Yellow eyes of courage

He saw the bird flying up in the sky. That is a sign, he thought. They followed the bird down the valley although he didn't believe in signs. The bird flew circles around them when the valley led them to the clearing of the enchanted forest. They say you meet you're biggest fears in it while monsters consume your body. Only a few brave soldiers dared to enter that part of the kingdom. The queen was afraid that the creatures in it would one day invade her palace. She was a good queen. Caring and loving for her people she tried to protect. 

He studied the bird that was now hovering above the trees like it wanted them to go there. Looking into the first line of trees, he noticed something behind a dead oak. It's yellow eyes pulled him closer like he didn't have any self control anymore. He left his friends and entered the forest. All he could hear where the protests behind him : "Don't go! ""We will get help!". And then it all became quiet. Those yellow eyes became brighter. It felt like he was starring directly into the sun. It blinded him and swallowed him whole into a tunnel of light and darkness. 

At the end he fell into a space of nothing but white. Looking up, he saw a big red, wooden door. It was made out of solid wood and the big, golden, round doorknob shone like it wanted to be touched. He felt drawn to it but discovered he wasn't alone anymore. 

A mirror appeared next to the door. He recognized the yellow eyes first but the boy took him by surprise. He was starring at his 8- year old self. He mimicked every move he made in front of that mirror. He tried to ask what was happening but the boy just repeated everything. It was like he didn't have any identity of his own. He took a few steps closer and rested his hand on the boy's shoulders. "Help me understand.", he asked. 

The boy looked up at him and said "I will show you then. Come with me.".

He put his hand on his head and they got pulled back into the tunnel. They got dropped into a beam of light. There he saw his younger self in the gras playing football with his friends. He was laughing and having fun. Beside him stood his 8-year old self, still holding him and watching the game in front of them. He looked sad while they were looking at something joyful. He witnessed how he wrestled with his brothers and steals cookies from the kitchen cabinets without his mother noticing. He smiled but the boy next to him was crying. 

They got back into that tunnel but this time they stopped into a dark beam. He saw his 20-year old self receiving the news of his father's passing. It was like the world stopped and everything else kept moving on. The boy beside him wasn't crying anymore. He looked lifeless and cold. It seemed like he was sleeping with his eyes open. The yellowness faded and turned into something darker.He witnessed a year of sadness in just a few minutes. How he stopped going to college, how he ended things with his girlfriend, the sadness he couldn't allow , the needs that weren't answered, the questions he was left behind with,... 

The little boy held his hand. He looked up and whipped away his tears. He hadn't noticed them until now. The tears weren't made out of water but light, yellow light. The boy said: "It's okay to let yourself feel what hurts the most." "If you don't allow yourself to get hurt, you'll never know what it's like to feel joy again." "I need you. And I think you are enough." "You'where never alone. I stood next to you through the light and the dark."" But don't let the darkness consume what's left of that light. It's the darker times that invite you to pursue the light again." "You can't feel joy when you turn away the sadness and hurt." By feeling them, you can be complete and whole again."

After the boy finished his last sentence, he got pulled back into the white room with the red door. The mirror didn't show a younger self but an older one this time. He had wrinkles in his face and his beard was turning grey. This self didn't mimic his movements but held out his hand. In it he held a jar full of those yellow tears. "Open it.",he said. "See there is brightness in there too that you can only acces when you gift them." He accepted it and opened the jar. He took the golden tears and put them into his eyes. By doing so, he saw the boy playing football again and the 8-year old boy next to him smile. After that he saw his 20-year old self again and gave his golden tears to the boy next to him. He then stepped out of the dark and handed them over to his 20-year old self. He was startled but accepted this gift. "It's okay not to be okay", he said. "You can let go now." The 20-year old self started crying when he traveled back right in front of the big, red door. 

He touched the big round, golden doorknob and opened it when big, bright beams of light welcomed him into the clearing again. The bird was gone and his friends were relieved to see him returned. From that day on he remembered to live again.