The Myth Of A Happy Life
Dedicated to Albert Camus
After a long walk around the isle they got tired, spread a big blanket to the ground, lay down and fell asleep. The island belongs to them and is far away from the usual shipping lanes, so they don’t even began their walk in clothes. It’s high summer and walking naked over their island is an excitement for them. After one hour the first one moved and made her three companions getting awake from their peaceful sleeps. Whatever dreams they had, as soon as they feel each other’s warm and soft skin, the warmth of their bodies, they sigh happily and turn their attentions towards each other. Caressing their hair, feeling the other’s skin, lean their heads against each other’s shoulders… that’s not even something they have to demand or to long for. That’s what they have. That’s their lives! Being close, feeling their beautiful bodies, being literally in touch, bathing in an aura of tenderness and affection.
In the big house at a cliff, where they live, they all work on projects. Art, poetry, social developments, philosophy and a bit of science and politics, that’s what they do. Not always together, but always in unison and communication about everything. And sometimes, at times when they are very busy with projects, not at the times of strolling, they sometimes remember that man they met, a few years ago. The man who got unhappy by the enormous amount of money he had. The man, who chose four women who did not know each other, out of the crowd. Okay, “out of the crowd” sounds a bit coincidental. They often talked about it and they decided that their beauty will have had its share of meaning for his choice. None of the four was ever part of a crowd in that regard. They always stuck out of it. But that’s not an important part of the story! The important part was that he himself was extremely rich and came to the conclusion that his money made him unhappy. He suggested an experiment. He gives all four of the women so much from his money, that each one can be happy and carefree for the rest of her life. And he just wants to know, somewhere in time, if they managed to be happy. When it turned out that only one or none of the four gets happy by money, he can be sure that money is a reason for unhappiness. When at least two of them become happy, he knows he made something wrong with his own decisions. As debatable the plan was, none of the four was in the mood for arguing. They all wanted to be a part of the man’s experiment. Especially since there weren’t any strings attached to the idea. They took the money, went out of his house, looked at each other, decided to discuss the meaning of events in a restaurant and somehow they felt so linked by fate that they did not split up anymore! They never even talked about it. They just stayed together. And planned. And communicated. And designed concepts. For art. For life. For everything they were interested in. And they felt closer to each other with every day. They loved to share their sensuality. To have sex. To touch and to kiss. Their physical togetherness and their intellectual activities united to something a bit more intense than anything they entitled as love before. They shared their bodies and their vision about the world and kept both interests alive. And of course they had the money to do so. They bought the island. And when someday they decided that they are very happy with what they do and how they do it, they had to decide what they want to tell that man about it. In the end they sent him a mail: “All of us got happy. But not alone because of the money! The money was a great help. But the best of all was staying together and making sense and giving meaning to our world by art, projects and philosophy! The sex is great, too! Thanks for all!”