This is Part 4 of Joseph’s adventure in finding an orb of purpose for himself. If you haven’t read Part 1, Part 2, or Part 3 then go check them out now. An epilogue and the final installment will be out next week. Enjoy!
The five adults and two boys walked down a maze of aisles filled with spheres. Each sphere held a different purpose and direction that Joseph’s life could take. But Joseph didn’t care about any of those. All he cared about was the lemon-colored orb that held the future where he performed to make dozens of people happy.
The shopkeeper finally led the parents to the orb the boys discovered and were currently fighting over. They got to the location that Joseph and Tim had both written out on their papers. Both boys claimed that this was the sphere they wanted. Unfortunately, according to the shop owner, only one boy could live that future.
The shopkeeper plucked the clear glass orb gently from the top shelf. Inside it glowed with a neon yellow light. The light danced behind a light cloud of smoke that was always moving and drifting as if there was a separate set of winds inside of the sphere.
“The top shelf spheres don’t work for everyone.” The man explained, as everyone looked at him and the orb. “But for the individuals it does work for the path it will lead them down is full of meaning, purpose, fame, and riches. Tim, you got to me first, can you show us what your future would be. Just stare into it.”
The man handed the sphere to Tim. The boy wasn’t the same height as the man, but he was tall enough to reach the orb without the shopkeeper having to squat down in front of him.
Tim stared into the orb and at the yellow light. Typically it would change, it changed for Joseph a few moments ago. But after a minute of the light dancing inside the glass globe, Tim said, “It’s not working.” Then the boy offered the sphere back to the shopkeeper with the bulbous nose.
“Hmm,” the shopkeeper said, “Did it work before? When you decided that this was the purpose you wanted.”
“Yes,” Tim lied.
“No, it didn’t!” Joseph claimed.
“Yes it did,” Tim snapped back with a scowl that showed a storm behind his eyes.
“I don’t know why it would stop working in such a short amount of time,” The shopkeeper said. He put on a confused look, but it seemed empty. It reminded Joseph of the look teachers gave him when they asked a question but already knew the answer.
“Joseph why don’t you try. We can make sure it still works for you.” The man squatted down and Joseph was eye level with the man’s balloon-shaped nose. He handed the sphere to Joseph, and the boy held the orb in front of him. As he stared into it, the light began to take shape.
He saw himself back on a stage talking to a large group of people. He would say something, pause, and then the whole group would laugh. Joseph loved the feeling he got while watching his future self-make dozens of people happy. The performance ended, but the scene continued to play. It was now onto the part where people were talking to Joseph after the show. They took pictures with him and hugged him. His future-self was so excited to meet them, and the fans seemed even more thrilled to talk than he was. The scene played out longer than all the other orbs that Joseph had looked at, but inevitably it faded back into the dancing yellow light just like it started.
He offered the store clerk the orb, but the man was already standing up and talking to the adults. “It seems that the orb has more connection to Joseph than it does to Tim. Because of this, the rules say I’m going to have to offer the option to buy it to Joseph’s family first.” He looked at Joseph’s parents, and Joseph followed his gaze.
The two adults had frowns on their face. From their perspective, they could see the price on the shelf. Joseph’s father turned to look at him and squatted down to be eye level with the boy. At that moment Joseph wanted to climb up on the shelves so that he could be the same height as the adults.
“I’m sorry, son,” his father said. “That orb is very expensive. There’s no way we could afford it. Is there another one that makes you just as happy?”
Joseph frowned, he could tell he was on the edge of tears. There wasn’t a single orb that he had seen that made him as happy as the yellow future he just saw.
He fought back the tears and found the courage to say, “there might be one or two.” Then he looked at his mom, and he could see she had quiet tears rolling down her cheeks. The boy realized that this was why his dad had told him to find a future that made him rich.
The shopkeeper lowered his hand and Joseph gave him the yellow orb. “There are a lot of spheres in this room, and it seems that you have a few others that you were happy with.” The shopkeeper informed him. “We can’t all have our first choice.” The shopkeeper said the last sentence as if it was a statement of fact instead of a conciliation.
“So that means I can have it?” Tim said eagerly.
The shopkeeper sighed, and Joseph could see the nostrils on his funny nose grow by millimeters. He looked down at the bigger of the two boys.
“It doesn’t work for you young man. Don’t you want a sphere that you’re more compatible with?”
“No!” Tim proclaimed, “I want that one.”
Joseph looked at the boy who was about to steal his ideal purpose. The sphere was everything Joseph had hoped for when he walked into the shop this morning. The yellow orb had given him so much joy to watch, that Joseph felt his heart break with the thought of someone else having it. At that moment he knew it was the purpose that he might go his whole life longing for regardless of what future he chose.
“Are you sure?” The shopkeeper asked looking down his nose and at the boy. He held the yellow orb above the boy as if he was guarding it for him.
“Yes!”
“I have to tell you that it is dangerous to pick a sphere that isn’t compatible with you. It is going to be hard for you to live out a purposeful future. Do you still want it?”
“Yes,” Tim yelled at the man. Then he whirled around and faced his parents, “The man won’t let me have what I want.” Joseph saw that he was informing them of what they already knew, but the small boy felt like there was something deeper going on. It was as if the boy was cueing his parents to do something.
Then the boy’s father spoke up. “Are you going to give him his future or not?”
“If he truly wants it, then I can give it to him, but I want him to understand the consequences of merging with a sphere that isn’t compatible with him.” This time the shopkeeper squatted to be at the same level as him. “Tim, I want you to understand that if you choose this future, you won’t have the same experience as Joseph would. You won’t live the life in this sphere, and I don’t know what will happen to you. There are hundreds of thousands of spheres in this building, and most of them will give you a clear indication of what your future might hold. This one won’t.”
“I want it anyway,” Tim said stubbornly.
“I wasn’t finished. Listen,” the man commanded. “When I say I your future is unknown I’m not saying it’s up to chance. I’m trying to explain to you that it will be set in stone like every other adult in this world. You’re incompatible, meaning you won’t have a happy life. You won’t make others happy. You won’t even be happy yourself. You’ll be forced to live out this future like every other person. This orb won’t show you a future not because you don’t have one with it but because the future is so bad that it’s not worth showing. Knowing all this do you still want to merge with this future?” The shopkeeper had a grim expression on his face by this point.
“Yes!” Tim said with the stubborn stomp of his foot, “I want it so that Joseph can’t have it.”
“I can’t have it anyway!” Joseph yelled at the boy. His mom held his shoulder in an act to comfort him. And he was glad it was there otherwise he felt like he would tackle the bigger boy.
“Look are you going to let my son have this future or keep lecturing him?” Tim’s father said, “he wants this future, and he’s a smart boy. He will do great with any future he chooses.”
The shopkeeper let out a long sigh. “Of course I will give the boys whichever future they want and can afford.”
“We can afford this. Now let’s get on with it.” The father said.
“Very well,” then the man with the bulbous nose turned to Joseph, “Do you want more time to browse the selection or is the other orb you listed here satisfactory?” He showed the boy the small paper Joseph had used for notes. “If you are happy with the future you saw then we can pick it up and infuse both of you at the same time.”
Joseph thought about the question. He could pick the future where he met with a lot of people, made them happy and then left for the day after calling someone who made him very happy, or he could keep browsing. The small boy knew there would never be a future like the yellow orb Tim was getting. Comparing the two he knew the work in the office was sub-par to the other but he didn’t wear a suit, and his dad always told him that he should pick a future like that.
“Honey,” his mom chimed in breaking up his thoughts.
He realized that he had been thinking about the choice for a long time. Tim’s father looked impatient, and his son mirrored a similar look. The shopkeeper held the yellow orb in his hand. Its yellow lights flickered in and out of the clouds of smoke. The man looked patient and calm, waiting for Joseph’s decision.
“I don’t want to look at anymore. I want that one.”
