Little fox

Little fox really wanted to find a hole. She could still remember the times when baobabs were nowhere to be seen, and there were holes everywhere. Holes upon holes. When the sun was smiling, she and Mama fox would play hide-and-seek in the holes. When the clouds were tearing, she would snuggle in a hole and eavesdropped on the pitter-patter of the raindrops. With the four walls hugging her presence, little fox would dream the best dreams every night. She would dream of prancing dandelions and singing rocks and honey dew dripping from green, green leaves. Occassionally, just occassionally, little fox would venture into the endless prairie on the other side of the asteroid for days and days, knowing very well that whenever she became sick and tired and frustrated, she could always return to the warm embrace of the hole. Then one day, baobabs crept up on the little fox. Oh baobabs - they had neither voices nor footstep. Even the wind could not hear them. They came and filled up every hole there was. Little fox could no longer play hide-and-seek nor listen to the raindrops nor dream the best dreams nor venture into the prairie.
"Bad baobab, bad baobab," little fox would lament, "you are nothing but a scrooge, a hypocrite, a narcissist, a scathing tongue, a bitter, cynical, old jar of pickles." Silence. The baobabs would not utter a word.
"Leave. Why don't you just leave? Leave!" little fox would yell. More silence. The baobabs would not utter a word. Then little fox would kick one of the baobabs at the trunk. Eerie silence. The baobabs would not utter a word.
Everyday, little fox would follow this ritual of lamenting and yelling and kicking. But everyday, the baobabs would reply in silence. They remained in their holes and continued to grow and grow and grow.
Little fox made a very important decision one day.
"Fine," she said, "if you don't go, I'll go. I'll go to other asteroids and find my own hole. My hole will be better and warmer and more lovely than yours." Peculiar silence. The baobabs did not utter a word.
Little fox left the asteroid on the next day. Before she left, she watered the dandelions and found a shelter for the rocks and collected the dew of the green, green leaves. She bid the dandelions, the rocks and the leaves farewell, but she never bid the baobabs farewell. And when she left, she never turned back one last time to give the asteroid an endearing look.
"Never would I come back anyway," she thought, "never."

The Tippler and the Conceited Man

How ignorant the Lamplighter, the King, the Geographer and the Businessman are - they have no idea that the wisest of all is not among them. The wisest of all is the Tippler. No, the wisest is the Conceited Man. Well, well, both are the wisest of all. Only they understand the meaning of living.
To live is to indulge oneself in self-creation and self-destruction. Who doesn't know that life is an impregnable cycle of existence and nonexistence? And who doesn't know that it takes the force of Big Bang to break this cycle? This is nature - the fact of life. You can fly to the moon or go twenty thousand leagues under the sea. But take heed, my dear, take heed - one day, when you are old and bitter and all shriveled up, you would have to return to the little cottage that you came from and to the warm embrace of your beloved mother.
Go ahead and regard yourself as the knight on a white horse or damsel in distress. Go ahead, but please remember that you are no knight and no damsel. They say you should be and could be one, but you are not one. They build the fortress and send you the horse, they call you a knight and a damsel, but you know - deep inside you know - that you are no knight and no damsel. Then one day, they come to you and say that there is another knight and another damsel. You do not have the might of that knight nor the dismal of that damsel. They take away your fortress and your only horse and give you a pat on the back and a little pension.
"It is time for you to retire," they say. So you pack up and return to the little cottage you were born in. Then you realize that Mama is right.
"Fly, my child, fly. But remember to come back one day and bury your wings. You are not a sparrow after all and you can not fly forever," she once said. You take off the wings and bury them, but your legs feel funny and your head feels light. And you would have thought that this would never happen to you. Who knows. Who knows.
Do not despair, my dear, for there is a way out of this cycle. Do not touch those wings and do not fly. You can never fall if you never fly. Just drink - and live in constant nonexistence. Or bask yourself in praises - and live in constant existence.
"And now here is our secret, a very simple secret," the tippler and the conceited man said, "forget the past and forget the future. Take a bow, take the exit and live in the present."
Let us follow the piper and leave the town of Hamelin. Let us just leave.

The Geographer and the Businessman

To be a Geographer or to be a Businessman - this is the question. One counts the mountains, the other counts the stars. Both are careers of paramount importance, for how can people continue to exist without knowing how many stars or mountains there are in the world? Both are careers of ultimate prestige, for how will society continue to flourish without stars being owned and mountains being recorded? Count away, my dear, count away. The stars, the mountains, the flowers, the asteroids...they are what the world amounts to.
"Devoid of meaning, devoid of hope - that is what your career amounts to," a naive one said.
"Hush," the crowd chimed, "hush." The geographer and the businessman were amused.
"Take pity on him, our beloved people, take pity on him. He is rightly ignorant and erasing this ignorance is precisely our goal. Listen, this young one, listen. The meaning is greatness, and the hope is salvation. Without counting, we do not know how many there are. Without knowing how many there are, we do not know how many we have counted. Without knowing how many we have counted, we do not realize how magnificent we are, for we are the first to count and the first to know of what we have counted. Being first makes us great. Who does not desire greatness?"
"Greatness," the crowd chimed, "greatness."
"Let us pursue greatness, our beloved people, let us pursue greatness."
The crowd cheered. The naive one frowned.
"But..."
"Hush," the crowd chimed, "hush". The geographer and the businessman continued.
"From now on, you," they pointed to one in the crowd, "would be in charge of counting the flowers. You," they pointed to yet another, "would be in charge of counting the clouds..."
The crowd cheered louder. The naive one frowned harder.
"Let us count away, our beloved people, let us count away. Once we have counted everything there is, we will become the first, the best, the greatest of all."
The crowd became ecstatic. A hand suddenly shot up.
"Hush," the crowd chimed, "hush". The geographer and the businessman entertained the question.
"Yes, this young one?"
"But...The stars, the mountains, the flowers, the asteroids - none of them want to be counted."
"Yes," the two beamed a feline grin, "they want to. They are waiting to be counted. They are begging to be counted. Look at the flowers - look at how they droop their poor heads. Look at the stars - look at how they flash their frustration. Let us save them, our beloved people, let us save them."
"Save them," the crowd let out a shamanistic shrill, "save them." The crowd was drunk in the sheer thought of their impending greatness. Forgive them for their madness, for what can be more maddening than greatness? Then the most peculiar of the peculiar occurred.
The body of the two men dissipated. Their grin remained though. It was the grin without a man, and the grin that built mankind. The story of the two heroes went down in history, and every year, thousands upon thousands aspired to become geographers and businessmen. Not all of them succeeded in adopting the careers, but for the many who failed, they took comfort in one thing: at least they were successful in adopting the divine grin. Indeed, look around - the grin without a man is everywhere!

The Lamplighter and the King

Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Who can be more faithful and more dutiful than the Lamplighter? Give him an order - he will be stick to it till the end. Does he know the meaning of the order? No. Why bother to know? Just follow the order. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Follow the order and good will come to you. Disobey it and tragedy will befall. Do not fear - just obey. Do not ponder, my dear, for pondering is for the selfish. Selfish people need meanings and reasons and motivations. Selfless people only need the goal. Give them a goal - they will build the yellow-brick road.
One day, a King arrives to the Lamplighter's asteroid.
'Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp,' he orders. The Lamplighters faithfully and dutifully followed the order. Good came to him.
'On my asteroid, there is a king. He gives me orders everyday. "Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp." I follow the orders and good comes to me.' The Lamplighter proudly exclaimed. This filled other lamplighters with envy.
'We want a king too,' they chimed. Soon, these other lamplighters immigrated to the asteroid. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. The King loved his asteroid. With thousands of lighted lamps, his was the most beautiful of all.
'On my asteroid, there are lamplighters. I give them orders everyday. "Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp." They follow the orders and good comes to me - I have the most beautiful asteroid of all.' The King proudly exclaimed. This filled other kings with envy.
'We want lamplighters too,' they chimed. Soon, these kings took over the asteroids of other lamplighters. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. They loved their asteroids. But with only hundreds of lighted lamps, theirs were not the most beautiful of all. One day, the kings marched to the asteroid with thousands of lighted lamps. They murdered the King and abducted his lamplighters. Now, their asteroids had millions of lighted lamps. They had the most beautiful asteroids of all.
Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Light the lamp. Extinguish the lamp. Give the order and good will come to you. Do not give the order and you will become nobody. Do not fret - just command. Do not act mindlessly, my dear, for acting mindlessly is for the powerless. Powerless people only need the goal. Powerful people need meanings and reasons and motivations. Give them a yellow-brick road - they will come up with a Oz. If they can not find a Oz, they can always fake as one - all they need is a little magic and Dorothy and her silly entourage.

B612 - My asteroid

Living on an asteroid called B612. Those baobabs - those lies - are taking over the asteroid. Try uprooting them. What a futile effort! Might as well learn to coexist with them...and when there is no room left on the asteroid, climb on a baobab and make a tree house. What can be more delightful than a tree house?
Don't like B612? Leave it then. Leave it for the King, the Drunkard, the Conceited Man or the Lamplighter. They are not much better though - they live on baobabs too, if not, they live with baobabs inside them. Grandpa was right. Don't swallow seeds. They'll grow inside you. You never know when they grow. But once they start growing, they won't stop and won't budge. As you grow an inch, they grow an inch. Learn to like their growth rate - or else stop growing altogether. You grow with them, they grow with you. Baobabs are good, baobabs are useful - they are the foundation of a more beautiful world. Tree house upon tree house. Higher and higher, taller and taller. Peer out of your tree house window. What a world! It's all yours. You are the king of the world. Who doesn't like baobabs? Who likes an old, empty, plain asteroid? Who likes living at the foot of a tree? Bigger, faster, better...bigger, faster, better...until forever...