Papa Shanghai´s Takeout

All-organic weirdness

Page 14 of 29

Drawer.

H: “Don´t break it, idiot!”
G: “I am not! Why don´t you back off a bit and let me try it? You had your turn.”
H: “Fine, go ahead then.”
G: “You called me and here I am. I usually don´t do this, just so you know. In most cases, people just keep getting stuck or choose a different one. So just appreciate it a little, man.”
H: “Yeah, yeah… but can´t you observe that all of the other ones have already been opened? They all have the same label, they all look the same, they all opened the same way. So this must be it.”
G: “Man, you don´t even know what you are looking for!”
H: “Of course I do!”
G: “Sure, just like the others that have shouted until I came.”

G continued to fidget around while H turned his back and watched out the window. The winds were carrying clouds through the sky and the conducter sat on his hill in the middle of the city.

H: “Why is the conductor always waving around his arms, even though there is no sound or even movement he is conducting?”
G: “Do NOT fuck around with the conductor, I am telling you! He was there way before any of us. I don´t even know how he got onto that hill. One time this one guy got drunk and tried to walk to him, but the conductor just opened his eyes, bent his thumb and the guy turned into slush.”

H watched the conductor and tried to interpret the signs he was signalling. There didn´t seem to be any coherent pattern. “Maybe he is just a mad guy”, thought H.

G: “He certainly is not. But you are all just too limited to see.”
H: “What´s that supposed to mean?”
G: “Well, 80-something years are just not enough.”

H cringed and waited for an answer by G. G did not explain any further and continued to work.

H: “Man, how long is this taking? I thought you are supposed to open all of these regularly?”
G: “Everyone thinks that. But they just keep calling me. So usually I just sit back because it will open itself at some point. Sometimes with force, sometimes not. But in any case, they thank me as if it was my doing. To be honest, the conductor probably works more than I do. And he is doing it with closed eyes. He could be sleeping or dreaming, for all I know.”

H looked around the room. There was dust everyone and empty beer bottles. He couldn´t even remember for how long he was trying to open that thing. He didn´t eat, didn´t sleep, didn´t go out or meet anyone. It could have been years. Although probably, it was just a couple of days.

G: “There you go, maybe it´s working now.”

H stepped closer to the wall and pulled. The whole front broke off.

H: “The whole thing broke!”
G: “Well, you are the one who desperately wanted to open it. The only option was force now.”
H: “Know-it-all.”

He looked deep into the cavity that missed the front cover.

H: “What the fuck is this? Are you kidding me?”
G: “What? I didn´t put it there.”

H grabbed into the drawer and pulled out a watch.

H: “This is it?”

But G was already gone. H looked at the watch. It was counting up, continuously ticking. He checked the label of the drawer again.

“SOLUTION”.

With his back turned against the wall and with the watch in hand, he slid down to the ground. From the middle of the village, you could hear the conductor laughing out loud.


And here we leave our protagonist. Please enjoy the following soundtrack as the conductor sits on the hill, waving his arms, laughing.

Weekly state: limited.

20 choices ahead of me, 2 for me. 1 to be the final one.

Life is limited. Everything that blooms, will become brown at some point. Whatever conclusion you draw from this, is up to you. Will you become a nihilist, a purist, a hedonist? Will you be joining the growing and misused cult of Stoics that has been dragged down the dark alley of social media and left there until it did not resemble Marcus Aurelius meditations anymore?

Life is limited and ultimately, so are your choices. Being taught that all alleys are open is a stroke of genius. However not by discovering this for yourself, but by the marketing industry. Just collect enough material wealth to shape the version of yourself you have ever wanted.

Yet, there you are, spinning aimlessly on the pottery plate of life.

Do not get Papa wrong, it is a virtue to aspire for greater things. As of now, I am aspiring to be able to move beyond these two choices that I have. In fact, I am aware of the limits and these ones are not even set by life. They are set by me. Who’s the purist now?

But have you ever wondered whether there are only the choices you see? Have you ever considered closing the menu of choices in life? What if you just put the menu down and stared at the waiter of your life, the enabler of your choice, the bringer of consequences and say:

“I’ll have the falafel.”

Weekly state: eager.

One step, one movement, one nervous flatulence, off I pop.

Eric had been well-fed. Cared for and adored. Some might say, spoiled. Now, Eric was faced with reality. Before this day, he had never looked further than the ground he was sitting on. Never ventured beyond the edges, never even wondered what might be there. Food, care, love. All was a given, he didn’t know it any better.

There are some days that change one’s life. And on most of these days, you will wake up just the same way you did yesterday. You probably will not see it coming, and it might be the very hand that fed you, which will lead you to the edge. At least, in Eric’s case.

This very hand decided that today, Eric would see what is beyond. The form and shape of this hand is very different for Eric than it would be for you or me. It might even be your own, maybe you’re lucky enough.

Eric stood on the edge of the nest. He understood that there would not be any more food dropping from the skies into the nest. He was hesitant, but eager. Nervously, he crouched to the very edge and for the first time, he saw the abyss. The endless sky, the vastness of everything. His legs trembled.

“How could I not see the edge?”

He stepped forward, spread his wings, he plunged down. Eagerly.

Weekly states: sneaky & proud.

When waiting becomes meditation, you have surpassed the wait.

The first time your dead PS is combining two states, two weeks, unifying water and fire! Well, not really. But still, a novelty, at least for these two weeks.

Like a ninja I have breezed through the weeks, floating on my own thoughts. Sneakily waiting, for anything to come. Many of you might think that waiting needs to be for something. Does it really? Shouldn’t waiting be sufficient in conveying a message? Why does everything need to be have a purpose, a reason or goal? Why are humans frantically searching for a reason and entangle themselves into the wildest fantasies, religions and stress? Sometimes, there is no explanation. Sometimes, there is no reason for waiting. Still, I am waiting. And to not upset the fragile human mind, I do it sneakily. And you know what? I am proud.

Weekly state: radiant.

I have been travelling for years, I have seen the universe and everything else it can offer. I am the son of gas, the outburst of unimaginable energy.

For years I have waited to reach my destiny, continually seeking, travelling, preparing myself. Unknown of my definite purpose, only with a direction ahead of me, I am a pioneer. Many have been there before, but I will change something in my own way.

I am accompanied by my peers, countless others. Nonetheless, I will have the impact I deserve.

I am a ray of sunshine. I can warm you, I can burn you. I will come for you, I will bring the light.

I am radiant.

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