Open Book [Short Story]

            Angela lay abed, her eyes fixed on the twinkling stars, which shined brightly through the foggy skylights and dotted the black sky like stitches in fabric. She never did like the open ceiling, especially during the night. It was terrifying for her, but since it was the only other bedroom in the house besides her parents’, she had to get used to it. Usually Angela would stay awake in order to think about the next day, or wonder about the daily events going around in the modern world. But tonight was something different. Something unique. For her entire life, Angela’s parents had been telling her a piece of “life-changing advice”. That advice was: “Life is an open book, only if you choose it to be.”

            How odd Angela found this to be when the phrase suddenly reappeared in her mind that night. Having heard this phrase for the plurality of her presence here on planet Earth, she never chose to seek the true meaning of this sentence. Maybe it was because she already thought her life was an open book. She had companions, she had a bubbly personality, and she had great grades in high school, not to mention that she hadn't failed a test yet. Even now in school, she was thinking about her future life. What career should she undertake when she finally became an adult? How many kids should she have? Would she even have kids? It was all a large assortment of responsibilities that she knew many adolescents would consider an adversity and would rather die than taking it on one day. But it had to happen.

            Despite her impeccable social status, her parents persisted to hound on her that she wasn’t “being an open book”. She never knew what they meant, but why would it affect her now? Was something or someone sending her a sign? Was there a major event that would require her to think of this question, or else something horrible would happen in an instant? Perhaps it was just hormones. Or maybe she was turning philosophical. That’d be interesting, being a philosopher. Perhaps that’s what she was going to do with her life. Angela thought long and hard, and quickly dismissed that idea. She’d rather be an engineer, or even a high-ranking corporate manager. All these decisions on who she’d become made Angela’s head hurt. Perhaps that’s what her parents meant when they said “an open book”. She had to explore more, see the world, and understand more than what is necessary. Angela turned over in her bed and gave a drowsy sigh. But all that thinking and exploring would have to wait till tomorrow, for it was late, and she had school tomorrow. Before she drifted off into a deep slumber, Angela murmured in her own mind one last thought: “Maybe my life will never be an open book.”

            Eighty-four years later, Angela lay abed. It was at this moment that Angela thought of the statement again: “Life is an open book, only if you choose it to be.” At the age of twenty-two, Angela graduated from UC Berkeley as valedictorian for her class with a degree in both Engineering and Business. Four years after she applied and got her job as the Senior Manager of Engineering & Design at Google, Angela met the love of her life at age thirty. When she turned thirty-five, she gave birth to two beautiful twins who looked so much like her and her husband. When the twins turned nineteen, the family went on a cruise that sailed around the world. Angela was sixty-seven when one of her twins announced to her that she was going to be a grandma. A year and a half later, Angela heard her grandchild say his first word: “granny”. Now, Angela smiled as she closed her eyes, relaxed in the hospital bed, and began telling her fourteen year old self that life is an open book, only if you choose it to be. Angela was ninety-eight when she passed away, and realized her life was indeed an open book, but now, it was closing.