Destiny Awaits - Choose Wisely

"You are to go to the Walper Building. On the fifth floor, there will be a choice. You must choose wisely. Your future depends on it."

"Okay, I can choose wisely," Andy said with a confidence that only a young man could contain.

"Ah, you must understand. In your choosing, you may find the answer or you may not."

Andy gave the man a confused glance. His brows drew together in consternation. "What do you mean?'

"You will see when you arrive. Chose wisely."

Frustrated. His skin prickled with anxiety,he left the old man and headed for the Walper Building.

"Interesting place, the Walper," the cab driver told him.

"What do you know about it?" Andy asked, his nerves beginning to twitch like a guitar string. The vibration accelerating his heart rate.

The cabby only shook his head. "Odd place that. Some people go in... never see them again. Don't know where's they go... odd place."

Andy could not make head or tail of the cabby's banter.

When he arrived at the austere old building, he looked up to see the five stories standing stately. The red brick façade revealed nothing. As he approached the entrance, the doorman nodded at him before opening the door to admit him. Inside revealed a lobby of clean lines.

He approached the elevator and pushed the button. His hands had become clammy with nervous energy. He wiped them on his pants as he glanced around the space. No one looked at him. Each devoted to the task they were immersed in. One man with a newspaper; another on the phone.

The elevator dinged and Andy turned to face the door as it slid open to reveal a rather tall gentleman dressed in formal attire, wearing white gloves.

"Floor?" the man asked as Andy stepped forward.

"The fifth, please."

The man stared at him for a beat, then nodded and pressed the button. The doors slide closed, and the elevator drew them up.

With each floor, Andy could feel the sweat bead on his upper lip. His back was damp. He stood perfectly still, his eyes watching the numbers increase from one to five.

"Here we are, sir," the gentleman said.

"Thank you," Andy forced out as calmly as he could manage. He stepped out into a wide open space carpeted with a luxury print of swirls in black and grey. They reminded him of snakes as he moved over them. Glancing around all he could see where two doors.

Which was he to take? He glanced back at the elevator to see there were no buttons to bring it back. He was alone, with only the two doors.

He walked over to the door on the left. It was red. There was a sign which read, This door will lead you to your future success. Could be a wise choice, but he ambled over to the second door just to be sure. The second door was blue. The sign on it read, The other door is a falsehood.

His jaw dropped. Which door was he to take? The red door... which was his bright future or the other which said the red door was a lie.... not so great... but then what was behind the blue door? It hadn't said.

Confusion gripped him like a vise. He gasped for air. His vision began to swim in front of him. He felt light-headed as he reached out to the wall. Which door? Was he over thinking this? Was the room suddenly feeling smaller.... forcing him to decide?

He pressed his ear to each door, but he could hear nothing but his own gasping for breath. Finally he threw himself through the Blue door. Blackness swamped him. As he turned, as if changing his mind, the door slammed behind him and silence reigned.

Had he made the right decision? Nobody knows.

Word count = 645.

Notes ▼

The Writer's Cramp - due September 5, 2022 by 11:59 am.
A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules or limitations. [1] The term was coined by Joseph Heller, who used it in his 1961 novel Catch-22. An example is Brantley Foster in The Secret of My Success: "How can I get any experience until I get a job that gives me experience?"
Write a story or poem about a Catch-22. Make Mystery one of your genres.

What do you do in a Catch-22 situation?
If you describe a situation as a Catch-22, you mean it is an impossible situation because you cannot do one thing until you do another thing, but you cannot do the second thing until you do the first thing. It's a Catch-22 situation here.

The red button is True
The blue button - the red button is false.