Crossing to that desk, these artifacts seemed to say, required both submission and opposition, and both of them in extreme degrees.
Before that could even be attempted, however, the observer was met by the young man springing up from behind the third desk in the room, the one that sat only five or six feet back from the doorway and the tinted plate glass. This man was younger; certainly younger than the officer seated behind his right shoulder and younger than anyone ought to be before earning the medals and taking the pictures situated behind him to his left. He was unblemished, cheerful, and welcoming. The observer began to be replaced by a more active self, no longer simply viewing the scene and people before him, but ushered into active participation as a soft flow of patter and wisdom flowed from the young man in uniform.
Seats were taken, beverages declined, pamphlets handed over and disinterestedly skimmed as the young man's voice became an ever-stronger point of focus. Confusion, anger, angst, and all of the other hallmarks of adolescence were explained and understood, as was the method for stepping beyond this phase of life and onto the threshold of adulthood. Of manhood. The decision...
The choice was up to no one but the person sitting across form the young man, and no one could determine whether or not it was the right choice, something that this person would be capable of. There was no arbitrary marker, no simple test to determine suitability or the likelihood of success, no way to know before hand whether or not this young man should lead this person to deeper levels of participation, leading him between the desks at the right and left of the room and through the central door and beyond.
Except that yesterday, a poster had been observed. A bearded man in a tri-colored hat and jacket was pointing directly out at the observer, his eyes burning forward and out of their printed prison in a frank declaration of desire. And for the first time, this declaration applied to the observer, and was a reality rather than a hackneyed catchphrase. As if someone had decided, arbitrarily or not.
Someone wanted him.
