the abandoned theatre part fifteen

Back in the filing cabinet room, I see a quick flash and then another cabinet is open. Someone else is here... but I can't see him. That means that this room holds everyone's memories, but to me it appears to only hold mine. An endless collection of memories, moments, realizations and disappointments... and what does it all add up to in the end? If I disappear, will all of this disappear too?

The open cabinet reads "What I need most." I must have overlooked this one, or else I surely would have opened it first... A folder now lies on the ground. I open it and read what it says: "Now." When I touch the paper, I am not transported into a memory. I stand where I am in the filing cabinet room. I am here. What I need most is now...

I hear faint footsteps. Whoever opened this cabinet is still in the room, but separated from me. "Hello?" I say. No response. How is it possible to share a room but be so alone? I look at the paper in my hand again and read: "Now." The period at the end seems to lend permanence to the now, usually a transitory state and one that I am afraid of. It is safer and easier to live in the past, which cannot be changed. Now is inconstant and ever-changing with so many opportunities for mistakes.

I take out the note in my pocket and hold it next to the paper. I read aloud the phrase that they form: "I am here Now." For the moment, this is enough.

I follow the footsteps toward the exit. The door has already been opened by my mysterious companion. I step through it and into the dark hallway. Suddenly the door to the filing cabinet room slams shut and merges with the wall - I can't go back. And I realize that there is someone very real standing next to me.