A Secret Room

In a kingdom far away, in a tall and crumbling castle, there once was a secret room. It held a young girl's dream and she longed to find the room and call it her own.

The girl believed that she would want nothing else out of life if she could just find the secret room and spend eternity inside of it. It was different than most rooms she knew; it had possibilities that she believed would make her happy. But one day, the girl saw a man who went into that room, someone who she knew and loved. The man, who had onced looked so handsome, and strong, was now worn and ragged. He was only a half a man, his face covered with anguish and age, his life traded away for the glories of the secret room.

The girl swore to herself that she would never become like the man, that she would never go to the secret room or desire it again.
Much later in life, the girl finally arrived at the secret room. But she was wiser than before. And though she saw old dreams floating before her eyes, she realized that they were not her dreams anymore. They were the dreams of others yet to come. And she was content because she found that the room was just one room in her castle. She would never become imprisoned there like the man had been. And she still had made rooms left to explore!