The Green Room

I never really thought about planning for my future. I never really thought about my future at all. I never thought about it until my life had become so far from where I wanted it to be that I couldn't help but think about it.

Funny thing is, at that point, I could only think about 2 steps ahead. That was all I had in me.

Don't get me wrong, I used to dream. I used to dream big, and I always thought it would come to pass. Then life got harder and harder, a choice I had made I thought would change my life for the better ended up making it such a struggle to survive. Everyday was hard. I lived in a bad part of town, in a crappy apartment. I had been out of work for too long. I was afraid of where my life was headed. I cried everyday, hoping something would come along that would change every thing for the better.I asked, no begged, the powers that be to throw me a line, show me possibilities, send me all I have been asking for.

Nothing happened at all. I would wake up the next day to more of the same.

Then one day, out of the blue, I received an invitation:

YOU ARE INVITED!

THE GREEN ROOM

TONIGHT ONLY

AN IMMERSIVE LIFE EXPERIENCE GUIDED BY YOU!

I flipped the card over to find an address and time. I jumped in the shower, got dressed, and sat, waiting for time to move closer.

While I sat, I wondered what game the universe was playing on me. I had been asking for months, no years, for change, change for the better, and had incremental change, far apart, not enough to make a visible difference. I had been grateful but with the change being so far apart, momentum was never built, and I ended up on this roller coaster. There were valleys of negative thinking, self doubt, and despair. Then there were mountain tops of joy, gratitude, and hope. Could this really be the thing I was asking for?

The time finally arrived to leave. When I searched the address, I found that I could walk there, which I did in about 10 minutes.

At the address, which was in the middle of a block of seemingly abandonned storefronts, there was a beautifully carved door with a little door at eye level.

There was no handle, so I knocked. After some time, the window opened, and an eye peered out at me.

"Invitation?"

I held it up so the eye could see it. Slowly, locks were unlocked, then the door creaked open.

Just inside the door was a tall, jolly looking man dressed in a green tuxedo complete with tails and tophat.

"Welcome!" He said with a wide smile.

I whispered a thank you. My voice had left me. This is not at all what I had expected. He turned to walk down a hallway, and beckoned me to follow. The hall was lit with intermittent lights shining over paintings of all sorts that hung on the walls. Some of them looked very valuable, and although I recognized none, they were painted in the style of famous artists.

I slowed to take in the paintings, and he matched my pace. When I had my fill, I looked up to find him smiling at me.

"Amazing, aren't they?" He winked, then turned to continue our walk.

I nodded at his back, still in awe at finding myself experiencing this very bizarre thing. I suppose I should've been leery, but the only thing I felt was curiosity.

We finally came to a door. This one had carvings too but they seemed to be fluid, or at the least, not solid, which was a strange thing to behold. I wondered if there was some sort of drug being dispersed through the vents in the hall.

The man opened the door, and stood to the side. He swept his arm open, and said, " Welcome to the Green Room. "

I went inside.

The room was bathed in a soft green light. It appeared to be empty. Suddenly, the door shut behind me, and a locking mechanism engaged.

I whirled around to find the man had gone, and I was locked in.

At this point, I guess I should've been full of fear, instead, I felt a calmness come over me. If this is it, I thought, so be it. You see, life had become so hard, that the thought of someone tricking me to lock me in just seemed like the likely event.

I turned back to the room, and this time, there were chairs around the walls, comfortable looking ones, and four other people, looking just as confused as I was.

At the same time, we all walked toward each other in the center of the room. We didn't have the chance to start talking because at just that moment, another door appeared opposite of the one I came in. It flew open and in came another gentleman dressed this time in a deep plum colored tux. He carried a cane, and had a binder under his arm.

"Welcome to the show! I am the producer. It is my job to show you in when it is your turn." He opened up his binder and handed us each a packet of papers fastened in folders. Green folders, obviously.

I looked down. My name was printed in gold on the front.

"Have a seat, take your time to read through all the materials, which includes what is on the other side of that door." He pointed to the one he came through. "There is an NDA to sign which is important to agree to do before we can continue. This is your chance, ladies and gentlemen, your chance to change everything. Don't take it lightly."

We all turned to the chairs, sat down, and opened our folders.

I know I read mine, and I was willing to sign the NDA, but if you asked me to tell you what was in them, I couldn't. I CAN tell you the feelings I had.

I felt warm, protected, my body relaxed. Hope and gratitude flowed through me like the green light that enveloped the room. I sank into the chair, noticing for first time that it was a deep green velvet, literally the most comfortable chair I had ever sat in.

Questions started shooting through my brain. What is this place? Is this what it feels like to be magic? Is this the universe? What is on the other side of that door? How will it be guided by me as the invitation suggested? Am I supposed to be here?

At that point, one of the men stood up. "Hello? HELLO! I would like to speak with someone please." He put both hands on his hips after tossing his folder on the chair behind him.

Another door appeared, this time on the left from where I was. The gentleman that entered was in a uniform, and looked irritated at the interruption.

His gaze narrowed when it landed on the man, and he said, not without disdain, " Yes?"

" I demand to speak to someone in charge. What IS this? I expected an art installation not some escape room. I read these papers, and I am not signing an NDA."

The man smiled with a tinge of condescension, and held the door open. "Of course, sir. Right this way." He motioned the man through, and followed, shutting the door behind him.

Suddenly, one of the women laughed. " Well this has got to be the strangest thing I have ever experienced. And I can't help thinking he's going to the principal's office." She let out another giggle.

Pretty soon, we were all chatting, telling each other what we thought this could be, feeding off the ideas until they grew into larger than life tales.

It seemed like quite a bit of time had passed when another door appeared opposite the one the man had left through.

This door was purple, covered in carved vines painted green, with a border in sky blue. This door had a handle, an ornate one, made of what looked like gold.

A jolly voice filled the room, calling my name. It instructed me to enter through the door, and close it behind me.

I walked toward it, not looking back, opened it and went through.

On the other side stood the producer. "Your folder please", he asked as he held out his hand.

I looked around the room as I handed it over. He took out the NDA, put it on the stand next to us, and handed me a pen.

I put pen to paper. As I signed, gold ink spelled out my name and the date. He took the pen, then signed his name on the witness line.

"There we are, all set. Are you ready?" He closed the folder with the document inside, and looked me in the eye. "Your life is about to change forever." He winked, eyes sparkling.

At the other side of the room was a screen. He walked over to it and pressed one of the buttons below it. A movie started, or a scene really, and it was me. It showed me living life, flashes of images flipped by then instead of an actual rolling film, but I got the gist of it.

After that one stopped, he pressed the next button. Another flip through of images. He kept pressing, one after another, until they had all been pressed.

I don't know how long I had been there, or how many buttons had been pressed. Not all the scenes were happy or good, some were quite awful, which made me more grateful for the life I HAD been leading.

He turned those twinkling eyes on me and asked, "Which life would you like to lead?"

I opened my mouth, then closed it. I stood there for what seemed like hours, my eyes roving over all the buttons, back and forth until they crossed. I closed my eyes, breathing deep breaths, in and out, in and out.

Which button? Which life?

I took one more deep breath, opening my eyes. I smiled at the man.

"Ahhh. Excellent choice, excellent choice!" He reach over and pressed one of the buttons twice, then held it down.

A green glow emanated from the screen. It reached out like a blanket, encompassing the room. I felt euphoric, sleepy. My eyes closed.

I woke up, my eyes still closed. I felt so refreshed, my bed so comfortable. I never felt so good. A dream seemed to be fading from my mind. I tried to grasp the images. A green room, a man with a folder, a screen with life, no lives, on it. The harder I tried to remember, the more the images disappeared. The last image that came was a signed NDA. I could see my name but not the name of the witness, then that faded too.

When I opened my eyes, the dream had fully faded, without one image left to remind me. I looked around the room I was in. It felt familiar but also unfamiliar, as if I had recently moved in. I shook my head, smiling. It must be the remnants of the dream I had. While it had fully faded, the feeling that it had been the best dream I had yet remained.

I got up, walked to the kitchen, made coffee, and sat at the bar, looking out at the gorgeous garden beyond the window.

"I wonder what beauty my day will bring" I said to the room.

Gratitude filled me up, along with the sneaky sensation that something had changed, something beyond my current awareness.

I smiled, knowing my life was the one I had always wanted, and I was excited for the day ahead.