The Nihilist Penguin

I present you the latest Internet sensation, the Nihilist Penguin in my drawing style! 🐧

"These penguins are all heading to the open water to the right. But one of them caught our eye, the one in the center. He would neither go towards the feeding grounds at the edge of the ice nor return to the colony.

Shortly afterwards, we saw him heading straight towards the mountains some 70 km away. Dr. Anley explained that even if he caught him and brought him back to the colony, he would immediately head right back for the mountains. BUT WHY?

He was born among thousands, yet somehow lived unseen surrounded by warmth, but never held by it. Always a step behind, as if hoping someone would notice and wait. No one ever did.

When winter tightened its grip there was no space left for him, not because he was weak, but because the world had alreadv moved on, so he left. No fight, no farewell. The mountains welcomed him with silence. Every step hurt, but staying would have hurt more.

At night, the cold pressed in, yet it felt familiar. The wind listened when no one else ever had, and the snow strangely was kinder than being ignored. Somewhere far behind him was safety. Somewhere ahead was uncertainty. But for the first time, the direction was his own.

Maybe he wasn't walking away from the colony. Maybe he was walking toward meaning because sometimes the ones who don't fit the path are the only ones brave enough to choose a new one. And even if he could not fly, he would climb the highest mountains so that he might touch the sky."

Werner Herzog, "Encounters at the End of the World" (2007)

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