Infinite Remorse
You move into a new apartment complex, but something feels eerie. A sense of wrongness fills the atmosphere.
You find yourself in a vast, dark hall full of doors. Behind each door is a golden path you could have taken but did not. You stare at each door, seeing inside a version of yourself which has chosen the correct entrance, and whose life is filled with success and happiness. Doctors, drivers, and businessmen, all with a large salary and a sense of purpose. You stare back at yourself, which is by comparison a failure and eternally sad.
You were reminded of every unfortunate moment, experiencing the consequences of your impulsive actions on others and yourself. You begin to remember the memories lost throughout time, a harsh reminder of the snowballing effects of your choices. Your sense of what a burden you are to society increases with each passing thought.
In one of the rooms, you hear echoes of yourself. They were alternate versions of you from parallel universes, who have chosen to do the more beneficial thing. They whisper their regrets about your existence and their sense of belonging from the contributions they have made to others.“We’ve done good, and you’ve only caused pain.”
In another room, you see a mirror. However, instead of a reflection, you see the presence of other human beings, the same ones as you have wronged in the past. Their pain and suffering reflected onto you, forcing you to confront the severe cascading effects of your behaviour. “It is time for you to think and feel the pain from our perspectives.”
In yet another room, you see a shadow. It moves right in front of you, trying to haunt you for the effects of your belonging in this world. You try to turn your head, but it still won’t let you calm down. It grows larger and darker until you cannot ignore it anymore. “Nobody likes you, and you are only a burden.”
You begin to lose your sense of dignity, starting from not being respected to outright being discriminated against and completely ignored by others. You feel as if the purpose of existence fades away.
The universe is gigantic, and relative to it you are less than a grain of sand. You have no purpose. Even though you are the most powerful in shaping yourself, you just feel the dread of your powerlessness, destroying your sense of self whatever you do, and wherever you are.
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