THE MAN WHO TRIED TO TOUCH REALITY

Short story

The Man Who Tried to Touch Reality
There was once a man who spent his whole life searching for "truth."
Not the kind written in books, nor the kind preached by voices louder than his thoughts.
He wanted the truth that lived behind everything--the truth that didn't change when people did.
Every morning, he walked to the edge of a quiet lake.
The water was still, perfectly still, like it was holding its breath.
He would look into it, hoping reality would finally speak to him.
One day, the man reached down to touch his reflection.
But the moment his fingers met the surface, the image shattered into ripples.
He stared at the broken pieces of himself and whispered,
"Why do you run from me?"
The lake answered without words.
Because truth is not something you touch.
It is something you disturb by trying too hard to hold.
The man sat back, suddenly understanding why reality always felt out of reach.
It wasn't hiding from him--he was frightening it with his certainty.
He wanted clear answers, but real truth was a shifting thing,
alive, like water, refusing to stay still for anyone.
From that day, he returned to the lake not to catch reality,
but to sit with it.
And slowly, he learned that the deepest truths
do not appear when you chase them--
they appear when you finally stop demanding
that the world make sense
and allow yourself to listen to what it already is.