What are you doing with your life?

"What are you doing with your life?" she kept asking.

An old convict, let’s call him Purple, sat in his cell stirring in sorrow. A guard walked up to tell him that he had a visitor. He was let out the cell so he could see the visitor. He was lead to a room with a table and two chairs on opposite ends. An old woman sat there. A woman with very similar facial features as the convict. She wasn’t much older than Purple. This woman had spent most of her life with Purple while Purple had spent all of his life with her. She was the only familiar face that would visit Purple these days. No matter how ashamed she was of her brother, she would always come back. Purple remembers his sister being kind while having an incredible talent to make him laugh. He saw her sitting there and the humorous girl was gone. In her place was a cold icy being with an exterior so chilled, Purple would have rather stayed in the cell. He sat down and gazed at the woman. She stared back dryly. She knew this was the last time she would see him. They were silent for a few minutes until the woman cruelly spat the words she would always say when they would see each other.

A young student, let’s call her Orange, sat in an auditorium filled with people. She was in the front row with people who had spent their years with her. However, little did she know her best years would come much later. To her it was the end of an Era. Like most of her clothing, her robes were too big for her. When they called her name, she had tripped. Luckily she was caught by her best friend. A young woman who was kind and had the talent make others laugh. Orange stumbled onto the stage and received the document that would get her into college. She was honored for being the best in her year and shuffled back to rejoin the others. The hats were thrown and not long after Orange was partying. She overheard many conversations about the future. What would become of the people she thought she had spent her best years with? They all had dreams. Her best friend walked next to her. She turned to Orange and asked the question Orange had dreaded to answer.

What are you doing with your life?

An experienced waiter, let’s call him Green, was in his fifth semester of law. He couldn´t pay for his education so he would wait tables all night at a high-end restaurant who overworked him. He was already in debt with the bank and slaved away to get by. On good days he would sleep 4 hours a day on bad days he wouldn´t. It was dawn and his shift was almost over. He took a bus and headed to his university. Green rushed through the halls of the university to get to his class. He made it just in time. The class was full of people. He scanned the room and picked a seat next to an experienced woman in her fourth semester who was kind and had a talent in making people laugh. After the class had ended, Green was getting up to rush to his second class. The woman who was sitting next to him stopped him and pulled Green aside. Even though they shared a few classes, the woman couldn’t help worry for Green. She knew he worked harder than the rest and she also knew Green was oversaturating himself. She gave him advice and offered her help. Interestingly enough, both her and Green would grow old together. However, when she offered her help the day she pulled him aside, Green ignored her and kept walking. She called after him and wailed the question she frequently seemed to ask.

What are you doing with your life?

She was kind and took joy in making others laugh. But she was also cruel when betrayed and strict when necessary. Organized and always collected, she always had a plan. Her life was sketched out from the day she was born to the day she died. She was controlling but the people that surrounded her taught her that life can’t always be controlled. Life is about mystery and knowing that there are things in life that are fine the way that they are while other things remain evil no matter what you do. She learnt this when, to her surprise, Purple, Orange and Green looked at her in the same exasperated manner and told her the answer she always got when she asked what they were doing with their lives.

I don’t know.