A map to meaning

The forest

A poetic man who hates poetry, a helpless romantic who believes he will always be without someone to romance. A man tired of living, but fears dying more, a man who believes he has nothing important to say, but wants his words to go down in history. Needless to say, the story that follows, is about a man filled with conflict. It cannot be promised that this will be a happy story, as indeed one mans heaven is another's hell, nor that it will be an easy story to read as it was certainly not an easy story to be the subject of. In a way, however, we are all the subject. This is but the tale of one man. This story is a cautionary fable, in a sense, about the power of love... The terribly amazing power of love to pull us from the deepest pit of Satan's hell, and from the highest cloud of God's heaven. To grant us meaning, and to tear it from us in an instant. To change us for the better, and the worst.

Before we meet our "hero", should you feel the need to call him that, we must know a few things regarding the world in which he resides and answer a fundamental question. The world is known as "Existence" and the town of "Order". In the town or Order there are only children, the parents reside in the town of "Meaning". The two are separated by a forest, "The Forest of Chaos". Parents can easily navigate this forest as they have already made their path. Though they visit it often and stray from the path by bits, they rarely stray far. You may not be a parent to visit or navigate the forest or live in the town of Meaning. However you wont visit order until you are.

Nearly every person in the town of Order is obsessed with finding Meaning, but to do so they must traverse the forest. They can visit it whenever they want, however it can eat away at your very sannity and swallow you up as there are terrible horrors as well as wondrous beauties. Going in can be a choice however it often times is not. Citizens of Order must be young enough to be productive citizens of Meaning and thus time is short. There are those, though, that never leave order, whether by choice or kept in Order by their parents.

While one exists in order; their choices do not have consequence. Food is plentiful and housing and even luxuries are provided to you. In the town of meaning, however, every singe choice or action has repercussions and may throw your child into The Forest of Chaos.

As far as traversing the forest goes, it must be known that it is always snowing in the world of existence, especially within the forest. Also there are an infinite amount of paths out, no one has walked the same path as anyone else. A few steps nearly lined up at most. Parents may say where they found their path, but it is very unlikely it will lead their child to the town of meaning as it had them. Especially the more exact they follow the directions. Millions of entrances exist, many take the same, "College," "Work" "Family" but not all and these paths split immediately.

There are magical beings who serve as guides through this forest and make finding meaning easier in most cases. "Religion," "Love," "Honor" and many others but they provide little to no exact directions. And many times one will not want to do what they are told by them. While the guides are always around, even when you don't want them to be, you don't need to hear what they say or listen to them. Love tends to be harder to push away though.

Now, knowing these things about Meaning and Order and the Forest; would you, the reader, if you were a resident of Order, truly want to search the forest to find meaning?

This should be sufficient enough information on the world for us to move on to meet our "hero", Jacob Richmond. A resident of Order, though he wishes very much to find Meaning. He'd been in the forest many times in his life both by choice and not, but he always found himself back at order no matter where he ran.

Not particularly tall, but not short, thick brown hair, roman nose, defined jaw. He was very thin though, his cheeks had taken on a hollow form as he had been barely eating enough to survive, by choice. His best friend had stabbed him in the back for a woman who he also had fallen for. He visited that forest daily since then. Fairly handsome with deep, sad, distant, hazel eyes. While they were very sad there was, hidden in there, a sparkle of hope.

They so distant, it was almost like he was looking past the revolver he had pointed at himself. Yes, he did this everyday. Do not worry though, this is not where his story ends. However, sometimes he would look back and think "Perhaps it would've been better if it did"

Jacob pulled back his peacoat and suit and holstered 'his life's solution'. He sat on a log and looked to the ground
"God," he sighed "I don't know why you won't give me the will to do this. It's just, ya see, I'd really really like to. But you never give me the will to do it, as though I am ever going to find meaning. But you never show me the way"
A voice came from behind him
"You know very well that you're the only one in control of when you pull that trigger"
Jacob turned his head lazily to the right, not enough to see the guide, but enough to show he was talking to him
"Hey Morm"
"Why do you keep coming here?" The tall man in a suit known as Morm asked, "You never look very hard and always come back to this same spot. Then you always point that gun on yourself, then realize you won't do it then sulk back to Order."
"I keep feeling betrayed so I come here to think and I see the same things and it always leads me here." Jacob explained
"That's because It's all you want to see deep down."
"Feels good to hurt"
"But you make it harder to find the path you need to take-"
"Some people don't have a path!" Jacob shouted as he stood and turned angrily "What if that's me?! Is that my purpose?! Die out here on some goose chase to find some city?! Oh wait, that cant be it because I still don't see it!"

Morm looked the man over before saying
"How's your coat holding up?"
"Still got holes all over it, but less cold since you gave me that faith to fix the one. Why do I even have a coat if it doesn't keep me warm?"
"You're special," said Morm as he walked deeper into chaos to find the lost "Trust me, it will" and with that he disappeared.
Jacob sighed as he reached in his pocket and grabbed his suicide note. He ripped it up and threw it to the forest. Unfortunately for him the wind picked up and sent the shreds right back to him giving him a few paper cuts. He didn't even know why he wrote the dammed things, it was all bullshit anyways, even if he had pulled the trigger, he wouldn't have meant everything he was saying. Nor was any of it what he truly wanted and was trying to say, no matter how many times he wrote the notes they always came out wrong.

Jacob walked back to Order so that he wouldn't be out too late to miss choir practice the next day. Really it was the only thing that kept him coming back to Order.