The Price of Pride as Told by an Unknown Author They disgust me. Running, scurrying, laughing and talking and whispering their lies until it becomes truth. They listen to their horrible music; they play their silly games, all for nothing. Thatâs what I would say to myself. I was a fool then, now Iâm wise but have nowhere to use it. The dark corners of the rooms would beckon to me, I went to them willingly, thinking I was strong but actually displaying my weakness. Sulking, moaning, hating was what I did in those corners, watching the happy folk go about their ways in the outside world. I would often think to myself âIf only they could understand how it is here, in the dark⦠in the cold. They would worship me, for bringing them here, where they all belong.â I nursed these thoughts, these very lies I hated. But my mind was weak, and they grew to consume me. I didnât need those people, those happy villagers in the burgeoning city of life. They could keep their foul light, it penetrated my very heart, my very mind. These people, of the light, they used to see me, sometimes even talk to me. But my rage and my pride was stronger than my mind, and I drove them away with my false wit, my horrible ugly arrogance. I thought I was everything Iâd dreamed of; a thinker, a dreamer, a free man. And in some senses, I was right. But I was so wrong. The days passed, the years soon followed. The web of my lies and the network of darkness found each other, and plotted my destruction. I paid no heed to their plans, although as I think back upon it, it wouldnât have mattered. The pride had swallowed my soul. The darkness, and the lies, they seeped into my body and my soul until I was saturated with hate and envy and everything in between. And yet these people, the people of the light, they still came, bearing their gifts of kindness and love. Yet I resisted with the strength of pride. When I recall this, I realize there were malicious ones among them. Yet in my defense of these people, I closed out all the others, the ones who loved me. But then it did not matter. I fed daily on the darkness and the lies, until pride was my life. I loved the way I spoke, how I could articulate and reason beyond what the light people could even dream of. I thought I was invincible, self sustaining and beautiful in body and mind. But while I was thinking, philosophizing and hating, the people slowly left. There was a migration; the people of the light could not stay with me forever. I thought my loneliness would keep me sane, but insanity comes with pride, with lies and darkness. Those who loved me the most stayed, but even them slowly drifted away, and my mind grew weaker still. At long last, my pride broke like a worn thread and I burst out⦠out into the light. But it was too much. My life in the darkness had taken its toll, and I at once fled back into the darkness, and it was then I found the error in my ways. By then, of course, I was too late. I could conquer the darkness now; my wisdom matched my former pride. The light, shone down upon my horrible knowledge, had changed me forever. However forever I will stay with it, because the darkness, no matter how often I defeat it, will not let me pass. I am a slave to my former pride. With this I can only warn you; find the light, for pride can take it away.
