Transcendence Ep 0 — Burning it All

A blog story

(sic)

He stared intently at his simple cellphone, either organising his thoughts into a text message or expectantly waiting for his phone to speak to him with a rhythmic buzz.

An atmosphere enveloped him, that as much of anxiety as that of depression. A tiny little butterfly seemed to comfort him, fluttering around his knees. But its seemingly benevolent intentions may have foreshadowed a darker truth. That the pale yellow insect fed off his melancholy, was a more appropriate premise to this parasitic courtship. One could argue that the creature aided the man, in his time of pain and anguish, same way as a leech draws first blood. And in all this, the human felt a fleeting yet fulfilling comfort.

He knew it was time. There is a reason why the moth is drawn to the bright flame, steeped in the knowledge of its imminent demise. Transcendence — from the mortal coil of this plane. A random walk towards what else the cosmos has in mind for it. The man stood up in realization, wholly aware of his directive — the same that the butterfly beckoned him to complete.

He exited the small garden and walked up the steps. He climbed up the staircase and approached the elevator with a tiny glint in his eyes. “To the Top!”, he seemed to exclaim within his head, a wry smile spread across his chapped lips. The indicators began to play a game of hopscotch. 15 more floors to go! A new cloud of anxiety enveloped the man again. But this time it was tempered with a sense of certainty, of a mission to be accomplished, of awaiting a resplendent future to behold.

“And here’s the Top floor!” whistled the elevator, with a memorable metallic note. All of the man’s thoughts immediately coalesced into a singular unit, a phrase of 5 words — “Just a step is all”. He exited the elevator thinking about the pale yellow butterfly. Soon he too would find his wings.

Or so he thought…