I looked at the options in front of me. The choice I had to make. My confidence draped over me like armour—untested, unprepared.

Conform… or trust.

Colour drained from the world through conformity. I didn’t want to lose myself, I didn’t want to lose what made me special.

My steps faltered, the honesty of my thoughts untethering me from the safety promised.

Why had everyone else done it? Did they regret it? Did they even remember? Remember the call of the unbelievable, the call of their deepest desires. Still hovering around them like a blanket of possibility.

Did they still feel it?

Or had the cost for safety and conformity been the sacrifice of their ability to dream.

Mine called to me.

A tingle took root at the base of my spine, working, clawing its way up to the base of my neck. The line between fear and excitement blurring.