I must choose a door
And I see there are three
They are different colors
Only one can make me free
.
My education loan scared me
The campus job paycheck wasn’t big
So I applied for many scholarships
Feeling like a desperate pig
I am a student
And I work hard
Why shouldn’t I have some security
Why can’t I have a financial guard
And one day it arrived in my inbox
“Congratulations, you are the winner of the Leviathan Scholarship!”
It felt like a dream
Or as if I was high on a drug trip
It felt like it was too good to be true
It had been a simple poetry contest for an application
They’d pay off my loan and also give me $15000
Enough for all costs in this run
There were terms and conditions
Of course, there had to be
I would need to follow instructions
And then the money I could see
Once the carrot is dangled
It is hard to look away
I didn’t care what they wanted
I’d do anything that they’d say
They needed to me go to
The Leviathan Society conference
I’d talk about my experience and sign off some rights
Wasn’t thinking about if it made sense
I didn’t even have the funds
To travel to the place
So I gave thought to my choices
A way to complete the final steps of this race
I asked to borrow some money
But the place was far away
My friends didn’t have money either
Without options, I had to stay
Then a knock on my door
A few days later
There was a man who looked like a wizard
Presented me with a paper
The man was old with droopy skin
His stare was creepy
Every expression would make the hair on my arms stand
But I had to take it easy
He said he would help me with the travel
Said he was an agent of the Scholarship society
He even got me formal clothes, a crisp suit
That dude made me look mighty
I appeared as if I were a true intellectual
By the magic of his skills
However, his help came with limits and conditions
For his help, he gave me a bill
His services were only for the day of the conference
And at midnight they would stop
I had to be done and back by then
Then he led me to the terrace top
The bill said he needed my adherence
And I were to listen to what he wants
Or I would pay the price
And permission I was to grant
Permission for them to monitor
All the use of my money and time
That’s when I figured
The price was surveillance of mine
Privacy was secondary in my head
Money to me was first
So I struck the deal
While internally feeling an emotional burst
And on my terrace was a private jet
A pilot for my private services too
Somehow the jet looked like the colors
Of my pet bird ‘Ms. Moo’
The pilot looked like a sinister human
version of my pet dog
I didn’t have time to process it though
I jumped in the plane like a frog
I know the rhyming words are lazy
But please hear my tale
For nothing after this was ordinary
It was a surreal sail
Across the sky and I was soon
At the Leviathan society
It was a big, gothic, dark, and enchanting building
Just like academic royalty
And once I entered
I met the society leaders
They were all dressed in dark formal garments
Soon the event started with the speakers
One by one they spoke
And many talked to me
The leaders made me feel
Like an artistic and intelligent prodigy
The scholarship was mentioned briefly
They quickly made me sign some papers
A dinner was arranged
And I was anticipating the money coming later
The conversations made me feel important
I felt rich
Not just financially, but in terms of purpose
That’s when I felt a sudden mental itch
A bad feeling
And I heard the building tower clock
How was it so late already
I ran to the next block
The next block where my plane was
But as I ran
I dropped my CV
Which I hadn’t planned
I brought it just in case they asked
But I didn’t have the time to pick it up
So I ran before time ran out
Ran from their close academic society club
I got home somehow
But the wizard man was waiting for me
He told me I wasn’t back on time
So I would need to pay the fee
The society man now watches me every day
He watches how I spend every penny
I never get used to him
No matter how many
Times I see him daily,
I never get used to him
He gets very angry when I don’t listen to his constant words
Makes my life dim
Literally,
I see less and less
When I disobey his wishes
The scholarship made my life a mess
With the money came this man
Who is always dictating
What my choices should be
It’s freedom not money that is worth fighting
I got another email today
From the Leviathan society
They’ve been looking for the person
Who they met in the conference, alrighty,
They claimed they didn’t remember
That I was the scholarship winner
But they want me to join the society
Promising rewards even bigger
They just had my CV
And remembered me from the conversations
I thought I’d get rid
Of the Wizard man’s supervision
The Wizard man decided to show me
What would happen if I joined
He showed me the dark dark things
Which for me, they have lined
I said I didn’t care
I just wanted to get rid of him
In his anger
The wizard did something on a whim
So now I’m in this circus-like
Room with cartoony doors
They have shades of red, yellow, and green
They’re making me dizzy as I sit on the floor
I must choose a door
And I see there are three
They are different colors
Only one can make me free
One will take me to the Leviathan society
(and they will make me pay)
With the other, my scholarship I will lose
(but they will make me pay)
One will make me go back to being with the man
(he will make me pay)
Which door should I choose
(because they will make me pay)