Opening a New Window
by Douglas Young
He arrived home from work exhausted and already dreading Monday’s return to that same claustrophobic cubicle. Twelve years at the same boring job endlessly checking numbers on the same quiet computer screen to turn in bone-dry reports to an utterly unimaginative, authoritarian supervisor gnawed at his gut. His shoulders sagged at the thought of another thirty years stuck in the same soul-crushing rut, and the sound of his front door loudly closing prompted him to imagine a prison door slamming shut.
At that moment, he realized that, to escape feeling totally trapped, he would trade his fine salary, handsome sports car and spacious, ocean-view apartment. Looking out the large windows above the tranquil bay, he focused on a lone bird soaring far, far away.
Too tired to think, eat, or even watch TV, he went to bed. But despite feeling completely drained, sleep stubbornly refused to pause his pain. He opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling. Is this where all those degrees, the late-night studying, stress, and student debt were leading? Was it all just for this? he wondered.
He thought of the young folks working part-time at the apartment complex pool, exercise room and canteen. They were always smiling, chatting, laughing, and flirting with each other and the residents. This being a Friday evening, he imagined them all getting ready for a big night out with friends or a dinner date. Meanwhile, he lacked the energy to walk to the kitchen and fix a plate.
He then recalled the lifeguards leisurely perched in their high chairs above the pool talking with friends and pretty girls while singing along with the radio. The thought of playing music, crooning, or just conversing at length with colleagues where he worked brought a bitter chuckle. Sure, he might make way more money than those college students could ever hustle, but how he longed to switch places with any of them.
He continued studying the ceiling’s squiggly lines going this way and that, sometimes poking out and sometimes flat. But gradually, he noticed swirls of purple slowly circling across, soon chased by balls of blue and green, and then splotches of orange and red, all twirling above his head. A kaleidoscope of colors rotated over the bed, and he became mesmerized as they blended into one another before dividing like amoebas again and again.
Soon his entire view was a pristine light blue, as he enjoyed the beautiful sky beyond his balcony. Children squealed, jumping into waves as sunbathers stretched out on the beach just out of reach. Elsewhere couples strolled along the shore watching teens play volleyball. Everyone appeared placid and not anxious at all.
Grinning at the blissful scene before him, he found himself gliding above it all with a flock of seagulls flying out to a dark but bright blue sea. Gradually, he realized he and his new companions were starting to dive at an ever-greater speed, as if on a roller-coaster plunging downhill with him in the lead. Hitting the water, a whole new canvas of colors spread before him, as when Dorothy entered the Land of Oz. Major schools of illuminated fish swam in and out of view, with each leaving a glimmering wake of colorful residue.
Beneath them all he thrilled to a vast, vibrating cornucopia of corals boasting many sizes and shades, slowly swaying with the underwater waves. His eyes widened at an army of orange crabs marching across a red ocean floor toward a large warship covered in barnacles of brilliant magenta and lemon, with loads of shiny fish peacefully cruising around it. Out from a wide hole in the hull came a collection of glowing green sea turtles while a group of peach-hued stingrays floated above. And was that a caramel-colored mermaid darting behind the ship? He tried to follow, but for all his troubles, she vanished in a burst of bubbles.
Walking on the seabed, he was enveloped in a cozy jungle of tremendous turquoise plants. Ascending a tall vine with a rushing tide, he beheld a huge yellow octopus with eight differently colored arms leaping by his side. Eagerly pursuing it, he saw a collection of giant silver clams resting on the sea floor, oblivious to the colorful creatures above. When he got close to the octopus, it sprayed a massive lavender fog. Rather than be dismayed, he chose to be amazed.
He was then treated to a stupendous ballet where a school of dark pink dolphins danced every which way. Each creature spun round and round, rotating up and down, all in happy harmony and sporting the most splendidly sublime smiles.
His eyes widened at a gigantic golden whale gently drifting by the dolphins. Several small fish of ever-changing colors escorted the behemoth, and he got goosebumps when the big fellow sang a catchy melody of a thousand trumpets. When the whale winked at him, he clapped in awe.
Feeling himself rapidly rise, he burst out of the water to survey the beach suddenly far below him. The sun was brighter than he could ever recall, and a pair of rainbows bracketed his horizon like goalposts on a football field. When the beachcombers began to resemble numbers in the sand, he quickly blinked and they dispersed in many directions, with everyone waving at him.
Flying into his apartment, he surveyed all he saw. Yes, it looked swell, but the job that bought it made him feel like hell. He flew into the bedroom and hovered above his bed. Sighing as if a fun amusement park ride had come to an end, he realized he was under the covers again.
Opening his eyes at the ceiling above, he missed the vibrant colors he now so loved while marveling at all he had seen in by far his greatest dream. It struck him that the world was far too varied, attractive, and exciting to be forfeited for a career he could no longer endure. The job search starts tomorrow, he resolved, for sure.
Copyright © 2025 by Douglas Young
