“HOW DARE YOU TELL ME THAT HE DOESN’T EXIST? ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY THAT WE ARE IN THIS ALL ALONE? ALL OF THIS IS JUST RANDOM? HUH? WE ARE NOT ALONE! WE CAN’T BE!” Peter's cries erupted through the entire apartment complex, he could even be heard from outside. Michael stared at his friend in shock. He was not expecting his sudden outburst, had he not said what he did then perhaps he would not have been so provoked into thinking otherwise. But the damage was already done, Peter had already said what he had to and Michael was strongly provoked, for he felt as if Peter was questioning his intelligence.
“Pete it just doesn’t make sense man, why would we be the anomaly. What makes us so special?” Responded Peter to his friend as he adjusted his position on the couch and began to get more comfortable.
“I agree, none of it makes sense, but just because it doesn’t make sense to me and you does not mean that it’s not real. There is a bigger picture out there, bigger than us, bigger than everything, and one day we will be introduced to it.” Replied Peter to his friend.
Michael looked down and shrugged his shoulders in utter disbelief.
“I want to believe it Pete, I really do, but I just can’t picture it man, nothing is out there for us. Just a vast amount of nothingness.” Replied Peter.
“You are stupid Mikey, you are very much retarded. I pray that God may open your eyes one day my friend.” Peter said as he looked at his friend’s eye. He could not believe how ignorant his friend had become. In what part of his life did he develop this kind of apostasy? Peter was completely bewildered. He stared at his friend and shook his head in consternation and ruefulness. He truly felt sorry for his dear friend. He started thinking that Michael is not a bad person, he is a fairly decent person. He remembered the time that Michael bought ice cream cones for a group of young school kids, he remembered his friend smiling as he watched the random kids eating the ice cream cones, joy filled Peter's heart. Michael's benevolence was out of this world Peter thought. Why would God make such a good person so ignorant and oblivious to the bigger picture?
What started off as a simple and friendly conversation about the basketball game they were watching had transformed into a much bigger and intricate conversation about theology. The basketball game they were watching had finished, the team that Peter and Michael wanted to take the victory had come out with a sudden loss and was defeated. Their defeat was caused by a player missing a single foul shot, which is maybe the easiest shot to make in the game of basketball. Peter and Michael was heartbroken when the player missed the foul shot.
“NOOO!” They shouted simultaneously as the ball spun around the rim and went out of the basket and hit the floor with a soft thud. Then Peter got up from the couch and yelled out “THAT’S NOT FAIR MAN!” Then shortly after the other team was in possession of the ball with 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, they ran the ball down the court and made a few passes and then a player shot a three-pointer and made it, sealing the finality of the game.
“Goodness gracious!” Mikey held his hands up in disappointment and dropped them on his knees. Peter dropped down to the couch as he began to accept the faith of the game. The team that Peter and Mikey wanted to win had taken their final loss of the playoffs and was out until next season. They tried very hard indeed, last year they even made it to conference finals, this year they got close also but lost in the second round of the playoffs. Both Peter and Mikey were heartbroken, as well as millions of others. Then Peter softly said “I don’t understand, it don’t make sense, they tried so hard man.”
Peter looked at the floor sullenly, shaking his head from side to side, still in disbelief.“God decrees all man, we won’t always understand his rationality, but it surely makes sense.” Replied Peter.
“Pete you think if there was a God he would allow this type of thing to happen?”
Peter squinted his eyes and starred at his friend. “What are you saying?”
Michael starred at his friend Peter, he wanted to choose his words wisely before he spoke. “I’m saying Pete, it’s all random, and it is just a misfortune.”
“Nah man, it was all designed, there is a plan behind it that we fail to see.”
Michael stared at Pete in contempt and twisted his lip in disgust. “What plan? There is no plan or bigger picture at hand, everything just happens by chance.
Then Pete stood up in anger. He wanted to reply to his friend’s absurd and irrational statement, but he knew there was no convincing him. He knew Michael long enough, and he knew that he was not the type to be coerced or persuaded into seeing a certain point of view.
“Alright Mikey, be good man.” Peter said as he shook his friend’s hand to say goodbye.
“You too man, see you next weekend probably, I gotta work all week.” Michael said to Peter as he shook his hand back.
Peter and Michael had been close friends since middle-school, at times they would hang out or spend some time occasionally to do what they both loved, watching basketball and eating a bunch of cheese pizza. Lately though it seems like they have been spending less time together due to Michael’s intense schedule and the new job he got. Peter started to remember all the great time they had to spend together with no worry in the world, like when they was in college together, those were the good times Peter thought. Now they both were in their mid-30’s and it seem like there was no recreational time they had to spend together.
“You working Friday”? Asked Peter.
“Yeah, unfortunately.” Replied Michael. “How about you?”
“Yeah, all week man.” Peter said.
Peter worked as a mailman at the post office. It was a pretty decent job. It definitely kept the lights on that’s for sure, that was all Peter was concerned about.
“Ok man, call me sometime next week, be safe.” Peter shook his friend’s hand one last time before he shut the door then Michael went out and he closed the door behind him.
Michael then went to sit down on the couch to finish the box of cheese pizza him and Peter was previously eating before Peter left. He then proceeded to put his feet up on the table and slouch back on the chair to relax while he ate his pizza. Michael smiled and began to think how gullible and ridiculous it was for Michael to be so religious and think there was a higher power at work behind everything. He began to smile widely; how ridiculous his friend could be at times he thought.
A thunder randomly stroked out of nowhere and heavy rain began to fall down. Michael immediately jumped up and ran towards the living room window to shut it so no droplets of rain could enter in his house. He then went upstairs to close his bedroom and bathroom window. Michael remembered the last time it rained about two weeks ago and he forgot to shut his bedroom window, his entire bed got soaked and his wooden floor was wet as well from the rain. Peter also grabbed a pair of his inside slippers that was under his bed. Peter always liked to wear his slippers when it rained heavy, primarily because it got really cold and it often felt more comfortable to have them on.
The rain dropping on the roof was very sound and apparent. Michael began to think that Mother Nature was a very prideful entity which acquired much satisfaction and Bonheur from displaying how powerful she is. A faint smile began to spread across his face. Michael shook his head to clear the thought from his mind and began to head back downstairs.
If somebody else was in the compound with Michael they would have laughed nonstop uncontrollably. The reason for their laughter would be because Michael almost slipped and fell from one of the lower stairs while he was running down. There really was no reason for him to be running down the stairs in that manner, but Michael had become so used and accustomed to running down the stairs successfully without nothing bad occurring that it had become a sort of normality for him.
But oh boy that slip was most hilarious indeed. His arms swung wildly in the air like a small child at a carnival ride as he tried to regain his balance. “WHOAH THERE! WHOA! WHOA!” Were the cries that Michael made as he was in the midst of his slip. He miscalculated how steep and high one of the stairs was and the result was tragic indeed. Arms flapping like a live bird! If one was to pinch his fingers together to hold a grain of salt would successfully display how close Peter had gotten to slipping off the stairs and banging his head on the floor and fatally bleeding and perhaps dying right there in his own house. How sad and anticlimactic of an ending it would have been for Michael. There he stood. After shortly experiencing what he just realized was a near death experience, how can one just go on living their life as if nothing happened? Time goes on though, it waits for nobody, Michael knew that, and he knew he had to proceed with his regular daily life activities. Nothing really much to do. It was a boring Saturday afternoon, the sun was hidden in the clouds as the rain trickled down the atmosphere and ferociously hit Michael's roof with tremendous force and coercion. The weather seemed to match his dull mood for the day. Then a thought popped up in Michael's head, the new movie he just rented from the video store across the street from where he lived! He remembered he recently just ordered a film for himself, it was a romantic comedy from the 1950’s called “Mi Amor”. It’s French for “My Love”. The movie was an English film, but yet it had a French title, Peter thought that was very strange. But that would be a most splendid idea! Watch the movie for 2 or 3 hours and then fall asleep and wake up later in the middle of the night and stuff his face with Oreos and watch The History Channel. Peter yawned, he stretched his arms out and made sounds that were similar to a female moaning during intercourse. He was very tired. Peter began to think that maybe he should take a nap first and then watch the movie, he began to contemplate. “NAH!” He thought, it’s going to be better if he just falls asleep while watching the movie, everybody that recommended the movie to him had given it plenty praise and Peter really wanted to get into it.
No time to waste Peter thought. He retrieved the movie from his work bag then starred at the cover. It was a romantic comedy and the cover portrayed the genre of the film, it showed two lovers holding each other and passionately starring each other in the eye and another man was staring at the couple from behind them, he was staring at them defiantly and had a mean look on his face, it seemed that he was very angry at the couple. Peter could decipher that the man was very jealous because the other man got the woman he wanted. Peter chuckled a little bit. What a sad man he thought. Then he read the back to read the synopsis of the movie. The movie is about two lovers named Cindy and Isaac. Both lovers desperately wanted to be together with each other, but the woman's brother whose name was Ezekiel, did not want his sister to be involved with a guy like Isaac, for he knew all of Isaac's friends and posies, and they weren't necessarily the best behaved of folks. They tended to rob liquor stores and partake in doing drugs and other illegal illicit activities. Ezekiel committed his whole time he had to making sure that the two don’t end up together. But matters of the heart cannot easily be disturbed or intercepted. Even though Ezekiel keeps a close eye on his sister at all times, her and Isaac still manage to spend time together and do many things together. Ezekiel does not like this at all, he tries many ways to stop the two lovers from seeing each other at all. The comedy rests in Ezekiel's many attempts to stop Isaac and Cindy from being with each other.