Mr. “Someone” wakes up at whatever hour he pleases every single day to go to work. It’s a job that he both loves and makes a handsome living from. In fact, he is thoroughly satisfied with his life; with such a minimal workload (about 4 hours a day), he can easily cover all his expenses. What’s more, there is always plenty of money left over, allowing him, “Mrs. Someone,” and their seven children to dine at the finest restaurants in the city several times a week. They can also take time off whenever they wish—vacations that are always effortlessly approved so they can travel without a care in the world.
In the city of “Nowhere,” everyone lives exactly like this, and it isn’t considered strange at all. From morning till night, Mrs. Someone either spends her time watching movies and enjoying herself with her friends, or plays girlish games with her two little babies and three daughters. Meanwhile, Mr. Someone dedicates a few days a week to his two sons, sharing special father-son days together.
I know that as you read this, you are probably saying to yourself, “So what? What kind of a story is this anyway?” The reason is that you are simply used to constantly grinding and straining just to achieve a bit of comfort. But in “Nowhere,” such struggles are entirely unnecessary. No one envies anyone else, because no one has less than another. They don’t even tell lies, because they have no reason to fear anyone.
One day, while Mr. Someone was heading to work on the last day of the week (granted, he works from home most of the time, but on that particular day he just felt like going to the office), the neighbour’s son who was a novice driver caught a curve at the very first exit. Carelessly hitting the gas simply for the thrill of speed, the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed straight into the front of Mr. Someone’s car, completely crushing it!
Mr. Someone got out of the car with absolute composure, called his workplace, and said, “I won’t be coming in for a week; the neighbor’s son was speeding around again and took me out.” While chatting amiably with his colleague and laughing at a corny joke, he jokingly added, “Actually, make it two weeks, I think I’m stressed out! Go ahead and file paid leave for me.”
Then, furrowing his brows with a furious and enraged expression, he marched over to the neighbor’s boy and, with all his might, slapped him hard right across the face!…
Why on earth would he do that? See? You wanted something violent and ridiculous to happen too, didn’t you! But no, nothing of the sort happened. He simply walked over to the neighbor’s boy and teased, “Trash my car one or two more times, and you’ll finally master how to trash everyone else’s car too.” The boy laughed and replied, “Keys, please.” He took the keys to Mr. Someone’s car and said, “I’ll have it delivered back to you in three days, looking as good as new.”
Before even setting foot near his office, Mr. Someone returned home. Mrs. Someone was absolutely delighted by this turn of events because she, the children, and their friends had already planned to all go out together to watch the horse races.
Horse racing in “Nowhere” is a dull and tedious event—just like this story! Betting on horses always guarantees a win; the way it works is that even if your horse finishes dead last, you get all your money back, and only if you win do they pay you several times your original stake. But in the city of Nowhere, no one is looking to make extra money. In this town, suppose you do manage to get a little more money… so what? Well, alright, it’s not actually that trivial. That day, Mrs. Someone completely lost the money she had bet on her horse, but it was no big deal and didn’t trouble their peace of mind in the slightest.
When everyone returned home, they found that the nanny had prepared a rich, greasy feast for dinner. There was so much food that Mr. and Mrs. Someone practically forced their friends to come over so they could all eat together. The guests stayed until late into the night, and the children were absolutely thrilled about it because they could play and have a wonderful time to their heart’s content—especially since it was the weekend, and they could sleep in as much as they wanted the next day.
✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦✦•┈๑⋅⋯ ⋯⋅๑┈•✦
“I neither mourn for what currently exists, nor do I anxiety over what is missing. I simply take a peaceful breath, passing my life in utter tranquility.”
