“Close your eyes,” he said, “and lie down. Where would you like to go?”
“Take me with you. I’ll listen. I’ll travel.”
“We are sitting on the edge of a cliff. I shall ask you a question. Do not create an answer for me. If the answer lacks instinct, you will be thrown off the edge.”
“What if I don’t know the answer?”
“We shall seek it.”
He held her hand, while their legs gaped at the water below nonchalantly. She was scared of the height; however, his grip was as firm as the resolute abyss staring at them. The stillness of the moment overwhelmed her.
Stillness – her underrated neighbor, whose door she had never knocked enough. She looked at him. He was placid as if breathing the stillness.
“What matters?” he asked, disrupting her gaze.
“Huh?”
“What matters?”
Words evaded her. She was dumbfounded.
“T…T…Time?” she stuttered, rather guessed.
He threw her off the cliff. She shrieked, fear strangling her.
They were on the edge again.
“Whom are you answering for? There’s nobody judging you. Neither a right answer exists, nor can one be proven wrong. There are no people. There is no society. No groups. They cease to remain. You are the only human left on Earth. Now, answer for yourself.”
“Righteousness,” she asserted.
Off the cliff, she went again as fear choked her.
As they walked towards the edge, he said, “Morality was devised by cowards. Any truth, any instinct they could not suppress or understand was deemed as immoral. Your righteousness will be deemed moral as long as it suits their interests. They will hold high regards for those who conform. Any individual rising above the rest of them is an outlaw, not one of them. They worship the one who survives, who surrenders. But, I want you to live. Live in oblivion.”
She listened intently, feeling his words without creating opinions in parallel.
“There are no morals. Man-made entities have vanished. Timeless, formless, effortless, meaningless, and nameless your answer should be, can be; but do not make it lifeless or painless.”
They sat on the edge, his hand holding hers as firmly as the resolute abyss staring at them.
“What matters?” he asked.
“That I follow my instincts. I create my life based on the principles I devise. That I breathe. I die when I decide to. I start learning, only after having unlearned everything.”
His eyes bestowed faith upon her.
“I ought to be liberated and happy.”
“Go live then,” he whispered, pushing her off the cliff.
She was placid while falling this time as if breathing the stillness. She had embraced the fear.
***
Reference:- It’s the second chapter of ‘Saudade’ – a short story from book ‘Void’ by Sarang Kawade