This was dangerous. Too dangerous. However, going back wasn’t an option. I watched the faces of my wife and little girl as we continued walking. At the end of this tunnel, there was unknown. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There were rumors. Rumors of a place filled with something called color. Something that wasn’t just stark light or dark night. The first time I heard about it, I was intrigued. I had been researching the possibility of parallel worlds. Everything I read went back to this. This tunnel. The one that had been blocked off and guarded for forever. Everyone who had dared to cross, never came back. They had either found paradise, or died trying. That’s what I had concluded anyways. If so much as one person had come back, I wouldn’t have brought my family. I would have kept them safe until I came back and brought them with me. But I didn’t know if I could come back. This dream had been in my head for so long, I wouldn’t give up. The possibility of a better world for my wife and daughter was too good to pass up. I had to find out what was on the other side of this tunnel. I had to know if this place was real. I loved them too much to leave them behind. If it was true and I couldn’t come back, I wouldn’t be able to bear being without them. So we left. The one night in 20 years that the tunnel would be unlocked for those wishing to cross. It’s not like they could have defended it if they wanted to. Every 20 years at midnight, if you aren’t at home, you die. No one really knows how or why. They just know that if you want to survive this phenomenon, you need to be wherever you consider home. Wives go to there children; men go to their mistresses; dogs go to their masters. Even they somehow comprehend the severity of being home on that night. Because of this urgentness, there’s a gap of time where no one is guarding the tunnel. It’s always a gamble because if you haven’t crossed by the time it becomes midnight, you die. This is why turning back isnt an option. We have to cross soon. Walking into the bright light at the end of the tunnel, I hold my daughter’s hand. I take a deep breath and turn to my wife. She nods, and we step into it.

It invelops up in a pleasent feeling I’ve never felt before. It feels like the opposite of the flushed shivers we all feel. It makes me sigh and feel safe. I kept walking. Finally, we come out to find more light. However, it isn’t stark, it’s welcoming. My eyes adjust as I take in the scene. I can’t even describe what I find before me. The trees and ground are a strange hue I’ve never seen before. I’m trying to comprehend how this could even be possible to make with light and dark. Maybe there’s some other substance that comes into play? One we don’t have? I look up at the sky and find a lighter hue. Beautiful. That’s all I can say. There are blobs of what appear to be soft light that dot the sky. There are all these different hues all around me. I’m filled with an undescribable joy that rises up in me and seems to overflow. Then I glance at my wife and child.

They have the same happy expression on their faces but something’s different. They have hues too. I’m astounded and confused. How? This sight immediately fills me with the greatest joy I’ve yet to feel. I laugh. The first of hopefully many. I like how it feels. Very different from the laughs and jeers of the soldiers when they beat civilians. This laugh is welcoming, happy, and automatic. I pick up my wife and twirl her around.

“We found color! We found color! You have color!” I repeat this over and over until I’m too dizzy to continue.

“You found color! You have color!” She adds on.

I kiss her on the lips and pick up my daughter.

“Are you happy?” I ask, barley able to contane my excitement.

“Yes yes yes!” She yells.

I envelope them both in a hug that feels much like the light does. Welcoming and happy. I made it. We made it. We’re finally free. And color, color is so wonderful.