You open a trunk and find Medals and trophies from your youth Bringing back all the memories Of the races you once won The poems you recited on stage The quizzes and debates you reluctantly participated in Emerging winner in the end Perhaps there's even one Which feels undeserved But still they all fill you up With a sweet pride nevertheless Dusting away an old box You look inside to find A happy smile on your face Finding your favorite childhood toys There's that stuffed toy you never left alone The battery-operated helicopter The car which went round and round while playing a certain sound The action figurines and tiny cars And the ever-present Lego set And the dog house which was actually a piggy bank You empty its contents to find a few coins and a 100 rupee note They seem to be from a distant but familiar world The world of your childhood In another carton you find your old journals In an instant you are traveling through time Flipping through the pages Reminiscing memories Sometimes doubting whether what you wrote really happened Judging your writing skills Calling your younger self a stupid yet wise person And hours pass by Before you hug your diaries goodbye In one corner you lay hands on A photo album from old times There are black and white pictures of your parents And a coloured one of you smiling back A toddler in your parent's lap Or perhaps taking your first steps These are memories of memories you don't even remember But are forever captured still in time Running your fingers over them gives you a tactile pleasure Uncompared with today's digital photographs There's a flower pressed between the pages of an old book Perhaps you used it as a bookmark Perhaps it was given by a lover You no longer recall But a faded fragrance of the flower Is still trapped between the sheets You smell it And let it take you down the lane of nostalgia Putting back the contents of the trunk And returning to your regular life Your memories remain a bit more enriched Having strolled through the souvenirs of life Now you know you can find yourself back again In the memories stored in time
Based on Terribly Tiny Tales prompt – Souvenirs
Under Transformation 