The Easy Path

The Easy Path

Quickly, I awoke, throwing my covers from my body. “It had been only a dream!”, I thought, “but it seemed so real!” It was that night when I realized my dream must be shared with the world. This is my reason for writing this letter. Hopefully you will find its content as helpful as I have.
Once there was a man named Normal. Normal was a typical no-body who lived in the town of Sinnersville. Each day he would roll out of bed, pour a cup of steaming hot coffee, then head to work until nightfall. Normal replayed this daily routine for years. Finally he became frustrated. “Is there no meaning to life?”, he questioned, “Why do I awake each day, only to invest my time in front of a computer screen?”
One morning as he pulled his Ford F-250 from his driveway a man emerged, blocking his way.
“Excuse me”, Normal called-out as he rolled down his window, “Would you mind moving?”
“Do you really believe there is no purpose in life Normal?”

Normal's mind raced, “How does he know my name?” He noticed the man was clothed in what appeared to be a black robe and stood approximately 6 feet tall.
“How did you know...”, but Normal was interrupted

“My name is GPS, and you must listen to what I have to say, but you must listen well. Life only seems meaningless because you have not yet found purpose.”
“And what is my purpose?”
“That is what you must unearth. But it is necessary that you first accept this journey.”
“And what journey is that?”
“You must travel to the Kingdom of Heaven.”
“But the Kingdom of Heaven is only a myth!” Normal argued.

“Only to those who choose to make it a myth. But if you believe Normal, you will find answers to all the questions you have been asking.”

Without warning, GPS disappeared. Normal sat in his truck, the engine was still running. He wondered if he had only been dreaming. “Well I'm going to find out!” he yelled. And with that he flipped the key, and as the truck engine shut down, he was already sprinting towards the house. The front door slammed against the wall. He was at his computer within seconds, clicking repeatedly on Google Earth. He typed in his destination and hit enter. The image shifted over Antarctica. “BLAST!”, Normal shouted, “I'm not walking on foot to Antarctica! There has to be somewhere closer where I can have some fun!” He spent the next few minutes viewing the surrounding cities of where he lived when he discovered an appealing looking city called Hell York City.
Normal set off that day expecting to arrive in Hell York City within a few days. He was having more fun than he imagined possible. Along the road he made many new friends; Drugs, Money, and Snickersbar. The four of them traveled together, all having the time of their lives. But then they finally arrived to their destination. It was nothing like Normal hoped it to be. There was no fun or happiness in Hell York City, only pain and suffering. Normal and his friends tried to leave, but they became lost in the city. There they stayed imprisoned forever. “If only I had listened to GPS,” Normal thought, “If only I had not taken the easy path.”

Dallas in Gondoland

Dallas in Gondoland




“The day has gotten of to a bad start,” thought, thirteen year old, Dallas Parkour. It all started that morning when Mrs. Parkour, Dallas' mom, backed the family SUV into the house. This accident wouldn't have been all that bad if she hadn't crushed his Playstation 3 in the process.
Dallas dug his fingers through his thick brown hair. “What am I supposed to do with my life?”, he muttered to himself, “No Playstation means no fun, no fun means I have nothing to do!” He walked to his window, scanned the backyard, hoping to find something to do. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for a small hole beside one of his mother's butterfly bushes on the backside of the fence line. With nothing else to do, he set off to investigate.

       The hole was larger then what it appeared from his window. Measuring at least 3 feet in diameter, Dallas could not see the bottom. “It looks like it doesn't end,” he said to himself, “What the heck is going on?” Kneeling on the edge, Dallas decided to get a closer look into the hole. Endless blackness was all he could see. Suddenly, Dallas became unstable. In an instant he was consumed by the darkness. He looked up to see light poring in from the entrance above. “I'm falling!”, he thought. He tried to yell, but only silence came out. Wind rushed around him as continued to fall but he never reached the bottom. Light from the entrance faded until it was no more.
       Minutes passed and those minutes turned into hours. Dallas glanced at his watch, “I have been falling for over 3 hours!”, he cried out, “Oh how I want to go home.” And the more he fell the more he wanted to see his family again. He had never felt so alone in his life. Glancing around him, he noticed something a faint glimmer below him. With each second the dim glow grew larger and larger. Dallas could now make out what looked like a bed. “I wonder what a bed is doing all the way down here,” he said. Then it dawned on him that he was going to land right on top of the bed. “OH MY GOODNESS!”, he screamed, and with the last few seconds he had, he let out a yell like none other, “AKAWOOGAWAKAWOOOOO!!!” He crashed into the bed and darkness overtook him.

* *

       Doug had been sitting at his desk, for at least an hour, pondering his reply to an e-mail sent by his high-school buddy, James. He began the e-mail recanting his most recent, exciting, story about his ceiling leaking during the night. He had awakened , soaked to the skin, only to find a huge hole with water poring down on top of him. The landlord was able to patch the leak immediately, but could not fix ceiling for at least a week. This had happened nearly 3 days ago and Doug was just now pulling his bed coverings from the dryer. As he made his bed up, thoughts came into his mind.

       Over the past few weeks since his last e-mail with James, Doug had many questions on his mind. The toughest question he had not yet been able to tackle, “Why do people think I'm imaginary?”, had kept him awake many nights. A realization of the truth sent a flash of sadness over him and he began to cry. “Why, why, why do people always haveto judge me?”, he cried, “I have never done anything to them! Except maybe write them loads of letter they don't want...” Doug, outraged, took his stapler and threw it against the window. The stapler bounced off the window hitting him in the knee. Doug let out a scream. “WHY DID I INSTALL SAFTY GLASS?”, he shouted to himself. Suddenly, he heard a yell like he had never heard before. “a...ka....woo..gawaKAWOOOOO!!!” The shout came from the hole in his ceiling. His eyes flashed upwards just in time to see a kid plummeting from the hole into his bed! Wooden splinters flew everywhere as his bed collapsed from the force! Silence...



* *



       Dallas was riding on the back of his favorite unicorn. “Oh mister unicorn, I never want to leave you again,” Dallas told the unicorn as they trotted along. All was pleasant and happy in the land of Gondo. Dallas enjoyed his travels here much more then any place he traveled back on earth. As Dallas trotted along, he heard his companion say, “Are you alright kid?” “Huh?”, Dallas replied, “Mister unicorn, I didn't know you could talk” “I'm not a unicorn dude...”, said the unicorn. “Whaa...?”

       Dallas was no longer in his beloved Gondoland. A blond haired man stood over him looking down with wonder in his eyes. “Where am I?”, Dallas asked. “In my apartment...”, the man replied, “how did you get here?” “I don't know,” Dallas mumbled as he sat up. The apartment was small. There were a few pieces of furniture around the room that; a small TV, a rather rugged looking couch, a computer desk, a office chair, and the bed he was sitting on. Dallas noticed the wood splinters lying around the room and could only guess by looking at the bed that he had caused them. His eyes returned to the man who now looked a little frightened. “What's your name boy?”, the man asked. “Dallas”, Dallas answered. “Well I think we have some talking to do Dallas”, said the man.

       As time passed, Dallas and the man learned a lot about each other. Dallas learned that the mans name was Doug and that he attended a school in California called, The University of Home-schooled Losers. Once the two had introduced themselves, they started considering explanations of how Dallas had gotten there and how he was going to get back. They both agreed that Dallas should call his parents and try to explain, if possible, what had happened.

       “Do you have a phone?”, asked Dallas. “Sure, use my cell phone,” Doug replied as he handed Dallas his ENV 2 cell phone. Dallas quickly punched in his number, 1-800-home.
As his finger reached for the send button a deafening crash exploded from the door. Freed from it's hinges, the door tumbled to the ground! In the doorway stood a man. The man was dressed from head to toe in black leather. He had dark brown hair and wore sunglasses on his face. “My name is Neo”, started the man, “If you want to live, come with me.” “What?”, Doug said still recovering from the shock of a man breaking through his door. Dallas was speechless. He was in shock of what all had happened since he had awaken that morning. Neo continued, “Everything you see around you is not real.” “Not real?”, asked Doug. “That's what I just said”, Neo grumbled. “But what do you mean, it's not real?”, questioned Doug again. “Everything you see around is made up of a computer program designed by machines from the future called The Latex.” Finally Dallas spoke up, “But I'm allergic to Latex...” “Shush kid!”, Neo yelled, “As I was saying. The Latex is a program used by the machines to keep us from knowing the truth. You think it is the year 2009 when in reality it is 2345. That is all you need to know for now.” Doug sat there wondering if the man was serious or playing some stupid joke on him. But before Doug could respond, Neo had reached into his pocket and pulled out four pills. In his right hand, 2 red pills and in his left, 2 green pills. Neo explained, “Doug, Dallas, If you take a red pill you will wake up tomorrow in your beds, but if you take a green pill you will see the truth. This is not a decision to make lightly so I'll give you some time to think about.”

       Dallas and Doug sat in silence. Dallas could think of nothing else but getting home to his mom. Doug had different thoughts. He was bored of college life. His inner self told him to take the green pill but he knew there was no turning back. “Times up,” Neo said, “It is time to make your choice.”
Dallas grasped the red pill and threw it into his mouth, swallowing it whole. Nothing happened immediately, but gradually he became very dizzy. He tried walking across the room, but he could not capture his balance. He tumbled to the ground and fell asleep. Doug thought nothing of this. All he could think about was the decision he was about to make. “Red or green,” he thought to himself, “But why not red and green?” “AHA!!!”, he yelled as he plopped the two pill down his throat. “What have you done idiot!”, Neo shouted. “I have done what you could never do!”, Doug quickly remarked. “I don't think you understand”, Neo replied sternly, “You are going to die.” Doug screamed, “WHAT!” But it was too late. Doug fell to the ground and saw no more.



* *



      Dallas woke up screaming, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” “Dallas?”, his mom appeared in the doorway. Dallas looked around and noticed he was back in his own room. “I DID IT!”, he shouted. “Did what?”, Mom asked. “Nothing...”, he replied. Doug noticed his mom carrying something. “Doug, I want you to know that I'm sorry about what happened this morning and I hope this will make it easier to forgive me.”, then she revealed what was behind her.

       It was a brand new Playstation 3. Doug rushed over and hugged his mom while thanking her. He thought about what he had just dreamed and what the meaning of it all was, but then he realized something. It had no meaning at all.

       “I'm not exactly sure why I wrote down this story. Except to tell the tale of how I got my Playstation 3. Maybe one day Doug and Neo will come back to haunt me again, but until that day I will live my life knowing everything I see is real. And no guy busting down my door can tell me otherwise.” Signed Dallas.



Copyright go to Jedisobe