Chapter 17 - HAPPINESS

[HAPPINES]

(And sometimes its better to face what really bothers you the most.)

The bookstore has a very generous amount of space available in the lounge, makes you feel at home. And grandma sat on one of the sofas in the room, looking for a way to find peace, especially after the arrival of a little boy in the store. Her way of escaping to keep her sanity in check.

Her peacefulness was interrupted by a young man a few minutes after she had finally closed her eyes in silence. He sat on a sofa which was opposite hers. Unbothered by his sudden arrival to a place he himself could not remember entering willingly, he did not flinch at the sight of the old lady in front of him either. All he did was wait silently, …

He told himself to wait long enough for the woman to notice his presence. While enjoying the sight in front of him, he shared a smile with his eyes completely fixed upon the old woman’s eyes which were completely shut.

After several hours of total silence grandma opened her eyes to look at the young man in front of her and said, “I believe peacefulness only exits when your eyes do not seek it. Welcome to our bookstore young man.” The young man and grandma looked at each other without sharing any words for hours after grandma welcomed him to the bookstore.

(The belief of peacefulness, a chance to be in total silence both within and around oneself. It is a phenomenon we cannot help but look for endlessly without fail.)

“Mirror image” said James as he entered the room with Nathaniel following him closely. The young man turned his head away from the grandma to look at James who had interrupted him while he was looking at grandma attentively. James stood right next to grandma’s sofa with Nathaniel at the back holding James by his shirt. James then spoke and said, “Welcome to our bookstore Mr Jimmy Fallon. What kind of scenery did you have in mind of visiting?” Jimmy shifted his attention from James and went back to looking at grandma again with affectionate eyes and said, “She has beautiful eyes, even after she has aged as such, her eyes look very young at heart. Is there a place which stays ageless as her eyes have?” James smiled and said, “Of course, we have a very beautiful garden in this bookstore, it’s been around for a very long time.” And by the time Jimmy could react, their surroundings had changed from the lounge to a dark forest.

The place they found themselves in had very beautiful green leaves all around, with violet-coloured roses which coloured the gloominess of the forest beautifully. At the corner of the trees was a small figure which wrapped itself up into it’s a small ball swaying left and right rhythmically. Jimmy walked towards the little figure and the more he got closer to it tears started to stream down his face endlessly, unable to utter any words to it, he wept so hard that a whimpering voice came out of his lips suddenly until his body started to shake itself, good enough to signify the pain he was somehow bottling up inside.

James started to walk towards Jimmy with an expressionless face, just as he was in front of him Nathaniel help onto Jimmy by his right hand and hugged him with his left hand on his shoulder. James stood in front of the two of them witnessing the beautiful sight in front of him, right then Grandma said, “fantasies cloud the judgement of our memories and sometimes, just sometimes we cannot help but dream endlessly.”

“Do you know the novel called ‘SECOND CHANCE’? I believe that novel would be a great fit for you.” Said James to continue the conversation started by grandma vaguely. Jimmy freed himself from Nathaniel’s arms and said, “What makes you think that a book could be a good enough companion for me? “The figure which had curled itself in the corner started to free itself from its own grip and disappeared into the trees which surrounded them, the flowers which were in full bloom on the trees started to wither until none were left.

James then recited the words, ‘ONCE UPON A TIME’, and right then Jimmy found himself in a room bound to a chair with ropes all around his body. The room was filled with red roses, in front of him sat the figure he had seen in the forest, only now the figure started to look more like him, with every minute they were sitting opposite each other the figure mimicked his movements as such that even his words sounded like he was mocking himself.

James continued to recite the words in the book, the first page read, “Denial can be a very dangerous sport, a way to live at a time you can manipulate. A way for you to have control over everything. A chance to be fully invested in every outcome. Denial bore the exitance of the ‘MIRROR IMAGE’ a being born for havoc.”

[Do you know why some stories make you cry? ...]