Happiness

Every day, Adam saw his father go to work. It was his routine; have a cup of coffee, button up his t-shirt from the top, zip up his jacket, comb his slicked-back hair and pick up his briefcase.

Every action of his was predictable.

In fact, everyone's actions were predictable.

At exactly 8:15 am, all the men of the island gathered around the office.

It was a colossal headquarters named DPM-M INDUSTRY (Dopamine Mining). There, each man hoisted a shovel and set off towards the Island of Joy.

***

The Isle of Joy was a vast, massive prairie, suspended in mid-air and interconnected to the other Isles. It was like a substantial wasteland, void of architecture, with a multitude of myriad debris. But the ore excavated from the extensive caverns of the Isle was very special - one called dopamine.

Every day, workers (men in particular) dug up as much dopamine as possible, and then they would supply it to their families. They were relieved of work at midnight, and were offered 'daily earning' in the form of their usual dose of dopamine, so they could utilize it later.

There were 8 Isles conjointly; the heart of them all was the Isle of Joy, accompanied by the Isle of Love, of Family, of Success, of Acquaintance, of Gratitude, of Generosity - and, the isle which was inhabited by all residents: the Isle of Wisdom.

Though the people there weren't wise at all.

***

Every afternoon, following school, the youngsters took a cat nap. For the rest of the day, the children stayed at home, receiving surplus amounts of dopamine. The mothers fixed supper and brewed up dinner, homeschooled the juvenile populace and in the evening, they would set off to a vending machine located smack in the heart of the island. It took hours of work as currency and dispensed dopamine in quantities that corresponded to their time dedicated to hardwork in return.

The whole world seemed to depend on dopamine. Without it, life would be...

... not as people would recognize.

***

"Mary had a little lamb,

Little lamb, little lamb;

Mary had a -"

"Jake, why aren't you playing?"

A boy was perched on the edge of a bench in the Central Park. He was sulking and evidently frowning.

"Got a problem?" he snapped back.

"Looks like he hasn't got any dopamine today!" a blonde girl with braces tittered, mocking him publicly. "His daddy doesn't-"

She immediately stifled as soon as tears welled up in Jake's eyes.

***

"Mom, if I don't get my dopamine, what will happen?" young Wren inquired one tedious morning as she buttered her toast.

"Don't you fret - Daddy's gonna keep you happy," her mother waved her question away. "Also, would you be a dear and assist me in purchasing snacks for the Day of Enlightenment?"

"Okay," Wren eagerly agreed. "Can you tell me more about the Day of Enlightenment?"

"Sure I can," her mother beamed. "Every year, on the 12th of June, people celebrate the three values of existence: love, family, and acceptance. So, on that day, we prove our appreciation for all we have."

"That's lovely," Wren apprehensively nodded. "But don't you think every day should be a day of acknowledgement for our blessings?"

"About that, I'm not so certain," her mother hastily got up. "But what I do know is that your bus is here!"

Wren swiftly gave her mother a peck of a kiss on the cheek and raced down the stairs outside.

***

"Class, today we will learn about different homes and varying routines," Miss Gizella announced ecstatically. "Starting with Lenna-"

"I wake up, go to school, come home, have supper, then sleep. My papa gets me dopamine as breakfast," Lenna deriliously rattles off.

"Now for Andy-"

"I get up, arrive at school, come home, eat, then have my siesta. I get my dopamine in the evening, at tea time."

"What about Pihu?"

"I wake up, come to school, go home, have lunch, then hit the hay. Baba gives me dopamine at night."

"Alright, and ... Iris?"

"After waking up, and attending school, I have my meal which is followed by a brief slumber. My father gets me my dopamine whenever he comes home."

"Jake, would you like to contribute?"

"I wake up, go to school, come home, eat, sleep. My dad's too busy to get me dopamine."

"Rudy, tell us about your day."

"Wake up, go to school, come back, lunch, catch some z's, and dopamine in the night."

"And Wren?"

"I wake up, go to and come from school, eat my meal, then sleep. Dad gets me dopamine in the morning."

"Benjamin, your turn."

"Wake up, school, supper, sleep. I don't have a father, so mama gets me dopamine."

"And next up is Tyler."

***

On her way home, Wren was very sombre. She had noted an uncanny pattern in every child's life; none of them was spending quality time - or even a minute - with family. In all honesty, relations were distant and a hoax. A fraud in the name of happiness was the norm, in every nook and cranny.

The Day of Enlightenment was near. And presumably in danger.

She strolled through every lane, ambling across every street, until it was nighttime. She spotted the vending machine and broke into a sprint for it. Oh, how she yearned to be happy after such a lengthy, monotonous day. But as soon as she was about to pay, she realized one fact.

"I need to save the Day of Enlightenment from fake smiles," she vowed solemnly.

"I must do something - fast."

***

It was an ordinary workday at the mining sector. All men were hard at labour to sustain their family's happiness. Suddenly, an elephantine pillar fell and everything started collapsing. The ground began rumbling and all around a hectic chaos ensued.

What could possibly be happening?

Let me tell you exactly what was happening. The Isle of Joy was disintegrating, crumbling to pieces and dust.

All the people scrammed hither tither, foraging for shelter. The news flashed report after report of this apocalyptic incident. It was indeed a portentous occurence - never, in the sixty centuries since the formation of the Isles, had such a catastrophic event occured. Nothing could impact the foundation of these Isles. Nothing, that is, except what was happening now.

The lofty towers plummeted to the surface, the vehicles got squashed, rocks and pebbles scattered around, whistling through the atmosphere.

The very surface of the Isle tremulously shook, but fortunately, no casualties were delineated due to immediate emergency evacuation.

The Isle of Joy was now half demolished.

***

"If people don't get their dopamine, we're doomed to eventual death, ultimately," the portly mayor anxiously wiped his forehead, damp with perspiration.

Outside the Mayor Mansion, a mob had accumulated, ardent for answers. The sun beat down on the flock, as if agreeing with their flaming ambition.

"But how did this come to happen?" the news broadcaster queried, cramming a mic up his nose.

"Authorities claim it was because the Isle of Family fell," the mayor explained reluctantly.

"What?!" a collective gasp rose from the crowd.

"Yes, yes," he impatiently added. "The Isles are interconnected. Damage to one causes damage to the other, didn't you know? The Isle of Family impacted on the Isle of Joy. We don't know if this will carry on any further. The future is concealed to us."

***

No one could comprehend - or had any inkling - as to why the Isle of Family fell, but Wren was vexed. She had predicted this event beforehand.

Her postulate proclaimed that: if no one valued family, the fundamental unit, the basic moral of the Isle of Family itself would be neglected. And if a principle is misprized, then the Isle it emphasizes will face a ghastly fate.

"The Isle of Family will collapse sooner or later," she had stated earlier.

"You worry too much for your petite age," her mother had casually laughed.

***

That day, when retracing her steps from school, Wren saw a gaping void where the Isle of Family should have been. It had descended into nothingness, and the pole bridging it to the Isle of Joy, caused immense abrasion to the dopamine deposits on the Isle. The pole itself appeared corrosive and faulty.

***

"But if there is no family..."

"There is no love! That means-"

"The Isle of Love will fall next!" Brian gasped. "Wren, we've got to do something! Isn't there anything we could possibly do?"

Wren and Brian were childhood friends. Brian was somewhat like Wren in personality, too. Together, they vividly appeared motley from the rest. Only Brian could understand Wren's unorthodox mind and read her like an open book, unlike others.

"We've got to warn the others," he desperately cried out.

"But how?" Wren proposed. "They won't budge or listen."

"We can't issue a public alert," Brian pondered.

"I seriously have no clue," Wren sighed imperturbably.

***

The following evening, a pandemonium emanated again. This time, however, the turmoil profoundly affected the Isle of Love. The familiar racket, shrieks, tremors, debris, damage, and explosions resonated through the entirety of the Isle. There was no escape imaginable this time.

***

Nainai banged her fork on the table. She grimaced at the sight of steaming, soggy beans and curry heaped in front of her.

"I hate you, mom! Why did you make beans? I absolutely loathe them!"

"You ungrateful brat! Eat up every single and last bean on this plate or else-" Her mother arrived with a hanger in her hand, and she yelled explicit words at Nainai. They fought constantly, and in the end, Nainai left the house after throwing the beans at her mother's feet.

***

Eloise disdainfully scanned her father up and down.

What an obese rat, she thought. I can't believe I'm related to him.

"You look utterly abhorrent in that outfit," she sniffed scornfully.

"Don't you talk to your father like that!" Her father unbuckled his belt and brandished it threateningly at her.

"I don't love you. I don't love you at all. I so wish I was adopted!" Eloise screeched while tears ran down her cheeks.

***

"You're a poor excuse in the name of a teacher. I despise you and everything about you," Senn, who had been irritating Miss Penelope for the past three hours, repeated for what seemed like the zillionth time.

"Get freaking lost!" Miss Penelope lost her calm. "Who said I wanted to teach you anyway? Without me, there's no success. Good luck with that, you undeserving oaf."

***

"We demand our happiness!" an underprivileged man protested.

"Yes!" a woman conceded furiously.

"It is our right to be granted dopamine for free, whether or not we make effort for it!" an immature boy yelled.

A flock of agitated people swarmed around the DPM-M Industry, querulously banging on the wide glass gates of the building, clamouring for their dose of dopamine.

"Without dopamine, our city won't succeed in any aspect," the mayor accepted, evidently distraught. "We're making almost no progress in all fields. The doctors and nurses are depressed, so they are unable to create new medicines and vaccines or to even treat mere patients. The teachers are sulky and drivers are moody. Vendors are demotivated and artists and writers are pensive."

"Sir," an auxiliary chief hissed in a neurotic behavior. "The Isle of Success is estimated to vanquish approximately in ... right about now."

"Prepare for consequent destruction," he imperiously concluded.

Just then, the Isle of Success began to break up. Huge boulders smashed against the towering pillars of the Isle of Joy.

"We can't handle it any longer," the mayor admitted darkly. "I have come to a decision."

"Sir, a friend of yours-" an assistant meekly interrupted, looking sheepish.

"Tell him to come later," the mayor dismissed him.

"But sir-"

"I said go away!" the mayor brawled. "Get him out of here! I don't want any kind of silly friendship to intervene in my plans."

Security officials hauled the innocent informant away. Minutes later, another friend arrived, and...

... got beat up.

***

At school, friend groups were dispersing, and new acquaintances were scarcely made. The candid truth was that no one was keen to create new allies or enhance old bonds. Eventually, the Isle of Acquaintance met its downfall.

***

A week later, the Isle of Joy was only a solitary lump of rock tethered to a remainder of just three Isles: Wisdom, Gratitude and Generosity.

And it could hardly be a coincidence that the mayor officiated a law:

No sympathy for anyone except yourself. Beggars shall keep begging and the destitute shall suffer individually. Anyone who resists this law shall be testified and punished. Do NOT give your dopamine to anyone.

***

"Ma'am, please, my children, they're just infants!" a penurious man beseeched an astute passerby.

"No," she coldly replied.

A mother of four politely requested a generous amount of dopamine. The man she was begging to curtly refused to help her out.

An aloof worker ignored the heartbreaking pleas of an impoverished family of three.

A group of affluent colleagues harshly smacked a needy child. "Steer clear of us, you rotting filth!"

"Please, sir, just a bit of-" the child wailed, anguished.

Right at that moment, a faint rumbling rocked the Isle back and forth. It reverberated until the entire Isle was convulsing and shuddering violently. Rain lashed down with brutal force and the skies thundered agressively; in the far distance, the Isle of Generosity succumbed to oblivion. All in one, massive chunk, it disappeared into the pitch dark of the nil, leaving the Isle of Joy fragmented, now as diminutive as an average park.

"I wish I was happy," a ruminative old woman mused. "I wish everything was exactly how it normally is."

"I miss the good old days," a visibly exhausted man held his head in his hands. "If only I had a house as big as Darryl's..."

"Oh, how I long to be happy!" a little girl whined. "I want a doll, not a silly makeup kit - why don't you ever listen to me?"

"I wish I was lucky enough to get dopamine daily," a boy sniffed.

Everywhere Brian and Wren looked, people were dwelling abstractedly on the blissful days of the past.

"I want another car," the son of a prosperous businessman complained.

"I don't like this dress at all," a wealthy maiden arrogantly presumed.

"I hate this puppy," a stout kid glowered at his mother. "I want a parrot, not his dumb dog!"

"Guys, guys," Brian began.

Noone was paying any hint of attention to a boy trying to become the centre of surveillance.

"Guys, listen up!" Wren screamed at the top of her voice. One by one, people started turning and pivoting on their heels to see who issued such an austere order.

Soon enough, all eyes were on a dainty figure on the Isle Square, the sacred speech booth in the gist of the Isle. Brian and Wren scanned the crowd from their place on the Square.

"Cut it out, you all!" Wren furiously spoke up. "Don't be so miserably ungrateful! Instead of whining about what you don't have, how about you turn over a new leaf and be at least a bit appreciative of what you have?"

Silence.

"Huh?" she inquired. "Be thankful that you're alive. At least you aren't injured, or prescribed with severe bedrest, or you aren't deprived of any blessing - don't focus on temporary leisure stuff."

"Do you know why the other Isles fell?" Brian huffed.

"Because of ... natural disasters?" a feeble voice emerged.

"Maybe because of blasts in the mines?"

"Some structural collapse?"

"Perhaps it's about time we all died."

"No!" Wren felt very bold. "It's because we didn't appraise those values! We underestimated the salience of these virtues in our lives, and now we are reaping what we sowed. Without these basic qualities, we are nothing. So if you don't appreciate what you have - if you won't be grateful - then the Island of Gratitude will go down very soon!"

No response.

Then suddenly - a slow clapping echoed.

"Wonderful, wonderful!" the mayor chuckled. "Lovely performance, children. Now, do go back to your mommies and poppies. What a wonderfully dumb script! Fantastic, the way a child's brain works."

He smirked sarcastically. "Although you should face trial for such treasonous beliefs, but since you are only so young and immature, I shall grant you freedom."

"Ladies and gentlemen," he stood in front of the dais. "Please note that this was a planned child's play! The entire speech was old wive's tale, every word of it false. There is no such evidence to this intellectual theory, so please, do not take it to heart - or brain. Carry on with your day, citizens!"

"Mr Mayor, please!" Wren begged.

"Yes?"

"Please, sir, you don't understand!"

"No I don't," he sneered.

"I'm not lying!"

"Stop the bluff," a security guard shoved Wren and Brian off the cubicle.

"We should stay as we are," the mayor decided indifferently. "This Isle is safe as it is."

"But it won't be for long!" Brian argued.

"Nonsense, boy, what-"

The Isle of Gratitude trembled; it shook vigorously - and then fell into the void.

Wren and Brian, frozen in time and place, stuck to the ground, gaped at the vacant space left by the Isle of Gratitude. It scarred the Isle of Joy thoroughly.

"Just accept my advice!" Wren pleaded the populace and the mayor.

"Don't you worry, we're fine!" the mayor nervously wringed his hands.

All at once, the mob of tense people initiated a motto: Let them speak!

All around, people were screaming to let Wren and Brian speak. In that moment of confusion, Wren snagged the mic.

"This Isle will fall adagio due to its size," Brian assured the flock.

"Today is our last day!" the mayor wailed.

"Look," Wren rationally explained. "This all is happening because we aren't sagacious enough. We aren't even shrewd to the point of sensibility. Families are bound to be close and intimate, not remote and distant! People should love each other, make friends and help others to succeed! We should be thankful for all we have! That's the least we can do for now."

"But how do we even accomplish all that?" someone catechized.

"We can't be happy if we don't have dopamine," a person from the mass demanded. "Our deposits are helplessly terminated."

"You don't need dopamine to be happy," Wren reasoned with them.

"What mad, unrealistic idea are you proposing?" the mayor scorned.

"I am happy!" Wren revealed. "So can you! I haven't had my dopamine dose for three weeks, and I am gladder than I've ever been."

"That's because she hacked the system!" the mayor exploded. "Banish her! Arrest her!"

"Precisely, I did hack the system," Wren beamed. "More like, cracked the code."

The Isle of Wisdom vibrated signficantly. A kind of maelstorm erupted, and dubiety was evident in every aspect. The mayor let out a string of colorful vocabulary in distress.

"The happiness you buy is fake!" Wren exclaimed. "True happiness ... is found in the heart: with your loved ones!"

"That's bull-" the mayor viciously raged.

"She's correct," the lead scientist, Kyle, affirmed. "According to basic science, her logic is accurate and links with the generational theories of the Isles and the universe."

"Speak in english, moron!" the mayor swore. Suddenly, he discerned that the ear-splitting din had ceased and a gleeful serenity had overwhelmed the whole Isle.

The Isle of Wisdom had abated shuddering and cracking and gradually, it halted destruction and fractioned pieces began linking up together once again.

"It's true!" a voice wheezed.

"As soon as we saw reason," someone implied. "As soon as we accepted the wise truth, the Isle of Wisdom healed!"

A mother exhaled noisily and tightly embraced her children. Spontaneously, people started hugging and kissing and cheering and grinning at each other. A couple rejoiced by cuddling adorably and siblings delightedly acknowledged the other. A teacher clasped her students to her chest, and a father clung to his wife and family. Everywhere people were displaying a perfect paragon of attachment, devotion and adoration.

"I am proud of you," Wren heard a familiar voice utter those words of endorsement. She rotated on the spot to face her mother and father, both looking buoyant and blithe.

"I'm pleased to hear that," Wren beamed. Her father quickly wrapped her in a firm embrace, and her mother kissed her on both cheeks.

For the first time, Wren saw her mother truly smile.

Not a plastered smile.

Not even a single soul was pretending to be jovial.

Instantly, and unexpectedly, the Isle of Family and Love levitated into their previous positions; they gravitated up from out of the oblivion and connected with the Isle of Joy.

The babies and toddlers cackled with festivity and merrily broke into song:

I'm thankful for my mama

Papa, sis and friends

I'm thankful for the food and house

My thankings never end!

The Isle of Gratitude hovered in mid-air before joining the other Isles and bridging up with them too. The Isle of Joy was expanding in size.

In front of their eyes, the remaining Isles rose up into the sky and linked up with the Isle of Joy.

"We did it!" Brian and Wren high-fived.

***

One week later, on the Day of Enlightenment, all dopamine deposits were long forgotten. The mayor was replaced and all families were together, giggling, beaming and hugging.

Brian and Wren set out to distribute snacks and goody-bags to every individual in their neighborhood. They were the unsung heroes who rescued the Day of Enlightenment from misinterpretation and saved myriad precious lives.

***

"Wren, the precocious girl, emerged victorious against the tyrant mayor," a novelist penned down.

She contentedly shut her eyes as she studied her masterpiece: a story dedicated to the liberator of the Isles.

You can never buy happiness. It is always in the heart.