Unspoken Words

            I was lying down on the ground, gasping desperately for air while clutching my side. I had no idea what happened, but the pain ran through my body as if I had just been struck by a lightning bolt. My mind grew fuzzy as it tried to blur out the pain. After what seemed to be forever, the pain finally became bearable. I opened my eyes, ears still ringing after the ordeal, and got up ever so slowly.

            A door stood right in front of where I was laying. It had a grim design. Black, and had carvings unlike any I have ever seen before, like it belonged in the medieval times. The door was emanating some sort of aura – one that exuded sorrow and pain. I looked around me. Darkness engulfed me on all sides. The only thing I could make out was the door ahead of me, and another one just a few feet away.

            I walked to the other door. This one looked more welcoming. The door was bright gold lined with what seemed to be diamonds. I tilted my head to one side, curiously wondering what could be behind such a beautiful door. I approached it slowly and right away, an aura of joy and peace beckoned to me to enter. I heard birds chirping on the other side, the screaming of children playing, and the exchanges of many, many people.

            I turned the knob and a world unlike any other opened up before my eyes. Magnificent mountains stood high in the background, luscious trees and flowers sprouted everywhere, and the people.. Never in my life have I seen so many people, each and every one with a smile on their faces without a hint of sadness on any of them. I was about to enter the door when I was stopped by something.

            Something just didn’t feel right. These people looked happy, yes. But they were plastic at the same time. It was all just so, unreal. I took a step back, away from the door. The black door then caught my attention. Curiosity got the better of me and I shut the gold door, and went back to the black. Again, something just didn’t feel right.

            I took a deep breath and reached for the doorknob. As soon as I touched it, the same pain shot up my arm and I was immediately thrown backwards. What’s happening? When I regained my composure, I knew I had to see what was on the other side of the door – no matter what it took.

            I mustered all my strength and approached the door again. With one great effort, I grabbed hold of the doorknob and turned it, ignoring the burning pain which shot through my body. With the last of my willpower, I lunged at the door with my whole body and threw it open.

            Sweat was pouring down my face as I realised that I was already inside the door, lying down on a patch of dead grass. I struggled to get back on my feet, but was finally able to. A breath caught inside my throat as I looked around. This place was completely empty. Dead grass strewn out as far as the eye can see. The sun was nowhere to be seen, condemning this land to an eternal twilight phase. Wind swept through the land, rippling the grass and my unkempt hair.

            “It’s been a while since anyone came in here”, a male voice echoed through the plains. I followed the voice and saw a teenage boy, just about my age, sitting on the ground not far away. I walked closer to the boy and noticed that he was clutching a wilting red rose in his hands. “Where am I?” I asked the boy.

            “People these days are selfish, aren’t they?” the boy asked rhetorically, completely ignoring my question, while staring intently at the wilting rose, “They go through so much to convince themselves that they are happy, while forgetting the people who actually care about them the most.”

            I was confused. Was the boy talking to himself? Or was he talking to me?  “I don’t understand”, I said to him. The boy just shook his head and looked up into the distance. “You have been through the other door, haven’t you? I can tell”, the boy noted. “Why do you think there are so many people there and none here? Don’t you see? People will go to great lengths to feel good about themselves, but are they really happy? They are lying to themselves. Just puppets with masks on.”

            “Why are you here then?” I asked him. He let out a small chuckle and said, “You really don’t know where you are, hmm?” He let out a long sigh. “I am here because I actually care about how others feel. I am here because in this twisted world, when we care too much, others take you for granted. They use you to get what they want and what they need, then bask in their own happiness while leaving you in one corner to rot away.”

            “You are wrong!” I argued. “There must be others out there who feel the same as you. Others who..” I was cut off by the boy, “Really? Others? Do you see anybody else here besides me?”

            I got frustrated. “This brings me back to my very first question you failed to answer!” I shouted at him, “Where am I? And why did it hurt so much just to open that door?”

            “You just don’t get it, do you?” the boy said while looking directly into my eyes for the first time, and whispered, “It is always the unspoken words that hurt the most.”

            The world around me distorted, and the boy disappeared. I was sitting on the ground, staring at the wilting rose in my hand, as a teardrop rolled down my cheek.