Be Not Afraid of Greatness || Neil Perry

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

Aristotle once stated, "No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness".

A predictable life is a boring one. A life where the next sentence is foreseeable is a life unworthy of living. With madness, the unlimited potential of a person may be released. Masterpieces may be created if the madness we bury beneath intelligence is unveiled.

Will Hunting always venerated the Greek philosopher and polymath, wanting nothing more than to sit beside him in the throne room of the greats. A room where genius is but a normality. A room where normality may be a paved road, yet flowers still grow.

Since childhood, the girl was set on a path towards eminence. She did not walk, nor run this path. Rather she was pushed along it by her father, even after he was no longer a part of her life. She dug her heels into the floor, the soles of her shoes dragging along through the ochre dirt. It was of no use. She continued on this pathway, searching and craving distinction in a world of routine.

Will Hunting is an enigma. The three-syllable word seems to be the only possible way to convey the complexity of the young woman in words. The capability of her mind is level with that of William James Sidis. Unfortunately, as is her current treatment by society. An above-average in the eyes of the ordinary is only a strange attribute. One that is treated as a mutation is. Will Hunting's peers treated her as if she was an animal in a zoo. An experiment to be poked and prodded at until a groundbreaking discovery is found.

It was at 10 years when Will was arrested for the first time. It was at 10 years when Will discarded the path set in place for her by her elders. She became, in the simplest and most convenient terms, a thug. A street rat that engages in fights for the thrill of the battle. Friends came in and out of her life like people arrive and depart from a train station. None wished to remain with the egotistical hoodlum. Only a few endured the avalanche that is Will Hunting. These dependable few were allies in an ongoing war. Each is willing to follow one another to the end of the earth and back.

It was in 1959 when Will Hunting was arrested and she was unable to talk her way out of it. Due to the Miranda Rights Will was provided with a subpar lawyer that only further promoted Will's guilt. After that occurrence, she decided that she was more than capable of defending herself. And so she did. For over half a decade the teenager stood before a judge and jury, arguing for her innocence. She would tiptoe the line of technicalities with confidence and a smile on her face. The judge would reluctantly dismiss the case and wait until the next time the teenager would enter his court.

Will stands on the wooden podium, her eyes scouring over those that sit in the pews. Each and every man and woman is familiar to her, having been present in her cases before. She falters, however, when her gaze lands on Gale Nolan. The few strands of hair that scatter the side of his majority bald head are a shade of gunmetal grey. His skin is worn like the soles of the charcoal black dress shoes he wears. The wine red tie that is wrapped around his collar tightly like a noose, cinching the sagging skin of his neck together. A small smirk plays at the corner of her lip as she recognizes him. Each and every newspaper throughout the state of Vermont has published at least once about the headmaster of Welton Preparatory School for Boys. Each paper praises the elderly man for his contributions to society. For shaping the potential troublesome youths into upstanding members of civilization.