TROUVAILLE

Meaning - a chance encounter with something wonderful

I walk on a paved path in an unknown place. Heavy fog shrouds everything in the distance. The path runs through a dense forest capped with snow. The glacial landscape chills every inch of my skin. It is difficult to breathe but I manage my best to endure the cold. The heaviness of my body does not help me in this journey. As I drag my body, I observe the forest. I see a faint light splitting the dense fog and falling right over the left side of my chest. The warmth of the light makes me joyful. I follow the light.

As I walk, I see a kid being chased by a pack of dogs. The boy comes running towards me. I prepare myself to catch the boy and scare away the dogs but in a moment, the boy simply passes through me and the dogs follow. I turn around frantically to search for them only to see them vanish in the fog. A sense of deja vu surged. I remember this and the boy. He was none other than me.

Slowly I move forward along the paved path. I see the boy again, a little older perhaps, enjoying a match of football under warm clear weather. I have a better grasp of my surrounding. The paved path is like a recorder. I am lost in my own reservoir of memories. Every step that I stumble upon activates an old memory. I tried to walk back but the forest closes the path that we have already taken. The only way is forward. I pick myself up and run towards the light.

Every step bursts open memory and the experience that is attached to it. The happiness of my first success, making a regrettable mistake, the dejection of letting the people who believe in you, the struggles and hardship of reaching your goals and other complex and intricate emotions fill me up at once. I feel euphoric to feel the past with such intense emotions. I do not feel tired. My body feels light with every step. The light grows stronger and slowly melts the snow.

The fog clears and the forest becomes thinner and sparse. I find myself running along the meadows. My memories cracks through the space. A medley of my life is performed in this wonderful and strange place. The landscape changes rapidly and I become lighter with every step. The light fills me completely and I finally see it. The star is far away on the horizon. Every beat of my heart wants me to reach the star. A strong breeze combs through the blades of the grass. The heaviness of my body vanishes. I feel ethereal. I keep running towards the star. I run to the mountain and climb. I reach the peak and gasp at the exquisite beauty of the star. I am finally at the edge of the land.

As I stop and look back over my journey, I realise that I am not a product of my own. Every memory scars my soul and moulds a personality that makes me who I am now. Even a single misstep throughout my journey could have led me adrift from this warmth. As I stand at the edge of the land, the light pierces my facade and heal my scars. My cold past vanishes in the shining light. Every nightmare becomes a distant obscure emotion. The scars wither and I am alive again. I thank my luck as I start connecting the dots. Everything that I did was to bridge the vast distance that had kept us apart. No longer I can find myself away from the light. I know what I have to do as I stare at the star. I take a heavy breath and jump hard putting my life behind it. I zoom away from the land as it becomes smaller and smaller until it becomes lost. The air becomes thin and everything becomes dark. I can only see the warm light. It becomes vivid and brighter. A strong flash consumes me. I finally reach my star.

I wake up to find myself in the bedroom. Last night was pretty rough. Parties do not suit me anymore. I keep staring at my window. Someone forgot to cover draw the curtains. The bright sunlight filled the room. I tilt my head to my left. I see her sleeping in peace with no care for the world. Her untidy hair lay all over the face. I brush the hair away and stroke it behind her back. I look at her smiling and I dawn upon a realization.

"She has to be the dumbest star out there in the whole universe."