A blinding light pierces through the darkness that has enveloped my entire life up until this point. The black nothingness peels away, revealing a new world. Past the person who I assume brought me into this world, I see trees that spread out into bright, warm colors. To the left, a quaint house rests down the hill. A vast blue sky stretches from one corner of the horizon to the other. This must be what it feels like to be a part of the world.

My creator stands up, puts down her blade, and walks away. Is that it? She didn’t say anything. I need to know why I’m here. I need to know where I’m going.

“Jake, come look!” my creator shouts from my peripheral vision. “I did a lot better than I thought I would.” She comes back with a man and they both look down at me. I try to say something, but it appears all I can do is watch.

“Nice job,” the man compliments my creator. “Was it hard to get it that smooth?”

“I thought it would be harder, honestly,” she responds. “It just seemed to work out.”

“I’ll get back to the decorations,” the man says. “I don’t want to be rushing everything last minute like I did last year.”

So they’re decorating for something. My creator continues to look down at me, then leaves. Why isn’t she acknowledging me? She created me, so you would think she would say something.

I sit and watch as the sun is slowly pushed across the sky. I see the man putting up the decorations he was talking about every once and a while. Eventually, I hear him go back inside. Time passes painfully slowly. By the time the sun reaches the other side of the sky, I’ve had enough. I try to motivate myself to move. I push and push, but nothing happens.

What am I supposed to do? I can’t live my entire life simply watching the birds fly by. I have to accomplish something. Then a strong gust of wind comes through, nearly tipping me on my side. Now’s my chance. I push as hard as I can, slowly riding the wind over onto my side. I finally topple over and tumble down the hill. I stop on the road at the bottom, next to a quaint house. Now what?

A couple of boys ride up on their bikes.

“I wonder where this came from,” one of them says.

“Probably up the hill at the crazy lady’s house,” the other responds.

“Give me the bat.”

Is he going to attack me? This isn’t what I wanted. I have to get away. Please, just one more gust of wind.

“No, I want to smash it.”

“Give me the bat or I’m telling Mom you hit me with it!”

“No!”

The boys start yelling and slapping each other. I hate to see this. I want to scream at them to stop, but nothing comes out. One of the boys starts crying and the other gets up, grabs the bat and starts hitting me with it. He doesn’t seem to be strong enough to destroy me with it, but the hateful look in his eyes hurts more than I could ever imagine. This is all because of me. If I hadn’t shown up, they wouldn’t have fought. This can’t be my life. This can’t be my purpose.

A woman appears above me and grabs the boy. “Brandon Asher!” the woman yells. “Get inside! Now!” The boy starts crying and waddles into the house. The woman kneels down next to the other boy. “Are you okay?” she asks him. “Where does it hurt?”

“Everywhere,” the boy responds.

“I’m sorry. Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.” The woman leads the boy inside the house. I’m left sitting in the middle of the road. Eventually, another family walks by. A husband, wife, and a young daughter. She is dressed up in strange clothes with wings and she’s holding a wand. It lightens my mood to see such a strange sight.

“Look!” the little girl shouts. “A pumptin!” A pumptin? Is that what I am? She skips up to me and squats down in front of me. Looking into my eyes, she giggles. She puts her hands under me and tries to lift me up, but immediately drops me and falls over.
“Heavy!” she says, standing back up.

“Come on, leave it alone,” the mother says, moving on down the street. The girl follows her. The father walks over to me and picks me up. He looks at my face, smiles, and walks me over to the side of the road where he puts me down in the grass. I’m left with a strange warm feeling inside. Soon a car pulls out of the driveway. I see my creator in it as she leaves. She can’t leave me. I can’t live on my own! I can’t even move!

As the sky gets darker, more families walk by. Each child has a costume. Some wear capes, some wear masks, and some wear what I can only describe as a giant monster-shaped balloon. Each one glances at me and smiles. Each one makes me feel better. Could this be why I’m here? If this is my purpose, I like it.

I look up at the sky. Most of the light is gone. Thousands of small white lights now cover the dark sky. The bright light in the sky has been replaced with a calmer sphere. It’s growing colder. Things start to quiet down. The day is over. I am left with both a sense of sadness and fulfillment.

I love it.