text: Six in the morning on a Tuesday evening he couldn’t take it anymore. He had been waiting his whole life and he had to make some sort of a move. Vigorously tossing off the sheets covering his body on an early fall morning he tried to dampen his frustration enough to slide out of the house unnoticed. He thought this to be peculiar because he didn’t have a need to sneak out. He lived alone in the Sierra mountain range of California accompanied only by his friendly feline Winston. Oddly, he still felt this pressing need to sneak out of his secluded cabin in the woods as though he was trying to escape from an overwatching sentry tower. The man fumbled in the dark as quietly as he could to not wake his little kitten. Prepped in no way shape or form for an adventure of any sorts he gently turned the door knob to his single room cabin. With the quiet of the early morning any creak of the door sounded like a bone fracturing, any squeak of the floorboard sounded like the shriek of a banshee. Yet, to his utter bewilderment as he finally slid out of the door and gave one last glance into his humble cabin Winston still slept, curled up at the foot of his bed. Unperturbed Winston slept sound with only the occasional fidget of a tail or paw deep in his dreamy subconscious. Winston, so full of content, happiness, and peace. How did he do it? For a brief moment that seemed to last an eternity he was perplexed in awe by his humble companion. He was baffled as to how he had figured it all out. The man gave a final chuckle and smile as he finally shut the door, simultaneously wondering what Winston may be dreaming about as he silently closed the door. As he began his journey to nowhere in particular into the early, dawn, crispness of fall he had an epiphany of the insanity of the situation he was putting himself in. He was venturing into the mountainous woods with no destination in his knit night cap, maroon sweatshirt, puppy covered pajama bottoms, woolen socks and crocs. However, he knew he could wait no longer. Sitting around waiting was not an option. He couldn’t think straight, the fluster of his epiphanic crisis had muddied his mind like a stagnant pond filled with algae and microbes. Like a plane on auto-pilot he trudged. The man needed to calm down, to clear his head, so he just began walking in no particular direction, deep into the mountains. One step after another his mind cleared and he began to coagulate sensical thoughts again. His mind wondered just like his steps and he began to ponder where did he go wrong to be stuck waiting for so long? The longer he walked the deeper he plunged down this rabbit hole of thought and wondered about how the only thing he had done his whole life was wait. He began retracing his steps, searching for the missing piece of the puzzle. There must be something, he thought, there must be something he must have missed to wind up in a purgatory with no means to an end. He delved deep into the bank vaults of memory. He searched, hunted for any misstep that could have led him this far astray. In his mid 20s he should have had it by now. So why was he kept waiting like some horrible day at the DMV waiting to get a license renewed. He felt like he was being toyed with by some higher power like a meager pawn in an immense game of chess. How could anyone be so cruel as to punish him like this after working so hard and following all the rules? He did everything he was told as far back as K-12 school. When it came to being a straight A student he was the epitome of the subject. In elementary school he always had the most gold stars and good merits. Every essay, math assignment, and lab report turned in on time- if not early. He Consistently paid attention to his teachers and excelled through the education system; he was a stellar good boy. Highschool came and the pressure increased. The rigors of classes, pursuits of higher academics, and all of this was intertwined with making friends and school sports. Yet, the boy still continued to prosper, along this so-called societally deemed path to excellence and success. Acing every test, being a starter for varsity sports, viewed as a peer by both his classmates and teachers, he seemed to be doing everything right. The time to leave his small town came and went with extended goodbyes to past sweethearts and childhood friends. The boy, now a young man, ventured to a well renowned school with ideas of those successful type careers: engineers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc. Trying out various courses he finally settled on a degree in the sciences. Throughout his curriculum he took all the necessary steps to be successful: joining several clubs, getting internships, applying for research positions, and networking amongst his fellow undergraduates. The plan to success that was bestowed upon him since early adolescence was unfolding just as society deemed it should. College ended just as soon as it began. Now it was time for him to enter the real world. Everything everyone told him to do he followed to a tee. However, now that the final step was in front of his eyes, joining the real world, he felt more lost than a puppy on a rainy day in the city. That miracle path to happiness, success, and fulfillment was displayed before him all his life. Here he was twenty five years later and he had the success but, where was the rest? Where did he go wrong? Why was he being denied the rest when he had followed all the rules society displayed before him? These were the thoughts that bounced through his mind on his stroll that crisp fall morning. Why the wait for these last components to his life? As the sun finally crested over the vast wooded mountain peaks he was still stumped. He had walked for hours. Defeated mentally, physically, and ashamed to have failed this society that seemed to have given him the world. He returned to his home empty handed of an answer. Stumbling inside in an exact opposite manner as he left, his poor feline friend Winston was awoken in a fright to the distress of his owner. Busting inside he slumped to the floor like a drunk stumbling in the street. Winston leaped from the bed in concern for what ails his master. He bounded across the foyer of the cabin and curled up next to his defeated master in a last hope to ease his pain. Perhaps though, Winston could better understand why his master had been kept waiting better than any living soul that had ultimately led him down this path throughout life. Winston had achieved what his owner had been waiting for his whole life. Winston’s life is full, happy, and simple. He was not sent on some seemingly impossible quest by societal constructs that only gave people delusions of what it takes to achieve fulfillment and happiness. This quest, that this man was sent on, with no means to an end isn’t an original story. It always ends the same. People waiting for some magical moment where they will finally feel complete, fulfilled, and happy. But, these things that so many of us spend our lives endlessly waiting for do not materialize with a status in society. This idea is an illusion that is cast upon us the second we enter this world. The sad fact of the matter is, we often live our whole lives under this spell. Fulfillment, happiness, and even success do not come from money, nor a job title, or the possessions a person owns. They come from personal endeavours. How do you feel about yourself? The basis of a person's life decisions should not be from what others deem this dream-like path to success should be. Everyone is unique. There is not one road to the end destination we all seek. The true road is one that has been untraveled by any before. The road untraveled is the road that will lead to a destination where they will not be kept waiting or looking for the next turn. As Winston began to purr, nestled against his owner in the middle of the cabin the man smiled. The man had a genuine smile for the first time in a long time. For this brief moment, he was done waiting. For the first time in his whole life he felt that what he had longed for, for so long was achieved. A simple, yet fulfilling happiness, and contentment. It wasn’t permanent and it never will be. But, that is what makes happiness so beautiful. It comes and goes. Happiness, just as all emotions do, are not permanent. As Winston’s purrs reverberated throughout his body he felt peace and began to realize that what he had been waiting for his whole life was in front of him the whole time. It was shrouded by an illusion so grand that it has everyone convinced to be the undeniable truth to a perfect, happy life.