The following was written over the course of two Religion lessons. The theme of the story is “Buddhist Beliefs and Ethics”. Had to swap a few fonts for internet purposes (as well as colours, and the picture, but it’s got the same meaning), but I got 20/20, so I hope you like it as much as my teacher evidently did! ~ Lenny
The security cameras swivelled around as Hanson walked up the the building. Not too tall or well built, he was your usual office worker. The newly installed automatic doors parted to let him through, after a brief flash of his security card. He walked briskly, only mildly noticing that there was no one at the office. That didn’t matter, though; he was early.
He walked up to the desk, ignoring the lack of his co-workers. After all, how many people would turn up at 6:30? Not many, he figured. He sat down, and booted up his computer. While it turned on, he unpacked his books from his leather briefcase, which had been a proposal gift from his new work. But before he could go there, he had come back to do one final thing.
He put the CD into the computer, hoping that it would recognise it without problems. His wish was granted. A small window came up on the screen. “CLOSE ALL PROGRAMS?” it read. Hanson hit the small “YES” button. The computer froze for a moment, trying to understand his command. Then, suddenly, the screen went black. Hanson waited, trying to understand what had happened. Then a small message slowly typed itself on the screen. “ARE YOU SURE? NO.” Then the computer went off.
Hanson say there for a minute, wondering what to do. After thinknig, he pushed the power button. Nothing happened. He checked the connections, making sure it was plugged in properly, but he couldn’t see anything wrong. There couldn’t have been a power surge - especially not with one computer. And besides, the computer on the desk next to him still had a small green light displaying that it was on. Well, no point wasting time.
He pressed the small eject button on the CD drive, which thankfully worked because it wasn’t electronic. Once the other computer had started up he put the CD in, pressed “YES” once again, and waited. Black screen; same green text. Hanson sighed.
He tried all of the computers on his floor. They all had the same result. Every single computer in the entire building was now non-operational. Hanson didn’t know what was happening. He tried to leave, but the door wouldn’t open. His security card wasn’t validating. He tried breaking the door, but was nowhere near strong enough to break the shatter-proof glass. He paced around the building, trying to find another way out. and that was when he saw the message.
It was small, and easily blended in with the wall. Little black letters, hardly visible against the brown colour scheme of his work. If not for the fact that he had been paying attention, Hanson wouldn’t have seen it at all. “Life is unsatisfactory,” it read. Sure got that right, Hanson thought. Stupid CD. Stupid Job.
He kept looking for a way out. None were found. Every so often he’d find another scrawled black message. “Life is insubstantial,” says one, and another read “Life is impermanent.” By now he’d checked every room in the building that he could get in to. It was after midday, and he was getting hungry. Still no one had arrived at work. What was happening?
He walked, still, taking a break to eat the small amount of food he packed. Sitting and looking around now, he saw the original message that he found: “Life is unsatisfactory.” Under that, he noticed, was another message in even smaller writing. “There is suffering in the world. Craving is suffering.”
Too right, Hanson thought, I want to get out of this ruddy place. But it wasn’t as easy as it sounded in his head. After finishing his hastily-packed lunch, he walked around again, this time looking for any device that he could use to get out. Suddenly, it came to him. His phone! Why he hasn’t thought of it before was beyond him. He want back to his desk and took it out of his briefcase. A small icon indicated that there was no reception. Upon investigation, Hanson sound that there wasn’t any in the building. No matter where he walked, the small icon remained the same. He went to switch it off, and a small message came up on the screen, “YOU CAN END THE SUFFERING.” Then it switched off, and he lay it down on his desk.
Hanson sighed. But how could he end his suffering? There was no way out of the building, and after all his searching he still hadn’t found a way. But he had gotten himself into the building… he could get himself out again. Good logic, he thought.
He picked up his briefcase and sat it down on his desk, intending to look through it and find something to help him escape. Instead, he saw a small circle underneath it, marked into the carpet. He looked closer.
A small scrap of paper lay next to the circle. “Right understanding. Right thought. Right speech. Right action. Right livelihood. Right effort. Right mindfulness. Right concentration. This is the path to end your suffering.”
Hanson stared. That was all? Ridiculous. How could he get out? that was all he cared about. Follow the circle, Hanson. It was all he could think of. So, where to begin, if he was getting ouy? Concentration, mindfulness, and effort. Concentration, concentration…
He sat, and thought. Closed his eyes, but did not sleep. the clock on the wall kicked softly, yet he did not care. Suddenly, he knew what he should do. He needed to find more messages.
So Hanson searched the building, yet again. He upturned chairs and looked under desks to find to clue to getting out. finally, he found what he was looking for. One of the desks on the top floor had poorly scribbled writing underneath it. the pen marks were scarce in placed, because it was written upside-down. Hanson spent some time trying to understand it.
“Take refuge in this nature. Take refuge in these teachings. We can help you.”
Hanson didn’t understand. He was being helped? Helped to do what? Presumably to do what he wanted to do, which was get out of the building. But how could they help him?
He didn’t find any more messages after that. For something to do, he wrote a list of all the messages he had found. This helped tie together his thoughts, he found. After thinking about it, he decided the sensible thing to do was the follow the group of instructions about the circle. But what could be improved on?
He sat more, and thought. The longer he let his mind turn his options around, the more he realised what was wrong. He had failed to have the right thought, or the right mindfulness. Hanson got up, and went back to his desk. He stared at the lifeless computer, and then picked up the CD that he’d left there from before.
Without hesitation, he snapped the CD in half. No more new job. Hanson didn’t care any more. They could keep that new briefcase. He heard a door swing open softly, and walked downstairs. There was still no one where, but to his delight he found that the door was open.
He went to walk through, and stopped. Something was wrong. He turned, and saw a small piece of paper on the ground. He turned it over, but found nothing written on it. Hanson took a pen from his jacked, and wrote neatly, “We have helped you.”
Then he walked out of the door. He was never seen again.