Disclaimer: We did not create Luke Ward.
Summary: Luke Ward experiences a crisis of consciousness, after realizing the frightening spontaneity of his own impulsive thoughts and his lack of control over the thoughts he thinks.
Shoutouts: Luke Ward, the depth of your spirit and the conviction of your character have inspired us infinitely. We'd also like to give honorary mentions to Jean-Paul Sartre and Jaques Derrida.
Luke Ward, his feet planted rather shakily on what seemed to be the most unsteady ground he had ever come across, stood atop the most constant, sturdy feature along the Pacific coastline: Echo Mountain. Luke glanced from side to side, nervously looking over the edge of the mountain. He suddenly jumped back, instantaneously removing his feet from the brink of the mountain's incline. His heart beat wildly, as he recovered from the shock of the dangerous situation he had just experienced.
He backed away from the edge slowly, glaring suspiciously at the rocky ledge. He could no longer trust himself with his own life. He stared at the seemingly sturdy mountain and had the urge to fling himself over the edge, throwing himself into the ocean. He thought to himself:
Your own perceptions of what's sturdy and what's shaky are the sturdiest things there are. You're the one who classifies something as sturdy or shaky. There are no references; there are no facts. There is nothing to which you can refer on making your decision on whether to view this mountain as sturdy or shaky. Your own free will and thoughts are the sturdiest things there are.
Luke's anxiety returned as he made this observation. If his own choice was the sturdiest thing out there, and he could easily have chosen the other option (that is, steady) over his original option (that is, shaky), then wouldn't that make the steadiest thing out there be extremely unsteady? Luke's world came crashing down, as he realized that his freedom of thought and choice was the foundation for everything else he could possibly establish, but that foundation was not an establishment in itself, as a wave angrily crashes against the base of the mountain. Luke feared the violent wave might send the mountain toppling over. Because of the mountain's unsteadiness, Luke continued to stand precariously on the ground and thought to himself:
Oh no, I'm going to jump!
He stood there.
Why haven't I jumped? I have the freedom to jump; what if I do it? Why am I not doing it? He regretfully thought, I'm going to do it!
He stood there.
If I have the impulse to jump and the freedom to do so, why haven't I jumped? What's keeping me on this ledge?
Luke feared that because he could jump, he would.
He stood there.