Paper Cranes

You are in a room full of paper cranes. Varying colors and sizes, all folded into the same glorious bird. They lay in colorful heaps on the floor

You count them. It takes up a lot of time, but there are 999 of them scattered throughout the room.

The door opens.

Someone walks in, holding the last paper crane.

"Make a wish."

You look at the person and smile.

"It came true now."

The person smiles back.

"I'm glad."

And the room comes alive. It is the paper cranes, lifting their paper wings. They rise into the air, hover above their heads, except for one.

The one the person is holding in front of you.

It is now handed to you, and the 999 paper cranes all edge a little bit closer.

And now it speaks.

"What wish shall we grant?"

"I want all my dreams to come true. To be happy by having a stable future--"

"Ah, but the future has never been stable. Anything can happen, O Little One. We are but guides; you are, ultimately, the one who would decide."

You look from the folds of paper in your hands, to that person.

And then, you knew what to say.

"Someday, I wish this would all be true. That I would never forget the feeling that whatever bad things might happen, I would not lose the feeling of knowing that everything would be fine in the end. That I'll have that someday and tomorrow to look forward to. 

Always."

The person in front of you smiled. You smiled back, and learn that everything can be really disappointing but it's going to be okay.

The paper crane in your hands glow, and with a soft light so does the 999 others. Then they all surrounded you, their sharp-edged wings giving you paper cuts, but it's okay.

You know life wasn't all about the pretty words and wishful thinking, and life would hurt sometimes.

And these paper cranes, they all bunched together to form one huge majestic bird, extending each of its wings to you. And that person. You each touch a wing with your hand, and you are engulfed.





And, as you know you would, you wake up.

That dream, it stays in your memory. A beacon of hope in your darkest moments, the light at the end of the tunnel.

Someday fades away, and today stands in its place.

Tomorrow was yet a story untold, yet you look forward to it with the brightest of smiles.

Next to you, the person stands. The smallest fingers of your hands are barely touching. 

But you feel the warmth.

Your 1,000th paper crane.