I started out walking straight. Walking straight down the red carpet, the soft velvet material sparkling and inviting. I could see the image at the end; it was my goal. It was pristine and glamorous, everything I wanted. And it was straight ahead, at the end of the long hall. There were no twists or turns in the corridor, no obstacles to overcome, just the pathway that led me there. I never looked to the sides to see what was there; I still don’t even know what was in my peripheral vision. My eyes were narrowed on the prize, everything else lost in time. But that was when I started.

It was like I blacked out for a second, and when I came back, everything was different. Or maybe, it was a gradual change, my surroundings slowly morphing in the background until I noticed them, right now. I don’t really know, but the outcome is the same.

I can see everything now. I can see everything; I can see nothing. There is no longer an image at the end of the hall, because I can no longer see the end of the hall. The distance is shrouded in a haze, and even squinting there is nothing I see. Not at the end at least. Images zoom past me now. Off to the sides, in front of my face. But it is silent; I am alone. The emptiness rings in my eats, and even if I were to call out for help, for aid, there would be no reply.

The images start to invade my mind. They are fragments of my once perfect vision. They are the parts that broke off when they went rotten. I see a girl laughing; she is someone I knew, someone I might once could have called a friend, but now I can’t place her. I see an image of a boy. In fact, I see many, many pictures. They flash in front of my face, surrounding me. Distracting me. I turn and turn in circles, so consumed by something that will pass in the blink of an eye.

What happened? What happened to me? I knew what I wanted; I could see it, right there in front of me. When I had closed the door on the last room, when I stepped into this long hall, I had seen this image, of everything I never had in the last room, everything I would strive to have here, now.

At least that’s what I thought. I guess I was blind there as well. I never realised all the things I reached until I decided to give up on them. But this hall now was supposed to be my second chance. But I am stumbling. I am tripping, falling, getting turned in the wrong direction. It is the dream where you try to run but your legs won’t move.

I don’t know what’s at the end of this long hall. I can only see the images that have been hung along the sides, all the things I tried to attain but failed. I do not know if I will reach the end of this long hall. I do not know.