So… this is the afterlife, then?
“Yes.”
And I’ve fulfilled my destiny?
“Yes.”
Great!
Can you show me what’s come of it?
“Yes.”
Wait… this… this isn’t what I…
“What you expected?
No.
But this is the result of what you’ve done as part of your destiny.”
All my life I sought answers.
As a kid, I read a book that gave me this idea: everything happens for a reason, and
everyone has their own destiny.
Since then, I’ve been seeking mine.
At first I was as starry-eyed as any kid: I wanted to have some glorified profession
that involved saving lives and being heroic.
Once, for example, I saw a girl who lived next door calling for her cat; it had climbed
a tree and couldn’t get down.
So I fetched it for her, and decided I wanted to become a firefighter.
Then I grew up, and at 15 I realized that there were other ways to help people, and
they suited me better.
I wanted to help people get a roof over their head.
That’s how I decided to become an architect.
I studied hard and graduated from high school with flying colors.
Then I faced the first real obstacle: college.
My family wasn’t rich, and my parents couldn’t afford expensive tuition.
So I applied for a scholarship and hoped for the better.
And the miracle happened: I got accepted!
And that was the point I realized I’d finally found my destiny.
I was to become one of the greatest architects of our time, give homes to thousands, if not
millions of people, build a real estate empire that no one could rival!
I could do it because I was born for it.
Years passed, and my success never faltered.
I was the best student of my year, and I got a job at a respectable company fresh after
graduation.
My bosses noticed my creative ideas, got them to work, and within just two years I grew
to a senior architect.
In another two years, I said my goodbyes and went on to start my own construction company.
Soon after that I got married, and we had two wonderful kids, son and daughter.
I loved my family with all my heart, and my wife supported my burning desire to fulfill
my destiny.
She believed in my purpose, that it was something special, that I was meant to do great things.
When I asked her what she thought her destiny was, she smiled gently and said that she was
just about to fulfill it.
That was days before the birth of our first child.
I still don’t know what I did to deserve that woman.
I went on with my projects, and my company steadily grew.
At first, we were just one of many, but I had a client base from my previous job, so
I had something to start with.
In several years, my enterprise grew into something to be considered.
And after a few more years, we stood among the biggest players on the market.
All this time I didn’t let myself forget my original beliefs.
I created a charity foundation and several non-profit organizations to help struggling
people get new homes.
I never abandoned my dream to make the world a better place for everyone.
And so it went.
With time, my company became a huge corporation, and I was one of the most prominent people
in the country.
By the time I grew old, my kids were ready to take the reins, so I left it to them and
retired in peace, having lived the rest of my days in a country home with my dear wife
beside me.
Such was my life.
I was sure I fulfilled my destiny… until this moment.
This… creature in front of me resembled a human in shape, but was unlike anything
I’ve ever seen, more like a mirage than a person.
And it showed me my legacy — the future of my company and my family — at an increased
pace.
And I didn’t understand what I was seeing.
Or rather, how it could be.
At first, everything seemed to go well enough: my kids continued my work, and the corporation
prospered.
Then, they had a falling out, and the crack between them grew so much that they eventually
divided the company.
Alone, they couldn’t manage everything, and both their companies plummeted.
The charity fund, the non-profit organizations I’d established — all went under.
My children and their employees lost everything, and the work of my life turned into nothing.
I was devastated.
I couldn’t believe it was really what happened.
Wasn’t it my destiny?
Wasn’t it what I had been meant to do?
“No.”
Shocked, I looked at the creature.
What, then?
Is there no destiny at all?
“There is.
And you fulfilled it.”
Now that was confusing.
Had it been something I didn’t realize I did, or what?
“Almost.
Take a look.”
And he showed me myself, climbing the tree all those decades ago and wrapping my arms
around a frightened kitty.
That boy of 7 who had been me returned the cat to its owner, she beamed at him, said
“thank you” and ran off home.
And that was all?!
I was born to rescue a neighbor’s cat?
How does that qualify as destiny?!
“That cat you saved.
It had its destiny too.
Later that day, it shattered a pot in the living room, and the girl’s mother asked
her to clean the mess.
When she went to throw out the shards, she met her own destiny and talked to the mailman,
delaying him by exactly two minutes and thirty-three seconds.
Then, he went on to do what he had been born for.”
I still didn’t get it.
So it was all about the mailman, then?
“Yes.
But not only him.
You as well.
And the girl.
And even the cat.
And everyone else in the world.”
And with these words he showed me the whole planet, or rather the outline of it, with
shiny little dots all over the place.
Those dots were people and animals, and they flashed when they collided with each other
— each flash represented one more destiny fulfilled.
And then they went about their business as usual.
I started suspecting something, but I wasn’t sure yet.
I turned to the creature and saw it was kind of… smiling at me.
“You know what it means.
You were right in your childhood: everyone indeed has a purpose, something they were
born for.
But it’s not the labor of their life, or something larger than life itself.
It’s usually a small thing — a trifle, really.
And when this condition is fulfilled… everyone is free to do what they want to.”
And then it finally dawned at me.
All this time I believed in some kind of a bigger purpose for myself.
I created a picture where I was a hero, a savior of the poor, and where destiny itself
helped me on my way.
But what I didn’t realize was that I was doing what I could do best, and what I wanted
to do the most.
I was just following my dream.
The creature smiled again and nodded.
“Indeed.
Now, before we go, let me show you something else.
You might find it heartening.”
Again, the picture appeared in front of me.
There was a woman standing at a window with her back to me.
She was looking out at a little boy who was climbing a nearby tree to rescue a cat.
When he got down and gave the kitty to its owner, he saw his mother in the window and
waved to her.
She waved back and turned around — and I saw it was my daughter.