A Trip Down Memory Hall
By: Zaida Acosta
Tags: Lovestory, Short Story, Fiction

As he opened his eyes Daniel found that a white wall was staring back at him. Thought’s troubled his mind. Where was he? How had he gotten there? What had he been doing before finding himself in his room? He slowly turned around and saw that all the walls were white. He was completely swallowed in a white room. Daniel looked down expecting to see an all-white outfit but instead saw he was wearing a dark blue shirt from his wardrobe and jeans. “What in the world?” Daniel whispered to himself but like an empty room does his voice echoed and echoed.

The room is probably the size of a living room, nothing in it other than himself. It had had no windows and only had a ceiling light but there was no switch for it. Daniel slowly started to walk to the right, inspecting the wall but there was nothing there. He then went to the wall across him the closer he got to it the more he could see a door. The door was also white and was completely flat which made it seem like part of the wall but it had a handle. This door was the only way out and so Daniel opened the door. The white door creaked a bit as Daniel pushed the door open.

He was met with a long hallway. There were doors to the left and the right. Although confused Daniel walked forward and saw as the doors were made of glass. The glass was foggy making it unable to see what was behind it. He walked and walked but he couldn’t see the end of this hallway. “Walk back to the start of the hallway boy” a voice out of nowhere calmly said. Daniel jerked his head around but saw nothing. Daniel knew he was alone and concluded it must have been a speaker.

“Is someone there?… Who are you?… HEY! Where am I?” Daniel yelled into the empty hallway but the voice did not answer him. Daniel wasn’t going anywhere, so he decided to sit against the space between the doors. Five minutes… 10 minutes… 30 minutes and an hour passed by and still Daniel sat there waiting. Waiting for anything.

“You will continue to be confused if you stay there Dan. Walk back to the beginning and open the first door. Your pick though. Right or Left.” The voice was back this time sounding a bit more agitated.

Dan also started to grow more agitated himself and decided to go back. What kind of sick game is this. What even is this place? Dan thought as he walked. He was frustrated. Not only did he not know where he was but he had no idea who he was. He knew his name and vaguely remembered his parents and older brother, everything else was a blur.

Once again he was at the beginning of the hallway.

On his side two glass doors. Left and Right.

Dan chose right and tried to open the door but instead of it opening a small part of the door disappeared. The opening was a rectangle big enough for him to look through but he didn’t see anything. Suddenly, there was a bunch of noise coming from the room yet there was no clear image of what was going inside.

“It’s a boy,” A doctor said followed by beeping sounds from machines and a baby’s cries. Voices blended with both nurses and doctors chattering.

“He’s perfect.” A gentle female voice said. Daniel was still listening. What is this? Who is this? Daniel was confused; this didn’t clear anything for him but in the hopes that it would he continued to listen and look through the hole in the glass door.

“Look at him, James. Isn’t he perfect? Isn’t Daniel perfect?” The voice asked. A shiver went down Daniels’s spine.

“He is perfect,” James responded

“That’s your dad Dan and I’m your mom. We love you, Dan. Our baby boy” The voice faded away and silence took over the hall again.

Dan was left placed back to the present time. “Mom?… Dad?…Where am I?” His eyes had started to water when he suddenly heard a ding. Dan looked up and saw the word BIRTH flash green. His birth. His auditory memory of his birth. Dan understood where he was and although terrified of what he would see he chuckled and said “I see a trip down memory hall huh? Ok then.” With that, Daniel walked and occasionally moved the handle of the door to see a memory. Slowly, the doors would start flashing green with words like FIRST WORD, 10th BIRTHDAY, BIKE ACCIDENT, and so on.

Daniel had done this for a couple of hours when he came across a door to his left made out of wood that was boarded up. “I’m guessing you’re something horrible huh? maybe trauma?” He asked the door and decided to walk past it. You’re boarded up for a reason and frankly, I don’t want to know what is behind you. Daniel continued and occasionally saw the boarded-up doors.

Daniel walked some more and noticed another boarder up door. This time the curiosity got to him and he attempted to open the door. The door didn’t open but as he attempted to open it he heard a ding. He looked up in the direction of ding and saw that one of the glass doors had the word DIAGNOSIS flashing yellow. “You’re not green like the rest. Why not? Am I supposed to see what you hold first?” Daniel asked the glass door but got no response. He chuckled and wiggled the handle. The door did the usual and let him peek inside.

Inside he saw a ten-year-old him sitting at the kitchen table with his parents sitting across from him. His parents looked devastated and Dan looked confused. “I’ll be able to play with Andrew soon right? He’s been sick for too long. When will I be able to play cars with him again?” ten-year-old Dan asked. His parents looked at each other and sighed.

“Dan, your brother isn’t feeling well. He um he needs to stay at the hospital for a while longer” His mom told him as she reached for his hands

“Why does he have to stay there any longer. I thought he was better. He told me he was better” His dad looked at Dan blankly and opened his mouth.

“Well, Dan, you see Andrew has lung cancer bud.” The words made Dan’s heart sink both his ten-year-old self and his present self. It was painful for him. The image of him and his parents sitting at the table faded and the once yellow flashing word was now green. He turned once again to the wooden door and saw it was no longer boarded up. He attempted to open it and like the glass doors, a part of the wooden door disappeared. Inside he saw Andrew sitting on a hospital bed and himself sitting at the foot of the bed. “Andrew, you’re not going to leave me, are you? You’ll play cars with me again, right? Dan asked.

Andrew chuckled “No, I won’t leave you. But dude I think I’m too old to play cars with you.”

“You are only 17. You can still play I’m sure of it.” Dan said standing straight up.

“Well if you say so,” Andrew said. Andrew started to have trouble breathing and signaled Dan to call for help. Dan ran out and tried to find help but he seemed to be alone. When he found help it had been too late and Andrew had died leaving Dan and breaking his promise that he had only made an hour ago. The memory faded and the word DEATH flashed green. Daniel cried feeling sorry for his younger and present self as well as feeling guilty for Andrews’s death.

Daniel got back up after a while and continued to open door after door. After, what seemed like forever Dan saw the ending of the hall. At this point, Dan had seen the most pivotal points in his life. He had relieved his trauma and his accomplishments. He had cried and yelled with himself but also had laughed and smiled with himself. He was emotionally exhausted and couldn’t be happier that he was so close to the end of this trip. He was ready to leave that place and get back home to his golden retriever and his parents. “You are almost done, Daniel,” he told himself as he approached the left door first. He jiggled the handle but nothing happened.

“Sorry Dan” It was the same voice from when he started his trip down memory hall “The only doors that matter at the end is the last boarded door and the glass door. Here I’ll light up the words with a yellow light so you know which doors to pick. I do apologize for failing to bring this to your attention. I must warn you the last doors are a bit harrowing. Also, the glass door should be opened first. It is a bit long so prepare yourself” As the voice finished the glass door had the word SOULMATE flashing in yellow light.

. “My soulmate. I wonder who she is?”

As tradition, he jiggled the handle and he saw a girl with medium length hair and then he saw himself approaching her. “Hey Liz” she turned around and smiled. “I forgot to give you this.” It was a slip of paper with his number.

“Oh, Thank you, Dan. I have to get going now. Bye, take care!” Elizabeth said as she walked away and waved at him.

Slowly Daniel saw himself fall in love with this funny, caring, sarcastic girl. He saw their dates and their talks. He felt himself falling in love with her again. He saw the arguments and the reconciliations and he felt himself missing her and unable to wait to get back to her. Halfway through the memories, he saw Liz get diagnosed with lung cancer. The same as his brother Andrew. From there he saw her get weaker and it stung. He once felt useless and felt guilty that he was unable to do anything to ease Liz’s pain after radiation and chemotherapy. The memory ended with him slow dancing with a weak Liz in the hospital room as a song played in the background. The melody was soft and comforting. They clung on to each other as if there were no tomorrow. “You won’t leave me?” Dan asked

“Of course I won’t” Liz responded. The music and the image faded.

Daniel was crying and was on his knees clinging on to the handle “I’ll be there soon Liz, I remember who I am OK? Wait for me Liz. I’ll be there I promise.” The tears didn’t seem to stop but he got himself on his feet and turned to the boarded door which was no longer boarded. He had one more door before he could hopefully return to Liz and be there for her.

He jiggled the handle and a piece of wood disappeared. There Daniel saw one of the worst things he had ever seen. He saw himself driving, no music, no sound other than him in his car and the road. He recognized where he was. He was on his way home when a semi-truck came out of nowhere and crashed into his car. Death…He was dead. He felt his heart drop.

He fell onto the floor and cried “No I can’t be dead! Please, I’ll do anything! Take me back. My parents, Liz, my dog, they need me! Please! I beg you!”

“Please get up and walk through the wooden door. It is vital you do so” The voice was back.

Daniel got up and opened the door. The door eerily creaked as he pushed it. If he did this he might get to convince his way to life again. He went in the door and found himself face to face with Death in a velvet colored room. The room had two more doors inside both red. Death was beautiful, She was pretty although Daniel thought death was a man he saw death was a woman with a black long dress and one white wing and one black wing.

“Please let me go back to her please,” Daniel said with tears in his eyes. Death didn’t say anything and got her keys out.

“Daniel you were a good human, I hope you know that but your time on earth is over you must understand.” Death said as she opened the right door. “You saw yourself grow. You worked hard and you did your best now go inside.” The door was wide open and extremely white light came out of it. It was a calming light that made Daniel feel comforted.

“Why? Why make me go through that If I was dead the whole time?” Dan said his tear was still flowing as he realized he may never see Liz and in a way, he hoped he wouldn’t see Liz for a while. He hoped she would live even if he wasn’t there to be with her. He wanted her to live.

“Well, it would be cruel for you not to know who you are before you made your way to the afterlife don’t you think?” Death said.

“Oh. So heaven and hell are real, am I…”

“You want to know where you are going? Well, you are going to the white light. The better of the two if you would like to know. Now step inside it’s time you get going Dan,” Deaths said.

On the other side, he saw Liz with her arms wide open ready to embrace him. Dan’s eyes went wide at the sight of Liz.

“She died in her sleep while you were driving, Sorry I couldn’t tell you it wasn’t part of your memories since you didn’t know yet.” Dan took one last look at death and ran towards Liz’s arms. Dan was confused but his feet moved him rather quickly to Liz. He wanted to embrace her and never leave her side again.

Death closed the door behind Dan and above the door, a green light flashed the word HEAVEN to her. “You both were too young. 28 years old, both of you and you died the same day. Be happy together now. You have eternity together” Death said, smiling holding the soulmate’s memories.