Dark. That was the best way he could initially describe the hallway he had just stepped into. As he broke the threshold of the hallway it seemed like there was a wall of frigid air. With every exhale his breath hung for a few seconds and slowly dissipated. He just stood there analyzing the space.

This hallway was sectioned by two arches and led to what appeared to be a square room at the end. The arches were made of stone; all the walls were stone for that matter. They looked ancient with the blocks discolored and eroding away. In between the arches was an unbelievable darkness, just purely pitch black.

At the end of the hallway there was a desk which a figure sat at. This section had light, all be it very dim light, just enough light to notice the figure at the desk was wearing an old black, tattered robe. Its hair was black as could be and completely covered its face. Its arms were stretched out with the palms flat on the table. Next to the figure there were two doors. Plain, brown wooden doors. They had neither glass nor hinges that could be seen.

He stepped forward cautiously. The floor had a very sticky texture to it. It was tile the whole way down. The tile, he could tell, was definitely white when it was laid. Now it was a gray from years of neglect. There were cracks and small pieces missing in most of the tiles.

As he walked through the first section he noticed a faint glow of light coming from the wall to his left about ten feet up the wall. It was a stained glass window with just enough light coming through to make out the design. It was a traditional style cross. On the wall to his right there was an exact replica of the image.

He continued to walk and approach the figure at the wooden desk. When he was within five feet of the figure it stood up and moved extremely fast, but incredibly smooth, right in front of his face. He immediately stopped in his tracks fixated on the figure as it raised its head. The black hair parted as its head lifted and revealed this figure was a female.

"Ryan" the figure spoke in an old raspy female’s voice.

"Yes?"

"Today is the day you judge yourself. You have lived a fast paced life, enjoying the thrills of being a bachelor and seen the world." Ryan's life could have been made into a movie. He had a very high-speed job working with all the three lettered agencies under the sun. His car was a Ferrari and he like to drive it like one should be. By no means did he miss out on the party life. Ryan threw or attended parties nearly every night he wasn't working. Usually he would wake up in a bed, not always his own, with a gorgeous, naked new girl lying next to him. He loved his life. She continued, "You enjoyed your high class lifestyle and forever neglected finding true love. Every morning you wake up alone, the strange girls giving no real companionship. Your father and mother you rarely speak to, even as life fades from them."

She had a point. Ryan never did loath for a family. He had friends, two he considered brothers that he would do anything for. But his real family, his mother and father, he talked to a few times a year.

His father always told him that he needed to settle down with a good girl and start a family. It was a subject that he though about a lot. Everyone's life is usually based around having a family, not Ryan's. This question always seemed to puzzle him. His father would talk about having a grandchild and it doesn't help the matter that Ryan is an only child. The fast cars, enormous parties, and adventurous job... was it worth not having a family?

"The choice is yours, Ryan. In front of you, to your left is the door to continue on your current path, which will eventually lead to loneliness. “She continued,” But to your right, is the door that leads to change. A life with a family, a life with someone special always by your side. Your choice."

Ryan stood there, staring at the old gray, cracked, and broken tile as he pondered this life long torment of a question. He looked up and coolly walked forward. He extended his left arm and grasped the old brass door knob. He stopped with his left hand still on the knob and turned his head back and to the right. Ryan was looking right into the woman's cold eyes and as he turned the knob to the left door confidently said, "I regret nothing." He opened the door and his eyes grew wide as he saw --------.

Ryan awoke in his bed, the sheets saturated in sweat, to his alarm screaming at him.