Short Story: The Day

                        The coffee machine roared with a sudden madness. That morning it did its magic in an intolerably noisy way. Outside it was still dark and only a single window of the building was awake.  It was four, and the city was sleeping. It was four and there was an invisible storm going on at its heart. It was four, and it was too late.

                Ella stole the coffee from the machine and drained it into the sink. She had changed her mind. No one sane was to have coffee at such an awkward hour, she decided, and boiled some tea instead. She took out a coke from the fridge, poured it into a long glass and put a straw in it. It looked real fancy that way. The tea sang from the kettle that it was ready. She put it next to the coke and considered mixing them together. She still couldn’t decide if sane, how sane exactly she was that morning… night… whatever.

                She poured them too to waste and started washing the cups and glasses. And some dishes along the way. Just to make sure everything was clean. Clean was nice. So she decided to take down her curtains and wash them as well. He liked smoking in her room, and the smoke left such a disgustingly distinctive smell on everything. She had got to rid herself from the smell.

                It was four, and she was awake, and she didn’t know what to do. It was such an annoyingly awkward hour. She was sick of both sleeping and being awake, and there was nothing to do except for cleaning that empty place. She considered crying for a bit or taking a shower. Perhaps both would do. But then she decided she was fed up with that as well, and went back to being so thoroughly and utterly bored at the nothingness going on around her.

                There was nothing happening at four o’clock.

                She took out the little pills that resided in her purse always and thought of the daily dose. She wondered if she was to lock herself in that tiny apartment, if they would last a week having to take four of them daily. And what would happen if at one point she just didn’t.

                She had actually considered that idea before. Stopping them. The pills. Those, the ones nobody knew about. The ones, which you don’t get with a prescription. The ‘happy pills’, as she imagined he would call them. She wondered why they didn’t work against that horrible boredom.

                Ella counted them carefully three times and calculated the time she had left with them. If she was to lock herself right now and always took her daily dose precisely, they would last exactly nine and a half days. She didn’t know how much food she had or bottled water, but she had counted every pill and that made her happy.

                Then she considered dropping them down the drain too, or in the toiler perhaps, one by one, counting them again. She imagined what life would be like now without them. Maybe she would fall into one of those so adorable on TV and terrible in real life little depressions that people worry about at first and then totally forget until one ended in a bathtub with slit wrists or a turned on hair dryer. And then everyone discusses how they could have never seen it coming. Or that they did but didn’t know what to do.

Maybe if she did that, if she got herself one of those nice little depressions, he would come to investigate too. Maybe he would sit on her sofa and light up a cigarette, and talk random nonsense until he felt out of place and at last left her alone. She didn’t like seeing him that way. Maybe he would ask her what is wrong, and then she was to tell him the truth or at least lie straight to his face. Maybe he would even hug her then, the way he used to back then.

                Or maybe he was to knock on her door with his girlfriend hung at his hand. Good thing her door was to be locked then.

                “It’s horrifying,” she thought and a cold shiver went down her spine. “One day I’ll die, and he’ll never know I loved him. There will be no one to tell him. It would be like it never happened.

“One day I’ll die… and he won’t even know…”

                No, she decided. A depression would not do. It could go either way.

                She looked at the pills again. She emptied the box on the table and got them in a straight line like soldiers. Ready… Set…

Fire!

***

It was five in the morning, and a phone roared with a sudden madness.

                “I’m sorry,” the message read, “it just felt like the right kind of day.”

Essay: The Importance of Disadvantaged Youth in the Future Development of Our Global Community

* Awarded by the Gulen Institute Youth Platform (http://www.gulenyouthplatform.org/) as one of the top 30 essays for 2014

  The definition of disadvantaged youth includes all children at or below eighteen years of age who are high-school dropouts, orphaned, homeless or living in poverty. It refers to all the children that are not considered to have the same educational and career opportunities as their peers due to geographical remoteness, disparities in wealth in demographic ethnic minorities, linguistic issues as well as but not limited to special educational needs. This very definition portrays them as a disabled and incompetent burden to society that has to be dealt with.  

                According to the social approach of psychology people build up their character and behavior based on their interactions with other people. Growing up to be healthy, ambitious and prosperous members of society sometimes proves to be difficult even for children who have been raised in loving and caring families; it is hard to imagine how much more difficult this process could be for somebody who is used to everyone looking down on him and categorizing him as “disadvantaged”. Perhaps one of the first steps towards creating more positive attitudes within the young people from any background is not labeling them and putting them into groups – an act which, in itself, diminishes their personal confidence. We live in a world which preaches equality; however, to paraphrase George Orwell, some seem to be more equal than others. Organizations that take up the responsibility of educating young people should make sure to treat everyone equally. This means that "disadvantaged" children should not be looked down on for coming from a more troubled background as compared to their peers, but they should also not be given excuses for not doing the work required. All children need to be educated to understand that the responsibility for their future is entirely theirs. Fortunately the world has changed dramatically in the past century and in most developing countries it is less and less important what family one comes from – success comes at one’s own merit, and therefore people of all backgrounds have the opportunity to lead a successful life. It seems though that not everybody knows this. Education should by all means be an advocate of this tendency and should make it known to everybody. 

                Discouragement is extremely dangerous among students of all ages and backgrounds. In his speech for Zeitgeist Americas 2013 Malcolm Gladwell summarizes the effects of competition within the classroom and the effects of not being at the top of the class. Using statistics Gladwell shows that students who go to elite educational institutions (like Harvard for example) but are not at the top of their class are doing worse than almost anyone else who doesn’t go to such elite institutions but is at the top of their class. This would illustrate that competition has a huge impact on a student’s motivation to study hard and do his work well. Going back to the point about equality, educators need to make sure that a child is not put at a disadvantage (is not considered to be at the bottom or anywhere under the top of his class) just for coming from a troubled background. The effects of this would be limiting this child’s potential and increasing the feeling of inferiority in comparison to his peers; this may result in lack of motivation to study, an earlier drop-out from education, a worse job or even taking the path of crime. 

                However, a counter point can be made as to whether “disadvantaged” children should really be treated absolutely equally. A nurturing environment is almost certainly required for the upbringing of a healthy child which would grow up to be a well-rounded member of the society. The children considered as “disadvantaged” are often deprived of the happy home and/or the caring parents required in the formula. Therefore a fully equal educational environment would still not be completely fair and supporting for these children. One of the many roles of the nurturing family is to teach the child to believe and respect himself, to find their strengths and interests and pursue them. The state is responsible for all the citizens living within its borders and should therefore make sure that all children receive “education” in self-respect. In the cases of disadvantaged youth concerning orphaned children and children coming from troubled families the state needs to fill in the “educational” gap and make sure that every child discovers his talents and interests and has the opportunities to make the most of them. On this issue the state and non-profit organizations can unite efforts towards creating programs for teacher training and school counseling. 

Currently functioning non-profit organizations in the United States and abroad like Orphaned Starfish Foundation (OSF), Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW), J. Luce Foundation, Afghan Child Education and Care Organization, and CharityHelp International (CHI) all agree that “education is the way out [of poverty]” (Andrew Stein, American Democratic politician). However, disadvantaged children are often deprived of capital assets, such as computers, textbooks and books, which may be another factor to stop them from fulfilling their potential. Investments in public computer labs and libraries should be a priority so as to give every child equal opportunities to learn and grow. In many countries orphaned children have little, if any, opportunity to obtain an education or training that would enable them to become independent, contributing members of their society, so providing even basic schools and work-oriented courses is a very important step towards integrating these children and giving them the opportunities every citizen of the world should have.

                 Disadvantaged youth also refers to students who have dropped out of high school and/or those who have not continued their education in a college or university. This is a huge problem in society, as the number of people who haven’t finished their secondary studies is increasing. This may turn out to be an economic disaster, as it will lead to lowering the quality of services and significantly slowing down technological and scientific growth. The share of jobs in the U.S. economy needing a college degree will increase to 63 percent in the next decade. This will require 22 million new employees with college degrees. At the current pace, the nation will fall at least 3 million college degrees short (A. Carnevale, N. Smith, and J. Strohl, Help Wanted: Projections of Jobs and Economic Requirements Through 2018 (Washington, DC: Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, 2010). Globally, organizations like UNESCO are working to provide quality basic education. In their program Education for All they aim to achieve six set goals, one of which is Ensuring that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes. On a personal level, a lack of education means lowered job opportunities, and even if the student manages to find a job, it will usually be less well paid in comparison to the job a university graduate is almost certain to have. For example, in the United States of America nearly 44 percent of dropouts under age 24 are jobless, and the unemployment rate of high school dropouts older than 25 is more than three times that of college graduates (United States Department of Labor, 2012). Furthermore, this creates more than just economic issues. The health of a typical high school dropout, by age 18, is similar to that of a more educated person in his 40s (College Board Advocacy & Policy Center, 2010). Moreover, disadvantaged youth in this case creates the risk of triggering a chain reaction, as if a drop-out doesn’t manage to find a good job and/or turns to crime, his children would most probably live in poverty and/or become orphaned or homeless, thus becoming disadvantaged as well and entering a vicious circle. Realizing the importance of increasing the continuity and quality of education Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Senators Al Franken (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Representative Dale Kildee have passed the Reengaging Americans In Serious Education by Uniting Programs (RAISE UP)Act which would provide pathways for disadvantaged youth to graduate from secondary school, attain a postsecondary credential, and secure family-supporting career by integrating essential, and often disparate, education, workforce, social services and supports. 

                However, in order to deal with the problem, one must understand its origins. The number of educational drop-outs is increasing possibly because there is no guarantee that once one finishes high-school or college one will get the job one has been studying for. This results in a lack of motivation. When the question is posed so that one has to choose between instant (low) income and possible (high but not guaranteed) income later, many choose the former option not realizing the long-term consequences of this short-term decision. 

                There are several approaches towards solving this problem. One way is for non-profit organizations working with big employers to create programs which could guarantee college graduates a well-paid job after graduation. For high-school drop-outs career-oriented training could be offered, so that everybody gets an equal opportunity of finding a wage-sustaining job. With combined efforts, the state and non-profit organizations through advertising campaigns can work towards making early drop-outs from education a taboo among youngsters. The state can also contribute to the solution, as it can increase the minimum age for quitting education or impose a percentage supplement to the wage of every student with a high-school diploma up until a certain age. Most important, however, are investments in teacher-training, as very often the teacher is the one creating attitudes towards education; a good teacher will be able to trigger the student’s interest and curiosity thus making a sudent continue his studies for his love of knowledge. 

                So what should be the role of the state and the non-government organizations in the process of teaching self-respect and love for knowledge? In many cases concerning disadvantaged youth the state is responsible for taking care of the children considered in this category, which means securing that they would receive from the government the things other children receive from their families. This means that the state must support their personal growth and development in all ways possible, as the “disadvantaged youth” should not be viewed as a burden to society but as future independent members of society and the key to future prosperity. Increasing the funding of state schools in order to improve the quality of education, the material base of the schools, the training of the teachers and the availability of counseling services for each student is one way the state can help disadvantaged children find out their interests and realize their potentials so as not to feel underestimated in any way by society. Advertising campaigns towards raising awareness and educating more people in understanding the potential of every child, disadvantaged or not, should help teachers in their efforts to achieve equality in the classroom and stop disadvantaged children from feeling inferior to their peers because of their background. Equality of opportunities needs to be achieved, so as to limit the importance of the family background in determining the future of the child. However, the state may not have all the funding to finance such an educational revolution. Non-profit organizations should work to provide the disadvantaged youth with what the state does not have the funding to provide. In some cases this could be better school material base (libraries and computers), in others it could be teacher-training, or career-oriented courses, or work placement for high-school or college graduates. In any case, the role of the state and the non-profit organizations cannot be limited to simply one definition – it has to evolve and change according to the needs of the society. But one thing should be kept in mind: as Richard Morgan, UNICEF’s senior adviser on the post-2015 development agenda, said “Children and young people are the makers of a future sustainable world and measures of their progress will also be the markers of that world.” This suggests viewing every child as a precious opportunity to make our world a better place to live.

Short Story: Behind the Mask (of Reality)

It was a hot summer night and the stuffy air of the busy ally was filled with a combination of sweat and sun cream. People were passing by. People were talking. People were moving, buzzing, existing. But there, on the narrow sidewalk, was placed a crooked piece of black fabric that nobody even noticed. It might have once been a hat, but now it looked more like a mischievous dog’s miserable ruffled ball. And hundreds of feet passed by that hat every day, but they noticed neither the hat nor its poor companion behind it. Their occasional, rather accidental glimpse never took in his painted face and the brightness of his eyes. The vivid words coming out of his dry lips never reached their ears and the stories that he told disappeared between the crowds and disintegrated slowly in the hot air.

It was a sad thing, the boy behind the hat thought. With the mask of coulours on his face one could hardly tell if he was young or old, but there was something in the way he looked and smiled and talked would give his youth away. His face was a mystery that nobody cared to explore, and his name was a word lost in a dictionary. He had taken a late train in the moving to fast a pace world, and at twenty-three he was a piece of history. Broke, poor, failed, he would come out on the street every morning at nine with his face hidden behind layers of stolen paint; he would take out his ruffled hat, sit down and look at the strangers passing by. And they passed, and he sat, and if any of them was to give him a look, he would rise and in a loud voice would pronounce: “Freedom!” or “Happiness” or “Beauty”, and start telling the most unbelievable story one could imagine. He would speak loud and slowly, allowing everyone who cared to listen to follow him on his journey of words. He would gesture with hands and wave his arms in all directions and not simply tell a story – he would live it and he would make you live it with him. And when the last word tumbled out of his heart, he would sit back down and quietly wait for the next accidental look to give him a start.

The world changed when he was speaking but too few were there to see. The occasional look would come and go, but its possessor would never truly be there. People, their bodies and minds were too complicated a machine to work together and even though the body passed, saw and heard, the mind never registered, noticed or remembered. And they all together walked away disparagingly.

What a blissful thing it was that the boy’s train was too slow to notice! In his head everyone was part of the story. And everyone rejoiced and marveled at it.

 No one really did.

One day a little boy passed with his mother. The boy looked at Nial, for that was the storyteller’s name, and surprised pointed at his painted face. He was such an interesting creature! The mother pulled the boy away.

One single look was all that was needed. Nial arouse and exclaimed: “Magic!” His eyes were seeing different colours and the buildings started changing; people were flying and fairies were racing down a sparkly waterfall of no other substance but of dreams and the sun was yawning and the stars were playing golf in the sky and everything was beautiful and…

“Hey, you!” a waiter from the café across the ally called. “Sit down and shut up! Why can’t ya just beg like the normal people?!”

The fantasy was disturbed. The colours went bleak. The buildings shattered and crumbled down in spectacles of shiny glass. The fairies’ wings were clipped by gray whirlwind and they grinned in the air, sitting on broomsticks. The sun was blazing destructively. The stars weren’t playing fair.

“Hey! Are you deaf or something? Shut up, I tell ya! I’m tired of your useless stories!” the waiter shouted again and advanced threateningly. “I’m sick of ya! Every day you come here dressed like a clown and start telling these… lies! Lies’s what they are! You hear? Lies!”

“They’re not lies. They’re stories,” Nial said.

“Lies! Nobody needs your lies, boy! Go away!”

“The world needs my stories.”

The waiter’s face was taking on a new, brighter colour, filling his cheeks with cherry red and his forehead with orchid pink.

“The world needs no liars! I need no liars like you, boy! Shut up! Why do I need your silly stories? Fairies? Dreams? Witches? How’s that helped anyone? How’s that helping me? Ya know what’s helping me? Salaries. Clients. And you’re scaring away my clients! Go away!”

“Fairies, dreams, witches… and tomorrow dragons, heroes and unicorns.” Said Nial while slowly taking up his hat from the pavement and putting it inside a torn pocket. “The world needs my fairies and my dragons. Indeed, what else can I tell you about? Cheap clothes, cheap food… cheap life? Or the dirt on the street you walk on and in the air you breathe? Cheap street and cheap air! And cheap dirt, of course! The world needs me. People need me. I’m an illusion, but people need illusions because they see too much reality every day. I am the memory of fresh air in this hot haste. I give an escape for those who look for it. It’s forty degrees out here, but don’t you see how cold we are? It’s a cold and cruel and real world, and I’m the escape from it. I’d be fairy and a witch and a dragon, if you wish. I am magic. And after the collapse of religion and the decay of lying I’m the only kind of magic we still have.

The boy picked up his hat and slowly waking away said, “See you tomorrow, my friend.”