RuneScape Forum Archive | Shafts of Imagination

Aug

2003

Dreamweaver

Forum Moderator Posts: 3,790 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Finally I've tracked down your own story thread, Logan! I've only skimmed a couple of them so far, but I'll go back, read properly and comment as and when I get the time.

But this is just a wordy bookmark for now.

Dreamweaver

08-Apr-2010 05:19:06

Dec

2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Hey Dreamweaver! Thanks for reading - and posting. It's an honor to have you on my thread, lol.

I have stayed up most of the night writing what has turned out to be my longest story yet, which I will now post here...And eventually might move to its own thread (if I write a sequel).

-=[The Happiness Principle]=-

Chapter I: A contrast.

There was no sky.

There was no sun. The stars did*’t shine for him.

The moon was hidden beneath a veil of cold stone. The only light protruded ever so slightly from under the door.

His eyes couldn’t shine. His words wouldn’t be uttered. There were none there to ease his sufferings. He had no arbiter, none cared for him. He was tossed aside as the meager cost of utility.

He huddled in a corner, hugging his shaking knees. This a small comfort, since the hard nubs of his kneecaps were barely covered by a thin layer of flesh.
His ribs were quite visible through his chest. He breathed heavily and wept, alone in the endless night.

The sky was a stark blue, the white clouds speckling it here and there – somewhat like her dress.

The sun shone happily upon her gleaming skin.

Her eyes shone a bright green. Her laughter rung through the small park, as her father tickled her after their picnic, and embraced her as the lovely emblem of his city.

She hugged him closer, her well-fed form a very comfortable contrast to the young boys. She sighed happily and giggled, comforted by her beloved company – and the shining sun.

08-Apr-2010 09:23:28 - Last edited on 08-Apr-2010 09:39:50 by Logan Shafts

Dec

2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Chapter II: Proposal.

[Two months earlier]

The Mayor looked slightly appalled. He had no scheduled visitors this time of night.

Despite his silent reprimand, the door creaked open slowly. A tall, hansom young man in a well-fitting black business suit strutted through it.

His tie was the darkest of maroons, yet only a feint hint of the blood which was soon to be on his hands.

His briefcase was a midnight sky, clouded in the sorrows that followed his treading feet.

He smiled happily, bright teeth shining, and reached his hand across a plentiful desk to shake the Mayors hand.

The Mayor was dumbstruck, completely off-guard.
“Ah, good evening Mayor Deeds. You’re probably wondering who I am. Well, let’s just say that I have a business proposal for you.” The tall man stated matter-of-factly.

The Mayor shook his hand, as he had been trained to do as a diplomatic act over his years of service.

“What kind of business proposal?” The Mayor asked, thoroughly intrigued, though annoyed.

“Ah, straight to the point aren’t we? I am a travelling… salesman, you might say. I have come a very long way, through many dangers, to meet you here.” The man began, his body language suggesting that he was going to continue.

After a few awkward moments, the Mayor nodded and asked the obvious question. “Well? Why?”

“I saw your streets, desolate. I saw your children hungry. I saw your skies cloudy. I saw your buildings gray, and your memorials covered in the excretions of under-fed birds.” He announced, his voice picking up a terrible sadness.
His face was grave, and his verbal torrent continued solemnly.

“I saw your holiday wrecked by poverty, and your workday wrecked by a bad holiday. I saw your happiness dwindle over years, and your sadness ebb its way in…Slowly, ever so slowly. And now it has engulfed your entire city.”
The man announced this, his eyes like car lights, beaming his ever-so-humble soul, making it quite apparent that he was the only source of light this night.

08-Apr-2010 09:25:51

Dec

2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The Mayor trembled. To hear such offensive words from a stranger, with no apparent meaning – he was outraged.

“Is that all? Because if it is, I will kindly call security and have you escorted out of here.”

The man looked wounded. “Oh, of course it’s not all. I am offering to fix all of this. It won’t take eight weeks. I can give you happiness and joy, all for a very meager price.”

The Mayor looked startled now, his expression filling to the brim with bewilderment, and pouring out on his hands, which he promptly wrung out on his sleeves.

“And how will you do this, then? What is this meager price?” He managed to stutter.

The tall man simply smiled. “The example of my work IS my work. You will see in time. The price is nothing really – you don’t even have to know about it. Simply give me permission to make your city the shining insignia of the world, and I’ll be on my way.”

The Mayor looked perturbed now; he wouldn’t be had so easily. “I asked what the price was. I won’t give you any such permission without all the terms being stated bluntly, and in a contract. Also, cut out this mysterious act of yours, and tell me who you are.”

The tall mans eyes flickered ever so slightly. “I have a contract already prepared, and the price is, well, nonnegotiable. As for me, I am nobody of importance.” He then proceeded to open his briefcase, and produce a small scroll. The scroll had a spot for a signature at the bottom.

“Read the contract. You have one day to decide, and if you choose to accept, you should sign the contract. If you choose to decline, burn it. I’ll be back tomorrow night at this time, if you accept. Otherwise, you’ll never see me again.”

The mans last words lingered in the air, and the contract rolled onto the desk, seeming an adornment from the future.

The Mayor clutched the scroll angrily and opened it. After reading it twice, he looked up. His office was empty. The briefcase was on his desk, shut and locked. The scroll was in his hands…

08-Apr-2010 09:27:55 - Last edited on 08-Apr-2010 09:29:03 by Logan Shafts

Dec

2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Chapter III: Decision.

The sun rose with its usual leisure. Its first rays barraged fruitlessly against a thick wall of clouds. A thick wall of depression.

The Mayor woke about this time. His sleep had been restless at best.

Thoughts reeled through his mind. His decisions this very day could affect the outcome of his entire life – the value, or the insignificance.

He sat at his desk, reading the scroll repeatedly.

He wondered idly why he even took this seriously. It could easily have been a practical joke by any number of his comrades.

But something about the man had him believing. Something made him think twice about this otherwise inconsequential encounter.

The man actually could fill his streets with laughing children. The man could make the clouds go away, and the sun shine brightly. He could make the trees turn green, and the flowers bloom. He could feed the starving, and give comfort to the tormented.

But the cost! A moral obligation attacked the Mayors psyche. It announced its presence and denied him freedom to make the decision on his own.

The cost, he read once again, was that one single child – a child he had never met, nor ever would, must be locked in a closet and kept barely alive for the rest of the Mayors life – however long that must be.

The Mayor considered accepting the contract, then waiting just long enough to make sure it was real, and then committing suicide. But as if responding to his thoughts, he read on the contract that if he committed suicide the child would be kept for its whole life instead.

He looked out his office window at a bleary world.
Did*’t the good of the many outweigh the cost of the one? Did*’t the ends justify the means?

He contemplated his own Daughter. If it was her, he would surely have denied.

But a random child which he did*’t know? Why was that different? It was somebody else’s son, for certain.

But what if the child was now an orphan?

08-Apr-2010 09:31:25

Dec

2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

And what if the child would otherwise grow up to be the next tyrant - a world dominator? Or even a petty criminal?

No. He reminded himself that he couldn’t know the future – couldn’t even calculate probabilities. He would ignore that in his reasoning.

He would never subject a child to such torment, locked alone in a dark closet for years.
But then, his own Daughter would share in the rewards, along with the daughters of thousands of others in his city.

If he could be the boy, he would sign right away.

But he couldn’t be. The contract seemed to insist on the neglecting of an individuals personal rights. Furthermore, it insisted that HE neglect them.

That would be selling his soul to the devil. He knew this instinctively.

He slapped his wet hand across his wet brow, and attempted unsuccessfully to dry one with the other.

…That night, he kissed his wife after dinner, and hugged his daughter goodnight.

Slowly - lurking, he found his way back to his office.

He knew that his decision could make or break him.
He worried that the latter would be the easier. And he worried that he would be able to live with himself if the harder came to pass regardless.

08-Apr-2010 09:32:36 - Last edited on 08-Apr-2010 09:33:31 by Logan Shafts

Dec

2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Epilogue…

“I see you have come to a decision.” Remarked the tall man casually, as he collected his briefcase.

The Mayor nodded gloomily. “I have.”

The tall man smiled, “Happy to do business with you, good sir.” He said offhandedly before exiting.

The Mayor watched him silently. Dread crept its wretched way up his leg.

When at last the man was gone, he looked at the ground, hiding his face shamefully. Hiding his face from himself.

He considered in his heart how long it might take before the effects of his own ‘happiness’ might dispel this horrible humiliation. Even though the disgrace was entirely personal, and only he and one other knew of it, it was still petrifying to his soul.

He decided that public indignity would be better. Far, far better.

A bird flew by his window, singing happily in the bright-shining sunlight. He heard the distant laughter of children.

There was no sky.

There was no sun. The stars wouldn’t shine for him.

08-Apr-2010 09:34:18

Jun

2010

Eri Vi

Posts: 965 Gold Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Wow, Logan, I don't know what to say. Really creepy story, well done!

I really like how I had to go and re-read the beginning once I had finished the rest to make sense of it. I hope you do write a sequel, perhaps it will turn out like Rumpelstiltskin; a strange man does you a priceless favour at a small cost, and yet we're selfish enough to take the favour and not pay the cost. But maybe you'll put in another unexpected twist! Either way, I want to read more.

09-Apr-2010 03:14:22

Dec

2023

Logan Shafts

Posts: 3,211 Adamant Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Ael Athalos:

Creepy? Not exactly what I was going for, but I guess I see what you mean.

It's not really a small cost - this story is a question of sociological viewpoints: How far can Utilitarianism go before it destroys its own cause?

At what point does it become okay to torture one individual, or even break his personal rights, in order to make the lives of others better?

These are the questions I leave up to the readers. In the story, the Mayor is haunted - but he makes the decision even so.

If I write a sequel, it will be about him trying to undo it to save the boy.

I wont mention any other of my plans - don't want to ruin it. ^.-

Anyways, thanks for reading - glad you enjoyed it. ^^

09-Apr-2010 19:49:33 - Last edited on 09-Apr-2010 19:49:56 by Logan Shafts

Jun

2010

Eri Vi

Posts: 965 Gold Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Strange man turns up in the middle of the night, locks away small children and leaves them to starve. I'd say creepy.

But that's just the overall tone; it says nothing for the deeper messages in the story.

Being the thoughtless person I am; I say that, in the scheme of an entire village, it's a small cost. But everyone has different views on this.

I'd like to think that were I in the mayor’s situation, I would be able to choose the happiness and health of the village over the life of one child. And then be able to live with myself afterwards, but I guess you can't really know until it happens.

10-Apr-2010 01:01:58

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