I couldn't decide whether to gingerly detach the unwelcome hook from my shirt,
or to risk a tear and let the line tow me to freedom. My desire to be free won
out over my sense of fashion, and I let fate carry me away.
Up ahead, I could see a tunnel of light streaming in through the darkness. It
grew closer and closer, and off to the side a faceless graduating class stood
up and threw their caps into the air. I watched them floating away like balloons
of chance in the night. I thought I could hear an occasional "pop, pop," as, one
by one, they met uncertain fates of disappointment and fulfillment.
As
I rushed into the Light, I felt Answers tickling my senses, seeping deeper into
my being, so that I almost understood. Sweet enlightenment was trickling down
into the cavern of empty longing deep inside, gently washing away my fears in
a blanket of warmth.
Then, with a sudden jolting crash, the sweet peace was lodged in my throat. As
I swallowed, it was with bitter disappointment that I saw that I was caught up
in the light tunnel. I guess it was a couple of sizes too small, for I found myself
wedged into its exit, rear-end first. But the line tugged and it tugged, until...pop...I
shot out like a cork and flew into the air. All the while the line was being reeled
in, until I found myself dangling from the fishing pole of an old blind man who
had been fishing down a manhole.
He gazed at me with anticipation, waiting for the Answer that would bring sight
to a world waiting for hope. I felt certain that I had tasted the answers to all
questions once upon a time. Now once again I could see the Answers there, reflected
in his eyes. But as I hesitated, the cataracts clouded over and the old blind
man clicked his tongue. "Too little, too late" he grumbled, and he was just about
to throw me back.
"Wait!" I yelled, and quickly detached myself (ripping my shirt anyway, after
all that!). I came crashing down to the ground and fell into a puddle of motor
oil.
The fisherman clicked his tongue again, and before I knew what was happening,
he wrung me out on a giant wringer and gave me a haircut and beard trim.
"Fifty cents." He beamed a toothless smile and held out his hand.
I reached into my pockets, but I couldn't find a coin. He clicked his tongue,
yet another time, when I made my apology and told him I'd owe it to him.
"Kids," he mumbled, and went back to fishing.
"Gosh," I sighed. "I really will pay you back...with interest," I added.
"Go away, kid, you bother me!" the blind man shooed, and he was laughing as his
line suddenly went taut, and he joyfully started reeling in a new catch.
"If I ever get another dollar, I'll be sure to save it for just such an emergency,"
I sighed as I walked away from the old blind man, searching my empty mind for
the questions and the answers I'd seen that were worth even more than all the
treasures on earth.
3. ONE OF LIFE'S GREAT DILEMMAS IS ALWAYS: 'SHOULD I KEEP FALLING IN MY BOTTOMLESS
PIT, OR SHOULD I LET THAT HOOK IN THE DARKNESS TOW ME TO AN, AT BEST, UNCERTAIN
FATE?'
