"Before we go into the forest tonight, I want everyone of you to think of your will- the words you want to leave behind just in case you could not get out alive? After all, it is a forest and not our territory."
That was what our facilitator asked us moments before we were about to set off to our final challenge of the day.
It was about 10.30pm on a Thursday night. It was a windy night. There was thunder and lightning. It looked like it was going to rain very heavily at any moment.
We were all sitting under a tent. Everyone suddenly became quiet.
I began to think, 'What if I die in there tonight?'
I felt surprisingly calm.
However, I could not help but think 'If I die, I hope Papa and Mama will not be too upset. I hope they will not tell Grandma. Maybe they will tell her that I have gone to do my Masters. Grandma will not take the news well if she knew. I hope they will not have too much trouble packing my things. My friends might grieve for a while but they will surely move on and soon, I will simply become a distant memory. People at work might miss my smiling face every morning but they, too, will move on. I am not indispensable. Did I manage to leave anything good behind?'
He chose a few of us to stand in front and share our last words with our friends. Our friends who manage to get out alive will be responsible for conveying our messages to our loved ones.
A few people started crying.
Then, he announced that we would not be going into the forest after all. The lightning would make it too dangerous. We let out a sigh of relief.
I was a little disappointed, to be honest.
Nevertheless, I greatly thank our facilitator for asking us to think about our will. At that moment, 'death' felt very very near...and I managed to think certain things through.
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