Standing at the beginning of the street of light, a street he contemplated visiting for many years, Ali seemed in peace at last. Everything seemed so right for Ali, except for that feeling of nausea. The nausea Ali felt wasn't strong, and it was overwhelmed by the lights he was seeing all around him. Dressed in a white suit, Ali felt relieved he is finally here.
"You finally made it", a voice behind Ali said, arriving from behind was Masar.
"Yeah", Ali replied "I haven't seen you in a long time"
"Is that why you're here?", Masar asked "To see me?"
"That and other stuff", Ali replied "So, when are we going to get to our destination?"
"Sure", Masar smiled "Let's get walking"
As Ali and Masar walked through the street, Ali started looking around spotting all the lights complimenting the walls. Within those, he spotted gratifies almost hiding within walls and barely seen. some would read "Listen to your guts", another would read "Remember your dreams".
"Do you remember the last I saw you?", Ali asked.
"Yeah", Masar answered with a smile "We had gone to Festival City mall."
"No", Ali elaborated "I meant after that"
"Oh, yeah", Masar remembered "I forced you to come with me to Noora's place"
"Hahaha", Ali laughed "Going to your ex-wife's house at three in the morning wasn't the smartest idea"
"Why did you agree to come with me?". Masar asked.
"I don't know", Ali answered "You were sad since the divorced and I didn't have any idea about how to handle it"
"I see", Masar continued "When did we end up going home?"
"I think five AM", Ali said "You knew this guy who was hosting a house party and you got hammered. After that, I took you home and left. You looked like a mess when I left you."
"Then you had to my father questioning you the next morning", Masar said while laughing.
"Oh yeah", Ali remembered "It took him like fifteen minutes to tell what you have done when you returned home"
Moments of silence ensued. Ali's nausea started acting up as he heard his name being shouted repeatedly, loud screams coming from the darkness behind that sounded merely like whispers by the time they made it to Ali. Ali turns around to find that portion of the street he and Masar walked has been consumed by darkness.
"What finally brought you here?", Masar asked Ali "What happened since we last met?"
"Well, you know me", Ali answered "I have been suffering from clinical depression. Lately, it felt like everything was heading toward a dead end. I can't remember the last time I was happy. I couldn't feel happy, not even while I am holding my daughter, not even when I am making love to my wife. I figured coming here would be a great solution"
"Hey", Masar said with a smile "No judgment here. I would be the last to do so"
"I missed you, you know", Ali said as fought the tears "You were the only one who understood me. You always showed me the right way"
"Right back at you", Masar explained "We have always been the only ones who understood each other. That's how I knew you'd hit it off with Israa"
Ali turns around to find versions of him and Israa walking all around the street of light upon buildings formed from his memory. The conversations while walking or sitting at a restaurant, the laughter they shared, the pictures they took with their daughter.
"We're almost at the door", Masar informed Ali.
"Good", Ali responded "It feels good being here and having these memories"
"Tell me about it!", Masar said "When I first came here, it felt that way"
"Yeah", Ali confirmed "It is almost like paradise"
"Yeah", Masar hesitated "Almost"
"Did you have those memories when you first came here?", Ali asks "Were you finally here"
"Yeah", Masar explained "Everyone was better off without me. I felt like I was a burden on everyone. It felt good leaving with the few good memories everyone had of me"
"I think I understand", Ali responded "Especially now that I remember the last thing you said to me"
The past versions of Masar and Ali talking while sitting at a coffee shop appears with Masar monologuing.
"I imagine death is like a long street of light where everything is alright. Your memories warm you up as you head into a door. You open it, and it is finally okay for you, you're finally alright"
"I wish...", Ali said while crying "I wish I had said something then instead of staring like a fucking idiot"
"It is okay", Masar said "I understand"
"No, you fucking don't", Ali bursts with anger "You don't know the half of it"
Ali looked around to himself devastated as he puts down his phone. The countless times Ali spent crying in his room. Images show from all the different conversations he had with Masar's parents.
"You don't know what it was like", Ali calms down "You don't know what it was like to get a phone call from your best friend's father telling you that he died. You don't know what it was like for your dad, for your mother, and the times they'd separate themselves from the rest just to grief. Even years later, self-blaming, a million what-ifs for every second of every interaction we had with you. You don't know because you weren't there"
A few seconds passed before Ali turned his head to Masar "I am sorry if I didn't do my part right in saving you. But, this thing comes with no manual to read. Maybe you should have been clearer, maybe you could have, I don't know..."
Ali's Nausea returns as Israa bursts with a version of Ali laying lifeless on a bed.
"Ali, honey", Israa screamed in horror as she attempted to save the lifeless body.
Ali stood in horror as a gate behind him appeared. He watched the street of light dimming down. Darkness consumed everything around him and Masar, consuming Israa as she attempted to save him, consuming his terrified daughter as she held her teddy bear screaming "daddy".
"So, what now?", Ali asked.
"Well", Masar replied "Now, you join me through that gate"
Masar walks ahead of Ali as the gate opened, a gate with nothingness inside.
Ali slowly walks into the gate before saying "No".
"I am not ready yet", Ali pleads "I don't know what I was thinking! I thought that this was what I wanted. I should have talked to someone, I should have sought help. Why didn't I think of the countless things I should have done?"
"It is okay", Said Masar "I wish I had more time walking this street before walking through the gate"
"I am sorry", Ali says with tears "I wish you had too"
The gate closed with only Masar inside as Ali committed all the sleeping pills he had consumed onto a street of darkness before lifting his head to find it light up again revealing his bedroom.