Poem: Raymond Carver – Happiness
Transformation: Realistic Short story
A Moment
It’s five a.m. The alarm clock rings on as the troubled man
awakens from his equally troubling slumber. He lays there, in his bed, unable
to get up. He stares at the ceiling with his tired eyes, and sighs. He is
sighing as he realises that, today, will be like every other day, in the
troubled man’s life. He musters the energy to get up and out of bed. The alarm clock’s
ring stops as the man turns it off, however its sound lingers through its echo
around the empty house. The troubled man’s feet are greeted warmly by his
antique Persian rug. The floor suddenly turns hard and cold as the troubled man
steps onto the marble floor of his bathroom. The troubled man brushed his teeth
and bathed a luxurious bath.
The troubled man’s house was large, for he was not without
his riches, but none of it was enough to wash away his troubles. He made his
way to his kitchen through the maze of corridors that was his house. The early
sun’s rays painted his kitchen a glorious yellow through his glass wall
overlooking the rest of the street. It was breath taking; however, not for the
troubled man. He saw its beauty, but he also saw its ugly. The troubled man
made himself a coffee and went to sit beside the large window overlooking his
kitchen and living room. He looked at the beautiful day and thought nothing of
it. This morning has been like any other morning for the troubled man. The
troubled man sipped his coffee as his trace of thought was broken by the sight
of two boys walking up the road. The man’s eyes lit up when he saw them. The
two boys were delivering the newspaper. They had on their caps and their
sweaters. One of the boys had a bag over his shoulder full of newspapers. The
sun lit up their bright happy faces. They laughed and they played as they
delivered their papers together. The man caught a glint of the sun against the
white teeth of one of the boy’s ear to ear grin. The boys’ laughter and chatter
ceased, but the smiles were there to stay on their faces as was the sun to the
early morning sky. The silence was there yet so much could be heard and seen.
Nature came alive during the silence. The birds were in song; the trees swayed
in the wind; the silent flight of a butterfly proved a spectacle in the moment;
this moment. This moment that had seized
the man and the two boys; this moment where the man looked over at the two
boys, and noticed, that, above all things, they were happy. In this moment the
boys weren’t saying anything to each other. They were nothing but a couple of young
early risers, full of life, who were doing this thing together. In this moment,
where the boys enjoyed each other’s company and were delivering the newspaper under
the sun of the early hours of the morning, the new days’ adventures just
waiting to behold them. It was in this moment where all the man’s troubles left
him, forgotten for all space and time. The man continued to stare in awe. ‘They
are so at ease!’ he thought, ‘They are so happy…’ the man said. It was only
then that the man realised that, he was envious of them; envious of their
youth; their energy; their happiness. He wished the moment could go on,
forever. The man didn’t want to go back to his troubles; to the lifeless days
of adulthood. He wanted to stay in the moment with the boys, where life shined
brightly; where the beauty could take his breath away; where he could be happy,
and content. The man wished he could reach out to the boys; the boys who were
happy, delivering the newspaper, and walking together under the bright sun and
pale moon of the crisp Wednesday morning. The man wanted to tell them to
appreciate their happiness. He wanted to tell them to appreciate their life,
before it leaves them; before they grow old. He wanted to tell them to use
their imagination and go on adventures and build ships and explore space and
slay monsters and save the universe; he wanted them to be happy, forever. He
wanted to tell them, before it was too late, that this is the happiest they’ll
ever be. That it only gets worse. But he couldn’t. The man knew he couldn’t,
for many reasons. But most importantly, the man knew he couldn’t tell them that
their lives will get worse; that they’ll have to work; and earn money; and pay
to live their life of sadness, as this will rob them of their happiness now.
And the moment will end. The man knew he had to let them be, that he had to
allow their short happy lives to go on unharmed, for it doesn’t last long. The
man knew they needed as much of it as they could get. The man stayed in the
moment. He looked on, clasping at the last rays of life that emit from the
boys. The man wished never to return to his troubles. The boys walked on,
coming and going like a train of youthful radiance. In trying so hard to grasp,
the man lost control of the moment, and alas, the moment had passed. The troubled
man’s troubles returned. His head was swarmed with things he wished he could
forget. The troubled man would be late for work today if he didn’t leave soon.
The troubled man realised this. He quickly got up, tied his tie, and stepped
outside, only to find a newspaper at his feet. The troubled man picked it up,
but all the man saw was money and war. The troubled man wept. To himself, the troubled
man thought about how horrid the world has become. He thought about how separate
those boys were from it all. How separate all three of them were in that moment
that had passed.
- Lemon Man
