You were right!
Before the YouTube era, it was easy to convince people about a magical event that happened somewhere in the real world that we live in. Proofs were hard and hence not expected to be presented by the event teller. If a reliable narrator knows a story about a lady who grew horns after verbally abusing their god in some distant country, it is not a sin to share it in a boring Sunday afternoon lunch. But, it is not the case anymore. More and more people are concluding to themselves every day that there is no magic in this world.
But that is not true.
FreeSoul570 was 32 when he saw real magic in this world. It is not uncommon to hear people say that they experienced or felt something magical, but that is not the case with FreeSoul570. He saw God that day on a hill, learned some magic spells from it and saw the magic spell make impossible things happen.
He had always lived with his parents. The motto he thinks in his life is To Live and Not Exist. He would say to his then college friends that he got this thought himself and it is his original quote. He even graffitis his quote on his home wall but his father white painted it. FreeSoul570 took that personally, and he never touches the wall again.
He had no profession to speak of. He would not agree with that and he would say, he went through adventures and learned what other common job going people never experienced. When he was twenty, He had a quick initial success through an online network marketing company called Empotent Mania. It sold subscriptions to motivational speeches made by the chosen elite team and the two founders. Anyone who sells enough subscriptions gets to enter the elite team and the company will record their motivational speeches! He was so into it and on his way to the top of the pyramid. He worked hard to sell it to his friends and relatives, etc. His parents did not allow him (aka give him money) to travel to an Empotent Mania gathering that happened in Costa Rica. That absence cost him the rank he gained in the pyramid chart and he could not revive what he lost after that. The company got into news and everything when one guy died sleep deprived. The company came to the real spotlight when the founder said, “Yes, it was me who said take your next sleep when you reach the target. He failed. Sleep is for the weak and weak people die.”. The company operated for 6 more months.
Then he joined an organic farm business. He had the vision to change every lawn in his neighborhood into a profit-making small farm. He got some money from his parents to invest in the venture. It did not do well. He developed strong opinions about people who are ready to water the lawn but not vegetables and his idea. He also learned strong opinions about genetically-modified food, and this eventually led him into the conspiracy theory world. And then to a lot of online communities. His favorite one was WeDid910.
WeDid910 was filled with people like him. He liked the humor the people had there. He liked the memes and the comments more. He liked it when the normal people (who can go out for dinner at their own expense and even tip the server) get mocked. He even created a meme and posted it there. The meme goes like this,
Picture 1: A boss gives the appointment letter and a briefcase to a candidate. “You are selected.” “Thank you, sir.”
Picture 2: “You have to work very hard. I want you to stick at your work desk all the time and should not leave for any reason.” “Sir?”
Picture 3: “Yes. For any reason! This desk is at your house. You can open the window for two hours a day. And for the toilet, you can use the briefcase.” “Sir?”
Picture 4: “Yes. But if you win an employee of the year award, I will give you a bigger briefcase that holds up to 4 days of your stuff” “Thank you, sir :)”
Very few liked it. But blackJasmine liked it very much. The site allows only one like per viewer, but it meant a lot for him seeing a person who named their account with a feminine name likes his thinking. He did not contact blackJasmine. He came up with other meme ideas but did not want to post them.
*****
FreeSoul570’s latest passion is the Oceans. It fascinated him to see all the details and insights of happenings all over the world through the internet. He did an online course in oceanography. In one month, he learned so much that he can have educated discussions with the professionals. He was proud of himself and his ability to learn and grasp stuff. He knows he can’t get a job or anything. But at least he is not dumb, he thought.
“I wanna do an online course. It is costly. It is 200 dollars. I will learn a lot from that. I need the credit card.”
“It sounds too costly.”, Mom asked.
“Okay, Let me put it this way. It is a business opportunity. Alright? It is not like the previous ones. I have seen enough, and I am matured enough to see through things now. This guy is very famous on the internet. He has followers and all in and that guy is right there in a video call with me in my room. He is waiting. I need the….”
“See, listen…” Dad started.
“Don’t say listen when I talk, Dad. I have listened enough. What are you saving here, Dad? You are not letting me finish one sentence, Dad. Okay. congratulations. You have saved 10 seconds of everybody’s life. Now give me the card.”
“So..”, Dad took a deep breath. “It is another business opportunity! This time it’s selling tsunami panic kits! Fear sells right? Like it is selling right now. Fascinating stuff. I wanna make sure the tsunami comes for sure.”
“Yes, I am. I am all sorts of the expert. I can write a website. I can grow vegetables in the cold winter. I can see if the tsunami is coming this week. It IS coming this week okay? I wanna buy that course. He gives me a dealership for his tsunami survival kit. Got it? I am gonna sell that all. And this is how I earn and more than you. He asks for 300 dollars. I have brought that down to $200. Everybody is living in fear, Mom. They will buy it all. We get the dealership and we can earn money. Please listen to me this time. This is the last time I am gonna ask you for any help.”
His Dad looked at him in despair.
“Son, go to your room. We will talk later. I will get you lunch. Now go.”, Mom.
“Mom, I talked him to 200 dollars if I buy this immediately. He won’t give it at this price if we leave this chance.”
“This is lunacy. You go to your basement and live in your tsunami fantasy! You know what? I have all the money you need. But I am not gonna give you a penny. Because I am not stupid. I have fed you. I will feed you. I can not do anymore. You can not be saved.”
He rushed down to his room. OceanExpert216 was waiting for the video call.
“No problem mate,” He said.
FreeSoul570 went up the mountain very early. OceanExpert216 and few followers were supposed to be there. That is the tsunami day. Sun came up. The ocean looked in a gorgeous yellow. The cool breeze made him think He should come here often. His parents did not believe his tsunami theory. He asked his Mom and dad to come up the hill. The conversation ended up in another fight. Another embarrassment.
He climbed up some more rocks and wanted to go as high as possible. He went to the highest point of that hill. Ocean will retreat first before the tsunami. Then waves come one after another, every wave bigger than the previous. Filling the city with the flood.
God appeared.
“Son, I have an offer for you.”
FreeSoul570 ate nothing for the last 20 hours. Strangely, he did not feel hungry. But he felt he is very thirsty. He realized he has become very thin than before. He had no belly that he used to have. Maybe he was not at all eating anything these days.
“Son, I have something that you may need. I am going to tell you one magical spell. If you spell that, you will get a tsunami today. There is another spell for forgetting you chose this decision and you will live with no guilt. You were the one of the few who rightly called for this tsunami much earlier in social media, right? TVs will come to you. You will become very famous. You can pursue oceanography and live your life with content.”
“Umm… Actually…. I’m starving and I need some water, too. Can you get me some?”
God snapped. FreeSoul570 felt content.
“Was blackJasmine a girl?”
“Yes.”
“She was very kind to me and liked me very much. She loved the way I think and must have waited for me to post more memes like that. I disappointed her. She is one of the very few who liked me in this world. Is she from this city?”
“Yes. Right on that beach.”
“If I go down and contact her, Will everything goes positively for me?”
“Umm….” God thought for a second. “It won’t go well.”
He thought of his parents. Going down the hill this evening without a tsunami is very difficult. Entering the home and especially entering the basement crossing his dad is very difficult.
“Can I stop this if I change my mind after spelling?”
“You can not if you do not want to. Two words are in the spell. The first one encapsulates the second word. The first word is galagala. Ocean is the second one.”
“Ummm, you don’t have a spell like that to change blackJasmine’s mind or something?”
“Nope.”
“galagala Ocean galagala”. The ocean began retreating.
“My Dad was just a cleaner in a hospital. You may know that. Still, He never appreciated me. Anything I say, Anything…. My Dad will cut me off within 5 seconds and reason me wrong. I mean, what are your qualifications to teach me reason??? You are just a cleaner. Alright? You clean other people’s mess. That is all you are. You are a poor man. You are very poor and very old and you can never reach my reasoning and intelligence ever, Dad!”
“Umm… I have an offer for you. You can join your parents during the tsunami.”
“Okay??? I choose to. What’s the secret word?”
“Any word.”
“Ok.”
FreeSoul570 found himself in his room in the basement. He went up to the hall.
“Where were you??? You were right, son!” his dad cried aloud in panic.
“God, I thought you went to the hill! Why did not you go? You knew it, right? You tried to save us. We did not listen. We did not listen.”. Mom said.
FreeSoul570 took a deep breath. His face lightened up.
“Second spell! Words for forgetting, first one fullacomeon second one Forget”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“See. Listen. Say this. volosolo Dream volosolo and you will wake up in your room. Say it!.”
“No. That’s all. Thank you.”
“Whom are you talking to?” Dad asked.
“Heh. You don’t understand.”
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