A Metaphor

My significant other was facing depression and this is a short story of how I attempted to help them and overcame the struggles I faced.

The worst thing to ever happen to me thus far in life. I saw him falling and reached out my hand. I told him I wouldn't let go until he was back on solid ground. He looked so weak... So frail... So helpless. I felt his grip slipping and knew I had to do something. I leaned just a little further to try and grab on with both hands... I reached as far as I could reach and leaned as far as I could lean, and then next thing I knew I flew off the ledge. Here we both were, falling, spiraling, going deeper and deeper. Neither of us knew whether we should reach out and comfort each other in our last moments or if we should just keep our distance and see where gravity takes us. Would the natural forces of the world bring us together in flight or would they direct us down alternate paths? We were to find out soon enough, for within the blink of an eye we were at the bottom. It was the scariest place I had ever seen. There was absolute darkness all around and we appeared to be all alone. We wandered around the bottom aimlessly, hoping to find a way out. Then we heard a voice. The voice told us that there were two ways to come up from the bottom:
The first way out was to go to the wall and walk along it until we felt one of two arched entrances to two separate passageways. Each passageway was for one person to travel, and one person only. If we chose to take this way out, we would reach the top by the end of the night. However, we would come out separately and be destined to never see each other again.
The second way out of the bottom was to go to the wall and walk along it until we felt a squared entrance to a passageway. This path was to be traveled by two people, side by side. If this path was taken, then we would come out at the top together, to live life as we please. However, this path would take us several days to travel.
After informing us of our options, the voice disappeared and we were left to make a decision. Immediately my thought was that we would take the long path and stay together, but he evidently had other plans. Plans that did not involve me. Before I could utter a word, he was gone. He had left to travel the path on his own and reach home by the end of the night, and I was left alone. I stood there, at the bottom, confused, hurt and afraid. I did not understand how someone who I had given my all to could just abandon me. I continued to ponder this thought as I headed up my path towards home. I was miserable, and so immersed in my thoughts that I hardly realized after walking for hours that I took the wrong path. I was walking up the square path, not the arched one that I should have taken to be home by nights end. I was so upset, that I didn't even bother to turn around and head back to find the other path. I was in no rush to get home and find that my love was not there waiting for me. My emotions took over me and I softly began to sob. It felt like my world was over. Just when I was about to stop walking and give up on getting home, I heard the voice again. This time it took a different tone. It sounded concerned, almost as if it were worried about me. The voice said, "Why are you sobbing? Do you not understand what this means?" I was confused at this second question. My emotions were already running wild and the last thing I wanted to do was decipher the voice's questions. It spoke again when it realized that I lacked a response. "You have been done a favor. That was a weak man that just walked out of your life. He has been so shaped and conformed by society that he has lost the ability to see what's right in front of him. You deserve someone who genuinely cares for you and would go to extreme lengths to not only see you happy, but to experience the satisfaction of being the reason why someone they love smiles. It may feel as though you've lost someone that you can't live without, but in reality, it is now that you can start living." The voice said all of the right things. I began to realize that just because I have to walk a few miles alone, doesn't mean that I'll be alone forever. This time by myself will allow me to grow and develop as an individual so that one day, when I reach the top, I will know exactly where I want to go and what I hope to find. I saw the sunlight up ahead. I had a choice to make: Either I would let all of the bumps in my path tear me down and stop me from reaching the top, or I would grow stronger from the adversities that I came across and eventually get to where I wanted to be. What did I decide to do? I grew. I learned. I fought. I ended up at the top, and there was no looking back.

Author's Note

I'm not a serious writer by any means. Just expressed myself and wanted to put it out there as maybe a way to help someone else get through a tough situation.