A Beautiful Day - Part Two

…Callahan cautiously and quietly walks closer, gently moves the carpet away and takes off the blanket that was underneath it, revealing the Orphan. 

Orphan: Hey. (coughs) 

Callahan: What are you doing there? Are you alright? 

Orphan: What do you think? 

Callahan: You look like you've been through hell! 

Orphan: I guess that's not far off. 

Callahan: Don't worry, I'm here to help you now. Let me get you of out there first- 

Orphan: It's okay, you can just leave me here. It's probably for the best. 

Callahan: What do you even mean? You clearly could use some help. 

Orphan: People like it better when I stay under the rug. I’ve already gotten used to it, too. 

Callahan: I can't let you stay here out on the street like that - not in this shape. Don't you have another place to go? 

Orphan: Nope. It's gone. I mean, completely gone. That's why I'm here. 

Callahan: Why? What happened? 

Orphan: The War. 

Callahan: Oh my... I'm sorry to hear that. 

Orphan: I bet you are. Listen, you can just go and enjoy your day or whatever. 

Callahan: You know I can't just leave you like that. I have to help you somehow. 

Orphan: (weakly) Just pull the rug over, it's a bit heavy for me. 

Callahan: That's it, I'm taking you to the hospital! 

Orphan: No need, I'm fine. Besides, even if I wasn't, what does it matter? Nobody's gonna notice if I'm gone anyway. You wouldn't even know I was here if you just kept talking. 

Callahan: That's not true. 

Orphan: Sure. Anyway, really, just let me be. Don't waste your time on something you can't fix. 

Callahan: There's always something you can do. 

Orphan: Maybe. Maybe not. I always tried doing everything I could. Guess how much of it worked out. 

Callahan sits down next to the Orphan and takes a deep breath. 

They sit in silence for a while.

Callahan: Is there really nothing I can do to help? 

Orphan: Nope. Everything's horrible, and it's not gonna get better. It's best you just give up on me. 

Callahan: Is that so... What if I took you to a really nice restaurant? 

Orphan: Good luck finding something here I can eat without dying that's not plain bread. 

Callahan: What? You can't be- alright, I won't pry. How about a walk then? The sky's clear, the sun's up and it's so nice and warm - you're gonna love it. 

Orphan: I can't walk. Lame legs. And I get sunburnt easily. 

Callahan: Alright... that's ok. You can still see plenty from here. See that tree over there, and all the birds? And the flowers? 

Orphan: Not really. They're just blurs. I can't see colours well anyway. 

Callahan: Maybe I could sing you something? There's this one song that-

Orphan: Please don't. I know you're not a good singer. 

Callahan: Yeah, that probably wouldn't cheer you up, would it... 

Orphan: I don't think anything you do will. 

Callahan: There has to be something that can make you a bit happier. 

Orphan: I don't even remember the last time I was happy. Do you know how terrible the world is out there? 

Callahan: You're just looking at it all wrong. 

Orphan: Sorry I was born with broken eyes. 

Callahan: That's not what I meant. 

Orphan: Yeah, whatever. I've heard it all already. Look - why are you even trying to cheer me up anyway? 

Callahan: Because I want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy too. 

Orphan: And why do you care so much if I'm happy or not?

Callahan pauses and looks around for a moment. 

Callahan: Because I used to be like you once. In a way. I had nothing to my name, no house or friends, no job, no hope, and no future. All I had was the knowledge of how bad everything around me was, and that didn't help. Everything looked and felt so horrible that I wished I could just lock myself in some box that would keep me safe and never get out. I kept asking myself, how could things ever get better? How would I even go about solving any of this? It seemed so impossible to get out of that hopeless darkness that it didn't even feel worth trying. But somehow, I kept trying anyway and one day, something happened that changed everything. Soon enough, one by one all my problems disappeared and I started feeling happier than ever before. And here I am now, living my best life. 

Orphan: Wow, what an amazing story! So I just need a fairy to come and fix all my problems for me? Great advice, thanks. I feel sooo much better now. You know what? You're right - maybe I could be happy if I didn't have to deal with all of this. Maybe I could be happy if I had a cozy life with no problems like you. 

Callahan: That's not all there is to it. I was happy long before I sorted anything out. And you could have everything you could possibly think of and still not be happy. All that is very important, yes, but it's not everything. 

Orphan: So are you gonna skip the nonsense and tell me the magic trick or just let me stay under the rug already? 

Callahan: I would tell you if I could, but there's not really any magic trick. Not one I can share with you at least. You have to find it yourself, and only you can do it. But there is one thing I can do, the same as somebody did to me back then. I can give you some advice. 

Orphan: Then get it over with already. Do you have any idea how much "good advice" I've heard so far? 

Callahan: (pauses.) Do you know how we all look up at the same sky, every single day? It's always changing and full of so many different things all the time - some good, some bad - but it's always the same one big sky for everyone and you'll never see in there something that nobody else can see. And even then, everyone feels different after looking at it.  

Some people can stand right under a- (points at the sky with his finger and seems to be counting under his breath) -triple rainbow and not be impressed in the slightest, maybe not even know it or care, or be mad that it's ruining the view. And others can look at a terrible thunderstorm, get completely soaked in the rain, and still feel amazed by it and find having wet socks pleasant. 

Orphan: Where are you going with this?

Callahan: No matter what situation you're in, there's always going to be countless things to be sad, angry, or worried about - countless things that can only make you think how terrible and hopeless everything is and how there's no point to anything.  

But there's always something good in everything too - something to appreciate, something to feel inspired by or be hopeful about. There's always going to be both, no matter the situation - things that make you sad and things that make you happy. It's only up to you which ones you want to focus on. It's up to you, what you make of what you have.

Orphan: So I'm just supposed to ignore all the bad things and pretend everything's perfect?

Callahan: No, of course not. But the way you look at things changes how you go about them. That's how I solved all my problems - I just started believing I can. And I didn't feel happy only when I first solved them all; I was already happy when I realised that maybe even through all of this, I didn't have it that bad after all. There was always something good I could see that made me feel better. 

And most of all, I always remembered that I still had the best thing there is. I was myself, and I was alive. That's all the treasure I ever needed since I first found it. 

Callahan looks into the Orphan's eyes, puts his arm on their shoulder, and smiles gently. 

You could miss out on eating the best cake in the world if you thought all pastries are awful and unhealthy.

Orphan: I still don't get it... 

Callahan stands up energetically and straightens his coat. 

Callahan: Well, I suppose there's little more I can do. I better get going then. You can get back under the rug if you still want to. And, well... good luck. 

Callahan starts walking away, then abruptly stops and turns back.

Ah! There is one more thing I can do!  

Here! 

Callahan hands the Orphan the plush toy.  

That's Sillius. He knows way better than I do how to make people happy. I think he'd rather stay with you than me. 

Now then, Farewell! 

Callahan exits. 

The Orphan sits in silence, looking at the plush from all angles for a while, looks up at the sky for some time and then curls up, hugging the plush toy tightly, still looking at it with a faint smile. 

Orphan: I guess today's not all bad...