“I’m tired of trying to fix things,” Eric screamed into the
sky. “This planet is too broken. Just let me go somewhere with no troubles and
no pain.”
Eric fell to his knees in
anguish. The wet grass soon soaked the
knees of his jeans, causing them to cling uncomfortably to his skin. He felt a soft touch on his shoulder and
looked up to see a kindly old man standing beside him.
“I know the place you’re looking
for, my friend,” the man said. His voice
was gentle and easy-listening. “All you
have to do is come with me.”
The man’s hand slid off his shoulder
and in front of Eric, open in a gesture of welcome. Not really sure why, Eric took that
hand. The man helped him to his feet and
then motioned for Eric to follow him.
“What’s your name?” Eric asked as he
continued to follow the man deeper into the field in which Eric had been.
“You can call me Carefree,” the man
said with a smile.
“What kind of name is that?” Eric
asked before he realized what he was saying.
“It’s my new name and my description, Eric.”
“Wait how do you know my name.”
“I’ve been watching. Watching…and waiting.”
“Waiting for what?”
“For you to fully realize that you
would want to come with me.”
“I’m still confused.”
“Don’t worry, Eric. All will be explained soon.”
Eric fell silent as he wandered
after Carefree, not really sure why he was still following this stranger.
They reached near the edge of the
field and that is where Carefree stopped.
“What are we doing?” asked Eric.
Carefree turned and smiled at Eric
and beckoned for him to come closer.
Eric hesitated but his curiosity got the better of him and he stepped
closer. Carefree took his hand and
pulled it forwards. Suddenly Eric’s hand
touched something that shouldn’t have been there. That wasn’t there. It was invisible.
Eric took a step back. “What is that?” he asked nervously.
“That my friend,” said Carefree, “is
the way to the Cloud Realm.”
“What is the Cloud Realm?”
“It is a place of wonder and
excitement with no problems and no worries.
It is beautiful and you will love it.
All you have to do is climb the ladder.”
Eric stood with his hand on the
invisible ladder.
“Why do you hesitate, Eric?”
Carefree asked gently.
“Um, what’s it like?” said Eric.
“It’s best that you see it with your
own eyes.”
Carefree put his hand beside Eric’s
upon the ladder. The ladder phased into
sight, shimmering with many colors.
Carefree began climbing.
“Wait,” said Eric, “but I haven’t
decided yet.”
“I cannot make this decision for
you, Eric,” said Carefree pausing his ascent.
“I can only advise you to take this opportunity.”
Eric took a deep breath and put his
foot on the first rung and then his other foot on the second.
“Good man,” laughed Carefree.
Eric was beginning to see why this
man was called Carefree for he truly seemed to be. It took a long while to climb the
ladder. The air didn’t seem to grow
thinner as Eric expected even as their height grew very great.
The ground below faded into a blur
as they continued their climb and then finally, they reached the top. Eric pushed through a thick cloud and that is
where the ladder ended. Right on top of
the fluffiest cloud you could imagine.
Carefree stood a few paces away,
waiting for Eric. Eric was clinging
desperately to the ladder.
“Come, Eric,” Carefree said, “step
off the ladder.”
Eric shook his head.
“I’ll fall,” he said.
“You will not fall. I'm not falling, am I?”
Carefree walked over to Eric and
held out his hand.
“Take my hand, Eric.”
A couple more minutes passed as Eric
wavered but eventually, he took Carefree’s hand and stepped out onto the
cloud. Just as Carefree said, Eric did
not fall through the cloud but stood atop it.
Carefree laughed as he let go of
Eric’s hand who instantly grasped his shoulder instead.
“Follow me,” said Carefree taking
off into a light jog.
Eric was beginning to get used to
the fact that he was standing on a cloud and ran after Carefree. After a couple hundred of feet, Carefree and
Eric ran into someone else.
“Who’s this, Carefree?” asked the
man who had long blonde hair and an equally long beard.
“This is Eric,” answered Carefree. “Our newest townsperson if he chooses to
accept.”
“I am Fulfilled,” said the man with
blonde hair.
Eric held out his hand but Fulfilled
ignored it and swept him up into a giant hug.
“Welcome here, brother,” he said as
he let go. “If you stay, we shall have
to find you a better name.”
Carefree continued on, closely
followed by Eric who was having a hard time taking everything in. A few minutes more of walking and they
reached a wall of cloud that rose twenty feet into the air.
“What now?” asked Eric as they stood
at the base of the wall.
“Only one who truly wants to live
here can walk through this cloud,” said Carefree. He smiled at Eric. “Why don’t you give it a try.”
Eric was still trying to comprehend
all the absurdity that he was dealing with but this wasn’t really any crazier
than the other things he had done so far.
So, with a deep breath and a shake of his head, Eric decided to take
this at full speed. He backed up twenty
feet or so and then he pushed off. In a
few bounds he was running in a full out sprint.
The wall rapidly approached. He
brought his arms up to protect his head and…he hit the wall bouncing off and
landing a few feet backwards.
Carefree laughed as he helped Eric
to his feet.
“Nothing to worry about,” Carefree
said. “Very few make it through on the
first try. It’s part of human nature to
question and want to know more before delving in completely.”
Carefree stepped through the
wall. After a moment his hand popped
through the wall and motioned for Eric to grab it. Eric did so and the hand yanked him forward
and he was through the wall.
Inside it was just like a town, only
everything was made of clouds and everyone was friendly. There was not a grim expression in
sight. Not a stressed being racing to
their next problem. Everyone
seemed…happy. Just plain happy. “Welcome to Perfection,” said
Carefree his arm waving in a large arcing motion. “Our home.”
“It looks…”
“Perfect,” said Carefree, finishing
Eric’s thought. “Come.”
Eric was greeted by a great many
people, all seemingly blissfully happy.
Eventually the two of them made it through the crowd of people and
Carefree led Eric into a small dwelling empty but for a cloud bed in one
corner.
“This must be quite the shock for
you, Eric,” said Carefree. “I would
suggest getting some rest. I will show
you around tomorrow and then you can make your decision whether or not you want
to stay. I truly hope you decide to.”
Carefree left leaving Eric to his
thoughts. It had been a truly
overwhelming couple of hours. He took
Carefree’s advise and decided to wait until morning to make his decision. His head was too full trying to comprehend
what was going on to make any lifechanging choices.
The next day was spent touring the
town which was much more extensive than Eric had originally thought. The buildings were architecturally amazing
due to one of the Cloud Dwellers having been an architect before he came to live in the
clouds.
This place was truly breathtaking
and as the day progressed, Eric found himself longing to live there.
Time flew by quickly and evening was
soon upon them. Darkness fell and Eric
was greeted with a magnificent sky, filled with bright stars and dancing
Northern Lights. It was this that tipped
him over the edge.
The Cloud Dwellers were all gathered
together as they were every evening, enjoying each others company. Eric stood up and everyone’s gaze turned upon
him.
“Um,” said Eric nervously, “I think
I’ve made my decision.”
“You think?” said Carefree gently,
“It is best to be sure.”
Eric thought for a moment.
“Yes,” he said, “I have made my
decision. I have decided…to stay.”
The Cloud Dwellers erupted into
cheers and whoops. They rushed around
Eric shaking his hand and pounding his back.
“Alright, alright,” yelled Carefree
over the noise. “Let’s not make our
newest Cloud Dweller change his mind.”
The others laughed but the crowd
quickly dispersed. Eric was a little
flustered but pleased at the reception.
“What’s his name going to be,
Carefree?” said someone from the crowd.
Carefree closed his eyes and a
thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
Everyone waited with baited breath.
“His name shall be…Atpeace.”
A few minutes passed as Eric
pondered his new name.
“I think that is a good name,” said
Eric. “Because I think I shall find
peace here.”
Another round of cheers and whoops
echoed across the sky.
A couple of blissful weeks had
passed. Two wonderful weeks of peace, without
any troubles, sorrows, and problems.
Atpeace knew more than ever why this town was called Perfection. Life seemed completely…perfect. There was simply no other word for it.
Then he woke up one morning. Something felt wrong. He found himself missing his old life
problems and all.
“I can’t help but notice you’ve been
a little down in the dumps of late,” said Carefree one day. “What’s the cause of that?”
“I think I’m going to leave,” said
Eric.
Carefree didn’t seem surprised.
“Many before you have said the same
thing,” said Carefree. “Not many have
actually left. They all come to their
senses.”
“I miss my old life.”
“What you’re feeling is guilt that
you are living the perfect life where they aren’t.”
“That isn’t it. I think I want to go home.”
“No, you don’t, Atpeace. Give it time you’ll feel better in a couple
of days.”
Eric fell silent.
“Have I ever, mislead you, Atpeace?”
asked Carefree.
“My name is Eric.”
A long silence followed.
“Have I ever, mislead
you…Eric?” For the first time Eric heard
a different tone in Carefree’s voice. A slight strain behind the smooth speech.
Eric turned and faced Carefree,
looking him dead in the eyes.
“I think you have been misleading
this entire time,” said Eric quietly.
“How dare you,” spat Carefree. His countenance had changed, his eyebrows
arched downwards in angry glare. “I
offered you the perfect life. A life without
troubles and pain.”
“No, what you offered me was a way
to hide. A way to ignore life’s
problems. I was just too weak to see
that. To see that everyone here is just
a coward. You aren’t living the
“perfect” life. You’re hiding from
life.”
Carefree’s eyes were wide with wild
anger.
“If you want to leave,” said
Carefree trying to contain his rage, “I cannot stop you. Just know that you will not have the
opportunity to live here again and you will live your life regretting this
decision.”
“I don’t think my life with be the
one filled with regret,” said Eric evenly.
“I think deep down inside you know that I’m right.”
“Get out,” said Carefree.
Eric turned and walked away but
stopped after a few paces. He turned and
looked at Carefree one last time.
“I sincerely hope you come to your
senses and give life another chance.
What you have here isn’t really living.
Living is taking the good with the bad.
Without the bad we forget about the good. I realize that now.”
Eric left without looking back.
Eric’s climb down was long. It probably felt longer than it was. His anticipation grew the entire length of
the ladder. Finally, his feet hit the
ground. He smiled.
“Eric, you expect me to let you have
your job back? You didn’t show up to
work for two and a half weeks.”
“I know, sir,” said Eric.
“I don’t think this is going to
work.”
“Okay.”
Eric pushed his chair back and
walked to the office door. His hand
grasped the handle.
“Wait.”
Eric turned around.
“What made you come back?”
Eric thought for a moment.
“I sort of gave up on life. I didn’t want to deal with its problems
anymore. So, I left and went somewhere
where I could hide from them.”
“But what made you come back?”
“I met someone with his head in the
clouds and after awhile, I realized that I didn’t want to live like that.”
