The Search for Purpose
the journal of literature and the arts at saint david’ s school
The Search for Purpose
As Ray walked down the grand hallway, he saw everyone he ever knew and ever would. The young, the old, and everyone in between. He exited into the square and saw children playing in the spacious park and heard their parents talking about what they would be requesting this year: a house, a vacation, a new job. Everyone was so content with their lives because this was the Happiest Day of the Year, the day when The System satisfied everyone’ s requests.“ It’ s perfect!” a woman called out as she stood in front of a new home just like the one she had asked for.
Ray just scoffed and kept walking. He never really felt anything on these days anymore, let alone on any day. Another request, another fulfillment, another moment that should have mattered but didn’ t. Ray knew The System would give him whatever he wanted: a house, a new car, a spouse. He had suspected long ago that anything worth getting required some amount of effort, and effort was what The System took away entirely. He had begun to believe that things that were valued couldn’ t be given; instead they had to be earned with work, patience, faith— maybe even love.
Ray kept walking past the crowd and stopped at a fountain, watching water fall perfectly back into the basin in an endless loop. The crowd buzzed around him with joy he didn’ t share. Ray felt apart from the world. Would it be better to be one of them, hollow but content with their one-dimensional lives? he wondered. He had knowledge, which they could never just give out.
Ray continued through the square as the world moved around him, excited and happy. He knew this was not real happiness, neither he nor anyone would ever experience it. Still, he found himself stopping at the organized
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