I was originally going to write this as a #hundo prompt for the word soliloquy. Things got out of hand and it was much too long to add to that list, so here I present to you a thought experiment on our legacy and whether or not our thought demons matter.
What if we cast no reflection?
Traversing through this world, locked in our subconscious, only getting a faint glimpse of what could be. What if, while we dare to dream, chasing those highs of momentous proportions, we instead sink into the ground with nothing left to our name but the glimmer of a sad being that might have achieved greatness if not for the world holding them back?
What if, when we look in the mirror, we see nothing staring back at us? A vampire of the world, sucking the resources dry for perhaps a shadow of happiness. A thing of nightmares, moving forward, and yet getting nowhere at all.
If for one microscopic moment, we find clarity in the unknown and seek to enlighten ourselves to our true potential, would we then see a wisp of refraction in the silver? Would we notice a shape in the mirror staring back at us, hoping that this would be the day of our self-righteous reckoning? Would this be the day we plunge ourselves into the fabric of fate, and weave our story into its meticulous folds, cementing our legacy for eons to come?
But what if we aren’t meant to appear? What if, by the very nature of our being, we are lost to the sands of time, wasting away one granule at a time until the time of man is gone, withered into nothingness?
What if we cast no reflection? If there’s nothing to see, then is our sacrifice worth the pain? If it doesn’t matter, then why do this at all. Why live this life of endless torment only to fade to black when our hour draws to a close?
It’s simple, really. Just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean it's not there.
