A Study of Peace

A person wakes up, ready to start their first (and last) day.

            I like to think of it this way.

 

            Every morning, when I wake up, I’m a new person. Reborn, reincarnated, renewed. Whatever you want to call it. A fresh person with a fresh perspective. Memories to be made, people to meet, thoughts to have. And the only consistent thing in this constant current of experiences is just that; that everything is new, and I have to make the most of it.

            See, that’s all I know. I woke up this morning with a strong determination to make the most of this day because it’s the only day this version of me will get. I don’t know my name, I don’t know where I am, but what does it matter? I know my purpose. Why obsess over the unnecessary details when I have one day to live? Well, the me that exists today does.

            Before opening my eyes, I gauge my surroundings. I smell roses. That’s nice. I wonder who put them there. I’m in bed. Comfortable enough, but not too soft; my back has had better days, I think. I decide to open my eyes. I take a deep breath and am flooded with light; large windows on the wall to my right are barely covered by embroidered curtains; they are blowing softly in the breeze from the cracked glass. It must be spring. The room looks old, but well kept; although it is slightly in disrepair, as if someone used to really care about this place but is long gone. I’m not one to use fancy language, but the only word to properly describe my current setting is quaint. I sigh happily and smile. This is just where I’d want to be if I had one day to live. Which I do.

            There is a Victorian mirror in the corner. I don’t look into it; I don’t want to know what I look like. That’s the one part of me that doesn’t change, the fixed point that hinders my progress. There’s something about that that lacks poetry in my eyes; although I’m sure anyone who knows literature better than I do could write a thousand verses about it. Well, today I am not a writer. Today, I am an explorer.

            I feel like a character in a fairytale as I slip out of bed. Slowly, without making a sound, I am wandering in an unknown and fantastic world. I feel light as a feather as I walk to the door. With one last sweeping glance around the white, charming room, I push open the door and peer outside.

            I smile. It’s exactly as I’d hoped. There is a wood, like I’d picture the one from Sleeping Beauty- the woods where she grew up? You know what I mean. The ground is splattered in patches of light that peek through the branches of the slender trees. The trees all appear quite young based on their trunks and boughs, yet they reach higher than any other tree I’ve seen. Or think I’ve seen. It’s quite a sight, actually.

            I look up at the sky. Its brightness makes it hard to look at; I blink and look away. Oh well, there are better things to see. I wander along through the woods, gently grazing the tree trunks with my hands and picking up the occasional blade of grass to run through my fingers. It’s peaceful. That’s what I am today. Peaceful. A sense of bliss and serenity wash over me. I feel that there is no need to keep walking; I am happy where I am. I lie down on the soft grass and close my eyes, feeling the warm breeze against my face. I have a strange feeling that this is all very new. I’ve never felt this way before. How upsetting that such a pleasant feeling should only be felt once, and not remembered. But sad is not what I am today; now, that’s for another time.

            The brightness begins to dim. I feel the calmness slipping away as the usual monotony returns. The trees disappear along with the distant house I left behind. The grey virtual projection unit becomes visible. I get up, ready to have my memories wiped and the chip reinserted in my brain. My emotions and brain waves have been scanned and are ready to be analyzed. I know these reports are needed to update the chips, but I really hate conducting these studies. I shudder. How apathetic I’d felt today; I never would have gotten anything done. I hope the next simulation will be more productive, but I doubt it; if we hadn’t gotten rid of those pesky emotions centuries ago, our civilization would never have made any progress.