A sidewalk bathed in the light of the sunset, and only the sound of footsteps fell upon The Student's ears. At this moment The Student was content with all the normal routines of life. The joy, the learning, the heartache, the peaceful, the beautiful, the lonely and the boring were all understood within the necessity of The Student's life, nothing wanting and nothing in excess. For The Student there is no greater edification than this reflection without regret.
Looking up from a walk lost in thought, The Student was struck by the blinding sun, and in that sun sat Truth, and it became known in an instant that a great tragedy would befall the world. The nature of the tragedy remained just unreachable, but The Student understood that soon there will be no future generations of humanity. At this moment The Student did not cry out in anguish or fear but became convinced that someone must know how to find peace after learning this news, and decided to search for them.
The Student ran first to Silent House to meet with its leader The INDIFFERENT OF ALL INDIFFERENT'S and said to her that the end of the world is coming soon! The INDIFFERENT OF ALL INDIFFERENT'S responded in her silent peaceful tone, 'It is indifferent to me.' And so The Student responded, 'But I cannot deny my truth, it is not indifferent to me.' Nothing came from the silent woman's mouth, a detached half-pitying look was the only response offered.
Undiscouraged, The Student made a plea to Anger Management. Only a short answer was yelled at The Student before the door slammed shut 'I don't care when the world explodes, as long as it's my hand that causes it!' The Student felt no similar desire for control.
Human Resources was contacted next, a pragmatic bureaucrat through and through. When The Student arrived, Human Resources just said in his bland tone 'all we need is food, water and shelter.' The Student had all of these, but was still troubled.
After facing all possible teachers and arriving at no conclusion, The Student cried out in anguish, a plea for someone to provide a path towards peace. Throughout the land echoed The Student's cries of The Truth of the apocalypse and all of the unsatisfactory answers from the teachers of the world. Yet no answers came. Fearful that the news would throw the world into chaos, The Student hid away, scared of the impending disaster.
Years of isolation went by, The Student was driven mad by fear and loneliness until one day, it became unbearable. The Student ran forth out of hiding to seek the wisest teacher he knew, The Great Monk of Mount Scorpion.Â
Arriving ragged and bloodshot from the journey, The Student pleaded for truth, 'Oh Great Monk please tell me what chaos has the world come to after hearing The Truth of the end?!' Slowly, with closed eyes, The Great Monk responded, 'You have already saved everyone from fear, for you have shown them all the wisdom they could need. They are calm. Your pursuit of wisdom has saved countless souls. It seems the only one who fears The End is you. Take solace, as I have in the continued quest for knowledge, for it will continue to be your purpose and meaning to seek and to teach.' The Student replied, 'But you and your students too shall perish soon what is the point of learning or teaching?', With the same careful tone The Great Monk responded 'To learn and to teach.'
The Great Monk slowly opened his eyes, expecting to see The Student's calm revelation, but saw a furiously contorted face. The Student yelled 'That's stupid and you know it! There's no comfort in the mere pursuit knowledge that will never be of use,' and stormed off.
Just outside The Great Monk's chambers appeared The Man On The Moon who lived a troubled life in the monastery, for he had a strange affliction in which he could not remember any previous days, nor could anyone have a memory of him from previous days. The Student thought that a path towards peace had appeared, and thus inquired "Mr.Man On The Moon, you only exist in the present, you have no history and no legacy. Please tell me, how have you found peace in that immediacy?!" But The Man On The Moon could only offer these words, 'I haven't, it's awful.'
And The Student wept. And Truth Smiled. And the world ended.