Just Because

A stream of consciousness tale that spiraled into a question and an answer.

Unsure of what action to take, the human immersed himself in trivial activities. The biting of nails, scratching of skin, racing of mine manic aimlessness suited him, and quickly drew a haggard look upon his mien.  His eyes, dull, searched for meaning within the staggering cases, boxes of memories left by others, not with purpose, but merely, it seemed, because. Because. A simple, word, with simple meaning. But that word, and what comes next means so much to so many. Because I love you, because I'm afraid, because I am weak. Because I am strong. Because I don't know what to do. Or, the truest, deepest one. Just because. Life goes on, elsewhere, but here, it stands nigh still, held back by the unknown reasons of the past. A past shared with many, who had been, while not forgotten, dismissed. Forgiven of any duty to remain. Relinquished to the ebb and flow of time to drift anew, and form new memories. The man sighed, half his scowl illumined with soft, pulsing blue light from the trinkets decorating his sanctuary. Even here, amidst the ancient books, there was the new, the bright and shining, sleek reminder of the future. Of now. Now he could live with; the future, however, he could not. The future, unlike the past, is changed. Mutable and easily ruined. A past mistake will always be, but a mistake in the future may grow and grow until it becomes an uncontrollable force of destruction. Or so he feared, within himself. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps not. The world shall never know, for to know would be to know the unknowable, ever-changing future of this world. And what use would be knowing about a mistake of such caliber after it had happened? To avoid more of the same? Was that all man could do? React to the past in the now to save the future and create yet more treasured memories? Perhaps. A better question, of course, would be this. Why is that all man can do? And the best answer, of course, is simple, perhaps the simplest of all. Just because.