As the World Caves In

Meaning of Living

I didn't know why I was pouring my heart out to this stranger. I hadn't found such comfort in years as I sat in the woods awaiting the world's end. "The world may be corrupt and full of darkness, but we cannot let that darkness consume us. We would disappoint those we lost if we didn't continue living each day as if they were here beside us," he told me. I nodded slowly as I thought of all the times I'd lost hope in the past three years. I'd been wallowing in self pity and living each day in the shadow of my grief. "It's hard to move on with my life. It's hard to think of a life without them," I told the stranger. "That's why I came out here to the woods, to finally let them go," he said. I stared out at our reflection on the water as I realized that he was right. I hadn't let my family go. I'd held on to a life that was taken from me the day my family died in the experiment. "It's a little too late to start over now," I replied, cracking a smile. "It's never too late to open your eyes to the true meaning of living," he answered. "What would that be?" I asked him. "To live each day knowing that you have touched another life. Helping each other is the very thing that makes us human," he told me.