The Chance of a Lifetime

Just something I thought up one day at work. I wanted to put it all down before I lost it. Once it was finished, I realized just how much of my heart I really put into this.

I had a dream the other night. In this dream I met a shaman who offered me the chance of a lifetime, but I could only have this opportunity once. "You can go back, to the exact point in your life where you want to be." He said to me. "You will remember it all, but the ones around you will not. You have the chance to go back and either fix what you feel you've broken, or make it so it never happens. The choice is yours and yours alone, I will not give this chance to you again should you choose to keep your life the way it is. So think long and think hard, I will be waiting." I think and I think, I try to remember everything over my life, and where I'd go, what exact moment I'd choose to erase from my past and start a new. Finally, I can not deny the painful realization I have come to. Like a veil being lifted, I see my life for what it truly is. I return to the shaman, "I will not go. There is no point horrible enough, no memory sad enough, no lesson learned unimportant enough for me to go back and change it." I say. The shaman just stares as a tiny smile plays at his lips." I was so sure you'd go back, I was positive you'd erase him, or maybe even fix it. Tell me, after everything that has happened you still choose to let him go, why?" Without missing a beat, as if the inner me truly knew all along, "without the memories of both good and bad we share, the obstacles we have helped each other overcome, the love so pure we once knew in each other, we would not be the people we are today. We have watched and helped as each other grew, he saved me when I needed it the most, when no one else could. Through his love I have the greatest gift to share with the world. For that, I will not change a thing. He served his purpose whilst on our joining path, and when the time came, his branched off in a separate direction then that of my own, so that he may share with someone new the same lessons we taught each other.I'm sorry shaman, I can not change nor erase a past that has lead me to the life I live, and the capabilities I now know, even if it holds a great pain." The shaman, taking in every word I've said, looked at me in awe, "My gods, I have lived a long life, and you are not the first to be offered this chance, though you are the first to refuse it. Most people wish to return and undo a great heartbreak or a loss of income, but you, you are an odd one indeed. Though you remember the pain, and still feel it's sting today, you would choose to live with it all, not for yourself but for him?" I just kind of nod, knowing that there's nothing a can say that will make him understand. The shaman reaches into a small, leather bag. "I will not offer this opportunity again, as i said before, but you have surprised me today, and for that, I will in turn offer you something far more satisfying than the first." He looks at me and smirks, in 2 steps he's cleared the room and is standing mere inches from my face. "I will not take anything away, I will not alter your past for you, instead I offer you happiness in everything in your future. No matter where you go or what you do, you will always be able to find the proverbial silver lining, and you will always be happy. This is my gift, to you." He holds out his hand and in the center of his palm is a pile of light blue dust, it's shimmers and shines with the light, bouncing in every direction.  All I can do is stand face to face with the shaman and stare down at this pile of light. I nod once in agreement and the shaman takes a deep breathe. He blows the dust directly at me, and it begins to swirl around my entire being. Covering from my head to toe, in light. peace and happiness. The light begins to dim and I am slightly disappointed that it is leaving me. "Where is it going? I thought it was going to stay with me?" I ask the shaman, almost not believing my gift he had given. The shaman clicks his tongue and says to me "silly girl, did you think you would walk around for the rest of eternity in a swirl of light?" he chuckles and picks up a mirror, "Look, and tell me what you see." I look in the mirror and gasp, the light i thought had disappeared, but instead it simply moved inward. In my eyes, are tiny golden flecks, surrounded by blues and oranges of different shades. "The eyes are the windows to your soul, and the only place where true happiness can be shown."  the shaman tells me as he puts the mirror away. I thank him for his gifts and turn to leave. As I'm walking out the door, he says one more thing "Child? Remember when you are losing it all, and nothing can go right, look into yourself and you will find your happiness. The proof, is in the eyes".  I smile and wave at the shaman as I head down the stairs, and on my way to a life filled with happiness and peace.