Note: I found this on an old DVD of mine. The creation date was 2007/04/03 – a little something from my HSC year.

Picking myself up from the ground, I gazed around at my surroundings – the silver sky above, the long green grass, the olive forest off in the distance – it all seemed so serene bathed in the soft light.

Why was I there? Where was there? I did not know, but that was not a cause for concern, for the emotion that had swept over me was a strange tranquillity. It was a peaceful feeling, like that which one feels after having returned home following an absence that had been for far too long.

Home – an ideal that everyone has a place to return to, where they are eagerly embraced and loved. These thoughts evoked a sense of longing within me, my heart felt heavy, my eyes gazed towards the ground.

Where are you? I instinctively thought. Who was it that I requested? My mind struggled with the question to which I knew I had the answer, yet could not grasp.

My eyes found that they could not avert themselves from an area of forest just ahead, and I wandered blindly towards it. It had a mystical feeling much like the sense of peace I had experienced moments earlier.

A light-headed feeling overcame me as I drew nearer. Although it frightened me, I let the sensation overwhelm my body as I fell to the ground. The grass before my face still swayed gently in the wind as it began to blur and everything faded into darkness.

‘Serena!’ A voice called from the distance, stirring me from my slumber. It was an unmistakably familiar voice uttering an even more recognizable name.

Of course, Serena, that name was my own, and the voice had been that my brother. He ran up and stood before me and I wondered if we truly were related at all – his black hair and dark brown eyes held no resemblance towards my own mahogany coloured hair and hazel eyes.

Nevertheless, at heart, he was still my beloved older brother and nothing could ever change that. Or so I thought at the time.

‘Serena, what are you doing out here still?’ He asked, genuinely concerned, and I could not help but smile. What was better than knowing that someone truly cared for you?

‘I’m not sure, just relaxing I suppose,’ I replied as I stood once again in the long grass, realising that I still had not figured out why I had awoken in the field and why, for a moment, I could not remember a thing.

‘Still thinking about the past?’ More questions, but this one intrigued me. Indeed, I had often visited this location to contemplate my memories – the things I held most dearly, for without them, where was the proof of my existence?

My past however, remained a mystery even to me. I could only recall vague memories, mainly of me with someone that looked a lot like me. Perhaps it was my sister. Did I ever have a sister? My brother said I did not, but I am quite sure that at one time I did.

‘Kind of, well, yes,’ I replied, not wanting to lie to my own brother.

‘Do not worry so much, if it was meant to be remembered, you will remember it some day,’ he tried to reassure me, and as usual, he had a good point.

Nevertheless, I was curious to know what had happened all those years ago.

‘What are you doing here?’ The thought had just occurred to me, why was my brother at this place? Usually he would have work to do, for living in such a remote area would naturally mean that we must be self sufficient, especially after our parents were killed on that fateful night.

Whether it was fortunate or not, my memories of that night stayed hazy – a drop of blood here, a pool of it there, my own screams and my mother’s cold body. What exactly had happened and why was still unknown to me, a matter to which the truth my brother was unwilling to reveal.

‘I was looking for you. Hey, you’re daydreaming again,’ he replied and snapped me out of my trance. True, for all too often, I would simply gaze into the distance and be lost in thought. It helped me think things through and, although I tried to be as rational as possible, my curiosity usually led me onto some reckless adventure.

‘Oh,’ I mumbled as I went back into my daze. Although none of my memories were ever clear, I was sure there was something about a previous winter that held a certain degree of significance. It may have been another one of my escapades, or perhaps something more, if only my memory had served me well.

‘Let’s go,’ my brother interrupted my daydream and grabbed my arm.

Tick tick.

Tick tick.

The sound at the traffic lights was barely audible above the noise of the busy city street – the cars rushing by, the people laughing and chatting incessantly, the woman on the corner preaching some new order, the man outside the station entrance playing the guitar beside his dog, the salespeople standing outside stores with microphones. When you are in such a rush, time seems to slow and yet you fail to notice these things – they simply are faded into the background and ignored.

Yet you notice the ticking, holding you back, reminding you to wait until the time is right. You stand there, waiting for the sudden increase in ticking and transformation of the light to depict the green walking man. It is almost as if the green walking man will set you free, opening the barriers holding you back so you can race forward. Forward to the ext intersection, and the next, however many it takes until you get to your destination.

These journeys, as simple as they seem are capable of impacting upon one’s life more than you can imagine. One moment of hesitation here or there, one small decision to take this route or that, to stop by this store or that one, to cross the street at the lights or not – these are just some of those insignificant decisions that can change your life.

This is the story of Matthew, one such example of how a simple journey spanning no more than four blocks can turn the world as you know it upside down. But at the end of it all, the question that will still keep you wondering – if he had known the consequences of that one small trip, would he have still left the house that day?

Once upon a time there was a wonderful kingdom known as Elu, ruled by a very wise and noble king known as Mai Sama. Everybody in the kingdom spent their days in happiness as the kingdom had been blessed by a celestial being upon Mai Sama’s ascension of the throne. However, the road to becoming a much loved and famous king had not been easy for Mai Sama, and this is his story..