“ The race is not about being first; it is about reaching the final destination,” the anchor, a big voice, said as all the contestants heard the voice, which was thunderous in nature.
Thibaut looked forward but couldn't see anything; the racecourse was a thick forest where trees and other grasses had grown to their maximum capacity, and nothing could be seen further.
Beside Thibaut, he had a hoe, Cutlass, shovel, and digger.
“ This would be enough to clear my route to the final destination,” Thibaut soliloquized before looking at other contestants.
There were hundreds of billions of people running this race at the same time, so he could only see the contestants around him.
To his left, he saw Didier, as written on a tag clipped to his clothing. Didier does not have the tool Thibaut has; he was standing beside a tractor which would help him in clearing his route.
“ This is unfair,” Thibaut said before looking at his right side to see Lucky, who stood with a smiley face, looking as if he was looking at his final destination already.
“ Take your time, clear your route, and don't forget: the final destination is what matters,” the thunderous voice echoed again, and a gigantic trumpet was blown.
A loud noise was heard as all the contestants made use of what they had, aiming at the task ahead of them.
“ Thibaut took a digger and put it across his neck, held onto a shovel with his right hand, and the Cutlass was put in his armpit. He dabbled into the thick forest and aimed after the trees first. After counting them, he noticed that he had twenty trees to uproot on the journey to his destination.
He could hear the sound of a chainsaw and realized that Didier was the one using the tool to cut down the trees he had on his own route.
“ This Didier is a cheater,” Thibaut reminisced before asking himself a question.
“ Why did the organizers of the contest not disqualify Didier?” he said before realizing that he was wasting his time on another man's cause, and he decided to know more about what was going on in the contest.
He looked around and saw a coast redwood tree which was very long, as if it wanted to touch the sky. Thibaut aimed at it by climbing it to the uppermost top to view the general concept of the contest.
Thibaut couldn't believe his eyes as he saw a contestant farther away riding a car to his destination, and the route he rode on was as clear as day.
“ How did that one do it?” he asked himself before looking further at another contestant who was riding on a horse to her destination on another cleared route.
“Something is wrong somewhere,” he uttered and changed his direction to see the final destination. He used his palm to rub his face in disbelief as he saw that hundreds of thousands of people had already gotten to their destination and were leaving the contest for the real world.
“ Oh, oh, no wonder the anchor said it is not about the position but the destination,” Thibaut reckoned before something just hinted at him to look at the starting point.
He turned his head to the back and was flabbergasted.
“ Now I understand,” he said as he saw so many contestants walking, as some people were helping them to clear their route. He saw other sets walking on a readily cleared route and others in millions who were his category.
“ The contest is hosted by corrupt people,” Thibaut said angrily, and as he wanted to climb down and quit for good, his eye darted to some contestants. He saw a crippled lady who had the tools he had and was busy clearing.
“ What is she doing here?” he asked himself, then he decided to explore more of her kind.
“ Well, it is not about rushing again,” Thibaut said, knowing his stand. He looked further and saw a very old man at the starting point. The man was using a walking stick and was shaking like he was shivering.
“ How will this old man complete his task in this state?”
Thibaut concluded, and within the blink of an eye, he slid down from the tree, knowing that the contest was not fair, but he should make use of his ability and youthfulness, which was his advantage.
He had seen thousands of people using the advantages they had, so instead of him complaining and condemning, he should better go to work.
Thibaut, at first, uprooted all the trees in his route till the end and went back to the starting point to start clearing the overgrown bushes found in his route.
The only advantage he couldn't let go of was the aspect of feeding: each contestant can eat as many times as possible by just pressing the button on their clothes, and some attendants will come to attend to any of their requests.
Thibaut spent three weeks on the quest before getting to the final destination after clearing his route.
He was happy that he completed his task.
Although millions of people had already completed theirs, millions of people were also behind him.
“ If you were given the opportunity, what difference would it make?” one of the speakers who was given everyone their present asked.
Thibaut looked at him and looked at his back.
“ What I say here today doesn't matter,” Thibaut replied with a gasp.
“ What now matters?” the man inquired.
“ What I witnessed,” Thibaut replied with a smile.
“ What did you witness?” the man asked again, looking deeper into Thibaut’s eyes.
“ Nothing is a big deal unless we make one,” Thibaut replied, but this darted his eyes to his present.
The man smiled and brought out a remote and pressed a button, and the gigantic screen which was projecting their interview switched to a table of histograms.
“There, you can see,” the man said and continued with a wink.
“ Millions of people already came before you, and after they were given their present, a tracking rate rated them from here using their real-life significance”. The man paused, sipped a cup of water, and continued.
“ Sixty percent of them fumbled, while thirty percent stumbled, but ten percent were humble enough.
Which one will you be?” The man concluded and handed over a golden box to Thibaut.
As Thibaut was about to turn to leave, he heard a sound and looked back to see that the crippled lady had reached the final destination.
He nodded in agreement. “Everyone is entitled to be given an opportunity,” he ruminated, and couldn't help but celebrate the lady who had bitten his imagination.
“ It is said that what the eyes see, the brain will never forget.” Thibaut jumped up, knowing what he witnessed would last forever in his mind.