For 4 years, he'd taken that train. Day after day, he would drag himself out of the house, into the station, and onto that train. He usually took a window seat. There wasn't much to see, though. The dark, twisting tunnels weren't particularly suited for sightseeing. Still, it was better than staring coldly at some other poor bastard who was forced to endure that same cramped, filthy space.
He stared out that window, looking deep into the darkness. The unknown. It represented the very thing he feared, respected, and oddly enough, looked forward to. He wanted to move forward. Leave behind his structure and order and melancholy routines.
Now and then, the rails would throw up a spark, pushing back the seemingly impenetrable darkness, and reveal - for just a moment - the intricate maze of underground paths. Everything was revealed in that brief, white hot second. The eerie bluish-white glow seemed to expand, filling the cavernous space through which he and innumerable others passed without contemplation. Now the subway doesn't quite seem like the proper atmosphere for an epiphany, but in that moment, he came to a realization.
A spark. That was what he needed to make things right in his own life. His own personal spark. Something to guide him and lead him into the unknown. Something that would give him the courage and confidence to take that first step.
It was what I needed.
Yeah, that was me. I was the young man unsure of his future, his purpose, and the world around him. The reality I found myself in was one I couldn't accept. So I changed it. That was my epiphany. I can make my own spark. I can illuminate the myriad paths that seem to loom before me, and I can make changes.
Four years in a high school I can only describe as arcane. It's a relic that somehow managed to survive the tests of time. Now, I've completed my time there. I'm moving on. That was my "spark".
Welcome to the new me. Hopefully, he's better than the last one.
