There's a fork in the road and he isn't sure which path he should take. / Austin's mind is a forest, and he's slowly figuring his way out of it.
Austin's mind is a forest filled with trees and lakes and all of the stereotypical woodland things. There are paths carved in for him, showing him his destiny. Constant what-ifs that plague his mind and create new ones for him to explore.
He has traveled this path for seventeen years and is still trying to find the end. But every doubt, every happy memory, everything that has made him makes more and more paths.
Follow or turn?
Left or right?
Go back or forward?
As he walks through the forest, he sees a sign that points to a path he hasn't really explored yet. It's thin and lined with bed stuffing and smells like clothes fresh out of the laundry.
He knows this, it's called 'parents' and 'mom and dad' and 'Moon's Mattress Kingdom' and 'the-most-idiotic-thing-in-the-entire-world'. It's familiar and safe and the scent is tempting him to go that way. Go here, it beckons, go here.
A plastic crown is at his feet and he bends down to pick it up. When he looks at it, he remembers his mom and dad calling him "Prince Austin" and hugging him.
That's when the trees surrounding that path shift and turn as gold as the crown he's holding.
In fear, he drops it and runs away.
When he stops, there's another sign pointing to a massive path. In the distance, he can hear guitars and drums and the beauty that is music. Syrup is heavy in the air and he drools as he imagines pancakes stacked on plates, syrup dripping down the sides.
'Music' and 'happiness' and he can hear –in addition to the music- is Dez's laughter echoing through the trees. It bounces off of the trunks and leaves and it's everywhere. 'Friendship', the path is also friendship.
This path feels familiar and safe and something that comforts him, so he takes a step forward into it. As he walks through it, he laughs at jokes and at Dez's hilarious antics. Guitars replace tress the further he goes in, and he reaches forward to pluck at a string.
It disappears when his fingers touch it and he draws back, confusion on his face.
More and more paths pop up as he continues to walk. Ones that don't make any sense ('stuffed animals' with Dougie the dolphin and a tin robot) and ones that make perfect sense ('food' just filled with pancakes and he feels like he might just explode from happiness).
He's deep into the corners of his mind and he comes onto a stray path, it leads him to a fork in the road.
Two paths, two separate destinies that might or will change his fate if he chooses wrong (or right).
Left is labeled 'not sure' and 'a possibility' and 'maybe something more?' It smells like strawberries and is paved with pages of sheet music, the sound of piano music fills the emptiness. A soft voice sings along with the piano. This path is Ally. It reminds him of Ally. Her dorkiness and bad dance moves and he wonders if he felt the same spark he felt when they touched hands on that fateful day.
The path twists and turns, expands and shrinks as it conforms to his thoughts. It is now bigger and paved with sheet music and pages of her songbook, the letter A is everywhere.
The clouds above his head turn into hearts and Austin&Ally just sounds so easy to say. It flows from his lips like water and he smiles at it.
And right is labeled 'I don't know what to feel' and 'I'm confused' and 'this is natural?' Late-night popcorn and the subtle scent of chocolate. The path has the words 'bad wolf' and 'police box' and 'soufflés' and 'impossible girl' and 'the-boy-and-girl-who-waited' carved into the blue bricks. Japanese writing is scribbled on the trunks of the trees with a black pen. And he laughs. It has Dallas written all over it. From the bow-tie shaped leaves to the theme that plays on a constant loop.
The path is so unfamiliar. But he wants to figure it out, explore the different routes of it and find out its secrets.
It intrigues him, fascinates him so much.
He looks between them, tries to imagine a third option. Nothing pops up, no brand-new path leading him to the end of the journey.
He has to choose.
His friends push him to the left, and society does too. But he can't help but feel like his destiny was being there all along.
The right just fascinates him and he wants to solve the mystery of why it's there.
His heart and brain are warring against each other.
Go left! His brain yells at him, you and her were meant to be together!
Go right, his heart says with a tentative start. Figure him out and stop asking 'why is he there?'
Left or right.
Ally or Dallas.
And he chooses.