EARTHBOUND

Food Chain

For all the things society has ever invented, crowded places like the malls, there's an establishment where the stupid ones always gather. Under the fast-food chain called McDonalds, the wise, the ignorant and the fool, shared one of the tables inside.

The three of them coincidentally met one day, they're not schoolmates, they're not neighbors, of course they weren't friends either. But that fateful meeting, suddenly became frequent and they all started hanging out at McDonalds every weekend.

"I talked to a person on chat yesterday," the ignorant said.

"Oh? What of it?" The wise, couldn't care less but still asked out of courtesy.

"They said, they're not living."

"What? That's absurd!" The fool exclaimed, dipping his french fry on his sundae.

"It was. They said, some people are like them, existing but not living." The ignorant turned to the wise. "Do you believe them?"

"I do."

"What do they mean?"

"They mean, they're not satisfied with their lives because something is wrong with them. They think they aren't living because they're not like everyone else. They're not happy," he smiled sadly and looked outside the glass wall.

"Are you like that?" The fool asked with a curious and cheerful tone. The wise turned to him and raised a brow.

"Why do you ask?"

"Then how do you know?"

The wise laughed and sipped on his soda. "I don't."

The fool creased his forehead for he didn't understand what the wise just said. He made all those statements and yet he said he doesn't know.

"But you are right, they said something is wrong with them. Mentally," the ignorant continued. "You've become good at reading people," he complimented with a smile.

"I'm not good at reading people, I'm just good at empathizing with them." He looked down at the table and picked up a french fry. "I've always been alone so the only thing I'm good at is observing people and analyzing them. Thoughts like, 'I bet they think like this' , and 'maybe they move like that' are always on my mind. But humans never do change."

"What do you mean? When you said humans? does that mean they have a general behavior that doesn't go away?"

"What did you tell them? About living?"

"I told them I'm living my life. I'm trying to enjoy everyday. But knowing other people aren't like that is just... sad," the ignorant said, his voice cracking at the end.

"Why is it sad?"

"Because they're not happy, like they said, they're not living."

"Who is sad?"

"They are...?"

"But did they tell you they're sad?"

"No..."

"Then why do you conclude that they are?"