The Tale of Two Mentors: an elucidative short story by Paula G Akinwole

(sorry if there are typos, it’s 11PM and I should be sleep! But you know how it goes when something is in you and just needs to get out, I’ll post now, edit later!)

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School had been over for years and the new adult found themselves stuck. Three years at a job with no raise or promotion, relationships that only lasted a few months if they even survived the first date, and bills pilling high. The new adult’s life was not going they way they planned. The metaphor was this: If life is a highway, the new adult was in a car going only 45 miles an hour with no gas station in sight.

After a late dinner with friends, the new adult heard all their friends discussing something that they themselves didn’t have. One friend called it a pastor. They said every Sunday after service, they’d sit with pastor and discuss their life plan and how one day they too might be a minister. Another friend called it a therapist. They said that weekly, they meet and talk about life and how best to handle problems. Another friend called it a guru. They said that they had found someone who was wise and could guide them from experience. The new adult decided they needed help too. They needed a mentor.

The new adult put an ad in the newspaper.

New adult seeks a mentor. Someone who is a master in their field, able to be consulted about difficult decisions, and can promise results. Must be open minded, kind hearted, and able to take a joke.

The first day, the new adult received a response and scheduled an interview
“I have three questions,” the new adult began, “And if you can get them right, you can be my mentor for life.”
The first candidate agreed.
“Question one. What is the meaning of life?”
The first candidate did not hesitate and answered “The meaning of life is to live life without meaning.”
The new adult pondered over the answer and decided this was sufficient. They would be happy to live life without the stress of knowing what they were expected to do.
“Next question. Is it better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all?”
The candidate again quickly responded. “Love as much as you can as hard as you can for life without love is no life at all.”
Again, the new adult was impressed. They had three dates set up already this week and had vowed to continue looking for love.
“Last question,” the new adult finished, “Can I have it all?”
The candidate answered “You cannot have it all. You must decide what is most important and focus on that.”
The new adults heart leaped. They had heard this before from mother and father and grandparents too. A good adult found something and stuck with it; not giving up but always pushing ahead.
“I think you’ll be my mentor,” the new adult said “because everything you said agrees with what I already know to be true. But I do have one more candidate that I must attend to,”

Feeling fulfilled and pretty sure, the new adult was excited to begin implementing the suggestions of their new mentor But as they had already agreed to interview one more, they accepted the next meeting.

The next candidate arrived, seemingly with their head in the clouds.
The new adult noticing their un-stoic ways and uninterested face asked, “Do you know why you’re here?”
The candidate shook their head yes.
“Well, let’s began,” the new adult said dutly. “I have three questions and if you can get them right, you can be my mentor for life. First, what is the meaning of life?”
The candidate replied, “I have no idea.”
The new adult looked puzzled for surely a mentor should have answers but since this was only a formality, they moved on to the next question with no qualms.
“Is it better to have loved and lost or never to have loved at all?”
The candidate shrugged. “What do you think?”
“What I think doesn’t matter,” the new adult retorted with frustration for being asked a question during their interview. “Last question so we can waste less time. Can I have it all?”
The candidate whispered their answer so low the new adult couldn’t hear.
The new adult leaned in closer and asked again “Can I have it all?”
The candidate repeated with no change in their voice.
Closer the new adult scooted wanting to know what was being said by the aloof candidate.
This time the new adult could hear clear as the candidate repeated “That’s up to you.”
The new adult pulled away and thanked the candidate for their time. They had not intention of calling them fore the position for this mentor, they thought to themselves, cannot be mine!

Weeks turned into months and months into years as the new adult listened to their new mentors ways. They stayed at their job waiting patiently to be noticed for a raise, they went on date after date with whoever asked, they gave no deeper thought to anything that was happening because it was meaningless anyway. The years rolled by as the new adult became just adult and adult became elder and life bloomed in it’s own way. They met a spouse and got married, had kid and kid and kid again, got promoted at their job and retired at 62. Love was loss, kids had grown and gone away, and their was little to do day to day.

Old new adult called their mentor and asked, “What now? I am 82. The kids are gone, my spouse has died, and there seems nothing left for me to do. What mentor would you suggest I do with the time I have left?”

The mentor could not respond. For they had never had a client live long enough to ask this question. There was nothing left for them to do or give or say. Their advice had never panned out this way.

Old new adult called a meeting with candidate number 2, the mentor they did not heed. “I wonder if you might explain to me, now before I die, what you meant when you said That’s up to you.“

The mentor smiled, their radiance so bright they looked the same age as the day they had met. “All things in life are up to you. The meaning is up to you. How you love is up to you. How you spend your time is up to you. And even now, how you die is all up to you.”

With that, the old new adult died. Their life, summarized by three questions and the three answers given to them. Also known as the three questions they refused to answer themselves: The meaning of their life, the love they give, and the time they spend. Their life, barely a memory to anyone else and lived with more questions than answers.

Dedicated to Valley Haggard