Simpleton

He was a simple man who enjoyed a simple life, and with his own world revolving around him he didn’t pay any mind to outsiders. This man has lived in his fantasy for a decade before his walls crumbled down around him.

In the desperate desire to gather the bricks he realized the efforts would be too great. This man stopped and stood up. He looked behind him to his grey world of concrete and metal shacks and out into the wilderness and lush green jungles. He chose to step across the line and instead of the cold metallic feeling on the balls of his bare feet there was the moist touch of soil and the wet blades of grass slipping between his toes.

The wilderness was unsettling to him at first and he was frightened by the vastness of it all. He hadn’t lifted his other foot off the cold metal of his humble surroundings yet and he took a final look over his shoulder. The man was unsure if he was ready. This was six years ago. He chose not to explore the jungles and return to his cold abandoned village. After all, all he had to do was push a button to receive his rations and he simply needed to ask the computer monitor what to do next. The convenience of life was too much to sacrifice or so he thought.

The man chose to rebuild his wall with a window. He ordered the computer to construct a glass for the window, a single pane three inches thick and likely able to stop a speeding missile impact. Brick by brick he paved the wall and raised it high. He placed the window in so he could see out into the green valley and the orchids that grew wildly. For awhile he believed this was enough to settle his fascination with the wilderness. He would continue to live in his vacuum sealed city, fortified from the elements and the hazards about.

A couple years had passed since then, since he had first really chose to explore the outside. A bird flew about and dove into the window. The man was busying himself with whatever menial tasks he became habit to. The sudden pounding noise coupled with the crack in the window startled him to the point that he stopped everything he thought was important.

The man walked over to the window. He had since taken the wilderness for granted soon after he constructed his new wall. He touched the window pane and the window cracked deeper and split the thick glass in two. The man stepped on his toes and tried to peer down to see what had hit his window and what was able to crack it like it did. After all, he had told his computer to construct the piece of glass to withstand a volley of heavy weapons. To his surprise it was a fragile black bird. He couldn’t really see much more from his angle.

He paced back and forth for sometime with his hands behind his back. He was thinking to himself and what to do. He never really thought for himself, he had always gone to his small office where the computer automated his life. This time was no different and instead of seeing if the bird was still alive, he chose to ask the computer what to do.

An electronic voice rose from the loud speaker. The voice was heavy and scratchy with static. The man asks the computer what to do again and again this time the loudspeaker squealed and rang high tones followed by a choppy low voice and static. The man began to go frantic. The computer had never failed him before and now it was beginning to break down.

He spun around in his thick leather chair and he picked it up in rage. He threw it at the monitor and sparks began to fly about in every direction. The flashes of light blinded the man for a moment and his vision was dark. He felt his way along the wall and without sight he began to stumble down the main road.

He had lived in this village for so long he took for granted of the fact that without his eyesight everything felt the same. He easily became lost in the cold and meaningless place. He could only feel the slick metal planes which were probably walls and his fingertips were cut by the sharp edges of the buildings.

Somewhere in the man’s blind wandering there he felt the cracks of the glass. The texture was unlike the rest of his city. He knew something had to be done. He couldn’t stay in his city of metal and electronics. Something had to happen and for once in both the passion and the confidence he wanted an escape from everything he grew accustomed to. He slammed the window with his fist until it bled. He continued to hit it until his skin was torn from his knuckles and shards of glass slipping into his tender flesh. The more the glass cracked and shattered inside of itself the better he began to see.

Brilliant azure was the first color that he could see in his frantic need to escape and soon after the blurry thickness of emerald green. He remembered the blurry image of the bird that had slammed into the window and he could see the black glossy shimmer of its feathers.

One final strike hits the window until the glass shatters completely and the sun shown into the dim vision of the man. He leaned his head out the window to feel the warmth of the sun and the crisp cool wind splashed against his cheek. Though the sunlight should have burned his eyes more it didn’t. The man squinted but his vision continued to grow even clearer.

The man carefully t climbed out of the window unharmed by the shards of glass left in the pane of the window. He thought it was a miracle or maybe fate that secured his flesh from the terrible shards which could have rendered him useless.

He stepped down and his bare foot felt the warm soil and the wet blades of grass for the second time. This time his other foot slipped around and to the other side of the concrete barrier and his toes dug into the mud near the injured bird.

While this was uncharted territory for him he did not seem as afraid as he had been the first time. His world had attacked him and burned his eyes. His world confused him with the loud speakers failing and certainly wouldn’t operate after the chair was thrown into the single monitor. He slipped his hands under the bird and raises it towards his chest and he could feel the tiny heart of the creature still thumping.

Feathers flew about and the man examined this little hawk even more closely. It didn’t appear to have any broken bones as it flapped about and moved its head. The hawk released a powerful caw and in a single sweep of its wings flew off into the blue sky. The bird began to circle around the man as he turned around allowing his back to face the concrete wall of his vacant city.

He took two steps forward in the warm soil and the grass ticked the bare of his arches. He smiled for a moment until the feeling passed and he stood silently. He thought about what he was about to get himself into and he thought long and hard. He closed his eyes though they were seeing everything clearly. Instead of turning to look over his shoulder back to his world that he had constructed he remained steadfast.

With his eyes closed he began walking towards the jungle to feel what the wilderness had to offer him.