The Happy Happy Village

Villages (Part-1)

October 11th 2015

Dear reader,

You probably know, or probably wish to know more things about the state of Florida. You probably want/would want to know about things such as the tourist hot spots, the annual weather patterns, the culture, and the environment among many other things the average Floridian would know otherwise. But what if I were to offer you the chance to learn about one of the more obscure secrets you could find in the sunshine state?

My name is Mr. John Eliot, writing this opening letter from the desk of my apartment in a big city located in central Florida. Please excuse me for not giving specific names of locations as you will soon see in the story you're about to read. I am about to leave the state under a different alias, by the time you're reading this I had already fled. I do not wish to be bothered after I had revealed a rather bizarre secret of mine among the details of this book.

I am about to tell you about the strangest weekend in my life and the time I spent that same weekend in a mysterious village known as The Happy Happy Village. I am the only known human being alive that knows of this village's existence first hand. If I had not written this story for the public to view, the village was as good as not even existing. Only I could record my own story of what happened 51 years ago.

And I didn't just write this story to reveal one of Florida's lost secrets, I personally had my own promise to fulfill.

With all due respect,

John Eliot

-The Road Trip-

August 22, 1964

It was a Saturday morning in the sunshine state known as Florida. A day that would've been my first day as a well trained professional businessman. I left my home town Elwood that morning, traveling across the county for the big city for the start of a promising career. I was traveling with my partner Jake, a colleague of mine who actually talked me into the business. He convinced me personally that it was the way to go in this world, and that we would be living as happy as kings from our first day and beyond. Jake was as happy as a daisy to have this day arrive, but I wasn't.

We eventually did have to stop by a roadside diner for some coffee and breakfast. But even as I ate my plate of French toast and drank the morning Joe, I still had some mixed feelings about this day. The strange part about it was that I couldn't figure out why I had these mixed feelings. I've awaited this day to come after all the blood, sweat, and effort I poured in my days at college. I couldn't really figure it out at the time, not even the caffeine of coffee could work its wonders on me.

I spent more time thinking and stirring sugar into the black blend than eating my actual breakfast. By the time I ate a quarter of my meal, Jake had already devoured his bacon and eggs with a jolly smile. I wanted to smile like I did for my recent 29th birthday and actually enjoy the taste of maple syrup on cinnamon French toast, but I couldn't.

"Don't look so down John," Jake said nudging my shoulder, "today is the big day for us. We're about to be living the dream like I said we would. Let me see ya smile John!" I actually did smile a little bit, even though it was only just for a second. "That's what I like to see." He gave my shoulder a good pat on the back as he laughed a little. It made me chuckle a little too.

Jake then took out his own wallet and paid off the bill for both of our meals. "All right John, next stop, the big city!" He helped me out of my seat and led me out of the restaurant, where I continued to look down at the floor with a melancholy look on my face. Maybe a good old drive on the highway could cheer me up?