The Corridor

The warm feeling that was once in her body is replaced by a cold and icy sensation. The smell of bleach and metal utensils is replaced by a filthy, unclean one. Both eyes flicker open. The lights hanging above begin to pulse mirroring the throbbing in her head. Her eyes scan the distorted image of a corridor. She faces the length of it, a wall at her back; is seems to stretch for miles. On both sides of the corridor there are doors, in perfect symmetry, each with a number. The door on her left is numbered '2020'. One tentative step after the other, she begins to inspect the corridor. Each set of doors are decreasing in number. Some have the same number. She tries a door; locked.

"I was wondering when you'd arrive." She turns to see a tall man dressed in a white suit; standing in contrast to the rest of the corridor. "It was only a matter of time." He seems disheartened.

"Where am I?" Her voice sounding like sharp knives plunging down her throat. The man turns away from her and begins to walk down the corridor. He stops at a set of doors, facing the length of the corridor and points to the one on the left. 2008.

"I think I'll choose this one." The door swings open. They both step in and are plunged into a different setting than the corridor. The familiar warmth from the sun hits her bare shoulders. The birds are swooping down on a beach, scavenging for food. "You came here every summer. You were...12 I'm sure." They walk down to the beach; there are children being chased out of the sea by the rising tide. They come to a halt when her bare feet touch the sand. Shielding her eyes from the sun she focuses on a young girl digging a hole close to the water, the familiar gold hair twinkling in the sun. A younger boy is by her side.

"Mum left us to play on the beach while she got us ice cream. She told us to stop digging the hole because of the tide so we waited with dad." The girl says uneasy, shaken. The man places his hand on her shoulder.

"Your mind has tried its best to cover up what really happened, and even sometimes, you let yourself believe it."

"Why are you doing this?" The girl breaks down and drops to her knees.

"Your mum left to get the ice cream and your brother continued to dig the hole-"

"Stop!"

"You decided to get the camera and take a picture of him but the camera was with dad half way up the beach." The scene unfolds in front of them; the girl leaving the boy and walking up the length of the beach to get the camera. The girl gets off her knees and starts to shout.

"Turn around! Why won't you just turn around?" Her screams echo across the beach but the girl continues walking. The tide starts to roll in and the water gets closer and closer to the boy digging in the hole, until the water starts to fill up the hole.

"There was nothing you could do, by the time you got the camera, the hole had completely filled up with water and he was gone." The girl turns around and faces the man; bloodshot eyes and a tear stained face.

"I'm reminded of this moment every day." The breeze sweeps across the beach sending the sand towards them. By the time the girl turns around the beach is gone and they are back in the corridor. "They should blame me, it was my fault." The girl wipes the tears streaming from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Who should blame you? Your family? None of this was your fault, it was an accident, a mistake, and things like this happen. You shouldn't blame yourself for something you couldn't stop." The girl clears her throat and walks past the man and further down the corridor.

"So what is this place then?" The girl tries opening doors on her way down but they don't budge.

"Each door represents a year in which a memory has taken place." The man motions around the corridor as if it is obvious. "This one will do perfectly." Again, the man points to a door. 2014. The door gently opens and they both step through. The lights in the room blast open and the scene around them is exposed. Rain suddenly falls from the sky and begins to soak through their clothes.

"You had to escape the chaos in the house so you left." An older girl walks past them, her blonde hair soaking wet.

"You don't remember this, do you?" The girl frowns. "I guess that makes sense, you've forgotten the memories that would've stopped you..." They follow the girl along a street and through a gate that leads into a large park. They come to a halt when the older girl takes a seat on a bench under a tree; sheltering her from the rain. The tears continue to fall down her face.

"Witness... Compassion." The man gestures at someone in the distance getting closer. An old man is walking in the rain carrying a shopping bag in each hand and notices the girl sitting on the bench. He approaches her and removes his hood now that he is under the shelter.

"Young lady, are you okay?" The girl looks up, acknowledges the man in front of her and quickly wipes away her tears.

"Yes, thank you, I'm fine." The girl chokes, clearly lying.

"You must be freezing, not to mention you're crying." The old man spoke to the girl for a while on the bench, listening to what was troubling her, and later, once the rain had stopped, gave her his jacket and walked her home. At that moment, the girl realised that there was such a thing as compassion. Once they are back in the corridor, the girl lets out a long breathe she didn't know she was holding.

"He listened to me when no one else would."

"You were happy for a while after that but it wasn't enough." The man gives her a stern look and turns his back on her. "Hurry up, we don't have all day." She walks at a quick pace to catch up with the long legged man. 2017. 

"I don't need anymore reminding-" she turns away from the man but he grabs her arm and pushes her into the room. She lands on the hard, concrete floor with a thud. In front of them is a room of beds, each with a person lying on them. The man steps over her and walks to the corner of the room to a bed occupied by what looks to be an older looking girl than before. 

"Why are you here? You don't belong here..." He raises his hand and strokes the greasy hair on top of the her head. He looks back to the girl who was now off the floor and standing cowardly behind him. "Look at yourself." He twirled around and replaced himself with her. The older looking girl in front of them looked weak. The marks on her arm gave a hint as to what she was doing here. The girl wasn't moving. "There were so many paths ahead of you, with light at the end... you chose wrong." A large, single tear dropped onto the girl in front of them. "I guess there was no one around to help you then." Another tear. "This could all change, if you truly want it. You can put all of this behind you. Is that what you want?" 

"Yes..." The room around them seeped away in front of her until she was left on the floor reaching out for what once used to be before her. She rose to her feet matching the man in front of her.

"I don't want to see you here every again, you hear me." The man stared into her eyes.

"You've not told me who you are," she said as they both walk back towards the end of the corridor; the numbers increasing as they do.

"You haven't asked," said the man politely. The girl looks up at him. "I guess you can see me as your inner voice."

"Wait, what?" As soon as the last word leaves her mouth a burst of energy hits her in the chest sending her onto the floor. The man kneels down to meet her on the ground.

"Now it's up to you. There have been bad memories but there's also been good. Hold onto them, it's what keeps you alive." The girl starts to spasm on the ground, her body rolling around and shaking uncontrollably. "It's your choice. You can stay dead or you can go back." Different voices start to seep into the girl's mind, all communicating with each other.

"Clear! Heart rate dropping and fast." A beeping noise echoes around the corridor.

"Don't leave me, sweetheart. Don't leave your old mum." A familiar voice in her ear calms her body and the shaking stops. The lights in the corridor begin to flicker, turning off one by one the same way they turned on. The man smiles.

"Good choice." He lets go of her hand, and starts to walk away. With one last glance back, he disappears. The beeping continues to echo around the corridor until she closes her eyes and the last light, after standing for a while, finally goes out.