Life is simple.

First your born, Learn to speak, Learn to walk

Stage One complete.

Stage Two:

Learn you ABCs, your I23s

Learn to say "Yes ma'am" and "Please"

Done.

Stage Three:

Shape the numbers into equations

The words into sensations

And learn that although "manners mean everything"

No one else seems to care

Stage Four:

The letters on the page form bigger words and multiply

Until the numbers and letters mix together

You are given more information

Than you think you can handle

While others claim that "It's simple."

"Respect" is also a thing of the past

Halfway there.

Stage Five:

You progress into adulthood

Stood where everyone before you stood

Asking "Where will my life go from here?"

Suddenly decisions and responsibilities

Are thrust upon you

All the tools

The letters and numbers

Will not help you do your duties

Will not help you pay your dues

But you must get through it

Somehow

Stage Six:

Impossible

You will never beat this level

Not without cheats

And those aren't easy to come by

This stage is the simplest of all

"Survival of the fittest"

Work, pay bills, work

Find, lose, and forget

Wish, hope, fail

Everyone in Stage Six,

Regardless of how they got there,

Are working towards stage seven

That perfect, worriless level

Where the Masters of the Game reside

But no one is there

Perhaps it is incomplete

Not ready for Beta Testers just yet

Or maybe it doesn't exist

Maybe our Stage Six was our Stage Seven

…If so, it definitely needs an update.