Flip by Christopher J Fox

Author:Christopher J Fox [Fox, Christopher J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781733271202
Publisher: Christopher J. Fox
Published: 2019-08-20T16:00:00+00:00

15 Untangling the Knot

“I t’s practically impossible to rescue someone from themselves. There’s nothing you could’ve done,” Max said tenderly.

“I think I could’ve done something!” Aida protested. “I worked with him every day. I could’ve recognized the path he was on; I could’ve found out more about him. I should’ve talked to him more. If he was fighting some kind of addiction, I could’ve ordered drug tests through the university. I was his supervisor, you know.”

Compassion for oneself is difficult to learn, Max thought.

“Maybe you could have, and maybe those things would’ve helped, but it’s just as likely they would’ve driven him away and he would have died sooner.” Max let those words hang in the silence before he continued. “I think you suspected he was a troubled soul, yet you kept him employed, handling things that are very sensitive and important to you. You did help him, Aida; you certainly gave him the opportunity to get on a different path.”

That struck a chord in her, quieting her inner judge.

“How’d it happen? How’d he die?”

“I don’t know for certain. I think it was an act of violence. It was fast…I can say that.”

Aida watched the fold that Bill had disappeared into, hoping he would reappear. The distinctness of the dark crease that had swallowed him was starting to soften and would soon be lost as the furrow undulated and morphed into a shallow depression. Only Bill’s trail remained. It stopped at the fold, a ghoulish pale finger pointing to his end. It would be the only reminder of the person and a poor tombstone here in the Wave World. The trail, which earlier had been bright and strong, was diminishing, fading until it was the finest strand, barely visible against the background. It didn’t disappear, though, and Aida realized the evidence of where Bill had been was still there. The idea crowded out her reaction to his death.

“Max, what can you tell me about those lines, those trails everyone leaves behind them? They come off the front of a pearl, then flow back over it and weave into a thread.”

“That’s the path we’ve taken in life,” he answered, stating the obvious, because he hadn’t quite understood what she was asking.

“Yes, I know that, but what are they? They don’t start off as a thread.”

“Oh, I see. Look out just in front of a pearl. Is anything there?” The teacher was speaking again.

“No, there’s nothing there.” Just answer the question.

“There’s a common misconception that people follow a predefined path in their lives,” Max said, “and while they might emulate behaviors they’ve seen before or think they should emulate, in actuality there’s no path in front of them. It’s much more accurate to say that people imagine a path and then choose to follow it. At least that’s true for anyone who isn’t dependent on another for his or her care.

“Those white wispy things you see coming out of the front of the pearl, those are our decisions, our choices, our expression of free will.

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