This is a story i wrote for creative writing. I was curious to see what people thought of it. I hope you like it. :D A Guiding Light Max had stood watch over the people for over thirty years. His tall, sturdy frame made everything really easy. He never got tired, and it wasn’t much work. It was a job with few rewards and little excitement, but in the end that wasn’t as bad. That meant he had time to think. Of course, that was cold comfort, considering the things he thought about. Max spent most of his time thinking about the lack of meaning in existence, and how stupid people were. He had seen about sixty-seven break-ups, thirty-six car accidents, and listened to countless meaningless conversations between ignorant people. One time, some spoiled kids had spray-painted their names on him. He thought that most of the people were simply under the delusion that they had meaning in life, and that despite all of people’s efforts, they were never actually going to be happy. And yet, tonight was different. Maybe it was the way the moon shone on the cement. Maybe it was the happy voices and overly loud music of the teenagers partying a couple of blocks away from him. Max knew, though, that it was the experience with the lost cat. It wasn’t very often that max actually saw something good happen. And yet, just this afternoon around sundown, he watched as a little girl found her cat under Max’s watchful eye. If it weren’t for him, she probably wouldn’t have seen it. It was the little girl’s eyes that really got to Max. The way they lit up when they saw the cat. It made Max realize that in a world ruled by madness, there are one or two moments of kindness that may not make it all worthwhile, but they certainly help one to realize that life isn’t only pain. Maybe his job did have one or two perks once in a while, Max thought cheerfully. That may have been why Max reacted the way he did when the car hit him. He heard it coming a mile away. Max couldn’t tell if the man was drunk, out of control, or if something else was wrong. When the car did hit him, Max was knocked down almost instantaneously. The man flew out of his car and landed on the cement head first. If it were any other day, Max would have scoffed at how stupid the man was. He would have complained to himself about how oblivious people are. Tonight, Max felt different. Max wanted to help the man, and call for help or at least ease his pain and keep him company for a while. If Max were able to, he would have heroically carried the man to safety, and called for an ambulance. But Max could do nothing because he was a street light. And so, he was forced to watch as the man bled to death on the pavement. Such was the dark side of happiness, thought Max as the truck carried him away the next morning. It’s one of the principle rules of existence. What goes up must come down again. He thought about all of the dark times he had been through. All the ignorance, all the boredom, and all the nihilistic anger he had felt. He realized that it would all have meant nothing if he hadn’t been happy at some point. Without pleasure, there can be no pain, Max thought. Max wished at that point that he had never been born. He wished for complete oblivion, so he could never feel pain again. If that much pain was the cost of fleeting happiness, he didn’t want to be happy if it meant he’d never be sad again. He didn’t have to wait for very long for his wish to be granted. He was melted the next day, and the material his body was made of was used to make some nails.
I really enjoyed your story. I loved the fact that you gave life to an object that everyone takes for granted. This was fantastic as it's a point of view not usually considered.
I like it. It's sad that someone who stands so tall and never tires can in the end be so impotent, helpless, and hopeless. Pretty ironic that someone whose purpose is to cast light has such a cynical and dark outlook on life. Reminds me of the old Ikea commercial with the desk lamp: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I07xDdFMdgw
