Louis Sachar is an interesting author. His Wayside School anthology series included a strange short story called “Freedom” in which a boy named Myron wished for freedom, defied the school bell, going instead to the basement, and stumbled across a man who gave him a contract which would grant him freedom. Myron asked the man, “Is it safe?” The man answered, “Do you want to be safe, or do you want to be free?” Myron signed the contract. This was a clear-cut explanation of the reality we all face: Do we want to be safe, or do we want to be free?