Chasing the Light - a story/poem

Chasing the Light

A story/poem by DJ

"Life is C between B and D" (choice between birth and death) - Jean Paul Sartre

From his B to his D

There was only ever one C.

They said he could become anything.

A writer, an actor, a farmer—they were all options.

But as are all “optional”s

There was only ever one C.

It wasn't that he didn't try.

He did try, he did the best he could.

But he only ever followed one path.

There was only ever one C.

Then what was it that he was doing?

What's that one choice he kept making?

He was proceeding toward the only logical solution. 

There was only ever one C. 

He was chasing the light,

The only light he saw.

The only outcome he could desire. 

There was only ever one C.

Too busy chasing the light,

No time for anything else.

Forward, forward, and only forward. 

There was only ever one C.

Always chasing the light, 

It and it only guided him.

Nothing else. 

There was only ever one C.

He kept chasing the light, 

Never stopping, never resting

His only guidance through the darkness.

There was only ever one C. 

He was chasing the light,

As vigorously as ever.

But then, a sliver of a doubt:

Was there only ever one C?

And suddenly-

An abrupt change.

The light was...

… it wasn't as bright anymore.

Was the light getting dimmer, or was everything else getting brighter?

He had to strain to spot the light again, now almost indistinguishable from its surroundings. 

And then, it was gone.

He was positive, everything else was getting brighter. 

He looked around, dazed by his newfound sight. 

Dozens of people like him, young and old, big and small, all of them alone.

All staggering toward the unknown direction he had been heading in.

Didn't they see everything else, like he did?

​Their eyes were focused, determined, resolute.

But above all else- they were worn. 

He could see their weary minds, tired hearts, exhausted bodies.

They were heading for the light, he realized, like he himself had been doing till now.

What had he been doing until now? The truth struck him- everything he had been doing until now, the goal he had been yearning for all his life his, was simply useless. 

Yes, it was truly useless- he wasn't born to do this, to toil and work hard for something so dim.

All this had been for nothing. He knew he was going to die someday, he had known it since he

was five. What was the point in following the world's ways, when there was so obviously

something greater?

Rousing himself from his brief introspection and looking closer at his surroundings, he found that

not all the people he saw were as weary and world worn- some people were walking in twos and

threes, with something else- something bright- in their eyes. What was it? What was so special

about this light?

It was hope in their eyes, he suddenly realized. These other people had hope. And not just that-

all these people were headed in a particular direction, but it wasn't where the weary ones were

going. As he turned to see their destination his, he felt rather than saw something- a blinding

white Light that seemed to strike through him and illuminate every cell of his body

so brightly he might melt. 

This Light was not like the other, dim light he had been uselessly seeking all his life. This one was

different, giving him a different feeling. It was as if something deep and primordial inside him had

woken up, something that had been etched into his very bones before his birth. This was his

purpose, his destiny, the reason for his existence—he had no doubt about that.

Instinctively, he started to head towards the Light.

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