Life as we (don't) hope it

(The scene is set before an exam. There are books scattered all around the place. There are scattered papers on a table, which also houses 3 empty coffee cups, an earphone and an iPod. The whole place looks like a mess. A guy is sitting on a chair, head held in his hands and sighing. He looks stiff and tense)
Enter Hardly.

Hardly: What a bloody mess! It looks like a vampire cave Laude.

Laude: But I am not the hunter, but the hunted. No time for your silly jokes Hardly, I gotta study!

Hardly: You kidding me! Why do you take things so seriously anyway?

Laude: (pretends not to listen) To read or not to read, that is the question.

Hardly: That question I thought had already been answered. You eat if you are hungry and you read if you have a hunger for what your reading is supposed to feed you.

Laude: Life unfortunately is more complicated. Remember the ant and the grasshopper?

Hardly: (laughs) Yea, imagine the hardworking ant being trampled under an elephant's leg as it gets ready for a life that doesn't exist.

Laude: And the point is?

Hardly: The point is that there is no point. If your reason for work is too much into the future, then it is worthless. On the other hand, if you have the journey and not a supposed destination in mind, then it makes sense. Your plane to the destination can be hijacked any moment.

Laude: You mean it is unwise to prepare for a better future?

Hardly: I mean it is unwise to anticipate a better future without exploring other avenues. If life is supposed to be about happiness, then the current state of affairs is perhaps as important as the future that you dream of. In any case, if I don't do well on tomorrow's exam, there is no guarantee that I won't have a good future, as much as there is no guarantee that you will have one if you perform better. The matter is not even of probabilities but rather a kind of hope that things will turn out well for the person working hard. Life of course never works that way.

Laude: I have found a logical flaw in your argument!

Hardly: What's that?

Laude: The exam is not tomorrow, but today (smiles)

Hardly: (laughs) You are always right!

(curtains close)