meaning...

by human being

illustrations by rhoda penmarq

once upon a time, there lived a creature called meaning... meaning didn't know who it was and life seemed so meaningless to it... so it started a journey to find out... wherever it saw someone on the road, it stopped and asked... but no one knew who it was... it saw lots of people and places... it had lots of sad and happy moments but still that meaninglessness bothered it... one day when it was sitting by a pond looking at the play of light on the surface of water, it noticed a face on the water... no! it was not its reflection... and this is not the story of Narcissus... the face on the water was smiling... while meaning knew exactly how it (itself) felt: sad and tired... the face on the water was trying to say something... while meaning knew it (itself) had been silent for a long time... meaning loved that smile... those lips that were trying to say something... meaning tried to listen but.... splash! a coconut dropped in the pond... monkeys were hungry... and were trying to eat something... the face was gone... meaning became a frequent visitor to the pond... day after day it came there to see the face again... that smile ... those moving lips... but the moment the face appeared and wanted to say something, something happened and the face disappeared... but meaning never gave up... it built a house there... planted lots of plants and trees... made friends with all people and creatures there... . and each day came to the pond to see the face... the moment the face appeared, meaning would tremble with joy... and thought it was the happiest being in the world... now meaning felt its life was meaningful... and they lived happily ever after? no... this story is a bit different... on a very beautiful morning something strange happened after years of visit to the pond... when the face appeared... nothing happened to make the face disappear... they looked at each other for a long time... smiling... at last, meaning asked the face: - who are you? the face smiled more broadly than ever and answered: - i'm... nothing... meaning paused for a long time... then it entered the water very slowly... careful not to disturb its motionless surface... and they became one... no one has seen meaning since then...