The boy sits in class.
“What is the meaning of life?” he thinks.
He looks around the room at all the other people, and he knows that none of them have an answer.
He laughs to himself.
He doesn't have an answer either, but he makes sure to pay little attention to that.
He makes a comment on a novel the class is reading.
He feels very smart.
However, as other people continue the discussion, he realizes he has nothing left to say.
He does not feel very smart
His comment was meaningless
People will soon forget what he has said
he decides perhaps he will try to save what he's got to say for the end of class
this way people'll remember it
they'll think he's wise
the boy thinks how incredibly sad that entire thought process was
the boy thinks maybe if he's got to convince people that he's wise
then he probably really isn't all that wise in the first place
and all the wisdom he thought he'd had was fake the whole time
it isn't even real
he's a fraud
he realizes that he put on this whole charade to convince everyone including himself that
there's some depth inside
but when he looks inward
he finds nothing

void

but he makes sure to pay little attention to that
The boy makes another comment on the novel.
He feels very smart.