Memories

I gently tug the teak drawer and turn the pages of a hardcover album. Then, my hands slip onto a smooth and glossy photograph of my playful childhood. It took me back eleven years ago. The photograph fell with a sudden knock and as it hit onto the ground, the room completely transformed into the suspenseful environment in the picture with a sudden violent tremor. I felt that I was pulled into the image. I looked around and searched for my photograph. But, it was out of sight. I started to panic with fear. My heart pounded, my face turned pale and I started questioning myself. 

“Where am I?” I asked my echoing conscience.

I could see my old house that I lived in. I walked towards my room through the corridor passing every room. I saw all my tiny LEGO’s located here and there. The window was open letting a beautiful beam of sunshine reflect into the room. I could see myself in the room, playing with building blocks and creating inventions that no one has ever thought of before. I picked every block and placed it on another block almost as it was natural. To my surprise, the tower fell. Then something caught my eye. I heard the sharp ting of the oven. The delicious and succulent smell of freshly baked cake filled the room. I saw myself rushing to the oven, opening the door and pulling the tray with a pair of tongs and eating a thick slice of cake. My mouth started watering. I was tempted to try a piece too. I could see myself reaching for the shelf and grabbing some bottles of paint, a handful of pale white papers,a big, fat crayon and sticking my hand into the bottles and smudging it all over the paper with pride and confidence. Finally, it was topped off with some random crayon drawings (similar to scribblings). Honestly, it didn’t look that bad. 

“Well, what an artist!” I said silently.

That's the beauty of childhood. You never get freedom like that when you're a grownup. Admiringly, I sat on the wooden floor and picked up a relatively shiny LEGO and kept it near an area where the beam of sunlight reflected on to find some clue to get me out of this caption. The LEGO was spotlighted instantly and the beautiful beam of sunlight started pointing onto something. As I got a closer glimpse of what it was, I grabbed it by its corner and to my relief, it was the photograph. 

“There you are!” I screamed with excitement, determined to go home.

But, there was something unusual about it that I had never noticed before. It said “What would you do if you were you.”

“What!” I sat on the floor confused what  that quote actually meant.

“Now that's kind of a tricky question.”

I tried to recall it again and again. But, I couldn’t get the hang of it. I repeated it once, twice, thrice but it was no use. Then a bunch of questions popped into my mind. (1) What if it was something related to a keyword? (2) What if it was something about my childhood? (3) If solved, will it take me to my own real bedroom or simply, home? Ten minutes in and I’m desperate for answers, but I feel I have the answer on the tip of my tongue. I feared for the worst. Just imagine you being trapped in your own childhood with no way out, surrounded by a barricade that restricts your interaction with real life. I felt like I was in a movie with some kind of imaginary time stone, with absolutely no knowledge on how to operate it.

Anyways back to the story, I found one answer. I remembered that I had hidden a golden brown LEGO in a time capsule located in the backyard. When I was small I would always go to the backyard, dig a hole up just to see it. I’m actually not sure why I buried it. I picked up my photograph and ran to it at full speed. After eleven years it had been waiting for me to find it. I dug a partially big hole and found it laying flat on the ground. I opened it and the wind blew a ring of dust from the lid. There were pieces of paper and pieces and pieces of chalk and beneath all, there was the golden LEGO that I had been looking for. I ran my icy cold hands on the brick. As the photograph and the LEGO rubbed together, to my surprise the environment started to change again. 

Maybe that was the key to reality after all. I rather expected something more challenging like some kind of magical stone glowing some sort of evil greenish colour, buried in a treasure box. But, most importantly, this time I was in my own room standing tall and strong, staring at the photograph on my hands and moving in slow motion. I put the photograph in the album into its own private transparent cellophane cover being exceptionally careful to not drop it again.

“What an experience!” I said jumping onto the bed and staring at the lustrous pale blue walls.

After all, messing with time can be very peculiar and extremely annoying especially if you are a mediator or a person who is insanely, super humanly productive. Generally, who would like to be trapped in memories forever? During this amazing time travel trip, I got a glimpse of childhood and a complete spin in time. Time can show you every moment that you have experienced in life in a weird and a sort of wonderful way. So, be careful with it. Treat it like a monument and it will be your friend, treat it harshly, it will be your foe. Finally, you can’t escape from your childhood memories. It will come up with some kind of tricky question that may confuse you one day!