He weighed the two documents against each other. More than two thousand years with all their thickness in his left hand, and a mere three hundred in the right. Both the tome and the booklet were shaggy with wear, and both had a little list of ten items highlighted with red, even lines in them.
Years before, he would believe that these two documents don’t contradict each other, and he was also told that it’s natural that he feels closer to some people in the 1700s than to an eternal alien who is so mysterious that no human can fully understand him. But now, after having some questions asked and some of them answered, he knew he had to decide.
The class stood up to begin the day with the pledge. His heart jumped… a few seconds went by with his fate hanging in the air.
He put the thick book down into his desk. He clutched the little booklet tightly. He left out two words. Nobody noticed – but his conscience was clean. For the first time ever, he could hold his head high.