The question we asked was, ‘If you could teleport anywhere right now for exactly five minutes, where are you going?’

And somehow the answers seemed like tiny windows into people’s souls. Funny how a random little question can become poetry all of a sudden.

Some of the answers sounded like postcards from places people missed. One said they were going to get coffee in Rome and I could honestly picture it before I even finished reading. A little café nestled between old buildings, sunlight spilling onto the pavement, the aroma of espresso in the air and someone playing they belong for five beautiful minutes. There’s something so soft about that answer. So cinematic…like wanting to borrow a moment from another life.

But then there were answers that didn’t really pick a place at all. One person said there’s nowhere else they’d rather be. That it’s all about being in the present.

And I just sat there staring at the screen for a second because… how peaceful is that? The rest of us are mentally packing our bags and teleporting across oceans, but someone chose now. No escape plan but just this moment, exactly as it is. I don’t know why, but that answer was oddly reassuring.  It was like opening a window in a crowded room.

Another response was that even five minutes might not be long enough. And to be honest, they’re not wrong. Because what can you do in five minutes, really? Fall in love with a city? Watch a sunset? Stand in front of the ocean long enough for it to change you? Five minutes is too long and not long enough at all.

And then there was the answer that broke my heart a little, quietly. Someone said they would teleport to hug someone they miss. Not another dream city or some magical fantasy world. Just a person.

And maybe that’s the thing about questions like these. You start expecting funny answers and travel destinations, but instead you end up finding out what people ache for when nobody is asking directly. Not all people are adventurous, some people long for peace. Some people just miss someone.

I think that’s why I loved reading these responses so much. They felt human and like I could relate to in some way. Messy and honest and dreamy in the softest way possible.

Because if teleportation really existed, maybe we wouldn’t use it for grand things all the time. Maybe sometimes we’d just use it for a warm coffee in a city we’ve never seen. Or a quiet moment. Or five minutes with someone we love before disappearing again.

And now I can’t stop thinking about it.

If you had five minutes and the whole world opened like a door in front of you… where would you go?

Penned By:

Rtr. Kavya Thotawatte

Editorial Committee Member 25.26