Edward
Edward is a very energetic boy. He starts the day with an enthusiastic leap out of bed. He doesn't moan or groan like the average kid would. He never complains very much, he never seems to contemplate matters very deeply. He is pleasant to be around, and so thus, he is usually in the middle of a group, laughing and talking spiritedly.
Oh, such an innocent, delightful child! We all find joy just looking at youths such as him, it reminds us of our past innocence, and for a brief moment, those matters which weighed so heavily on our minds vanish and seem insignificant in the face of such vitality. Edward is like a flame in the night, a source to which others cling near to for benefit of its warm rays.
Edward never has anything happen to him which makes him stop and think. He isn't bothered by little events like the dog dying, the changing of grades in school, & birthdays. Edward is a sieve in time. Time and all its events seem to go right through him, not collecting its filthy debris as with most of us. To ever imagine a stain upon his merry soul is unthinkable.
And so Edward moves through time, or rather, time moves through him, quickly. He grows older. He becomes a teenager, which, of course, involves some change and loss of innocence. But he remains the same Edward nevertheless. All changes to him are more external, rather than internal. They grow on him.
He has some girlfriends (never much of a problem for Edward), he has plenty of friends to hang with, he plays sports with all the boys. He isn't disliked by anyone. Who could loath a radiant, loving child who never thinks one thought of himself. He really doesn't have a mind of his own, he basically goes by the way the others go. Of course, this may seem like it would get him into some trouble, but no, not with Edward. He is sensitive to what everyone says, so if there is any objection to a decision he has made, he will immediately compensate forthwith.
Edward graduates from High School. He wasn't an exceptional student, and he gets accepted to a mediocre college. He enters that college and begins life away from home. Of course, with the change of scenery and the absence of old friends, people must undergo some change and mature, which Edward does. But those changes are purely external for Edward.
He quickly makes friends everywhere and is quite content at his college. He does average in his classes. He never gets homesick very often, for he rarely thinks about home. He really never thinks about anything deeply, it just goes straight through him.
Edward meets a girl who is very pretty and quiet. He immediately strikes up a relationship with her, and he believes he is in love (whether what he felt is really love, I can not quite conjecture, but I am sure that it is as close to love as Edward would ever get). She also loves Edward, for he can open her up with all his free talk and laughter. She sometimes thinks about things, unlike Edward, but she never tells him about any of it, and we can be sure he wouldn't think much of it.
Edward and this girl marry. Edward gets an average job and buys a quaint little house. Edward and this girl have two children, a darling little girl and a handsome little boy. The little girl is a gentle child who has a little bit of both her parents in her. She is quiet like her mother, but she is cheerful and spirited like her father. She will think about things sometimes, but not always. The little boy is more like Edward than the girl. The only thing he got from his mother was his looks and that he is sometimes gloomy, but he rarely thinks about things. However, differing from his father, when time and its events run through him, they make him mournful, rather than lively, like his father.
The household of Edward is a happy, content abode. Life goes by quickly. Soon, the little girl and boy are growing up and beginning their long journey on the circle of life. Their different paths soon mold them into who they will be. Edward, meanwhile, doesn't really notice their growing up too often. He reads the newspaper every morning with his orange juice. He goes to work soon after. He has an average day, and he comes back home. He then has dinner and putters around a little, maybe watches some TV, and then goes to bed. Through it all, he is fairly spirited and reflects it onto others about him. He is well loved by his little family.
Well, Edward is getting old. His hair on his head turns gray, but he doesn't really think about it, or notice. These are just external things to Edward. He still reads the newspaper everyday. Except that now he is retired, and so he has the whole day to putter around after reading it and drinking his juice and eating.
Edward starts to stoop. The little girl and boy are now married. The little girl gives birth to a boy, and the little boy has no children yet (his wife wants to wait a little bit, because she is working ). Seasons go, seasons come, years fly, minutes pass.
Edward dies. His little children bury him with the appropriate ceremonies to commemorate the dead. The little girl was troubled a little by his death, because she thought about it, but not much. The little boy does not really notice it or think about it, however, it makes him more gloomy.
When Edward died, his body broke open to release the soul, so that the soul may go either up or down. But something is wrong. When his body broke open to release the soul, nothing came out. Edward was an empty shell.
Now, in retrospective, we examine Edward. Knowing that he had no inner being, no spirit, we may wonder why he seemed so love-filled and radiant. But looking deeper, we discover that Edward never shone his inner light upon anyone, for he had none, rather, he reflected other's spirit right back to them. So we see that Edward's "soul" was just a mirror. He never gave his family love, as they thought he did, he simply reflected their love right back at them.
Edward's case makes us wonder as we walk through the crowded streets in the afternoon: which ones are mirrors, and which ones are stars? I suppose we shall never find out, as the light is too bright to see clearly.