Nate Hunter

 

A top hat sits on a small table, with a wand right beside it. A middle-aged man with messy black hair, green eyes that are drowsy from the night he had just experienced, a clean-shaven chin, and two slightly crooked front teeth sits beside it. Wearing a tailored black and white suit, with a glass in his left hand and a bottle in the other, the man pours another drink and takes another sip. At the table in the stage wings, legs still trembling with adrenaline left from his performance, he looks out at the crowd clapping and cheering. It was all he could ever want. The man was bringing people joy doing what he loved, stage magic.

When he was a child, the man loved to go to magic shows with his father and mother. Watching the illusions the magicians performed brought the man so much wonder, and inspired him to learn their secrets. Now, when he had finally reached the point in his life where he had become his inspirations, he felt something he never expected to feel: boredom.

Why? Why was the man feeling this? He had accomplished everything he ever wanted. Yet, it’s not enough. The man pondered this for hours, often pouring himself another drink while lost in thought. He was bringing people so much joy, doing what he had wanted to do ever since he was a child sitting in the crowd, watching the people on stage perform illusions that seemed impossible. The man was satisfied with his life. That was what he thought, at least. He went back to his apartment. It was small and dirty, the walls had little cracks in them, there were bugs scurrying across the floor, and the bed was small and unclean. The man fell onto the bed, and thought long and hard about that night. He thought about the crowd, trying to remember exactly who was watching him. The man realized something. There was nothing else that he wanted. That was the problem.

He had achieved everything he wanted in life. The man was bored with life because he wasn’t chasing anything, there wasn’t anything he wanted that he hadn’t already obtained. The man was confused. He should be happy, he thought. He should be satisfied, he thought. However, no matter how many times he attempted to tell himself, he could not shake the feeling that he wanted more. Then came the question: what else could he want?

The man thought about this question for what felt like years. When he reached the end of his pondering, the man came to a conclusion. He did not know what he wanted, but he wanted something more. He was aimless, but with a definite goal at the same time. The man started searching, searching for something more, something else.

His entire life he had been searching, searching for the one career that would make him truly happy. When he finally got that, he thought his search was over. That was the most important lesson the man learned that day. That no matter what, no matter how satisfied he thinks he is, he will never truly be happy unless he is looking for something more.