What Do You Give a Man Who Has Everything?

       In the history of the world, only one person ever wished to know their fate. It was such a simple command, one that seemed too easy for the consequence. But destiny was not simple. The effortless questions always led to the most precarious answers.

            Fate did not always mean death. Some people were destined for more, and some for far less. Fate did not reveal how you were going to meet your end, rather if you were going to lead a life worth living before that. There was a reason humans did not have that foresight. The brain was too fragile, it would weigh too heavy with all of the choices it was being presented, every option now riddled with this road or that one. Everyone liked to believe that they were smart, but that only applied to things they had control of. 

            Now, before that day, nobody had ever wanted to know their fate, they were too afraid of being able to manipulate chance. After that day, nobody had ever wanted to know their fate, they were too afraid of trying to outrun it, only to fail, as they were always bound to. They say that the wise man is one who knows what he doesn’t know. A foolish man is one who believes they can change that. 

            On that day, the man was tired. He had read every book and every page he could. His fingertips were tinged gray where the ink had smudged on his skin, papercuts littering the area around them. He had no companions, as he thought of everyone to be thick headed and dense. How could he discuss the intricacies of astrophysics and ancient philosophy with those who did not know what true knowledge was?

            His research had led him to this place. A place of wonder and wish, a small crack in a big canyon just large enough for a man to crawl through it. It wrote of the deep red rock and desolate plains marked with a tall cairn at the top of the chasm. The earth tried to warn him. It blasted terrible winds and torrential rains, but nothing could move a man with a set mind.

            After he squeezed through the rock wall, he was in an empty cave. There were sconces on the wall, the flames dancing above the wick. It felt like all of the air was sucked out of the cavern, his breathing coming out in low, shallow breaths. He called back to the text he had read just the day before, but there were no further instructions after this point. But he did not feel defeated. Only a stupid man would do such a thing.

            He sat down on the rough ground, crossing his legs. He placed his hands on each knee, touching his index and thumb tips together. He cleared his mind of thoughts and took as deep of a breath that the walls would allow. Meditation was the fastest way to a blank state, to unlock answers one might not think of with the ideas of the world plaguing their thoughts. He didn’t know how long it had been before he saw it. He felt like he had been suspended in time, his mind floating across the universe, his body an empty shell of a man who could not be contained in this realm.

            The best way to describe what he saw would be everything and nothing all at once. It felt like an overload of his synapses firing while shutting down. A feeling so immense there were no words for it, and that made him believe if he could not describe it, was he feeling anything at all? It was at that moment he knew why there were no more instructions in the book. Nobody ever made it past this point.

            What did a man who knew everything want? He did not need money, as it could not buy him things he did not already have. He did not need love, as he thought that emotion was a distraction. Those were the two things that seemed to make the world go round, he thought. And if he did not desire either, was he even human? Did his knowledge propel him above them so far that he did not need to wish for something that would be everything to them? He wanted something he could not learn in books, could not find outside his door. He wanted to know his fate, and if he did not like it, he wanted to change it. 

            “What is it that you seek?” the man heard in his mind. 

            “I want to know my destiny.” He felt the ground rumble underneath him.

            “An intelligent man such as yourself should understand the risk with this decision, yes?” It sounded like his voice layered thousands of times, an echo reverberating in his head.

            “There is no risk in seeking to know everything. There is only risk in having the opportunity and turning your back,” he replied. There was a long moment of silence. 

            “Very well.”

            He saw his birth, as if he was his own mother, watching his eyes open for the first time. He could feel what it was like to be seconds old and bombarded with lights and people and sound. He could see himself cry, and he could feel the tears running down his cheeks in the cave. He flashed through every memory he had, some he recognized and some he didn’t. He saw the day he became truly alone, turning to books so that no one could leave him again. And he saw himself sitting in the middle of the cave, his dried tears marking a clean path of skin. And he braced himself for what came after.

            Would he live a quiet, fruitful life as he had been for the past years? Would he conquer far away worlds? Would he go and spread his gospel as the man who saw the closest thing to a god? He could feel his heart start to race, the knowledge feeling so forbidden yet wishing to be absorbed by him. 

            His back was on the ground, his eyes staring up at the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Did he black out when he saw his future? That wasn’t possible. He was ready. He had seen everything before this moment with such clarity he felt like he had lived his life all over again. He sat up and looked around, the flames on the wall burning brighter than before. But he couldn’t see the crack in the rocks. 

            He walked over to where he entered, smooth stone staring back at him. He ran his fingers over it, trying to find anything to grab onto. It was as if it was never there. He circled the whole room, convincing himself that he got turned around when he made his wish. But he went around three times, and still, there was nothing. 

            It must be a test, he thought. 

            He sat back down in the middle of the floor, meditating once more. 

            “Yes?” he heard.

            “What is the reason for this test?” he asked. 

            “What test?”

            “There is no exit from this place anymore. I understand it is to test my skills, but how does that benefit us?” 

            He heard a small laugh. 

            “You cannot see past your own desires, can you? Here you are, seemingly stuck in a cave, and you believe it is because you are being tested.” This confused the man.

            “Well, yes. I don’t know what other reason there could be.”

            “Do you want to know why that little book of yours was never completed?” His own voice started to terrify him. It was not layered with different octaves of his own tenor, but with the screeching of something that did not belong to this world.

            “Because there has never been a man as smart as me.” He could feel the change in the air, feel the rage and hate that now filled the small cavern. 

            “You like to believe you are above mankind. You think you have mastered all there is to know, that it was time to know something unknowable. Do you want to know why nobody has ever wished to know their own fate?” He could feel his lungs grow tight.

            “Yes.” No.

            “Because it is not something you have the right of knowing. You are so greedy, taking anything you want, anything you deem as yours. Even the universe, it seems, is not out of your reach. But I will not let you believe that you are one of us. I will not let you glimpse this power that has never, and will never, be yours.” Was he going to die? He was not scared of death, but that was before, when he thought he would know what it would be. 

            “What are you going to do, then?” he asked, his voice wavering. 

            “Well, I can share it with you now, I suppose.” The air dropped to a chill. “The fate of a man who wishes for more, will never be one to explore. He is a true monster in the making, believing the world is his for the taking. Fate is not a thing to change, but something that will stay the same. This has always been your end, for this is what you are destined. From the day you were born, to this moment forlorn. We were always meant to meet, and this is where you accept defeat.”

            The words rang in his head louder than anything he had ever heard. He could feel blood start to drip down his neck, his ear drums rupturing. He was still sitting with his legs crossed, but he was floating high, high, higher. He could feel his blood start to boil, and his bones start to break. He could feel himself screaming, his throat becoming raw from the harshness of it. He now knew why he saw his whole life just moments ago. His small eyes, so curious about the world even just as a baby, was the last thing he saw before his limbs were ripped from his body, a dismembered star hanging in the air. 

            They say that the wise man is one who knows what he doesn’t know. A foolish man is one who tries to change that.