There will one day come a time when all I will have is my stories.

It will be after I have paid my dues and served my purpose; a time when all I can give to the world is memories from my past.

I will have those who are willing to listen gather around me and travel back in time to when my youth encompassed me and my skin radiated with exuberance. I will bathe in the everlasting nostalgia that followed me throughout my life and settled next to me in the chair where I will tell my stories. It will be that same nostalgia that I will project onto those who choose to listen.

To be able to tell my stories, I need an audience, but I need to ensure that my stories are worth hearing in order to attract listeners. Therefore, I will tell them my greatest triumphs, my noble defeats, and my most esteemed excursions.

I will tell them of how I waltzed my way through childhood, leaping through the years and promenading toward adulthood. I want them to know that the ones I loved most were the ones who held my hand and guided me through the steps and held me tightly as I dipped into a world of uncertainty. They were the ones I took my final bows with as we bid our farewells to our magical past.

I will tell them about my adventures that took me across the world. I will describe the highest peaks I have climbed and the deserts I have traversed. I will mention the oceans and seas that I swam in and the sun I bathed in. I will recount the city streets I walked through and the people I have met. I will tell them the stories of my most adventurous expeditions that brought me to where I will be, and I will hope that my listeners can one day do the same.

I will tell them about the friendships and companions that marched with me through the strongest storms and waltzed with me through the placid rain. They were there to turn my adages into epics with their extravagant gestures that changed the whole course of my life. They gave me their insight into which direction to take when I reached a fork in the road—I never chose wrong. And they will still be with me, those many years later, recounting their own stories to those who will listen.

I will tell them about how not every moment of my life was tainted by golden triumphs and notorious victories. I will be sure to highlight the lowlights of my adventures; moments when I had fallen so far I did not know how to pull myself back up. 

But then, I will tell them about overcoming the plights that seemed to have taken control of what my future could look like. I will tell them that they cannot let their conflicts burden the plot of their magnificent story. I will tell them that those extremities are not present to belittle their stories, but rather add to their opulence.

I will paint my listeners a picture of who I used to be. I will show them the radiant girl I once thrived as. And then, when I am done telling my stories, I will listen to theirs. I will live vicariously through the tellings of their miraculous adventures, triumphs, and defeats because I will no longer have stories of my own to share.