The Darkness Within

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. — Plato

It's afternoon and you are in a bus, on your way to school. It's your final school year and the results of the last examinations are to be announced today, after the farewell party. You look around yourself, at the few familiar faces of schoolmates that are riding along with you and then you look ahead and think to yourself, "This result is the most important. It'll determine my life and my future after all." But maybe fate has something else in store for you.

The bus comes to a halt in front of the school building. You get down and smell the fresh wind of the spring. That's when you hear a voice calling out to you from the right. It's Dennis, your best friend. You wave at him. He comes up to you and you greet each other and then you start walking down towards the school's entrance. Laughing, he says, "Gonna top again this time, eh Jonathan?" A smirk appears on your face. "Well, what do you think?" "I think that you will," replies Dennis. Your expression turns serious all of a sudden and with a spark in your eyes you exclaim, "I ought to! It's what makes my parents and teachers happy, and that's what makes me happy." Dennis knows this already, better than anyone else and is worried that it will be harmful for you in the long run. He has always said that you've got to live for yourself. That trying to please everyone who comes across your way will cause you nothing but unnecessary pain. "Little does he know," you have always thought to yourself, considering all the moments of praise you have received by pleasing your parents, teachers and just about everyone else who has ever come across your way.

By the end of the exchange the both of you enter the main hall where the party is being held. You look around the brightly lit room with colourful lights and see huge speakers near the stage. You can see a long table with food and drinks on one side of the room and you examine the crowd on the dance floor. You can see Dennis getting worked up, his feet starting to move to the sound of music. "Come on, Jonny Boy! Let's party!" So you get down on the floor after him and have yourself a good time. You meet up with the rest of your friends and then you dance like there's no tomorrow. You relish the food and drinks and savour the company of your friends.

It's evening by the time the party's over. You, along with your friends, walk out the of the hall and make your way towards the notice board where the results are being displayed. Slowly, you weave through the cluster of students trying to see their results and finally end up on yours. You can't believe your eyes. "It can't be," you think to yourself, "No. No! For my grades to drop so low? How?!" By now, your bright and cheerful expression has changed into a dark and pale one. You turn around to discover your acquaintances looking at you in astonishment, as if to say, "You?! This wasn't expected of you." You fear judgment. Above all, you have lived your entire life trying to hide from it. Even now, one screw up, one big screw up and you feel as if the entire world is out to get you.

You have never faced such a situation before. With your inner world in turmoil and your heart full of confusion, you gulp back your emotions. Looking at your watch, you blurt out a cheesy excuse, "Oh my god, I am late!", and hurriedly move out of the school building, not paying much attention to whatever's happening around you. Once out of the school building, you start walking even faster, feeling as if you might suffer from a panic attack any time now. After about a mile of walking in the same direction you calm down a bit. You come back to your senses and feel your heart pounding in your chest, you feel the sweat on your palms and the beads of sweat on your forehead. You realize that you're not thinking straight and start looking for a place to sit down and relax. You find an empty bench in a nearby park.