Perceived Insanity

And The Legacy She Left Behind

When Gideon returned home later in the afternoon, his wife could not help commenting on his shirt, soaked in sweat.

"What grueling job did they give you today?" she asked, shaking her head in disapproval. She had not been very happy with the conditions of her husband's new job. She knew he had chosen to work rather than attend university after learning of her pregnancy. Unlike many other couples, Gideon and his wife had not chosen to marry for financial, social, or political reasons. Such factors had not, for better or worse, been considered at all when they had chosen to marry. They married out of love for each other. Society tended to discourage such marriages, but love was not something so easily quenched once it existed.

"One that convinced me of the evil in this country," Gideon replied, shaking his head. "They killed a little girl, and revoked her brother's certificate. I was given the job of throwing the child's body in the dumpster."

His wife raised an eyebrow.

"And?" she asked. She knew Gideon had not told her everything.

"I carried her body to the garbage dump. I..." he broke off. "Amelia, she was only a child. I could not do what they asked of me. I wanted to bury her, give her some dignity. I thought of the child you're carrying. I couldn't just leave her!"

Gideon shook his head. His wife stood beside him, listening without comment. Several hours after arriving home, he was finally able to relate the events of the afternoon to his wife. She responded calmly, telling him she agreed with his assessment of the government.

"I can not go back to work again, and simply pretend I support the organization for whom I am working. Amelia, I thought it might be best to leave the community. If you were not pregnant, I would want to leave," Gideon explained.

"To leave the community would not be an easy choice, regardless," Amelia wisely pointed out. "I will support whatever decision you make. I think the government is in the wrong, although I worry for the safety of our child if we leave."

Gideon sighed. It would be three months before his child was born, and many years more before his child became autonomous. Before that time came, he could not be sure his child would have access to the resources necessary to survive. He had no wish to raise his child in such an environment. Yet the knowledge he had gained prevented him from finding such things to be of a higher priority than raising his child to have values and to know the meaning of truth.

"There must be other places outside the community, perhaps even other people besides William who have left," Gideon said wistfully.

"I think it would not be wise to base your decision entirely on hopes and guesses," Amelia said, frowning.

"I do not intend to do so," Gideon responded, shaking his head. "I want our child to have values. I see nothing good in this community in that respect. I am no longer of the opinion, after hearing William's story, that truth is relative. I do not want our child to grow up to believe otherwise."

Gideon had thought extensively about truth as he had buried Nayona. If truth regarding physical objects and concrete concepts was definite, how could truth regarding abstract concepts and values be indefinite?

The government had chosen something quite the opposite of truth. They had chosen uniformity under the guise of diversity and selective acceptance. They had chosen to center each individual's focus on themselves, at the cost of kindness, respect, community, and truth, when it became an obstacle.

They could not find what they were looking for in uniformity, nor would they find it in focusing on the individual. No government can control and regulate the way in which its citizens think.

"You wish to leave then?" Amelia asked. After hearing Nayona's story, she understood why her husband found their child's values so important. She was ready to leave.

"Yes, I do. At the very least, I would like to talk with William again," Gideon replied. Such decisions were best made after careful consideration, and with as much information pertaining to the decision as it was possible to obtain.

"Then tomorrow we shall both go to the garbage dump and meet William together," Amelia proposed solemnly.

Gideon and his wife Amelia were not quite ready to act, but they were on the path toward a choice. They had been heavily influenced by the choice of another individual, an individual who had chosen to act even if she would do so alone. The government had not been able to control the influence of Nayona's decision.

Nayona had felt survival was important, but she had understood the importance of knowing what she believed and valued and acting upon her values and beliefs. In the end, everyone would die. No one could escape that fate. Even the world would, eventually, pass away, along with the influence of all who had lived upon it. Her world was finite and temporary. She had seen no point in trying to live as long as possible, or in trying to cause the most change in her doomed world. Rather, she valued knowing the truth and acting in an manner that supported her beliefs. She valued integrity and truth more than her own life.

And others were beginning to follow in her footsteps. She would never see the

consequences of her choice, but her decision was proving to be very impactful.

William, Gideon, Amelia, and the couple's unborn baby were only the first to find their eyes opened by Nayona's choice. She had not made her choice for its impact, however, but for its integrity.

Some choices are worth their consequences, even if the full impact of them is not immediately visible or possible to ever behold.

The janitor and his wife went to bed that night fully understanding this truth.

The next morning, Gideon and Amelia walked together down the dusty road to the outside world, ready to begin the cycle of the search for truth once more.

~The End~