The Meaning of Life – A Short Story

I was 5 or 6 years old, when I saw a movie that changed my life’s plans. I do not recall the title, I don’t recall the action, all I recall is just one scene; a scene that deeply engraved in my memory.

Inside a room filled with lots of bookshelves, behind a stylish old desk, a gorgeous woman was working on some files. Her mind seemed preoccupied with the files she was writing. An abyssal silence enveloped the room; the kind of stillness that makes you wonder if the action is happening in this world or a hidden one.

I almost could see the woman’s thoughts flying all around the mysterious silent room when suddenly a knock on the door was barely heard. Being so immersed in the stillness, the beautiful, astonishing woman did not hear a thing. The door started to open… slowly… very slowly… and behind it, I could finally identify a masculine silhouette. I recall seeing his scared eyes and his mouth opening with the same slow speed as the door did, trying to articulate his first words.

In a flash, the cam moved on the woman’s face. In slow motion, her face raised up from the papers. Her hand laid down the classic pen she was using on the desk. The chair that she was sitting in started moving backwards as it was being pushed by the force of her strong and beautiful legs she possessed, and… and her fairy gentle eyes that only seconds ago were smiling as she was looking at the files, suddenly changed their aspect.

In that frozen moment, her fingers grabbed the sides of the glasses she was wearing and slid them down her nose. Behind them, I could see the most superior, scary and glacial eyes I have ever seen. At that moment, I saw the man freeze, paralyzed and shaken after receiving the icy look the woman sent towards him…

Bang!

Boom!

I then knew it!!!

The chills I felt inside my 5 or 6 years old human body in those moments… revealed, to my childish brain, the meaning of my life!

The decision had already been made!

I will be like the beautiful woman; I will stay behind a desk, in a comfortable chair, working on some important files and wearing the most alluring glasses that have ever been invented. And when a scared man comes to open the door, I will slide my glasses down my nose, and will look directly at him with my icy beautiful eyes… enjoying more and more the moment when the fear will make him halt.

The next day I asked my parents to get me a pair of glasses.

No! I did not explain to them the reason behind my wish. I only asked for glasses. But… they refused to fulfill my desire. They explained that when the time will come, I will wear them, but according with their opinion that moment was far away.

“Aha!” I said to myself. “So, the moment when I can freeze a man in his steps, hasn’t come yet.”

So I waited… and waited… and when I turned 12 years old, my parents decided to take me and my brother to get our eyes checked, I was thrilled. The moment of fulfilling the meaning of my life will probably come soon, I thought. But… I came back home terribly disappointed. That ophthalmologist had decided that I still have to wait.

Since then I tried several times on my own… but it seemed that I discovered a global conspiracy against the woman who wants to freeze men, by using her glasses… All the eye exams I took had the same results. No man will be frozen anytime soon.

I read millions of books to make my eyes tired. I worked, played, and stared at my computer monitor for almost 30 years, which I heard that it could damage my eyes a little.

At 40 years of age, I told myself… Now is the moment! Now is the time of my life!

I read in old manuscripts that after 40 years of age, it is easier for a human being to understand spirituality, and the meaning of someone’s life will be reached.

As a result, I decided that at this age, I will also do it and again I went to get my eyes checked.

This time the doctor was like a gift from heaven. She decided that I need glasses… +0.5… wow, I couldn’t be more excited. She gave me a prescription, and I instantly ran to the store where I could order a pair of glasses. But… I could not decide what glasses to choose, so I ordered several pairs of different sizes and colors. I had to suit them well with some clothes I liked, and of course also with my handbags and shoes. I cannot stand wearing glasses that are not the same color as my handbag. 🙂

I spent lots of money on them, but I was happy… so happy… I never tried drugs, but I always supposed that the kind of happiness I was experiencing in those moments was similar to others experiencing drugs.

Right after I arrived home, I started wearing them. But… In less than ten minutes, I felt dizzy… so dizzy that a migraine hit my head.

Did you ever have a migraine? Well… all those disturbing symptoms were there for me. Someone explained that I needed time to adjust my eyes to the glasses. So, like a good child, I insisted on wearing them.

The headache, the dizziness, everything was still there… After two months of being continuously sick, I thought those are my last moments on this planet.

I decided to renounce on the meaning of my life for the moment. Also, almost in tears, I placed all those beautiful, colorful, fashionable glasses into a hidden place. My handbags and my shoes were all crying, being separated by such amazing accessories.

But… I survived since then… Sadly, some of my shoes did not. I suppose the reason was the blue heart I gave them with the decision I had made.

Seven years after, last December, I hoped that finally the meaning of my life would be reached, and I tried another eye exam. The ophthalmologist made me sit in front of an optical machine; he said to look directly into its lenses and from the other side he would scrutinize my eyes. I heard a murmur, such as a person is doing when they discover something interesting.

A big happiness invaded my heart. Finally, I will be able to freeze my man. Yes, by this time I had already acquired my man, but I still did not have the necessary glasses. So, instead of him being frozen, my man still belonged to the hottest group of male creatures to exist. 🙂 I could say he’s the hottest one, but… I don’t want other women jumping on him. So let them think there is a hope of finding the ideal man out there in the large world (Now… between you and me only… and please, keep it a secret… I have some doubts).

My heart was already racing when the doctor said, without explaining any further, he wanted to check my eyes using another method; to be sure, that what he saw in that optical machine was true.

He made me sit in another chair and said to look at a panel with written rows. I know the procedure… I knew he would ask me to read 7 or 8 lines and then make his decision after this. He chose a line and asked me to start reading. That line was easy to read. I did it well, so he chose another one, two rows down. It seemed that my reading was good again, so he went even further down.

Oh… what a happiness again… On this third trial I saw that the letters were not so clear anymore, they looked to be so small… With an undecided voice, I started reading loud. After 4 or 5 letters, the doctor said to stop.

Another murmur came out from the doctor’s mouth, and this gave me lots of hope. The next moment he came with a book in front of me and almost touching my nose with its pages, he asked me to read the last row. There I could see a short note, written in italic letters. The happiness I felt some moments ago was somehow darkened by the fact that I was able to read those small lines from such a short distance, but… the hope was still there when I heard the doctor’s voice again.

“Are you kidding me? What are you doing here? You said you needed glasses”.

“Why, doctor? What happened? I assure you that this last line I did not see very well. I need glasses, please give me glasses.” my trembling voice replied.

“No way” he thundered. “You definitely don’t need them. The line before the last one was for a perfect 140% sight. I started asking you to read from 100%, to check if the optical machine did not error. I never had a patient able to see at 140%. Come back after several more years”.

And… he kicked me out from his office.

My man is still hot.

The glacial eyes I always wanted to have… I still cannot possess; because, I entirely melt whenever he opens the door.