Billboardology - Part 3

Posted on April 8, 2008
Filed Under Fake Culture |

There was really only one constant here; everyone was difficult to understand. Everything she looked at, drew comparisons in her mind with her life in The Community. There had been a place of structure, here was anything but. ‘Life is Relaxation’ the billboard stated - oddly in her week at this place not one person had mentioned this phrase. People came and went, there was no real pressure for anyone to stay, though most didn’t ever seem to want to leave.

No one speaks of Freedom here. This thought returned to Alice’s mind again, perhaps only in the absence of considering Freedom, could the reality of Freedom actually exist. Why worry about context though? She sure felt less oppression here than she had back at the community. But then no one here seemed to care about anything in particular - so long as they got their ‘relaxation’. She wondered what would happen if their leisure was interrupted or taken away.

She stood now looking towards the billboard; there was something undeniably familiar about it…the thought etched in her mind, like sand trapped between her brain and skull. Yet it remained elusive and ethereal. The wooden frame, large yet lined with dry cracks. The letters were the biggest puzzle - her eyes could not focus upon them. The words stood out boldly enough, yet again she drew her attention into the letters themselves. “LIFE IS RELAXATION” A subtle current of attraction ran through her, a moment of inspiration…then it was gone…and her gaze fell back on the words themselves. She realized then someone was standing besides her.

She’d met Luke on the first day here, he was pleasant enough - always with a smile on his face, just moments away from laughter. ‘You have that strange look again Alice!’, his eye’s twinkled with that all-knowing sheen he possessed. Something told her it was coming time to move on, no matter how nice this place, it wasn’t somewhere she wanted to dwell. ‘Tell me Luke, why do people hate leaving this place?’ his glittering eyes faded into momentary confusion.

‘Your joking, right?’ his answer pretty much summed up her thoughts; this place was some sort of paradise to all these people. They all came from completely different backgrounds - which explained the lack of consistency - yet they all found a deep pleasure here, a timeless joy. She sighed, said ‘Back in the community people didn’t want to leave, but that was because they had been taught they shouldn’t leave.’ At this Luke shrugged, ‘Maybe. What about the new arrivals you mentioned? Surely they liked the place?’

A strange question now she thought about it - those who had been born and raised in the community, like herself and her parents, they had known no other life. In her teens she had rebelled against the all consuming structure of the community’s society - and had discovered that those rules and attitudes which made her feel oppressed, had simply given others comfort. She learned early on that people liked clearly defined edges. Yet why did the new arrivals always appear to be fleeing from something? It was always the same; they came from a life of heavy burdens and control, a life where every moment was planned out for them, she had once heard someone calling that life ‘The rat race’, a phrase which had made her laugh.

These people clearly found solace with the community, they gave up everything just to get there. She tried imagining a life in those ‘cities’ people spoke of, she floundered at the notion of a ‘job’. Of course everyone in the community had chores and tasks - but there were no notions of bondage…people worked for the good of the community - they weren’t forced into set hours and set routines. Something small within her snapped at that realization, and she was suddenly filled with great affection for her old life. A compassionate ghostly smile touched her lips, ‘Those people found a new world when they entered the community. A world built on different rules and beliefs to those they had known. Living in the community was a release for them, a new life.’ She saw the touch of compression in Luke’s features - her words seemed to resonate something deep within him. She would wonder later if he had misunderstood her next question, ‘Luke,’ she turned, pointing to the billboard, ‘Do you ever give much thought to that?’ He looked to where she pointed, his eyes seeming to scan the distant horizon, then, a short bewildered shake of his head, ‘You spend too much time thinking girl!’ Her tiny smile flowed into a grin.

Things changed…people changed; the fact she no longer saw the community as a capital place in her life wasn’t lost on her. Her new vision impacted on every aspect of her thoughts, she felt freer than she had ever done. It was indeed time to move on.