Prompt 1: You open an old book and out comes….
Living in a state of dysphoria was never easy. Growing up despised by people, growing up abandoned, as if darkness embraced your once colorful world. If possible, the young woman would like to escape the mundane world she’s facing alone.
Under the black sky painted with scintillated points, there’s a girl standing in front of an exquisite building. The said place was so mesmerizing making the girl lost her ability to move her gaze, thus, her blooming curiosity made her enter.
The scent of old books greeted the girl as she went inside, it was amazing, it was beautiful. Her eyes observed the books on the shelves, then, her gaze landed on the last shelf on her left. For some unknown reason, she slowly walked towards to the shelf which caught her attention.
Her fingertips gently traced the books aligned on the shelf, “beautiful” she said softly. One of the books are chocolate-colored and the sides are gold color, the young woman noticed how stunning the book was, so she carefully took it.
She sat down on the wooden floor and opened the book with a glee plastered on her face. The first page was so unexpected which made the girl squint her eyes out of confusion. “You will never walk alone.” That’s the line written on the first page.
The she turned to the next page. It was a poem, she know that behind every line, there;s an untold story. Her curiosity once again flourished so she said the words written out loud, wanting to discover its meaning.
“Fireflies glimmering
Moonlight dancing
Ecstatic memories
I kept reminiscing
Time flies so fast
Let me return to the past
No separation, no goodbyes
No grief, no one dies”
The written poem made the girls’s heart happy somehow, she adored how it was written and she – “thank you, for freeing me” a voice suddenly interrupted the girl’s thoughts. Her eyes went big since she was so sure that she’s the only one in the majestic library.
“Who are you?!” the girl asked, frightened after turning around to see where the deep voice came from. What greeted her was a human, a male. A male with a glamorous face, which made the girl unable to avert her gaze. The man looked like he was in his 20s, he looks young but his handsome face is undeniable.
He tittered, “you freed me, thank you, I’m glad.” The girl went silent for a minute, trying to organize her thoughts. Then, the young man continued, “that poem…I created that during the time I was living in this world.” What he said made the girl wonder, and so, she asked “d-does that mean you are already dead?”
The man panicked, “But you don’t need to be afraid of me, Iwon’t harm you. I just wanna thank you for freeing my soul.” The girl finally calmed down, she didn’t reply anything but she turned the page to page 3 to see what’s written there. There, it was stated that this place are filled with books where in every book there’s a soul waiting to be freed by reading the words out loud, which what exactly the girl did earlier.
The girl continued to turn the page, there it was said that the man in front of him died during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. “I should’ve enjoyed my life more, I should’ve said everything I want to say. Now, all I have is regrets.” The man spoke as his eyes glistened. The girl stayed quiet and just listened to the man.
“I still have a lot of things I want to do. I envy you, you’re still alive, you can still have the chance to experience what ecstasy feels like, you shall not waste what God offered you, he offered you a life where you may not always be happy, but there’s a time that you will.” His words hit the girl hard. She had always thought that living is such a painful thing, but realizing that other people desires to live but cannot anymore, she realized that her life is important. It’s a treasure.
A single tear slid down on her check as the man started to fade. After all, he’s nothing but a soul. At that moment she shouted with all her might, “thank you!”
Starting from now on, she will choose to see the beauty of life and will try to be strong to overcome all her problems. Because he is right.
She will never walk alone.
Prompt 2: You were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Once upon a time, there was a very beautiful woman named Althea. Althea is a very kind woman in their town and she is known for her very beautiful heart. And in their town, Althea loved to travel in different places. But one day she go in the place that nobody was living there and she noticed that she don’t know how to come back in their town and it’s too wrong timing because her mother is sick and she needs to care for her mother.
Suddenly, she noticed that she is in the wrong place because she didn’t know that in that place there was a monster named Bundar. Bundar is a friendly monster but everyone don’t want him to be their friend because everyone is afraid of his external beauty that’s why Althea thought that she is in the wrong place.
At first, Althea is so afraid because Bundar is so different from others, ut Bundar helped her when she needs help. She is finding food to eat to fill her hungry tummy and she saw delicious food but her problem is she can’t catch it because it’s too high and suddenly when Bundar watching Althea he helped Althea because he saw that Althea is suffering and hungry. That’s why even Althea’s first impression to him is not so good he helped Althea.
That is the start of Althea and Bundar friendship. And when Bundar needs althea’s help because he can’t reach the mango because it’s too low, Althea as a good friend helped Bundar to catch it and of course he thought that she needs to help Bundar because Bundar helped her and to pay back Bundar’s help. One day, Bundar was so attracted to Althea’s personality but he stop himself to be attracted to Althea because he knows that Althea can’t love him because of his personal face and he thought that Althea and King are not perfect for each other that’s why he stopped himself.
While he is in the river talking to himself that Althea can’t love him or accept him and while he is in the river, Bundar is looking at himself in the water and he loose his faith that Althea can accept him. He ask himself “Can Althea accept me despite my ugly face?” And Althea heard him asking himself and at first Althea was so shocked because he can’t believe that Bundar wants her but Althea answered “Yes, why not? You’re so kind person and you deserve a love from the person that you want/love. I know that you are wondering why, am I right, Bundar?” “Yes” Bundar answered. “Because I’m not looking in the face, I’m looking for the person/monster/or whatever’s heart just like you.” Bundar asked Althea again. “What do you mean by?” “I mean I love you, too.”
And the word I love you continue to be Bundar’s inspiration that there is a person who is not looking outside or in face. That Althea is willing to love him, that after all, Bundar and Althea lives happily ever after without thinking Bundar is different because Althea treated him like he is not different. The lesson that Althea get is “don’t judge the book by it’s cover,” meaning to say don’t judge a person by their outside personality and Althea realize that she is not in the wrong place at the wrong time at all. If not because of this, she will not know Bundar.
Prompt 2: You were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I got out of work late. It was 9:57 pm and I feel every part of my body cramped up with pain and numbness as I get on the train finally feeling the sense of relief of going back to my apartment. I have working overtime but my boss is so cranky and I always wanted a promotion to be the new CEO so I have no choice. There was no one on the train other than myself so I decided to take a nap for a few minutes until I wake up arriving at my destination since my workplace was 2 hours away from my apartment. I drifted into sleep as I finally felt peace and quiet for a few minutes.
I woke up to a sound of a loud thud, of which I felt a sense of shock that caused me to jump. I was still on the train yet, there is a man sitting on the opposite direction of me, wearing a formal suit and somehow have his hair neatly fixed. This is exactly what I want to be in the future, someone who looks like they have the perfect life, who is powerful and successful.
He slowly opens his eyes and the first thing I noticed was the red flare flashing in his left eye. Then he greets me with a smile and his eyes narrowing along with his expression. His left eye, who looks robotic and cybernetic, really caught my attention. And the weird thing is, he has the similar features as me! More importantly, how and when did he get here?!
“You look just exactly just like me 10 years ago” he exclaimed. “Not until my life got ruined, I wish I could go back and tell my past self to chang” he said.
“Who are you?! You look like you don’t belong here” I said. “Henry Smith.” Wow, he even has the same name as me. “C-can I see your phone calendar?” I asked while I stuttered for a bit, this is not what I think it is.
“Year 2030 huh…” I uttered. “Oh, so I knew this would work” he says. “Aren’t you tired of overworking yourself everyday? Sometimes you need to take a break and enjoy the real world, do the things you relly want” he added. “What do you know about my life?! This is what I want! To have the perfect life! Everyone wants that, and you should mind your own business, I don’t care whether you’re from the future!” I yelled at him, or myself rather angrily.
“This isn’t what you want, look at what it turned you into” he points at his left eye. “You never cared about yourself and acted like a working robot in society that you, yourself…” he points at me “Literally turned into one…Please, I am giving you the chance to change the future. Is this what you really want?” those works struck me hard, like something got out and felt like I had a slight grasp of freedom. That’s right, I wanted to have a normal like where I could enjoy myself, to feel happiness and peace of mind, do photography and finding soulmate that I could spend my happiness with.
I stood there shocked for a few seconds. The man in front of me puts his hand down. I was so shocked that I couldn’t say anything to him except for a simple “Thank you.” He realized what I thought and have me a warm and welcoming smile of feeling proud and relieved. Then a few seconds later, I can feel myself drifting back into sleep.
I woke up again but without the man in front of me anymore and the train finally stops, indicating that I have already arrived at my destination. I walked home to my apartment while putting my things aside and my coat in the hanging rack. I didn’t plop myself on the bed like usual. Instead, I took out my camera that I have bought but never used a year ago, a pen and paper as I sat down, writing my letter of resignation.