During a prior chapter of my life, I saw a person from my past when I least expected it. A skeleton out of the dark closet came out of somewhere I swore I shut and burned. It was disturbing, but I knew my mistake, and I learned from it. Learning from my mistake and having time pass definitely let the sour feeling go down a bit but it didn’t permanently erase everything.

Seeing someone from your past is the physical manifestation of all your regrets, bad thoughts, and animosity. It’s like seeing a monster in real life. I thought I had gotten over it, forgave myself since I learned a huge lesson in life, but when I saw that person, it felt like the guilt never left.

As I enjoy the gift of the present time, seeing someone from my past triggers a flashback, a flashback where I see the old me in the body of that person. It felt like rereading a letter of anguish I had written long ago. I knew what words came next, words that were quite hard to swallow, and each sentence just brought back the regret more and more. But, now that I reflect upon this, remembering who I used to be is just another motivation to be better.

So, who exactly was I at that time? I was 18, inexperienced, gullible, and unsuspecting of any consequences from my actions. I misinterpreted what was going on due to misconceptions I had about friendship. After this friendship ended, I never thought I would cross paths with this person again.

But, it is a small world after all. In some instances, it’s a living nightmare.