PROLOGUE

An old woman was sitting inside a theater building. It was a huge theater, with a large screen at the center. The room was filled with golden decorations on four of its pillars, and the curtains and carpets were blood red. But the strange thing was; there was only one seat in the middle of the theater, the blood red seat the old woman was sitting on. The theater was dark, but there was a source of light coming from the screen in front of her, as the curtain was already opened, and the screen was already showing a movie. The woman had been watching the movie for quite some time now, and she was so absorbed in watching the moving pictures in front of her that she did not even realize that her face was constantly covered with tears, her own tears. It was hard to figure what emotions she felt as she cried because her face was difficult to read. Her expression kept changing between happiness, sadness, and regrets, as the movie kept on showing her images.

It was not a particularly sad movie; more like pieces of short clips put together. The woman watched as the movie kept on playing; showing clips of a small child playing with a balloon on her birthday, and then switched to another event where the child seems to have grown a little, playing by the beach, waving to the camera, and then it switched again to show another birthday, but this time the child had grown some more, almost a teenager. The old lady watched on with astonishment, as the movie kept showing her images of her life; yes, her own life. She watched as the movie revealed how she turned into a teenager, a young adult, a fully grown woman, and then finally she could see how her life had reached its end. The movie was telling her the journey of her own life with incredible details, as she had known that she had never filmed most the clips shown there.

As she wondered how magical the sight in front of her was, the movie came to an end. The screen turned black, and darkness engulfed her surroundings. Although the old woman couldn’t see anything at all, she was not scared, but instead she felt safe. For once she felt that she finally had obtained peace. She closed her eyes, took a long deep breath, savoring the peace she never felt in her life. The tears had stopped now, and a smile crept into her old, tired face. As she released her breath, she opened her eyes and smiled in satisfaction.

She stayed there with her mind blank for some time before she finally whispered, “Can you play the movie again for me?”

There was a voice whispered back to her, “Of course…” The voice sounded familiar to her, much like the soothing voice of her father; a voice that she had not heard for a long time. Similar, yet somehow different.  

And the screen lighted up again. She smiled as she stared at how her life was playing from the beginning all over again.

“Do you have any regret?” The voice could be heard again, this time it sounded closer.

“Of course I have regrets…” The woman said.

“What is your biggest regret?”

There was silence. The old lady didn’t answer the question.

She just kept her gaze to the large screen in front of her, watching as her life unfolded before her very eyes, again. As the movie reached a certain phase of her life, she took a deep breath once more,

“Her…” She whispered deeply.

There was silence again, and the movie stopped on an image of a particular young lady, probably around 18 years of age, smiling wide before the screen. She stared at the picture and raised her hand to the screen, as if she was trying to reach the girl’s face. The voice interrupted her, “If you could go back, would you change your life for her?”

“Would you allow me to go back?” Her hand was lowered again.

“What would you change?” The voice insisted.

“Everything…” The old woman said with determination in her voice.

“Why?” The voice sounded very much close to her ears.

“Why do you ask such question?” She closed her eyes.

“I find that you are interesting…”

“Why do you think I’m interesting?” She opened her eyes again and stared at the screen in front of her.

“It’s not you in particular, it’s human. I find that your lingering feelings are very interesting…”

There was silence again, before the voice continued, “You’ve already decided to put out your flame of passion for her once.” This time the voice was louder, filling the entire theater. “What makes you think that this time you will change that decision?”

She smiled and kept her gaze on the picture of the smiling girl in front of her, “I knew that my love for her would only bring her sorrow…”

A tear fell down on her cheeks, “… I wasn’t strong enough to protect her if harm ever came her way…”

“… I wanted her to be happy, at all times. And my love would never bring her that…” Tears were now falling down her cheeks.

“… I wanted protect that smile…” She wiped her tears with the back of her hands.

“After all these years you still have feelings for her…” The voice whispered.

“… My feelings for her had never change. Even now…” She said tiredly.

“But you chose a different love…”

“I was weak. She was fragile. We were never meant to be…”

“What makes you think you would be able change anything this time?” The voice said.

“I don’t know…” She cried. “… I want to change… For her…”

“Do you believe that you would be able to protect that smile this time?”

“No… I don’t know…” Her voice was weak, and tired.

Silence again filled the theater, before the voice finally broke it, “Would you like me to help you?”

“How?” The old lady was surprised.

“How would you help me?” Her eyes were filled with hope.

“Would you like me to help you?” the voice asked again.

The old lady’s mind was filled with questions and doubts, but she somehow knew that the voice was telling her the truth, that it would help her if she asked it to. “… Please. Please help me.”

The theater was suddenly filled with lights and now she could see the interior clearly. She stood up from her seat but kept her gaze to the large screen in front of her.

“Go now. Go and life your new life.” The voice said loudly, there was a hint of satisfaction and curiosity in its voice.

The old woman stood there in silence for a while, not knowing what to do. But then somehow she found the answer. She then walked towards the large screen, each step made her heart beat in excitement, a feeling she had long forgotten. As she reached her destination she stopped and stared at the picture in front of her. The picture of the girl she fell in love with many years ago. She reached out and touched the screen and traced the smiling girl’s lips with her hand.

“Why are you helping me?” She said suddenly, turned around and stared at the red empty seat she had left before.

“Because sometimes you deserve more.” She could see a shadow of a person in the seat she was sitting before. “Sometimes I wonder how you would do with a little help from the above.” The voice continued.

“Who are you?” The old woman asked.

“No one…” The voice replied.

The woman’s mind was filled with questions again, but the most curious thing she thought about was probably, What did I do to deserve this?

“It is not a question of who you are or what you did to deserve this. It is not a question of who I am and why I am helping you.” The voice said, as if it was reading the old woman’s mind.

“It is a question of what you would do now that you have all the help you need to pursue what you want the most.” The voice continued. “And probably, maybe, I am tired also. I am tired of watching you hurt yourselves. I am tired of watching you weep in despair as you find yourselves unable to reach and grasp the dream you long for your entire life. I am tired of seeing you fall down and pick yourselves up only to be pushed down over and over again.”

“Maybe this is my chance to watch something different; something that does not have pain and sorrow in it. I think it will be a good watch.” The voice said hopeful.

Why does it sound so simple? The old woman thought to herself.

Laughter could be heard filling the empty theater. “The world and your lives are filled with difficult and complex matters, child. Don’t you think this is a perfect time for a change of pace? I know I will enjoy watching what is about to unfold before my very eyes.”

“Now go, give me something cheerful to watch.” The voice ended.

The old woman smiled and turned around to face the screen once more. Thank you, she thought before walking straight into the screen.

“This is going to be entertaining,” The voice said, “I think popcorns and a soda would be perfect for the occasion.” The voice trailed as the old woman was disappearing into the large screen.