The Ticket Stub
Everybody has one.
An essence.
A rock of being.
Good for exactly one lifetime.
He sat on the steps contemplating the days events and
marveled at the completeness, the exquisite detail. Every
scene, every act was meticulously done. true to life.
as real as it gets. The clever production and compelling
performances were awe inspiring. The story line was about a
young man who discovers a hidden world. The young man
describes the world and its forms to his friends and
neighbors, only to realize, the frustration and difficulty
of intra-species communication. Undaunted, he becomes
determined, perhaps even zealous. However, he also
discovers, no one really cares about this new world. And
reluctantly he accepts the only possible position remaining.
Seated on the steps, contemplating the procession of
events, he retrieves a scrap of paper and begins to write a
farewell. The scrap of paper, being rather small, required
concise and terse statements. No opportunity for
embellishment, or flowery words. So he drew a map showing
the way from the here and now. He dropped the scrap of
paper and its map onto the path where someone might find it.
And then he left.
At the time I didn't give it much thought, but after
today's show, I became real interested. On the back of my
ticket stub was a map, or half a map. The rest of the
ticket had been removed by the attendant at the gate. I
examined the ticket stub more closely and discovered, that
the missing portion probably contained some critically
important information. Speculation, perhaps. None-the-
less, it would be difficult if not impossible to use the
rest of the map without having the context, the beginning
portion.
The next day, as I waited in line, I wondered if any
others had discovered the map. Suddenly, I heard a voice
say. move along, there's plenty of room, lots of great
seats, a truly wonderful show is planned for today. The
attendant handed me my ticket stub, and without even a
glance said welcome to Life. The greatest show,
everyone has a part to play. Don't loose your ticket
stub, you'll need it if you'd like to return to the same
seat tomorrow.
On the back of the ticket the map clearly described a
rock whereon a fantastic palace had been built...