Colors

COLORS



         The boy had been sitting on the cliff for hours, and for many more he would sit.  He looked towards the left and saw the ledge extend as far as he could see into the horizon, he looked right and saw the same.  Behind him the flat land stretched eternally.  The boy then gazed back off the cliff into the vibrant colors before him.  Sometime later a mannequin approached him carrying three silver orbs in his arms.

         "Excuse me" The Mannequin said "how long have you been sitting there?"

         "I don't remember."

         "Why is that?"

         "I am not entirely sure.  I believe it is because I have been thinking for far too long."

         "What thoughts have you in such a quandary?"

         "Do you see those colors over there?"  The boy pointed straight ahead.  "All I can think about is whether I should face the colors I see before me, or sit on this ledge...and remain in my safe neutrality."

         The mannequin crouched next to the boy and looked at him.  "Is it really that hard of a decision?" To which the boy replied "Yes it is.  A most hard decision.  For you see there is nothing wrong with my situation at the moment, yet there is nothing good as well.  It is calm, and safe.  I feel so...beyond all of those colors in the distance.  But at the same time a small part of me does wish to experience those colors."  The boy looked back at the mannequin "I am deeply conflicted, thus I have remained a spectator in this for as long as I can remember."  He turned his head back towards the colors and began to stare once more.  The mannequin then sat next to the boy on the cliff, still holding the orbs.  "What is there to ponder about?  You should jump right in and mix with those colors!  If you haven't experienced any of it then now is as good a time as any!"  The boy then replied "I am apprehensive though."  He then pointed towards a bright bluish yellow off in the distance, the color floated and wisped around with a magnificence that distinguished itself from all the other colors.  "I see the best of what those colors can offer yes, but I can also see the worst."  The boy then pointed towards a patch of reddish brown which sulked and crumpled and slithered about in the center of the mixture.  "I dread to fall into there, that would be an existence of misery."

         "But you do long for the bluish yellow, right?"  The mannequin replied.

         "Yes but-"

         "Look, I will not lie to you.  The chances of becoming intertwined with the bluish yellow are just the same as the reddish brown, as are your chances of mixing with all of the other colors and their combinations if you venture there on your own.  But I would urge you to venture in there regardless of your chances because sitting here is rather boring don't you think?  Wouldn't it be much more interesting and memorable to mix it up with all those colors?  Yes you may fall astray unfortunately."  The mannequin then put a hand up to the boys jaw and turned his head to face it and then began to whisper "But what will it matter in the end?  Those colors over there are temporary while this...neutrality is eternal.  No matter how good or bad things get, once you are back here all you will have are memories.  And it's not like you can't return to the colors again.  I say take the gamble as many times as you must and bring back many interesting memories to this state of neutrality because...well because it is very boring here, and I do so wish to know of some interesting experiences."

         To which the boy replied "why don't you go then?  And experience it for yourself?"  The mannequin let go of the boys jaw and looked outward towards the colors, it dropped its head forward as in a gesture showing it knew the boy was going to ask that very question.

         "My boy I am but  a mannequin, what could I possibly do in such a world?  The colors would interact with me yes, but I would feel nothing regardless, I am a permanent part of this neutrality and thus I cannot interact with any of those colors.  You on the other hand, you are sentient, you are complex, you have a power I will never have.  You, my dear boy, have the privilege of being able to matter in that world.  That's got to stand for something right?  Why not take advantage of that privilege instead of leaving it a wasted opportunity?  The way I see it you have three choices not two.  And within one of those choices is three more choices."  The boy looked confused.  He crossed his arms and looked questionably at the mannequin and his three silver orbs.  "I don't understand."

         "You can sit here in this neutrality forever, you can jump right into the colors on your own, or you may venture into the colors with one of these orbs.  Each one has a specific property that will be bestowed upon you once you reach the foray."  The mannequin then levitated the orbs in front of the boy.  "One orb will attract all the bright colors and nothing more, one attracts and equal amounts of colors across the spectrum, and another attracts all the dark colors you will ever come across."  The boy then became even more apprehensive at this presentation. 

         "I don't like this."  He said.  "There is too much risk, and I can't tell which orb is which, why can't you tell me?"  The mannequin then replied "I haven't a clue myself!  They are identical are they not?  Besides, I didn't make them.  You seem apprehensive now because you are afraid of choosing the dark one yes?  But have you ever considered if the dark colors are truly bad?  That was a judgment you made on your own from observation, but you've never experienced the colors in the first place, thus your judgment is narrow.  Who is to say that the bright colors are bad and the dark are good?  You simply do not know for sure.  So I say again, pick an orb, jump right in, or stay here."

          A long while had passed since that conversation, and the boy was now standing on the edge.  The three orbs were placed neatly beside his feet, and the mannequin who had presented them had left long ago.  The boy pondered, pondered, and pondered some more.  His eyes squinted shut and opened again looking out into the captivating chaos before him.

         "What should I do?  I had hoped an outside voice would help my decision, but that mannequin only exacerbated my confusion.  I thought I was so beyond all those colors there, so enlightened, but my inability to choose has made me feel so weak in retrospect."  At that moment a revelation began to grow inside his mind like a seedling in a pot of dirt.  "In fact...it's a very humbling feeling." A bit bigger.  "Why have I not felt this before?" And bigger still.  "Who am I to pass judgment on such colors, to feel beyond them, when I cannot validate my own actions?" This revelation was now on the verge of taking a definite shape.  "If I were to truly have some sort of respectable judgment and decision making I would need a basis for which to judge and decide things on wouldn't I?  Yes, yes indeed!"  The revelation burst inside the boy and flooded his consciousness, and a feeling of motivation like he had never felt before enveloped his very being.  The boy looked at the orbs "No, no handicaps, no crutches!"  He looked out one more time into the colors "This time I come out head first, blind and screaming!  That's all there is to it!"  And with a single leap he cast himself into maelstrom.{/left}