hand towards his left, and there was another road.
It was a different direction, a way home. She stood in awe looking down this newly found road. How had she not seen it before?
“Thank you,” Tears were welling up, “Thank you so much!” She turned to the man, and hugged him. She was overjoyed for him to have shown her the way home.
“No need to thank me, this road has been here the whole time. Go home and thank your friend and parents.”
“Okay,” She let go of him. She looked at the road before her, then back at him and smiled.
She began walking away from him. He continued to stand in the same place. He got smaller and smaller as she walked further away. With a final glance back she saw him waving good-bye to her, and she returned the wave. She was so happy to be going home. The first thing she was going to do when she got home was to embrace her friend and thank her for all she has done for her. From now on, she was going to enjoy life a little more. She was not going to take her parents or her friend for granted anymore. She decided she was not going to be alone.