Onward

It happened again. Cheryl stodding shaking in front of the two doors, hands trembling.

It's just a dream, she told herself. But was it?

Night after night she had awoke in a cold sweat, gasping for air after the terrifying experience. An experience that felt way too real to be just a dream.

But how could it be anything else? She thought to herself. The voice came, just like it always did. A voice that sounded like it came from above, a voice that sounded untouchable.

"Choose." It commanded.

She knew all too well what would happen if she didn't choose, because she had never had the nerve to before. The horrifying wolflike creature would appear.

She knew she had about two minutes, she had counted the minutes in her head every time she appeared here. Wherever here was.

One minute left.

Her heart was beating faster and faster, awaiting the inevitable. Getting torn to pieces by the wolf creature was no pleasant experience, it was excruciatingly painful. She looked at the two doors feeling a knot in her chest. Both looked exactly the same; Solid oak, with golden doorknobs. Both with the word puram engraved on them. She had no idea what that word meant, and never had enough time to ponder it. She always meant to Google it when she woke, but could never recall the word.

Thirty seconds.

She heard the growl of the wolf. Her eyes darted between the doors. Puram sounded like a nice word, but what if it meant something horrible? Were either of the doors the right choice?

Ten seconds.

Cheryl knew she couldn't go on like this forever. Someday she would have to make a choice. The scraping sounds of the creature's claws reached her ears. Come on, come on! Her brain screamed at her.

Five seconds.

Practically vibrating with fear, she threw open the door to the right, and slammed it behind her before the hideous wolf could come bounding in after her. She crouched down on the ground, with her hands covering her eyes. She was terrified of what was to come next. Wherever she was now, it was silent. Finally, after calming her breathing down, Cheryl stood up and slowly opened her eyes.

She was in what appeared to be a forest, the sun made the sky look golden. It was warm, and the silence was replaced with the sounds of birds chirping. Her fear slowly melted away. She waded through clear blue rivers, and walked through grass that was impossibly soft. After wandering through the breathtaking atmosphere for about ten minutes, she came to an open field. It was full of flowers blowing in the breeze, and long tall yellow grass. She stooped down to pick a daisy, and put it to her nose. It's smell was delightful, she couldn't remember the last time she had smelled a flower. She was only allowed out in a dreary courtyard at the mental hospital. She had never felt so at peace, so calm, so free. When she looked towards the horizon, she saw a woman walking toward her. The woman was wearing a white dress, and was barefoot like her.

"Hello Cheryl." The woman greets. Her voice is gentle and soft. "I'm glad you chose."

"Where am I? Is this a dream?"

"It's neither dream nor reality." The strange woman answers. "You have finally chose, so you are here."

"Where did the other door lead?" Cheryl asks, "Did I choose the right one?"

"The other door leads to here also." The woman replies.

"You mean..." Cheryl gasps, shocked. "I could have avoided the horrifying wolf creature by going into either of those doors? This must be some kind of trick! Do you know how terrifying that was for me? Night after night of waking up screaming?"

"Yes." The woman answers. "I also knew that you had a mental illness."

"You knew about my Decidiphobia?" Cheryl asks, shocked. "You knew I was in the mental hospital?"

"Yes." She replies. "It was time for your suffering to end."

"I don't understand, what do you mean?" Cheryl questioned the woman.

"You are now free of your intense fear of making decisions. You overcame it yourself. You finally chose a door. And now you can go back to living life." And with that, the strange woman dissapeared.

Cheryl woke up in the hospital bed like she always did. But this time she didn't wake up screaming, or crying. She woke up feeling lighter, happier. But she didn't know why.

When Doctor Carson came in to do the daily drills, he was shocked. Everyday for three years he had come in and ask Cheryl to choose between certain items. What to eat for breakfast, what to wear, etc. And she always had a panic attack, or froze with fear. But this time she had chose those things easily.

"I just don't understand it." He told Nurse Hailey, scaratching his head. "How can a nineteen year old be fine just like that? It's like a switch just flipped in her brain overnight!"

"I don't know." Nurse Hailey replied, "but I sure am grateful she's getting better."

"Me too." Doctor Carson responded, "she has been here for too long, three years in a hospital has been hard for her."

"I'm going to call her family." Nurse Hailey announced, marching over to the telephone with joy in her eyes.

After two more months, Cheryl went home to her family. They welcomed her with open arms, and many happy tears were shed. She was asked again and again by her parents what had made her overcome her fear, but she didn't exactly know. She herself often pondered it at night, but didn't come to a conclusion.

As she sat one Saturday afternoon, doing her Latin homework, she stumbled across a word she didn't know.

"Puram?" She muttered to herself. She felt like she had heard that word before, but she couldn't recall where. She opened her laptop and googled it. Puram meant "onward" in English. Onward had never been such a welcoming word, she'd moved onward from her mental illness, and from the hospital.

She smiled to herself, and continued her homework.