{"id":5238,"date":"2026-07-07T16:31:39","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=5238"},"modified":"2026-07-07T16:31:39","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T20:31:39","slug":"the-test-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/?p=5238","title":{"rendered":"The Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

The story spark was Tests. The writing prompt I took was “Your job\/career depends on you passing a test. There is only one question on it.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The Test<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAre you there? Testing 1,2,3. Please respond.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d I asked, waking up from a sleepless stupor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAh, Good. You are there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I am here,\u201d I said. \u201cNow, who in blazes are you, and what are you doing in my bedroom, and for that matter, where are you?\u00a0 I don\u2019t see anyone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was you who summoned me,\u201d whoever it was said. \u201cDon\u2019t you remember last night, before retiring to bed? You specifically said, Is this how my life should be? If I were to take a test on my life, I surely would fail.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI do remember saying that,\u201d was my comment, \u201chowever, I was making a disgruntled outburst on the state of the world and my life. It was only a rant, not an actual request. Besides, there is no such thing as a test on one\u2019s life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not how it works,\u201d replied the voice, \u201conce suggested, your wish is recorded and then acted upon. You must now be ready to take a test on your life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is silly. Is this some joke being played by you-know-who? Has Apple or Google now created the next stage in AI? The Cloud obviously knows everything about me; there\u2019s no need for a test. Just give me the grade.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m sorry. That is not how this works. First, this is not a product of the technology age; for the time being, none of your electronic voices can assist you. Secondly, I am very well-versed in your friend\u2019s activities regarding your compulsion to continue acting on his ideas. Frankly, I agree with your parents and your writing group that you need to stop following him. I am not new technology, I am as old as old can be. I reside inside you. Meaning that you have all the answers, but without giving them out loud correctly, they are just hidden memories. If you want to pass the test of life, then you must uncover them from your knowledge base. If you can, you will pass the test. If you can\u2019t, then you fail.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I felt foolish saying this out loud, but I said, \u201cBegin.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s more like it,\u201d was what I heard. \u201cThere is only one question for this test. \u201cWhat is it in life that makes you happy? Please be as detailed as you can.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I thought about it for a while and then responded.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy when I\u2019m with my loved ones, my wife, my child, those friends both online and off that are good to me and recognize me for who I am.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy when I share stories, either in writing or by telling, and see or hear those positive responses, both verbal and visual, that show that I\u2019m being heard, and receive some recognition for my efforts and thoughts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy when I experience the beauty of others and of other places in the world.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy when I get lost in a good book and can become part of the adventure I am reading about.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy when I can help others or guide them so that they can help themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy when I\u2019m with caring, compassionate, and empathetic people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I guess I\u2019m also happy that I\u2019m not perfect, which allows me to learn and grow to become a better person.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m sure there\u2019s more, but is that enough?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The answer came quickly. \u201cI\u2019m sure when you think about all the troubles there are in this world, and in your life, you could come up with a list too. I guess that that list would not be as long as the one you just started when you answered my one question. It\u2019s clear in your writing and the stories you choose that with all the things on your troubles list, you are not willing to give up on solving them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With a sigh, I said, \u201cYou\u2019re right; deep down, I remain optimistic that positive change can be achieved.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen you\u2019ve passed your test. Continue to live being the person that you are, and continue to follow your dreams and hopes for a better life. My task is done.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The voice was gone, but the thoughts remained. What may have started as a sleepless stupor became a clearer direction. It was good to be alive.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The story spark was Tests. The writing prompt I took was “Your job\/career depends on you passing a test. There is only one question on it.” The Test \u201cAre you there? Testing 1,2,3. Please respond.\u201d \u201cWho\u2019s there?\u201d I asked, waking … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9,7],"tags":[522,177],"class_list":["post-5238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-original-stories","category-personal-stories","category-story-writing","tag-tests","tag-writing-prompt"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5238"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5239,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5238\/revisions\/5239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hdhstory.net\/Storyblog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}