Hordes of Humans

They came from all across the land to descend on this spot. Hordes of humans, desperate for some sort of communion with a greatness that had long eluded them.

Some of them had never seen trees or sky, locked up as they always were in cages. On the bright side, they were paid well for their efforts. This allowed them to buy cars, houses, and such.

Cars offered a means of escape, while houses were another type of cage. Sadly this meant that the cars often transported them from one cage to another. “Escape” came to be an ironic concept, the word spoken in a silly tone, accompanied by obligatory eye roll.

Everyone knew the truth, that it didn't exist as they had once hoped. To believe otherwise was pure folly, a dusty road to nowhere, with only painful disappointment along the way.

And yet some clung to their arcane belief, their desperate hope. They comforted themselves with lies. Others scoffed, of course, because they knew that there were only cages. And they regarded with contempt those who had hope, speaking to them in silly tones, with obligatory eye rolls.

For a time it seemed that the contemptuous folks were right. They had all the things, while those who had only hope wandered aimlessly with stupid smiles. Sometimes they hummed to themselves, as if to convey a false sense of happiness.

Somewhere along the line a funny thing happened. That false sense of happiness turned true. Those who only had hope wandered, but it was no longer aimless, nor were their smiles stupid.

They had not attempted to escape, had been content all along. And the great irony of it all is that the irony of their transformation was lost on those who had long ago lost themselves to irony.