Junkster

This is kind of a silly story with a message. It's not really serious, but it does have a serious ending.

Junkster was a man who thought he had it all. He owned sports cars, a mansion in the most exclusive part of the most exclusive city, held the highest position in his company, and had married his high school sweetheart. Junkster would get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and tell himself, “Yes, you are the man.” However, deep inside, Junkster was sad. He wondered why he felt this way since he had everything he’d ever wanted. Then, one day, he learned the source of his sadness. While Junkster was preparing to sail across the bay in his hundred-foot yacht, a fairy fluttered from the sky to deliver a message. “Junkster, you have had great success in this life, but you are missing one thing.”

Eyes wide, Junkster’s attention was rapt as he gazed on this mythical creature who would tell him about the secret things in his soul. “Yes, your life has lacked just one thing, Junkster,” the fairy repeated.

“What is it, little fairy?” Junkster’s speech was garbled, so flustered was he at this little creature’s appearance and purpose.

“It has been with you this whole time,” the fairy began, “with you before you met your wife, before you gained success in your job, and before you grew such great wealth.”

“What is it, little fairy?” Junkster asked again in wonder and unbearable anticipation. “What has been with me that I cannot see, have had much of my life, and that will take away my sadness?”

The fairy was quick to answer. “It is bottle caps. You need lots of bottle caps: the ones from the Coca-Cola bottles. You have treated the bottle caps with great derision by tossing them aside when you have opened your colas. If you do not turn from this practice and treat the bottle caps more kindly by unbending them and placing them in temperate storage facilities, they will have their revenge.”

Puzzled but trying hard to understand, Junkster’s head began nodding slowly, until a hard certainty adorned his face. “Okay,” he said. “I will make sure to treat the bottle caps more kindly from now on.”

This done, the fairy fluttered away, and for the next several months, Junkster made a conscious effort to treat his bottle caps with great respect. He unbent each bottle cap, then placed it on a shelf with other bottle caps. This, he though, would cure his sadness. However, at the end of such months, he found himself sadder still than before.

“Oh, little fairy,” he said to the night sky, “I am still so sad, though I have done what you said would cure my sadness. What more do I need?”

A light pricked the night, a light that eventually outshined the stars and grew until Junkster could see that it was the fairy.

“Hello, Junkster,” said the fairy when it arrived. “I have come to help again. You have asked what more you need, and I am here to say that you have lacked discipline in your dog petting. Yes, you are petting your dog with such dispassion that neither you nor your dog is happy. Just pet the dog with more enthusiasm and attention, and you will find the happiness you seek.”

A measure of understanding came upon Junkster’s face. “Alright, great fairy,” Junkster said. “I will do as you say.”

So it was that Junkster found his dog and pet him with such rigor and passion that said dog was visibly content. This Junkster did for two solid months until he observed the condition of his heart to find that he was still, indeed, sad. Discouraged, he looked again to the sky to inquire of the fairy.

“Great little fairy,” Junkster began. “Again, I have obeyed your direction, and yet am still sad.”

The fairy appeared again, but this time, its light was not as bright as before. Junkster was the first to speak. “What more do I need” he asked.

The fairy looked with compassion on Junkster. “You have tried so hard in this life to be someone you are not. You have amounted great wealth and have seen great success in every area of life to which you have applied yourself. Yet, here you are, still seeking more. Yet, look again at your heart and you will see that something has changed. Tell me what you now feel.”

“I feel humbled,” Junkster observed.

“That is correct,” the fairy replied. “You now understand that acquiring things and doing all that is required will never satisfy. You now begin a new journey toward contentment, contentment that begins with humility. Well done, Junkster.”

Junkster turned away, sad but hopeful, knowing that he could begin a new life, wiser than before. A smirk adorned his face, believing that the sadness was not the end of life, but its beginning.