Idealism Vs Cynicism (Fiction {Introspective})

He sat there staring at his cup, swirling around his tea as he pondered a static world. She was staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to return to what they were discussing. He took a deep sip and, with a long sigh, delicately placed his cup on the table before him. Finally, he spoke.

“There is a problem with your assertion. You said that ‘if humanity has reached the moon, surely we can do anything,’ but you’re forgetting the circumstances of that event. It wasn’t ‘humanity' who reached the moon, but the United States of America. Why? So that they could one-up the Soviets. The US didn’t care that this was a great achievement of mankind, all they cared about was looking better than the Soviets. Not humanity’s greatness, but selfish ulterior motives.”

She looked at him with an expression of disgust. “Surely you’re not suggesting that nothing can be done,” she said, “don’t people understand the consequences of their actions?”

He laughed bitterly. “Oh they understand all right,”  he said, “they just don’t care.”

At this point she was rather distressed. “How dare you say such a thing?!” she exclaimed, her hands spasming and her arms flailing about, “After all that has happened, after all that Humanity has progressed, for all the love and compassion, the empathy and solidarity, you think we don’t care? Look at all we’ve done, look at all we’ve changed.”

“Nothing has changed,” he said in a harsh tone, with the barest hint of anger simmering in his voice, “all that you’ve described is nothing but fluff; underneath the surface, the same patterns repeat throughout the history of mankind. Humans are static creatures, incapable of change.”

She looked at him in disbelief, before calmly standing up. She stood tall, in defiance, and simply told him, “Perhaps you are incapable of change, but I refuse to believe that humanity is as well. Good day.” She then walked out, determined to prove him wrong.

He stared at his cup once more. “Perhaps you are right,” he said, taking a sip, “we shall see. Good luck.”

Word Count: 349