Mirage

Mirage

A Monologue by Kelley Quinn

 

Happiness is like this: you wake up every morning with a smile that brightens your entire mood. The simple idea of beginning a fresh new day energizes you. It’s not just the warmth of a cat by your feet, but your dad moving in the kitchen as he puts the clanking dishes away, the footsteps and creaks your mom makes walking through the house, and the sound of running water from your sister’s shower down the hall. And for once, you no longer have to fight to be happy-you just are. You take every day as it is: a gift. So you dance with your naïve self, playing with the innocence of youth.

 

But you know what? Happiness is not forever. Our society has made sure of that. Whatever happened to adventure and optimism? Do you remember the people that promised to see the world when they got older? I do, because I do not want to forget the people who had dreams, who had ideas: every day filled with something new.

 

What is the point of the folly achievements we partake in during school and throughout our adolescent years? Tell me, because it feels so worthless.

 

There used to be a time, I’m sure, when individuality was encouraged and embraced. A time when people actually embarked on plans. I remember Mary Ellen would tell everyone her life goal: to help the world. And what ever happened to Jake who made me pinky swear that wherever we were in life, we would be doing what we love to do? People were happy to be here when they were ignorant, when they were children. But now, we are no longer living, but simply surviving. There goes the magazine clippings and travel logs for they have been replaced with that same cup of coffee, that perpetual, unfailing, morning, daily, and nightly routine.

 

And as the adults suffer, so do the children. I live in the generation that is scoffed and looked down upon. We are treated ignorantly because, stereotypically, “We do not know the real world”. What is it then? Is the real world politics and newspapers? Is it mortgage and taxes? But of course: it’s divorce, it’s fighting, it’s being a responsible adult, it’s cleaning your room, it’s being on time, it’s becoming the mold we are given, even if we do not fit. No no, I remember: we do not understand because we have not experienced everything. I’m sorry, I was not aware that emotions came printed on paper.

 

Do not underestimate us. Just because we are not heard does not mean we are not speaking. We do not have the same age and wisdom as others, but we already know that happiness is a mirage. Tell me what that says about our society.

 

We are in the same boat as every single person out there. So now, we are sinking but no longer are we the petrified people drowning: we are the water, reaching for hands, for feet, for anyone to help us but we’re too late.

Author's Note

This is a monologue not a story or a poem or any of the other options for type.

Reviews

[Kaylor Mason]

This is very intricate and it mirrors my own thoughts in a lot of respects . . . I always thought, as writers, it's our job to make someone's life worth living. If my writing can make someone wake up and feel good and get through the day, then that's the best feeling in the world. I think this piece touches on that quite a bit: it lists the diagnosis of atrophy. Writing is, of course, only one cure. There are other forms of art (but writing's what I'm good at. Heck, it's the ONLY thing I'm good at.)
Ya know, I read your status, about how you want to "make someone feel beautiful." Well, congratulations--in my case, you've succeeded! Your words in this bring dead memories of innocence and hope back to life, and make this day brighter. Thank you! :)

[Beccy]

The innocence of youth is so very brief; and more so I think in today's world. Our children no longer sail paper boats in rain washed gutters, play hide and seek, or steal apples from a neighbour's tree, (how wicked we were.)

Nevertheless, we are all still individuals, with dreams and aspirations, though so often they become buried beneath the flotsam of today's increasingly frantic and fractured society. Though of course, social media platforms, (the ultimate in isolation as far as I am concerned,) would have it that we are all now more connected than ever before.

My son is eleven, soon to be twelve. I try as best I can to maintain his childhood, without I hope, compromising his ability to cope with the real world. Time will tell, but I trust I will succeed.

A thoroughly thought provoking write.

Beccy.

[R J Askew]

I just read your note on your profile. Gonna review it! 'I want to make you feel beautiful'. I love those 9 syllables. What a life mission! This wld be a great way to live a life, thinking of others like that.

[CHRIS ANDES]

thing is you write it well
=]

[R J Askew]

Ach, I wake up all aching and have to get downstairs and clear the glasses from the washer and wake everyone else up and make my wife tea. But then I am the hero Dad figure.

Yes, you can still be individualistic. Indeed you must as this is the only way to get on in an otherwise homogenised society.

Whered did it all go wrong? Globalisaion. There was a time when certain groups had certain privileges, but globalisation has eroded those vested interests. Speaking as a WASP *bows* I mourn the passing of such times as my kids will now have to kick and gouge like cage fighters to get on in life. This is how it is.

This is why it is imporant to be individualistic and to find individual ways to success and satisfaction - note I did not say happiness - because you can no longer rely on the old vested interests. There are hundreds of millions of kids in the BRIC economies who will gladly take everything kids in the West take for granted.

Individualism also involves being tough, self-reliant, sharp and fast. This is how it is.

[Maan]

Nicely expressed thoughts and not just thoughts I must say, they are actually true feelings written by your fingers or pen. . Ending of the monologue is excellent, that last paragraph, just summed up all very accurately. Nice work.

[allie_arrowz]

amazing, i loved it!

[MoriartyMesa]

This is like something that you would see Colin Quinn doing, not stand up, not spoken word, but 'hey here it is, you don't like it, sit and spin' this could be a nice stage piece if you ever choose to switch it to part of a One Man show.

[Lydia]

This is beautiful, and so true! Simply amazing!

[*~*Butterfly Kisses*~*]

Very detailed, wonderfully written write. Nicely done.