Why are we here?

(written on October of 2011)

 

Suzanna looks before her at the unlit streetlight and wonders, contemplates it; she wonders why it is here.

Suzanna looks to her left and watches the man with the cigar, the one sitting beside her on this park bench in Phoenix, Arizona. She wonders, contemplates the man, why is he here?

Suzanna closes the book of Hemingway poetry she was reading and stands up. She takes a casual walk around the park on this evening in May. She is only 20 years old, but she already wonders the age old question, why are we here?

Towards the end of her walk, when she is back to the noisy street of cars, she sees a man lying in the grass under a fichus tree. He is a feeble looking old man in ragged clothing. She walks up to the man, filled with curiosity. She stands before the man. He doesn't notice her at first, but after a few moments he feels her presence.

He opens his closed eyes, but says not a word. He waits for her to speak.

Suzanna hesitates a moment, but soon asks, "Why are you here?" her voice was not rude, but filled with innocent curiosity.

The old man rises his eyebrows in surprise, but responds, "Dear girl, I am here because GOD told me to be."

"Hmm," responds Suzanna. She takes in that thought for a moment and then excuses herself and leaves the park.

She walks down the street filled with thoughts that can not be put into words, but one reoccurring thought can be. The reoccurring thought is the meaning of existence.

She walks a few blocks, down an alley, and turns onto another busy street with now a lit streetlight. Ironically, a bench is beside this street lamp. This street is near an apartment complex.

Suzanna sits upon this bench and looks out to the sea of cars and headlights; the noisy life of a city. She is still pondering that same question, why are we here?

Soon an owl lands upon the bench beside her, it is a small pigmy owl that is common in this area.

She speaks to the owl, "hello there owl, why are you here?"

The owl turned his head toward her, the eerie way they do, sending a feeling of uncanny wisdom to those who catch their eye.

A thought with a voice of old wisdom enters Suzanna's mind. I am here because the wind carried me here. The owl then flew away.

Goosebumps form upon her skin, but not the scary kind. It was the wind…

"Hmm..." she says out loud once the owl left. She takes in the words from the invisible voice. She then stands up and walks down the street toward home.

As she turns the corner to the neighborhood where her house is, she notices an older woman who is sitting under the streetlight she is about to pass.

Suzanna smiles and nods a hello to the scraggly haired old woman. The woman smiles back, a smile that reaches her sad eyes.

As Suzanna walks past this old woman the woman enters into a coughing fit.

Suzanna stops in her tracks and turns toward the woman. She waits for the woman to control herself. As she waits she studies the woman. She soon notices the yellowing of her skin and the thinness of her shape. Her skin is saggy; she is nothing but skin and bones. Death is at this woman's door.

"Hello," says Suzanna once the woman is through coughing, "why are you here?"

The woman smiles a small smile. She makes eye contact with Suzanna. "I am here because I choose to be. My time is coming, I know all I need to know. I learned it this moment." Her eyes then close. Suzanna knows her soul has left.

"Hmm," says Suzanna. She takes in the woman's words. She is not afraid or panicked by the passing of this woman. The passing calms her soul and gives her some clarity to that unanswerable, or maybe just too many answers, question.

The lady from across the street is now standing outside her house. She notices Suzanna and calls out, sensing something has happened, "Is everything alright?"

Suzanna speaks calmly, "She has passed on." The woman hurriedly went inside to call for an ambulance.

As Suzanna is standing there waiting a thought enters her mind. A thought that ends her contemplation of existence: There is no one answer to the question of life. Be who you are. The rest will follow suit... there is no answer greater than death.