Choices

The Journey

Layla and Jasmine have been best friends since birth. Some would say it was fate, as their mothers were also best friends and pregnant at the same time. The two friends were born a day apart, at the same hospital, on the same floor, in bland white rooms directly next to each other. 20 years later, a new piece of life begins.

A.

Layla and Jasmine have a loving, sisterly relationship. Both of the girls attend Harvard, where Layla is an English major and Jasmine is a Psychology major. They float through college, experiencing many firsts together. There's the cry from the first break up, the shy and anxious feelings from going to your first college party, and the stress of collecting enough credits to walk across that stage with a diploma in hand. Layla meets Michael and Jasmine meets Sean. Both women continue on in life to have the perfect wedding and a flawless marriage to their Mr. Right. Many decades pass. They're in the same ground in the same field, only 2 feet away from each other.

B.

Layla loves Jasmine so she goes along with this best friend charade. Inside, she's always felt trapped in the shadows, as if life would end if she transformed. She knew who she could be. Harvard, they both attended and oh my, wasn't that great. Their first party and Jasmine puked on Layla...Jasmine took Layla for granted. Layla gave up. Instead of covering up who she truly was, she peeled back the many layers that she hid behind in the past. Jasmine met Sean...Layla took him from her. "I hate you!" Jasmine cried, in a drunken stupor. Layla laughed and her sense of power grew as she strutted away with Sean gliding behind her. Later that night, Layla slumped forward with a river of crimson blood floating beneath her, and a knife in her back.

C.

"You've always wanted to be me! Always!" Jasmine screeched. "You always had your mom's attention; you just had to take my mom's too!" Layla knew that sneaking into a bar for their 20th birthday wasn't a good idea. "Jasmine..." Layla replied cautiously. "You're just dru-"

"Shut up Layla! You don't know anything!" Jasmine stomped off to the bartender, hoping for another drink. A shot slides in front of her with a masculine hand wrapped around it. "Hey sweetheart, my name's Adam. Wanna get to know each other better?" Jasmine chugs the shot, dismissing the rejection letter from Harvard that creeps into her brain, the rejection of Sean when he chose Layla over her. "Sure," she tries to grin, as the world grows fuzzy and deformed shapes replace the true appearances of reality. Everything dims. Darkness. Consumed with her grief, a shot fires. Layla is no more.

Throughout life, these two seemed to be an inseparable pair. The beginning was pleasant, the middle could change. No matter the filler, two things remain - death and life together. They are forever linked in life with death being their reward.