The outskirts of town were much brighter than this place.

The three of us walked what seemed like forever, and soon, I stopped in my tracks.

“I might be wrong, but is that her?”

Sitting underneath a dying tree, Doubt radiated a warm glow and wore a dress of yellow.

The area around her was only of black and white; I immediately understood what happened here.

However, Future spoke first, “Since you’ve given more life to her, she’s been able to suck away even more life in things from around her. Which, causes me to begin to…”

She stopped, and I turned to see her left hand half-faded away.

The anger within me began to surface.

“I used to play here. The trees were livelier and the water was blue…not black.”

Past turned her dark brown eyes down to a flower that had lost all of its color.

Had I known my clinging to Doubt would hurt everything around here along with Past and Future, I’d have let go many years before.

Something within me surged my feet forward to the tree where Doubt was.

Was it anger?

Was it fear?

Was it courage?

It didn’t matter because I had a lot more to lost than I had ever thought possible.

I was sure the voices I heard were of Future and Past, telling me to stop or wait, but all of that faded as I inched closer to Doubt.

“You’ve finally come home!” She stood up to hug me, but I stopped sort of her.

“This isn’t my home…not anymore.” The voice that came from within me was so foreign, for it held an unwavering tone of assertiveness.

Doubt flinched her head back slightly as her eyes showed confusion. “Don’t be silly. You’re the one that has been keeping me alive this entire time.”

I lowered my eyes and half whispered to myself, “And that’s the problem.”

I turned to look at Future, her brown skin now almost gray with eyes to match.

Her face still looked mature, but the glow from her had long since been stolen without a second thought.

All because of me.

“I can’t do this anymore. I can’t keep you here anymore. Anywhere. This isn’t right. It’s not how it’s supposed to be. This isn’t what I want anymore, Doubt. Past is safe from you, but I still want to protect her. I especially need to save Future before there’s no more left of her.”

Doubt shook her head as anger bubbled through her words. “You can’t say things like that! I was all you had, remember? We kept each other alive! Don’t be ridiculous!”

It was my turn to get angry. “No!”

I turned to face Future. “My Future is everything to me. I was so afraid of what it would look like, I clung to many negative feelings, Doubt being one of them.”

I began to walk toward Future with more purpose than I had ever done in my entire life. “My Future needs me like I need her. I would compare my outcome against other people’s, which made Doubt only grow stronger. But I can’t do that now. I can’t…I refuse to think like that ever again. No one can write my Future but me.”

With each word that echoed off of this dead space, Future began to regain color as did the trees and water.

I could hear the cries of Doubt, calling for me to stop, but I wouldn’t.

I couldn’t.

I refused.

Future began to tear up in joy, and her smile added more warmth to everything as her body and the space began to brighten again.

I was running now. “I need her, and she needs me. I need her, and she needs me…”

I repeated this until I hugged Future tightly, Past hugging at my leg.

“Thank you.” Future whispered to me.

“I’ll always be with you. We’ll always be with you.”

I awoke with a start.

I was in my room with the sun shining through my window.

I jumped out of bed and starred at my reflection; I could only smile.

Though a dream, I will never forget for as long as I live:

“I need her, and she needs me.”