Allegory of One Boys Journey

Let's imagine a little boy. Born to parents. Abandoned by the father at birth. "This is not my son!". Raised by a single mother. Who, spurned by her husband, enchants the boy with tales of how a princess should be treated. How to properly adhere to vows of forever ever. And time passes with mother and child, he being the center of her world (or so he perceives). A replacement for a partner. An equal. And then one day a dark and mysterious man appears in the scenario. And mother falls deeply in love. And the little boy, longing for a father figure falls deeply in love as well. And for a brief time in the child's adolescence they are happy. But soon cracks begin to form. The new father is not such a charming prince as once he seemed. He has his own demons. And his demons bring out the mother's demons. He is schizophrenic. Both are alcoholic. And soon the family spirals and spirals into darker and darker territory.

And yet, at the same time, our boy is becoming a man. He is growing as a teenager. He has found love of his own. He is in love at the young age of 16. She, a damsel in distress, believes his family is stable and he projects this to seem like a viable and healthy mate.

And then the world falls apart. The boy's grandmother dies. Father becomes obsessed with affairs and the idea that mother is a demon (literally). Mother rejects reality and wants to persist with her husband by simply obscuring the problems in alcohol. And boy learns that love and allegiance and care are not absolute. He does not come first in his mother's eyes. His second father has questioned his loyalty and abandonment.

And what remains? His own juvenile love of a girl. His first love. His first partner.

Father's love is not immutable. Mother's love is not immutable. Is there no love in this world that is unconditional and immutable?

Perhaps the boy can make such a love. In fact, the boy longs to believe in such a love. His romantic soul, born of a single mother's wishes for princess dreams, believes that true love must exist in the universe to make it a livable place. He can make this happen. He can be the example. He can prove the world wrong, prove that magic and romance exist. Prove that love can conquer all.

And so he tries. He loves his girl as best he can. He waits for her for years while she is away. He forgives her transgressions. He builds a life with her when she returns. And he thinks to himself then, at last, the world makes sense. I was right. Love does conquer all. My efforts are validated.

And then girl leaves. Girl chooses another man over the boy. And the boy is left questioning. The cloak he had wrapped his entire identity in has come unraveled. The only "him" he has ever known is no longer true because the fairy tale he had been living for is no longer true. What if there is no "meant to be" ? What if the years waiting were years wasted? What if, one day, you woke up and found out the person you defined yourself as, was no longer real? Not even possible.

And now the cruel world, with its disbelief in true love and fairy tales has won. They love to see it in movies but refuse to support it in real life. They want to be right. They want to tell you that you are not special. Face the facts. Be real. Move on.

And the boy is lost. He cannot give up on the identity he made for himself when at such a young age he had to believe in something. And yet, the real world has crept in. And it is time to look at the fork in the road and decide what the next path will lead to.