The Choosing

"You will have 10 minutes to choose. The second I walk out and the door shuts, the timer begins. One door leads to your greatest wish, the other leads to your worst nightmare. If you do not pick in time, you will be eliminated. The timer starts.....now!"

When I was seven years old, I had my first Lesson. We learned about how the government worked and how they helped control the population.

We had to write down our greatest wish, and our biggest nightmare, when we turned 10. At the age of 16, you went into a special building. There you would find a room marked with your name. In that room, you had three sets of clothing. The first set was for the first day, a brief lesson on the history and what is going to happen. The second set was for the second day, Tunnel Readiness. They trained us on how to behave. They also gave us some helpful tips on dealing with decision-making. The last set was for the last day. The Choosing Day. You dressed in the jumpsuit, and you got to bring a token. Usually a necklace, or something that reminded you of home. I brought a hairpin that my mother gave me before she died. You would go into the Tunnel room and get ready. There were two doors. One of them held your greatest wish, pick that one, and it would become true. The other held your biggest nightmare. Choose that door, and you would have to face it.

I had written down my wish and nightmare six years ago. I had remembered the wish. It was to fall in love, be rich, have a horse, and see my sister again. She had chosen the wrong door the year before that. Her greatest nightmare was drowning. The worst part? I can't remember my worst nightmare. I have no way to prepare for it. If you survive an hour in your worst nightmare, your biggest wish becomes true. It's a very simple process. Yet, I was not excited. What could be my biggest nightmare? What is a 10-year-old girl scared about?

I had started pacing my room when I heard my room number called. I followed the green arrows to a locked door, where I had to enter a ton of personal information about myself. The door would open and a lady was sitting at a desk. She drew a drop of blood and got my fingerprint. Another door opened and I realized I was standing in the Tunnel Room.

In front of me, a man was standing there. He looked at me and stated the rules. I don't know why he had to do that. There was no way you could cheat. He asked me if I had any special skills. I took a couple of minutes to explain that I was an artist, a dancer, and I was skilled in hand-to-hand fighting. I could also use a bow and arrow. But my special skill? Knife throwing. I loved it. I could hit the target in the middle every time. With my eyes closed.

He looked at me for a second. I think he was trying to figure out if I was lying. I thought I would straight into the Tunnel, and be able to choose a door, but the man took me into a special room. I looked around. There were so many good weapons. There was just one thing I took notice of. No guns. Good. Of course, I knew that the real reason that they didn't give guns is that you could shoot your way out. Or shoot your nightmare. I knew this girl a while back. She had a sister who was 10 years older than her. I didn't think it was possible to be killed by something like that. The sister was scared of monsters, that's what she had written down. And when she chose the wrong door, there was an actual beast there. They couldn't describe it, but I made sure that whatever fear I put, I could survive it. I knew that for sure.

Anyways, back to the Training Room. The man had asked me to try out different weapons. I was allowed to take one weapon with me, in case I had picked the wrong door. I first took a bow and arrow and shot pretty good with that. But it took too long to refill. I went and tried 17 other weapons. I had ended up choosing a knife. It was beautifully crafted, and with my skills, I could kill anything that came at me.

I went back into the Tunnel Room and stepped on the launching pad. They shot me about 386 floors up. 386 was my room number so I assumed everyone's room number was their Choosing Room number as well. I looked around. No one was there. Just me. I was already thinking about which door I was going to choose when I ran into a glass wall. I didn't see it at first. In fact, I couldn't see it now. I looked on the wall and saw a 10-minute timer. Right. You have time to choose.

Just as I was about to sit down, the same man came in. He looked at me and said, "You will have 10 minutes to choose. The second I walk out and the door shuts, the timer begins. One door leads to your greatest wish, the other leads to your greatest nightmare. If you do not pick in time, you will be eliminated. Do you understand?" I looked at him and nodded. "Alright. Your time starts...now!" He exited the room and I was looking at the doors. They were identical. Nothing making them look different. No light coming from any of them. I had about five minutes left when the glass went into the floor.

A voice came over the speaker. "Stand over the launching pad in front of your chosen door. I looked back and forth. Door 1 or Door 2. 1 or 2? 1? 2? 2? 2. I looked on the ground and saw a launching pad in front of Door 2. "Get ready for launch." I put my arms at my side and held my eyes closed. "3." I took a deep breath and tried to relax. "2." Here goes. "1."

I held my eyes closed and felt myself raise. The platform had finally stopped and I opened my eyes. I was in a hallway. There were blue arrows marking the floor and walls telling me which way to go. I followed the arrows and there was another door. Okay, get ready. I took out my knife, just in case, and was ready for anything I might find behind this door. Slowly and carefully, I opened the door.

There was a forest. I was standing in a forest. I looked back at the door and saw that it had closed. I tried to open it, but it was locked. This meant one thing. I was in my worst nightmare. But what was it?