[ WP ] You have many regrets in your life , but one regret stands out above all the others . You wake up on the day of your biggest regret , and you get to relive that day the way you want it to be

A muffled clamor arose from my feet as I hurried down the hallway. I rummaged through my pockets for my phone, hoping to check the time. No use. I've gone too far back. With a quivering hand, I reach out and touch a passerby on their shoulder. Expectantly, they turn around to find themselves faced with a disheveled stranger. Before they can pull themselves away to escape, I ask them for the time. Stuttering and stumbling, they find the answer that I'd hoped for. I am ahead of time. There may be a chance after all. 
 
 With light brushes and slight shoves, I make my way to the elevator and repeatedly punch the button aiming up. It glows and clicks if for no other reason than to provide me with a bit of dull satisfaction and comfort. The elevator dings and rumbles as it settles into place before me. I quickly step inside and begin pressing the close button and the button for the second floor. With just two floors to choose from, it hardly seemed necessary. There was something cathartic about that repetitive and mindless action. I could feel a fire growing in my chest as the embers fell down into the pit of my stomach. They gathered there and solidified as I choked on the smoke climbing up my throat. 
 
 Cold, clammy hands balled into fists as I tried to steel my resolve. I had come this far. I owed it to myself to see this through. It was a miracle that I had been granted this opportunity and it was unlikely that I'd get another. Failure was n't an option. The bell sounded again as the doors parted. I stepped out of the elevator and into the second story hallway where many had gathered. Their faces were familiar and welcome. There was so much that I wanted to say to them, to thank them for. Things that they had not yet done. Things that they would never get to do. 
 
 I steadied my hand upon the glass, looking in to the room. They were lying there so helpless, so innocent. The fire consumed my head. I felt it burning in the tips of my ears, deep in my nostrils, and behind my eyes. I tried to blink away the pain and the pressure, but I found only tears. Tears that ran hot down my face as I slipped into the room. I found myself laying there with a pleasant smile. A smile unlike any that I had ever known. I sought forgiveness within myself as I put my hand against my face. I struggled. I cried. I fell still and faded away. There were many mistakes that I could n't correct in a single day, but I was glad that I could solve the one that had led to it all. 
 
 -290
