Mirror

I Can Speak! I miss my childhood. I remember always smiling. Was I ever truly sad? I cannot recall a single tear. I dream of my childhood home and it remains vivid and alive in my memory. I can see the walls covered with drawings and pieces of my imagination sprawled across every corner. I see the living room where my parents and I would sit together to watch movies or the news after the day was done. The aroma of my mother’s cooking would drift from the kitchen and fill every room with comfort. Our bedroom was a sanctuary. We slept in the same room and I can still feel the safety of being near my parents. Life back then felt whole and untouched by worry. I believed I had everything and I believed I could do anything. I ache for that innocence and that unshakable certainty. Sometimes I daydream about those early school years when the world felt limitless and magical. My school sat near nature and the quiet halls felt imbued with a sacred presence. I hear the water that cut through the landscape where my friends and I would laugh until our voices echoed. The fields nearby were my favorite place. The grass swayed in harmony with the wind and the trees rustled their leafy applause as we played beneath their branches. I remember laughing in old photographs. Making friends was as easy as breathing back then because every conversation seemed to bloom into a new friendship. I was fearless and unafraid of words. Sometimes I look back at the faces of my childhood friends and wonder if they remember me. I felt so loved and seen. It is astonishing how quickly the world can change. Is nostalgia deceiving me by painting my past in hues brighter than it deserves? When I look closely I see the cracks I missed as a child. Back then I did not understand why adults could not get along like us kids. I did not know why my parents fought. They shielded me from their struggles but the stories they tell now reveal a harsher truth. While I was playing outside my parents were fighting bitter battles with their work and enduring unfair treatment. These hardships unfolded right in front of me yet I never noticed. I lived in my own little world untouched by their pain. I wonder now if my happiness brought them any comfort. I hope so. When I moved away that joyful innocence began to unravel. Growing up marked the beginning of the end. The world eventually started to feel heavier. Political division left everything feeling fractured and the rise of technology turned life into a competition. Jealousy and comparison became the norm and the pressure to project a perfect life consumed us all. Then came the isolation of recent years. The loneliness seeped into my soul and even now the weight of the world feels unbearable. Conflict rages across the globe and my homeland feels constantly in the crosshairs of looming danger. The news reminds me daily that the peace I once believed in was always an illusion. My life today often feels like a burden. Days blur together without meaning. I remember little joy from my early teenage years because that was when the last vestiges of my childhood shattered. The atmosphere in my home erupted into open conflict. Separation hung over us like a storm cloud and the distance between my family members broke my heart. I cried almost every night. My focus fell apart. I did not want to wake up or face another day. I withdrew from friends because I was determined not to burden them with my pain. On the surface I wore a mask of laughter and light but inside I was drowning. Ironically my friends tell me I seemed happiest during that time. My parents eventually decided to resolve things for my sake and that sacrifice weighs on me heavily. I wonder if I have stolen their chance at true happiness or if they traded their peace for mine. This thought drives me to succeed because I want to show them their sacrifice was worth it. I want to make them proud. Yet I have never felt more alone. Even with my closest friends I hold back because I am too insecure to let them see the real me. Self-doubt lingers like a shadow and whispers my failures back to me. Every setback cuts deeper than the last. I have hurt others too and the guilt gnaws at me. I regret the friendships I let slip away and the moments when I was not true to myself. These regrets haunt me. If only I could go back and rewrite those chapters of my life I might be someone stronger and freer, but the past is unyielding. As I lie dying one day what will I see in the mirror? Will I see someone who achieved their dreams or someone who fell short? Will I see a kind soul or a broken one? Will I see someone who embraced the joys of life or someone who let pain and doubt consume them? I hope I will see someone who found peace. I want to see someone who rediscovered the lightness of childhood and loved deeply without fear. I hope I will see someone who turned their pain into something beautiful. The traumas I carry may never fully leave me. They may haunt me until my final breath. But I dream of liberation and a release from this weight. I dream of a return to that innocence. If not in this life then perhaps in the next. 101 Story & Pacing: 20/20 Characters & Acting: 20/20 Themes: 50/50 Cinematography & Editing: 5/5 Soundtrack & Sound: 5/5 Memorability: 1/1