The Inevitable

It’s always the same story, isn’t it? Generations rise and fall in a constant and never-ending wave of triumph and tragedy. Heroes and villains alike meet their greatest heights, and, eventually, their stories, too, must end. But what is the purpose of it all? Where do I fit into the story? Am I the hero or the villain? Or, am I something in between?

If you were to ask a passerby, they would say they’ve never known me. I’d be just another face to them, not good, not bad, not anything. But if you were to ask the ones who knew me, they would tell an entirely different story. To some, I would be the hero, the friend, the confidant. To others, I would be the selfish one, the coward, the failure.

What is the truth of me, you may ask? I don’t know myself. Am I an amalgam of all others’ impressions? Am I how I see myself to be? Am I something entirely different, neither good nor bad, but just simply another fleeting existence in the whirlpool of endless question?

It’s a fool’s errand to strive to know my purpose. It’s something I must choose to believe and to try my very best to fulfill. Or, it was. . .

You see, my life is ending now. All of my choices leading up to this moment have led me here. I don’t know if I believe in fate, but I feel that this is exactly where I was supposed to end up. It’s not a perfect ending, but it’s mine, and I am grateful for the time I’ve spent on this earth.

Now, I feel the icy wind biting my face as a fall. It numbs my entire body, my entire soul. The mountain peaks flash past in smeared colors of white and gray, and I know this will be final.

It was always going to end up this way. I just didn’t expect it to be so soon—