[ WP ] At age 18 you are required to go to city hall and have someone read you through a choose your own adventure style book of your life while you make the choices . The choices are permanent and will determine your life . You are the clerk reading the books .

`` Caroline West?'' I call out into the waiting room. Several eyes dart back to the floor, nervous and disappointed. A young woman with long brown hair and beautiful green eyes walks up to me with a smile, an air of confidence surrounding her. `` Right this way.'' We walk down the hallway and up to my office. We walk through the door and she sits in the large red plush chair, crossing her legs and leaning back for comfort. 
 
 “ Caroline West. Daughter of Elizabeth and recently passed Lionel West. Your birthday is... oh today. Happy Birthday. ” 
 
 “ Thank you. ” She responds with an innocent smile. I wish she knew what was coming. 
 
 “ Alright. I'm going to read this book aloud to you and present you with options. You may choose what you would like to do and it will be permanent. Do you understand? ” 
 
 “ Yes ma'am. ” 
 
 “ Then let's begin. Very soon you will have a job opportunity with a very well known journalism company. Do you take it? ” 
 
 “ Of course. Journalism is my dream job. ” 
 
 “ They require you to take some classes during your first year as intern. Do you attend Saint Peter's Community College or North State University? ” 
 
 “ Saint Peter's. It's a safer choice. ” 
 
 “ Good. You successfully complete all of your classes in top of your class standards and manage to move up in the company. You are now offered an international opportunity to spend five years in Paris as a journalist. Do you take the opportunity? ” 
 
 “ Will it be expensive? ” 
 
 “ Unfortunately that information is confidential. ” 
 
 “ I've never been one to turn down an opportunity. Alright, I'll take it. ” 
 
 “ You take up the opportunity and are sent overseas on a completely paid for trip... ” I paused and looked up to see the awe and excitement in her eyes. She was so pleased with the results. I could n't blame her. “ While there you meet a very handsome man and develop a friendship that feels like it could be something more. Do you pursue a romance? ” 
 
 “ It sounds dreamy. If I'm already friends with him than I can trust him. I will. ” 
 
 “ You pursue a relationship and date for the remainder of the time you live in Paris. You have an extravagant wedding right before you move home. When you return home your mother wants to know all about the trip as you've been disconnected from all forms of communication while you were gone. Do you tell her about your husband? ” 
 
 “ I would n't keep anything from my mother. I will. ” 
 
 “ Your mother does n't agree with your husband and argues that you should get a divorce immediately. She does n't seem to like him. Do you follow her advice? ” 
 
 “ As much as I love my mother, I seem to be very happy. She'll understand in time why I made the decision to stay with him. ” 
 
 “ You stay with him. A month later your mother dies in a horrific murder. Your life begins to take a downward spiral and you contemplate suicide. Do you kill yourself? ” 
 
 Silence. I almost was n't sure she was still in the room until I looked up at her face, white as a ghost. The clock's ticking was all that could be heard for at least ten minutes as she processed the information coming to her. I could see her life playing out in her head and see her making a very difficult decision. Finally she took a deep breath. 
 
 “ As long as I still have my husband, I suppose I can make it through. I will not commit suicide. I am stronger than that. ” 
 
 “ Alright. You will still have your husband but for the rest of your life you will be plunged in turmoil. You can not escape it. You will never be happy again. You will consider suicide plenty of times but never go through with it. Finally at age 30 you will die. ” I closed the book after making the few marks left over and looked up at her. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. 
 
 “ I understand. I'm glad that I could find love before such an awful thing. I'm glad he will keep me from committing suicide. Thank you. ” She grabbed a few tissues from the box on the end of my desk and left the room without another word. 
 
 I wish I could go into detail. I wish I could tell her that her husband was the one who would kill her mother. That he would abuse and rape her and prevent her from committing suicide so he could play with her more. That he used her only to get over into America. That her mother recognized something being off about him because was top of the most wanted for years. That she would die a slow painful death chained in the basement with him visiting her only to rape her, to beat her, and to tell her how glad he was that she agreed to marry a stranger. 
 
 But I ca n't tell her that. It's against the rules to interfere with the choosing. It's what she chose and therefore, it's in her hands. There's nothing we can do about it. I walked down the hall and to the waiting room once more, watching as she disappeared from the office in her mother's rusty pickup truck before turning to the sea of faces patiently waiting for their names to be called. 
 
 “ Spencer Minos? ” I called. A lanky boy stood up and shuffled to me. I could barely make out the bright red slashes on his arms. His choosing appointment would n't take long.
