‘How odd!’ she said. ‘And why should I let you come in and snoop around?’
‘I just want to learn more about modern man, madam. I understand this is a strange request, but it would mean the world to me. It will only take a few minutes, I promise.’
She laughed.
‘Come in, strange man, before somebody sees you.’
Somewhat nervous I followed her and we passed an interesting arch. It seemed to be built out of a million little pieces, brought together through lots of attention, time, and dedication. I marveled at this amazing sight, on the left and right and high above my head, but the lady grabbed my hand and swiftly guided me into another space.
The beauty of nature appeared before my eyes. I walked towards it, overwhelmed by this mesmerizing scene, but then, suddenly, I was brutally stopped by an invisible wall. The lady laughed at my pain, which I did not understand. However, my curiosity made me forget about it. I touched the invisible wall. I had never seen anything like it, but there must have been a reason for people to separate themselves from nature. Maybe they were afraid of its power, I figured. That would explain it. Maybe they decided to admire it from a distance? This I could understand, because I had faced the merciless side of nature many times. However, it seemed a bit naïve to believe that nature could just be shut out. If it wanted to harm, it would not be held back by these walls…
‘Are you coming or what?’ the lady asked impatiently.
‘Why do you use this to shut out nature? Do you really think it will work?’
She looked at me and grinned.
‘That is a window, you foolish man.’
‘A window…’ I repeated. ‘I have never heard of a window…’
‘Well, we need windows. And doors,’ she said. ‘First of all: nature is ruthless, so we must protect ourselves. Secondly: walls and doors provide safety, because they keep the wrong kind of people away.’
I looked up and noticed the colourful roof. It was a peculiar sight that fascinated me.
‘What is the wrong kind of people?’ I asked. ‘And why do you want people to stay away?’
‘Why? Well, I’ll tell you why. You can’t trust people. They lie, hurt, steal and even kill. They can be very dangerous.’
‘Animals can be just like that, madame, it’s in their nature. Why would you expect anything else?’
‘Because the world has changed and we are not animals. However, some people seem to be stuck in some sort of animalistic conduct and therefore we need to protect ourselves.’
I shrugged my shoulders and pointed at the coloured roof.
‘This I understand, because this is very useful when it rains.’
She smiled, but I recognized no pleasure or beauty in her inanimate smile. It made me quite sad and I decided to ask her another question.
‘Why did you paint this?’
She looked up. ‘The ceiling?’
‘The ceiling,’ I repeated.
‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’ she asked. ‘I must admit I don’t look at it a lot, but when I do I really enjoy it. Without the paint it would be all white and boring. How awful is that?’
‘But what is the reason for painting it? Isn’t it enough that it shelters you from rain?’
‘It looks nice this way,’ she said. ‘What more reason do I need?’
She took my hand and we passed a beautiful door. I recognized lots of little stars on this door. I was familiar with stars, because I had often seen stars. Never before had I noticed them on doors, though. I looked around and noticed more doors. They divided the rather large space into smaller spaces and I didn’t know why. I asked the lady about it, but that seemed to make her forget about the manners and decency she spoke of with such intensity. I felt sorry immediately, but it was to late. She treated me like an idiot and her words – no, the way she said them – agonized me a lot.
‘Privacy, you idiot!’ she shouted and she rolled her eyes.
‘Priva…?’ I mumbled.
I stood tall and smiled polite, as if her harsh reply did not affect me at all.
‘Pri-va-cy,’ she repeated, deviding the word into pieces.
When she looked at my face she sighed and continued: ‘We all need our privacy. Because it’s normal! It would be rather strange if we would throw our things in a room and slept on top of each other.’
She smiled vaguely.
‘We need our own stuff and our own space. Besides, the rooms serve different purposes and therefore require different things. This, for instance, is the living room. We sit here to talk, read or watch television.’
‘I never had my own room,’ I said. ‘Or a house like this.’
‘You poor man…’ she replied.
‘I never felt poor,’ I said, ignorant of her sarcasm. ‘We shared everything and it didn’t bother me at all. It makes things easy actually. If you do not own things, you have much less to protect and to hide. We never had secrets and we didn’t feel lonely like modern people do.’
‘Well, times change,’ the lady muttered.
‘What is television?’
She sighed. I seemed to annoy her a lot, but I did not know why.
‘I guess you are right, madam,’ I finally whispered. ‘Times do change. But don’t you feel trapped? I mean, first you separate yourself from other people and from nature and then you imprison yourself in an even smaller space…’
‘I never really thought about it that way,’ she said.
‘What are these?’ I asked, pointing at two unusual objects. ‘They are made of tree, aren’t they? Trees belong outside, don’t they? Did you kill a tree, madam?’
‘These are chairs!’
‘Chairs?’
‘They are made to sit in,’ she said. ‘Otherwise we would all sit on the floor. I pray I do not need to explain why that would be inappropriate.’
‘Well…’
‘Oh, for heaven’s sake, were you raised by animals?’
She looked at the ceiling as if she was asking God why he created a fool like me. It made me extremely uncomfortable. Apparently I still had a lot to learn about modern people, but I didn’t know if I really wanted to anymore. I never needed any of this, but these people seemed to be helpless without it.
‘Are you hungry?’ the lady asked. ‘There is plenty of food in the kitchen.’
She removed some imaginary dirt from her dark blue dress.
‘The maid just went to the store and bought lots of delicious things!’
I am not quite sure how to explain this to you, kind reader, but at this very moment I felt completely lost. I mean COMPLETELY. I did not know what a ‘kitchen’, ‘store’ or ‘maid’ was, and why this ‘maid’ was sent to this ‘store’ to get food. Wasn’t there food here, all around? I felt a little dizzy trying to understand all of this.
‘S-sorry madam, I have to go now,’ I stammered. ‘I appreciate your hospitality.’
She nodded. ‘You odd little man…’
I just smiled like an idiot, thanked her again, and left.
I did learn a lot about this modern lifestyle, and it was great to talk to different people. They do seem to share some strange habits and beliefs, though. I cannot ignore the sadness I feel when I observe these people. My world is so terribly different, and the people in it do not have houses or material wealth to keep them warm. There is plenty they do not have, but they feel blessed and warm and rich anyway. And I may not be familiar with ‘chairs’, ‘maids’, ‘ceilings’ and ‘windows’, but I do know one thing: division is more harmful than nature can ever be. If you do not believe me, please visit this lady. She will try to fool you (they all do) but you will see it in her eyes. To be cut off from nature is to be cut off from yourself. Nothing can hide that pain.
