Destiny Awaits

Jack stared out of the window, trees flashed by followed by the harsh grey brown of winter dried fields. A car went past, going into the opposite direction. The only driver, a woman. Where was she going? What is her destination? Jack wondered whether he will ever know. Was she thinking the same thing about him, or was he the only one who did? How did humans come to live so close to each other, and yet so far? Questions, always questions. Even his teachers got irritated at everything he always asked. He glanced up at the sky, a few stars beginning to shine through the now fading blue sky. Blinking lights. Are there any other people on a planet around those lights? Was one of those people also staring up at their sky, asking the same questions? A feeling of loneliness filled him, knowledge that these questions will lead to insanity, for they have no answer. Yet he cannot stop himself to wonder if it is possible that somebody could feel so out of time and place. A longing burned in him for another era, one where he will feel at home, at peace. Even death is preferable to the emptiness that fills his heart. But death? The last resort. Suicide carries the stigma of not being the answer. But who says? Jack felt the answer in him. Nobody can make that judgment without ever being there. With a glance he spotted another car going by. Father, mother and two children. He wondered if they were happy, if they are going to vacation or driving to some family event. Once again he found himself asking the same questions. Always the same answers. Or lack of. What can a person do when they no longer wish to be in the same place? When they wish to be free from the restrictions of their circumstances. Many say change the situation. Easier than it is, really. Nobody can change their destiny,  1

Yet Jack felt his destiny lied not within these barriers his mind has set upon him. It was night now, the car's lights shone into the darkness, lighting their way. Jack felt more than saw that something awaits him in the future. For so long he has waited, restlessness burned. Even if things work out, how will he know that his life will not be forgotten as soon as it is over? Gravestones have names, to Jack they are just letters. They are not memories of the people who made them. He asked himself if he will end up like that. Just another gravestone. The answer was filled with sadness and a feeling of injustice. No sane man can go through life knowing he has made no difference. People hurting each other. Don't they understand that such violence has no purpose? Why labor to strike down a fellow human being, when rather labor to gain more knowledge? The world is filled with madness, hell on earth in the most proverbial sense. Jack wished he could change the fate of the world. Make it a better place. Yet he knew that will never happen. One man cannot change the future of a whole species. Or can they? Even as he asked these questions, he once again knew it was futile. All his experience, as limited as it was, showed him that he can dream, but those older than him was so set in their ways they cannot begin to conceive of fighting against the system they have grown into. He tasted hate. How can a person allow himself to be so conditioned to believe he cannot do anything? He knew it will happen to him too. Death seemed preferable to being brain washed. Jack resumed staring out the window. Moonlight shone on the earth, dark shapes spotted by lights shone at him, beckoning. This was his planet, his home, and he felt at peace. Love shone on his face. Even if he is to become a nameless being, he will always be a human being, and that is something to be proud of. He may not be able to change the people around him, but they can never change who and what he is.  2

Destiny awaits.3