The Evolution of a Thought

He was a man with no faith. He smiled as he crossed his small garden. The flowers were blooming. It was a sunny day, relatively hotter.  There is the strange phenomenon that the hotter the day, the greener the plants are, maybe it is due to photosynthesis. The birds were chirping around. Maybe the world wasn’t as happy as it seemed but he had decided to live the last of his day to the fullest so everything seemed happy to him. He was a poor man, dealing with a series of debts. His wife left him and took the kids away because he was unable to provide. It wasn’t that he was a failure, he used to earn big time but time changes and now he regardless of how hard he tries, fails. It was as if bad luck had surrounded him and there was no silver lining in the clouds. Days like those, it was hard even to feed his own self. Despite all these pressures, he was addicted to positivity. He was addicted to happiness.

That day, he had decided to enjoy the day so he took out his best dress and dressed up to the nines. He had taken out all his savings, the coins mostly as he decided to enjoy the day. Before leaving the house, when he looked at himself in the mirror, he smiled because there was no way any person could judge by looking at him that he was a poor man. He was wearing his favorite navy blue suit which he got from an Italian designer during his visit to Italy. It was his favorite suit and he always used to wear it on special occasions and that day was the most special day of his life. He smiled looking at himself, wearing a navy blue suit along with a white dress and a red tie. His black leather shoes shined and he felt so proud. The letter H marked on the shoes was the symbol of his great choice.

He was hoping it could be a cloudy day as he wasn’t a fan of a sunny day but it didn’t matter anymore to him. He laughed as he skidded alongside the railing attached to a steep wedge down the street. He was happily walking towards the market. It wasn’t a posh area so the market was basically a small shabby area along the footpath with several small shops. It was early in the morning and he noticed that the shops were closed. There were only a few shops that were opened and many were in process of getting ready to open up. There was a man selling Arabian rugs who got little extra happy to see a rich man in the market at this hour, he followed him for few yards asking him to buy the rugs but he politely refused. The rugs were beautiful, without a doubt but he couldn’t afford a rug anymore.

The place was filled with the aroma of Indian spices as a woman was selling fine spices along with the footpath. He took a deep breath, “ aaahhh”. That was how happiness smelled like. There was this old furniture shop, very old in that area. It was closed but the lorry outside the building was present that showed that the owners had arrived. He crossed a few vegetable and fruit stalls. He was now nearing the end of the market lane and there was an adjacent lane which leads to a school. If he was a little few minutes early he could have seen young kids walking towards the school. Before he could turn, he saw an old Bangladeshi man, sitting along the corner of the street. The air was filled with a sweet smell, a smell that made his stomach grumble. The man was selling roasted chickpeas. The smell was making him hungrier than ever. There was a visible hint of cinnamon in the air. He took out few cents from his pockets and asked the Bangladeshi man for the peas who rolled a newspaper in a form of a cone and added roasted chickpeas in that before presenting him with a toothy smile. The warm peas were delicious and felt like they are the diet of the heaven.

He crossed the streets while finishing up his snack and entered the main highway. He signaled a coachman for the ride. The coach was beautiful, old yet was kept in great condition. The wood was shining and it looked like a comfortable ride for the day. The horse was small but young and it seemed like he could run with the speed of the wind. He entered the coach and asked coachman to drive him to the city. The coachman happily started the relatively long journey. It was rare for people to travel to the city but it was a treat for these coachmen to drive to the city as it can pay them quite a hefty amount. They all loved visiting the city and it was quite evident as he had pasted many pictures of the city in his coach.

It was a long journey so he got comfortable in his chair. He was visiting the city after a decade. He felt so happy watching the landscape change. Fields came and went by. There was an apple orchard that followed. He always thought that apples were a divine fruit so whenever he saw red apples, it made his heart glow with happiness.  He smiled and waved at a steam engine passing by. The people riding the engine seemed so happy, even the cows in one of its carriage seemed to be high on pride as they passed. He had once traveled by train; it was his journey of a lifetime when he used to be rich and traveled through orient express around Europe. Ahhh. He sighed, those were the good days. He watched the landscape change, as meadows came and passed by followed by lakes and towns. His happiness was on full-scale as he was enjoying this day after so long. His situation had tried so hard to pull him down but he refused to stand down and kept on fighting his war in his own style. Then he decided it was time to make his final move and to end the game in style. He opened his briefcase and took out the marmalade sandwiches he brought with him.

It was around four in the evening when his coachman woke him up, telling him that they had reached their destination. He paid him and waved his hat in respect as he said goodbye to the coachman. The journey had cost him a lot of money and it was evident that he couldn’t afford a ride back home.  The city was a whole different place. There were buildings that went up to the sky. He wondered who those people were who are living as high as on seven floors. “It must be scary”, he thought.  His stomach was still growling with hunger. He smiled and slapped his tiny yet evident belly. He hopped around the streets while admiring the hustling bustling city.

There was this building that was painted red. He thought what a unique and brave design it had. He slowly walked towards continental hotel plaza. There was a performance of his favorite jazz band in the hotel. He walked towards the reception of this humongous hotel. The old lady sitting at the reception was rather delighted to see his face. She greeted him with respect. It was such an honor for her to see the son of the hotel’s oldest and most famous chef. Even though he passed away years ago but a visit from his family was always an honor for the hotel staff. After a short discussion and formalities, she sent him to the auditorium. He laughed as he entered the auditorium as the lady has refused to accept his money for the ticket which was what he had expected as he didn’t have money for the ticket. What an amazing plan it was to enjoy the live performance of the jazz band on this special day. He enjoyed the beautiful performance. There are only a few people who love jazz music but he was an admirer of this genre since he was a young boy. Despite all, this Armstrong guy who was leading the band was having true class.

It was almost the sunset when he left the hotel; he wanted to watch the sunset over the lake so he rushed.  He entered a coffee shop and ordered a cup of hot chocolate and paid him with the last of his cents. He was surprised to notice this device playing music in the restaurant. It was like a huge colorful cupboard. The waiter told him that it is called a jukebox. He smiled, what a time to live in, so many inventions. He stopped for a few moments to enjoy the song from this young lad Johnny.

He ran toward the bridge with his hot chocolate in his hand while humming the song he heard at the coffee shop.  Finally, he reached the old bridge over the lake. It was the place his father used to take him when he was a kid. It was a place he fell in love with. The sight of the sun setting in the lake was the best thing he could imagine when he thought about happiness. He sipped his chocolate and enjoyed the mesmerizing view of the sunset. What a beautiful day it was to mark history. He hummed the lines from the song he heard.

You make me happy when skies are gray

You’ll never know dear, how much I love you

Please don’t take my sunshine away

He looked up in the sky for one last time. What a pleasant day it was. He thanked his father who he believed was now a star watching down at him for the amazing life. Please don’t take my sunshine away.
He jumped into the river. His branded coat and the shoes were the only things that remained on the bridge. It was such a pleasant feeling of jumping down the bridge. He smiled as he made an impact with the water. The lake kept flowing peacefully without the trace of any head popping out that night.

The story was originally published in The Meraki Magazine
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