Slice of Paper

A pink factory huffs and puffs in the distance. It’s smoke stack are overflowing with smoke black as night.  The work whistle blows once more and little workers shuffle inside to dig away at humanity’s cost. Smog lounges around, high up in our air where it shows no signs of worry. Sludge pours out and into a river black with our unused potential we’ve cast aside as trash. “Clang! Clang! Clang!” “Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!” “Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt.” The factory roars a cacophony of deafening sounds. Howling wind flies by the factory,  tossing the fast food wrapper across the barren landscape. The factory has people in it working all day long with little breaks to stave off the people’s ever growing disapproving dissent to meet the audience’s wild demands. In such a depressing world, everyone is desperate for some source of happiness;  maybe it be love or sex or mischief or trickery, the veil hiding the silent tears of those longing a sense of self fulfillment keeps the masses shut away from the sadness of lesser known people. These lesser known people often are the very men and women that you pass by on the streets.

One day, all of their voices were heard by the masses. Their hardships and suffering were to be forever known to the world at one point, however, forever gone the next.  In this, a figure would rise to the top through the manipulation of mankind’s emotions. His plan was simple, “Sell something that appeals to the people, and they will buy it.” Through this, he toppled local practices and traditions with his power and washed everything away in one destructive wave. In place, restructuring began as he built his land. The incentive was happiness and prosperity in exchange for hard work put into restoring the land as he saw fit. He removed the game pieces he saw unneeded and added his own in place. What was once the people’s was now his. But this god-like power wasn’t simply obtained through forceful means but by the people. He became the figure that people now accepted as leader. His power would guide and rule the world   to obtain required materials.

Soon after the promotion, people began to think once more. In a land ruled by one, what about the wants and needs of the people? The ruler simply ignored any forms of public disapproval, despite the severity of the action he’s taken. His worst and yet best moment in time lies after the pure carnage of nature became apparent. He told everyone to remain calm and that all would be fine for he had a new, marvelous, and amazing idea that would cure everyone of their disease. Depression and suicide would become a thing of the past. People were approving of the idea and his stall opened the very next day.  It sold as fast as the factory could produce it. No longer would people face the effects of heavy thoughts. He had found the answer. With this, they flourished. But what was the cost? Little. What was the benefit? Enormous. His success drove him the the top of the world.  The idea would have to be replenished over and over, thus leading to increased profit and production. Eventually, production rates over took demand and the price fell.  But now everyone was happy. No one was sad. After all, why would you stay sad when happiness and prosperity was a $1.99 away?