Iceside

 Iceside. The jewel of the northern mountains, one of the most perfect places in the world. Joel lived in Iceside. Iceside had no real government, nor did it have any kind of laws. The people of Iceside just lived. Living itself wasn't an issue. Just to slog through your daily life and arrive at your home too tired of the world to do anything, but sit and watch, or play a game. Iceside was advanced, yes, but the people weren't happy, or calm.

"Joel, dear. Dinner's ready," he heard his mother call up from the kitchen. He walked downstairs at 5 o'clock sharp. Just like any other day he sat in his chair, ate his food, and quickly walked back upstairs to do his studying. An hour or so later he got a call from his friend, Daniel. This was not on the schedule. He ignored it. Daniel called again. He ignored it. Daniel continued to call until Joel picked up the phone just to yell at him.

"Joel? Do you want to go out? Take a walk through town, look at the sights?" Daniel asked.

"I'm busy with my schoolwork." Joel replied.

"You always say that!" Daniel replied. "Life isn't just about work you know. There are other things to it." Joel paused as he didn't know how to answer a comment like that.

"I'll meet you at Club 64 in five minutes." Joel hung up the phone, grabbed his jacket, and ran outside. It was cold, but it was always cold. The sky was a bleak gray that reflected the hopelessness of life. Why on Earth would Daniel want to go out on a day like today? He arrived at the meeting area and sat down on a bench, and began to watch the people go by. They were probably going to work, or home. Nothing else existed in Iceside, and before you knew it, your life became just as bleak as the sky above.

"Hey." Daniel said as he sat down next to Joel.

"Hi." Joel replied. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know. Just to walk around?" Daniel chirped back.

"How do you not know where we're going? Why did you call me out here?" Joel said. Daniel shrugged, and began to walk. Joel ran as not to be left behind.

"Have you ever realized how beautiful the skies are here?" Daniel said, gazing up into the grayness.

"It's just a bleak gray, there's nothing beautiful about it." Joel snarled back.

"But there's everything beautiful about it." Daniel said. "It brings out the white snow on the ground, you notice that the birds are chirping, and you can see how much color that's in the world." Joel paused, once again, not knowing how to respond.

"I don't have time to look." Joel finally responded.

"Why can't you make time?" Daniel asked. "You're always absorbed in your work and your technology. You never have any time to just take a moment and appreciate the world." The two had paused at the local park, and had sat down on a bench near the statue of the founder of Iceside.

"What's the point of looking if you never find anything?" Joel asked. "If I gaze out my window for ten minutes and find nothing then haven't I just wasted my time?"

"Maybe," Daniel answered, "but think of what you've gained from that." Both of them paused thinking of how to carry on the conversation. "Joel, at this age, we have the power to change the world as we know it, but all we're doing is moping around on our screens and gradually forgetting about the little things. Every time you look at your phone you waste a second of your life that you could've used to do something amazing."

"But what's a second in the grand scheme of things?" Joel asked.

"Seconds turn into minutes, minutes turn into hours, hours turn into days, and then suddenly you're old and withered, and when you look back at your life you remember nothing." Daniel stopped. "Thank you for coming out here, I appreciate it." Joel looked up. Without him knowing it, an hour had passed, and the sky was getting dark.