Truth

I was walking in the midst of what seemed to be a beach, the rhythmic sound of waves crashing against the shore filling the air.

Cries of seagulls echoed faintly in the distance, cold fog surrounded me, and the taste of the sea salt in the air stinged my nostrils with each breath.

I could hear the sounds of footsteps getting slowly closer, after a few seconds I was able to see a silhouette of someone approaching me,

" Yo, we met again", this voice, could it be… No there's no way,

" You look confused ", he said, almost all his face was visible now

" Takasaki! What, what are you doing here? " I asked him with unease,

" I'm here to remind you of the truth, the truth that's been in front of you all this time", he said with an amused tone,

" Truth? " I asked panicking,

"Come on, there's no point in playing dumb here, you know very well what I'm talking about don't you ", he replied and put his hand on my shoulder with a creepy smile, " Look at you, weak and pathetic, how long do you still plan on playing this game of yours, it's been painful to watch ", he said

" Weak? I? The hell you're talking about? " I said with panic and rage.

"Heh?, that's some real disappointing stuff, look at you weakling you can't even admit to yourself that the person standing in front of you now, is yourself,

Takasaki? Don't make me laugh, I am you, the voice you've been avoiding over and over,

Trying to run away like a little child ",

Myself? This guy, his face, his voice, I could swear he's Takasaki.

" You're scared?" He said with a smirk

"Shut the hell up", I said while clenching my fist

" You can't run away from the truth, no matter how long you refuse to look at it, it'll keep sneaking behind you and eventually hit you in the face", he said while he kept smiling in amusement

" Shut up already! " with a surge of fury, I lunged forward, my fist flying toward his face with all my might,

I threw several punches,

But each blow passed through him like smoke, dissipating into the darkness beyond, he didn't flinch nor did he move a single finger, he kept staring at me with a disgusting smile.

" My my, you don't like me to that point? How rude, but I can fight too, you know?" He said,

His face suddenly transformed to look like mine, as if it were a reflection of myself, then he threw a fast low kick to my knee followed by an elbow right in my face causing me to fall in my knees, his attacks were so fast that I couldn't block, or dodge them.

I could smell the blood coming out of my nose,

he got closer to my face and said;

" As long as you keep hiding, I'll always be stronger than you, face it, face the truth, face me", he said

" I…, I was running away?," I murmured in a flustered voice.

" Yes you did", he replied.

" Forget those stupid lies, no purpose, no goals, no ambitions, that's nonsense is what makes you so lame, you know damn well that you can still chase whatever you think of as long as you do it like your life depends on it. Now, get all this nonsense out of your head and say it, I know you're thinking of it right now, I am your mind, I am your thoughts, I am your truth!" He whispered.

" If I can't find purpose, then… then the purpose is myself… " I said loud enough so I can hear my voice,

" Bingo! " He shouted and flicked my bleeding nose with his finger,causing it to bleed more,

"That's right, you don't need a reason nor a fancy goal, you're born in this world to get as strong as possible in every area. Cut out the noise, and put in the work, get better day by day, and at some point you'll find something to hold on to, and that will be your purpose. But for now, all you have to do is focus on getting better, all day and everyday ", He said,

And as I got up on my feet, he vanished in the air.

I looked up at the sky pressing on my nose and feeling dizzy, I closed my eyes and then everything turned to black.

I woke up sweating and breathing heavily, I was in my bed, there was no fog, no sound and I didn't feel any pain in my face,

" It was a dream," I said to myself looking at my trembling hand, then got out of the bed to get some water.

The purpose is myself, huh, I felt like I just got out of a rollercoaster, and before I knew it, I started to laugh, " I can finally, no I will finally turn things around"

It was 6:40 am, and class started at 8:00.I drank some water and hopped in the shower to start the day.

From now on, things will get harder than ever, but I didn't feel bad about it.Instead, I was excited like a kid before going on a trip.