Musings And Questions/Short Stories For The Mentally Tired

One Man Against The World - 2018

There was a man who sat in a government holding facility. He wasn't dangerous, so far as they knew. He would joke with the staff give them advice on problems they were dealing with and had never tried to leave. They had once left him in a forest near the compound to see if he would run, with agents at the ready to capture him if he did. But he merely set up camp at the exact point they left him at. They only had one reason for keeping him. He didn't have any record of existing, anywhere. So they questioned him, and he lied about every little thing about himself, except for what was plain and obvious. So they kept him. One day, he seemed to change. The people on the cameras watching him saw it first. He began singing. Quickly, they called everyone who had anything to do with him, and they gathered inside his room. He looked each of them in the eye as he was singing. "And I don't want the world to see me. 'Cause I don't think that they'd understand. When everything's made to be broken. I just want you to know who I am." And continued singing this song. He went through it twice before he stopped. A few of the workers knew the song, and had joined in with him, having felt the emotion he was trying to communicate. When he stopped he looked at the floor and stayed silent. Years passed and finally word reached the country's leaders. They all came to visit him one at a time for different reasons. Some just wanted to talk to someone about their deepest secrets. Others wanted lo learn more about him. Some just wanted to be somewhere quiet, but with somebody. Eventually they gave him a phone to see what he would do. He simply read books and listened to music using it. They were all baffled as to why he didn't try to contact the outside world. Finally, they confronted him. He smiled and said, "Why would I want to jeopardize what I have here, and risk losing my friends? No, I think I'll stay here and help in any way I can. But, when I die, cremate me and scatter me to the wind." More years passed and eventually he died. He had finally given them a name, but it was not his real name. He had even said so, but the name was Ermion. The government did as he asked and named the facility he had been at Location Ermion. As with most things, his story was forgotten by most. But the leaders were always told his story when they came into power. And everyone who worked at Location Ermion  was told his story as well. Some didn't care, while others took it to heart. This was the story of a man who didn't know what he was, but chose to do the best he could for the world from where he was.

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This story was inspired by the song 'Iris' by The Goo Goo Dolls. I finally managed to paint a story to the song with its rhythm and words. I was struck with how similar I act to what the chorus describes. This is simply for those who don't know how to show their true selves to the world, by hiding under lie after lie. Take your own moral from to short story, but take the moral to heart.