The Edge of Reality

Chapter 2: The Path

Living with Monohan and Agni required a gradual process of adjustment. I wasn't sure how other households worked, but I had a feeling that they were different from most people- mainly because they made sure to tell me so on a daily basis. The house was small and quaint, but it felt like a home. The decor was simple but clearly intentional. I once spent a day looking at the pictures and objects adorning the walls and imagined that they had placed everything in sight with care. A huge bookshelf lined a wall in the study, but I didn't dare touch any of the books. It wasn't as though I was told not to, there was just a sense hanging in the air that I wouldn't be able to comprehend their contents. Agni was often in the kitchen cooking or cleaning, so there was always the scent of food hanging in the air. Her cooking was the first I'd ever tasted, but I also thought it must be among the best around because of the dedication she put into it. It seemed she was confined to that small room, but she never acted as though she wished she were elsewhere. She often sang or chanted strange songs that I couldn't quite understand, or was on the phone with people I had yet to meet.

Monohan was usually only home in the early mornings and evenings. I was never sure where he went all day, but he told me he ran a small newspaper for the city. Sometimes when I got up in the mornings, I would find him sitting up at the dining room table reading or listening to something on the radio. The dark circles under his eyes told me he had been up for a long time, but the subtle gleam in his eyes when he looked up to greet me said otherwise. He always seemed to be refreshed and ready for a conversation, although he often seemed weary. It was on mornings like this that we had some of our most valuable conversations. About two weeks after I had arrived, we had our first serious discussion. I had awoken suddenly in the early morning, when the sun had just begun to light up the horizon- it must have been about 6:00, but I didn't bother to look at a clock; I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and went straight to the dining room. Sure enough, Monohan was there as he often was. He glanced up at me without speaking.

"Good morning, Monohan," I said quietly, pulling out a rustic wooden chair from the table to sit down across from him.

"Morning," he said without enthusiasm. I almost wondered if he noticed me at all as I watched him pore over a news article in the paper. As I sat in an absentminded daze, I realized that there must have been something on his mind by the way he kept glancing at me out of the corner of his eye and fidgeting in a way I hadn't seen him move yet. Nevertheless, I continued to stay quiet- it seemed rude to speak up to him. I waited until he inhaled sharply and set his paper down to look directly at him; he stared straight back, his gaze full of intent.

"I think it's time I explain something to you," he began. "You've lived a couple weeks now, and soon you will be spending time outside of this house and our ways, so it is important that you understand the things we have not told you yet."

The seriousness of his tone frightened me a little bit, but I was just as curious to find out what he was talking about. I listened without speaking.

"We have all appeared in this world for a purpose. A purpose that we don't understand, but a purpose all the same. For as long as has been recorded, people have lived and have died without finding direction. Now, you can float through your years without progressing in a firm direction, but then what point is there? There isn't any. That doesn't make sense, does it?"

I didn't understand what point he was trying to make, but I nodded along anyway.

"A few of us- just a few out of all the people who are alive and who will ever live- have found a better path. A path that has real meaning and impact in the world. You will soon see that people are dying all the time. Every day, we lose as many people as we gain in this world. One day, maybe today or in a hundred years, Agni and I will die as well. But the difference is that we will move on to a different world. All these people, living without any guidance, they have nothing for them. It's very sad, there is nothing for them to look forward to after this mortal time."

"What is this different world?" I asked. He had peaked my curiosity, and I felt a burden in my chest thinking about the depth of his words. "How are you getting there?"

"Ah, it is the next life. We don't know what it is yet- only those who have died in the right know it. We only know that it is perfect, without sadness or death. It is where we all want to be. But there is only one way to reach it- complete meditation upon it. Many people believe it exists, but few are willing to focus on it entirely enough to reach it. Distractions fill this world and many people enjoy them, but they are all temporary. Agni and I have dedicated our lives to focusing on this path to reaching it, but we are among the few. We hope for you to join us, so that you may be fulfilled and have hope for after your life is over."

I stared back at him, speechless. He was proposing such a strict standard of living, without any interruptions from the outside. However, I didn't know anything else except that they had taken me in with kindness. They seemed so wise that I believed him.

I hadn't noticed, but Agni had entered the room at some point, and now she stood over me with her hand on my shoulder. Her dark hair fell around her shoulders and framed a seriousness in her eyes I had never seen. "Tesha," she said gravely. "It's very important that you choose wisely and quickly. Just as Monohan said, people are dying as quickly as they are appearing. You have not yet seen death, but you saw the day you appeared how many others came into this world in only a short time. Death is everywhere. Some people pass away peacefully, others are injured- some are even killed by others or themselves. When it's an individual's time, it's their time whether they are prepared for the other world or not. You have just come into this world, but I fear for you, because none of us know how soon your time will come."

Her eyes were filled with tears, and they both looked at me with pleading eyes through the weight of their tones. I looked out the window at the sun peeking over the trees and listened to the birds that were just beginning to chirp. From the house's vantage point, I could see the street lights turn off one by one and people leaving their houses to go in a hundred different directions. I wouldn't be able to appreciate this or be part of this if it weren't for Monohan and Agni. So I decided to stand with them.

"Yes," I said. "I will dedicate my life just as you have. I will follow you."

They both sighed in relief and smiled. "No, do not follow us," Monohan said. "Follow the path of purpose."