First Post

[MattSquires]

It's a short story I wrote called, "The Story"

http://zenreject.blogspot.com/2011/02/story-short-story-by-matthew-squires.html

Feedback is appreciated!

[MatthewFarlow]

For all who hate external links for one reason or another:

The Story
(A Short Story by Matthew Squires)

Josh Campbell looked at the laptop in front of him. After a brief pause of consideration, he wrote the following short story:

Josh Campbell woke up with a nervous excitement he hadn’t felt since the day he was interviewed for his job. He found it funny that the reason he was feeling it now was that he would shortly be quitting that same job.

On his way to work he was immersed in his own thoughts. Acting out the whole event in his mind, he imagined the look on his boss’ face when he told him why he was quitting. He smiled.

He walked into the office building where he worked and went upstairs to his floor. He walked straight by his desk, in the direction of his boss’ office. He knocked as he opened the door.

“Morning, Mike.” He said.

“Good morning Josh, what’s up?” His boss replied.

“Mike, I came in to tell you I’m quitting.”

His boss froze in shock. He regained his exposure. “Why don’t you come in and we’ll talk about this, huh?”

“No, that’s alright. I think if I sit down I may reconsider. I’m going to leave now. Have a good day.”

As Josh closed the door, his boss called to him. “Wait! Josh, why the hell are you leaving?”

Josh opened the door wide enough to see his boss’ face. “I’m going to pursue philosophy.”

With that he closed the door and left.


***********************************



Josh had been up for two days, perpetually feeling as if he was on the cusp of a major breakthrough. He was seated at kitchen table, pursuing thoughts and jotting down notes. His main focus right now was on Determinism. If everything was running according to laws of nature, than was it possible for him to legitimately act freely? He came to the conclusion that he had not, as of that moment, thought or acted in any way that was of his own accord. All the choices he made were quite obviously presented to him. He did not choose which choices to make, and whenever he made a choice, the verdict he went with was always determined by a casual chain. Even for him to choose against what was the appropriate choice in any predicament, would be, itself, a choice that was appropriately fulfilling the task of being inappropriate.

But despite this logical consequence, he felt inside of himself a somewhat primal urge to act freely. A very religious man at his core, he began to pray. He slipped into the state of consciousness he had achieved in his Zen meditative practices. With the whole of his consciousness he formulated the question as clearly as he could.

“I ask to whatever may hear, the following question. Whether I receive an answer or not, and whether that answer if from within or without me is unimportant, but still the question remains: How may I act
freely?”

He immediately went into a fit. He had lost the illusion of control he had over his body. He reached for a pen and wrote. He was aware that he was writing, but had no clue what was being written. He set down the pen, and the last thing he saw before he became unconscious was the floor as he fell to it.


***********************************************


When Josh awoke, he strained for a moment to recall what had happened. He suddenly remembered the fit, stood up, and grabbed the piece of paper he had written on.

In very childish handwriting was the following:

“YOU ARE FREE FOR ONE MOMENT. ACT WISELY”

Josh realized at this moment how he felt. It was as if he was dreaming, but he oddly felt much more lucid then he ever had in waking life. He felt a freedom within him that was uncontainable. He began to float. He looked down at his feet as they separated from the ground below him.

Then everything stopped. All colors and dimensions disappeared. To say everything went white would be inaccurate, as there was an absence of white as well.

Josh heard a voice that at once sounded outside as well as inside of him.

“Though finitude does not exist outside of your conception of the universe, only a handful of human beings have had the privilege of acting freely in the way you did. And though the difference between you and others only exists inside your conception of the universe, you are a very lucky individual to have experienced what you did. And though there is no separation between the rose and the thorn that surrounds it, there is a price you must pay for your freedom. Provided is a laptop. You must write what led you to this moment. You may begin”
Josh Campbell looked at the laptop in front of him. After a brief pause of consideration, he wrote the following short story:

Josh Campbell woke up with a nervous excitement he hadn’t felt since the day he was interviewed for his job. He found it funny that the reason he was feeling it now was that he would shortly be quitting that same job.

[everyadventure]

I felt this story had a lot of potential, up to when he read the words "You are free..."

From there it was kind of anti-climatic, as he STILL didn't seem to choose to do anything of his own accord.

I do like the reference to the excitement he felt, beginning and ending his job... sad but true that most of the days in between are nothing great!