A Fork in the Road
A Fork In The Road
He wasn't a geek, jock, popular, or the class clown. In his high school Jason simply existed with a small group of friends, going day by day seemingly unnoticed. His friends and family were always enough for Jason, but at times he couldn't help but want for more. Jason participated in all the high schools sports, some times he made the teams other times he was cut. The teams he did make he never saw the field, never had his name in the papers, and never walked down the hallways as a school hero.
In his family Jason always felt that he was the forgotten child. He knew that his family loved and cared for him, but he always felt less important than his other siblings. Things were harder for him, expectations were higher, but he always felt like whatever he achieved never was good enough. All Jason ever wanted was to feel like he was important, that the things he said mattered, and that the thing he accomplished meant something.
As Jason is walking through the crowd he notices all the smiling faces and the people having fun. He walks through the crowd until he reaches the outskirts of the festival, where the woods stop the festival from going out any further. Jason walks a few steps into the woods and sits down on a fallen tree. As he cracks open a beer he hid in his jacket he hears rustling of trees and branches behind him. He turns around to see a lantern flickering deeper in the woods, Jason chugs the beer and starts to walk towards the light. Jason follows the light for awhile before he notices something odd. Every step he takes closer the light keeps moving further and further away. Jason has been trying to get to the light for near an hour now, and as he looks around he realizes he is deep into the woods.
Jason looks around at the unfamiliar territory and begins to feel uncomfortable. He looks back to see if the light is still in the distance, but to his surprise the light is gone. Jason feels a panic come over him and immediately begins to sprint in the other direction. He runs for a few minutes when the realization of just how deep into the woods he had gone begins to set in. Suddenly as he is sprinting back towards the festival he notices a small carnival like tent in the middle of the woods.
Jason stops and looks around seeing nothing but darkness, trees, branches, and this out of place carnival tent. He walks closer to the tent and as he does he notices an old worn out sign attached to the top of the opening of the tent. The sign which reads, The Crystal Ball, is a wooden sign that is cracked and falling apart from untold years of existence. It's against is better judgement, but as it begins to rain, Jason decides to go into the tent.
He walks in through the opening in the tent and looks around, immediately the smell of burning incense overcome him. The inside of the tent is empty and dimly lit by candles placed in lanterns that circle the medium sized structure. Jason goes over to inspect the lanterns only to notice they are levitating, not being held up or connected by anything in the tent.
"Hello Jason," an old woman says.
Jason spins around and sees an old woman sitting at a small table draped in a aqua blue table cloth, in the middle of the once empty tent. The woman dressed in gypsy attire, covered in beads and jewelry, sits in a throne like chair with her hands on a soccer sized crystal ball. Jason cautiously approaches the table and quietly sits down across from the old woman. Jason peers into the crystal ball the appears to have a cloud like substance moving around inside of it, faintly changing neon like colors.
"That's pretty cool, how do you get it to do that," Jason says to which the old lady does not respond.
"Look I'm not sure what this is but I'll tell you right now these carnival tricks aren't going to fool me," Jason boasts.
The woman doesn't respond to anything that Jason is saying, instead she gazes into the crystal ball almost as if she is looking for something. Just as Jason is about to get up from the table to leave, she finally address him.
"Everything you have, everything you think you want, and the repercussions of those desires can be shown to you," the old woman says.
"What exactly does that mean?" Jason ponders.
"Do you want what you get when you get what you want?" the old woman prophesied.
"I think I'm going to leave," Jason states.
As Jason gets up to leave the old woman reaches across the table and grabs his hand. She pulls him close and whispers something in his hear that cause Jason to freeze in his tracks.
"How did you know that, I've never told anyone that before," Jason says.
"I'm here for a reason Jason, to show you what you really want," the old woman tells him.
"I know what I want, I've know for a while now," Jason barks.
"No one understand or truly knows what they want but I can show you if you are willing to see," the old woman asks.
Jason ponders the offer for a minute before his curiosity gets the better of him, and finally he agree to the old woman's offer. She takes one of his hands in her own and then they both place their other hand on the crystal ball. The candle light grows even dimmer and the cloud like substance in the crystal ball begins to move. The clouds begin to seep out of the crystal ball and fill the tent like a dense fog all around them.
Then it happens, much to Jason disbelief, two versions of his life and future being to play out all around him. He watches as one version plays out where he never achieves the fame and notoriety that he has craved his whole life. He watches as a simple man is happy at his job because he loves what he does, as he goes home to his family that love him, and as he spends time with his friends and siblings that have always been there for him. He watches as he grows old with a woman who loves him for who he is rather than his status in life.
The fog swirls and then offers a glimpse and a different vision of what his life would be like. Jason is rich and famous, he is at parties with new friends and women that he hasn't met yet. He watches as the man parties and has a good time, he sees all his fans rush up to him as he walks on the street. He has money, an adoring public, and his name in lights. Then he sees the man pull up to his house, but when he goes inside there is no one to greet him. He realizes that he had to leave behind all his old friends and his family to achieve fame and fortune. He sees that while he is a household name he is alone, more alone than he has ever felt in his real life. The fog slowly moves back into the crystal ball and the lights grow brighter.
"You'll leave this place and you'll have to make a choice," the woman says. "You seen what you could have and when you come to the fork in the road you have to chose. The path on the right will lead you on the life of simplicity that you have been living, and the path on the left will set you down the path to the fame and riches you say you want. When you arrive you will finally have to decide what it is you truly want out of this life."
As she finishes what she is saying a titanic gust of wind starts to shake the tent, before collapsing it on top of them both. Jason scrambles to get out of the fallen tent and when he does he goes to aid the old woman. He calls out and searches for her in the fallen tent, but eventually realizes that she is no where to be found. Jason looks around and notices he is back at the entrance of the woods and can see the festival through the trees.
As he exits the forest he walks back toward his home, through the crowd of people like he did before. This time he isn't looking for people to notice him, he is noticing the people around him. He looks around and see some of his friends in the crowd on his way back, he stops and talks with them. They joke around and enjoy each others company before parting ways. As he is walking he runs into his brother and sister who are out enjoying the summer night. They are heading out to meet friends to go night swimming and invite Jason to join. He thanks them but declines saying that he needed to go. They part ways and Jason continues his walk home.
Jason continues making his way home and as he does he comes to a fork in the road like the old woman said. He looks around and ponders everything he'd seen and heard. With a self assured looked and a confident manner Jason walks down one of the paths at peace with the decision he's made.
THE END
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