Quiero's Quest of Imagination

"You kids are letting your imaginations run wild again. That's not how it works."

"Your imagination can take you anywhere. Anywhere! Out of this classroom! Out of the school! Across time and space!" I say, sitting up on my desk and getting into it.

The whole room laughs, even my teacher Mr. Haynesworth laughs too. He is a joke of a teacher who wears sunglasses all the time because he says they make him look cool. They don't, they make him look like an idiot.

"Sorry Quiero, but what you're saying is just ridiculous. We've already talked about this," he says, shaking his head in sad disappointment at me, the jokester in his class. He's always calling me out like that; he thinks I'm a bad kid or something because I like to mess around with my friends and have fun.

"But Mr. Haynesworth!! It really does work! You just gotta believe in yourself and have courage and then you can go anywhere! Like this one time..."

- - -

I remember...

When I was young I would spend every afternoon after school running around in the desert outside my house with my friend Asha. She was always convinced there was a magic door hidden somewhere out there that would take us to faraway places where we could see all sorts of monsters and weird creatures and aliens from outer space and all kinds of crazy stuff we only ever saw on TV shows or read in books and comics. But I didn't think so; I never believed her...

Until one day when we were playing tag near my house and she got too far away from me and ran right into a big cactus bush. She started crying because she got all scratched up real bad by the spines on those prickly things, but I didn't know what to do so I just stood there watching her cry for a few minutes until she stopped suddenly and looked at me with her big brown eyes all serious and said "Quiero, let's find the magic door."

- - -

Mr. Haynesworth rolls his eyes at me now when I tell him this part of the story and tells everyone else to get back to work while he talks to me alone for a minute. "Quiero, you know that's not how it works okay? The door is imaginary--it isn't real."

But as soon as he says that I can hear Asha telling me that it did exist... That door was real alright... And if it wasn't for her being so stubborn and always wanting to play these dumb games all the time then she would be alive today instead of dead like everyone else who used to live here before the bombs fell--dead like all those people who went through the door before she did... Dead like my parents who went through that same door too...

I hate him for saying things like that about Asha's magic door--he knows nothing about it or about her or about any of it--just like he knows nothing about how many times Asha saved my life out there in the desert... Or how many times she made me laugh when things were looking pretty grim for us out there... Or how many times she told me everything was going to be alright no matter how dark things seemed for us...

Yeah well he doesn't know anything about us out there either--he hasn't been outside since everybody left five years ago--he doesn't know anything about what happens outside those walls or what happened during those wars between our leaders or how things got so bad that everyone had to leave their homes behind forever so they wouldn't die from radiation poisoning or whatever other awful stuff they said would happen if we stayed behind...

And now he's talking down to me again because he thinks this stupid war is still happening even though none of us believe that anymore because out here no one has seen any signs of war in years now--they haven't even heard anyone fighting or dying out here in a long time either--and Mr. Haynesworth doesn't believe us when we tell him that either because he says we're lying but we aren't!! We really aren't!! And now he thinks I'm making stuff up too because I say lots of interesting things about my life growing up out there beyond these walls but he never listens to anything little old Quiero has to say because apparently he knows everything there is to know about our lives now--even though nobody likes him out there either because he won't listen to any kind of new ideas except for stupid old boring ones that nobody wants to hear anymore anyways!!

So yeah maybe sometimes I exaggerate a little bit but sometimes it's true too!! Like when I talk about Asha's magic door!! And how sometimes when we were walking around lost out there sometimes we'd see trails leading off into different directions into nowhere where strange magical rocks were piled up high everywhere around them!! And how sometimes if we followed these trails long enough they would lead us right up next to these huge diamond shaped rocks with glowing blue light pouring out of them!! And whenever we approached them close enough strange magical clouds would form above them filled with beautiful colors swirling around madly inside them!! And whenever we tried touching them the clouds would disappear and strange loud noises would start echoing through the sky sounding angry and scary at first but then calming down after awhile until eventually everything would go quiet again!! And sometimes if we looked hard enough while those clouds were swirling around inside those rocks then strange shapes would appear inside them too--shapes which looked exactly like people and animals from every corner of our world!! And then some days when things got really tough for us Asha would pull me close over near one of those rocks so we could hide away from any danger trying to find us while she whispered sweet words into my ear telling me everything was going to be okay soon once more while holding tightly onto the lucky rabbit's foot charm hanging around her neck--the same rabbit's foot charm her mother gave her before sending her on her way with tears streaming down her face as she pushed Asha towards those rocks telling her she had no choice but to go through that door even though nobody wanted her to go through it but nobody wanted anyone else going through it either which is why they had no choice either but also why they couldn't stop any of us leaving even though they were sad they couldn't stop us from leaving because nobody wanted anybody else leaving either which is why they needed Asha to leave especially since she was special somehow??

Asha told me she knew exactly where the magic door was located too--she just didn't know why or what it meant or why all these magical rocks were scattered everywhere throughout our world but wherever it was hiding all along she knew exactly where it was hiding right now too--sitting right there in amongst those other rocks waiting patiently for someone just like Asha herself who somehow found herself standing outside those doors on that day almost ten years ago now staring down at two sets of footprints disappearing into nothingness as everyone else disappeared along with their home behind her, never turning back once as she followed them without hesitation hoping beyond hope that maybe someday whoever had left those footprints might return home after realizing their mistake... But still knowing deep down inside herself nobody ever will return home again at all. Because one day someone had opened up those doors on purpose trying desperately to save themselves from something horrible happening inside their own world, but another day someone else had closed those doors on purpose trying desperately not wanting anyone else trying desperately hard not wanting anyone else following them wherever they went even though secretly wishing somebody might try anyway despite knowing deep down inside herself nobody ever will follow their footsteps anywhere any longer whatsoever.