When It's Time to Move On

Door 1 - Chapter 4 - This Beautiful Life

"You might be the best definition for a guy who has a spring in his step," said Danny, watching Harris. "If I had to guess I'd say you just won a million dollars."

"Stole the words right out of my mouth," Jennifer agreed.

"Oh you have no idea," said Harris, bidding them goodbye and walking away with the spring in his step.

How far off Danny was with his guess, thought Harris, a million dollars was nothing compared to what he had. He couldn't think of anything at all that was as sweet as this feeling. This beautiful life. It was sheer ecstasy. He wanted to relish it as much as he could.

Breakfast was wonderful. While he'd once hound it down without taking in any of the taste, now he savored every tiny morsel. He'd treated the couple to breakfast despite their demands against it. What was money? Something he'd once thought the world revolved around. But it didn't matter now, not in the slightest. It was being alive that held substance.

It was time to enjoy and what time other than when the world was alight by the beautiful rays of the sun? Eyes closed, he extended his arms and welcomed the warmth inside. How magnificent it all was, that he could stand at this spot and still appreciate so much. This was the meaning of freedom. This was happiness and he had it all.

"Hey buddy, you okay?" A slightly airy voice asked him. He opened his eyes; it was a teenager, who looked at him with a loose expression on his face.

"Better than ever," Harris replied, smiling widely.

"You on anything, huh?" The boy asked, "You gotta get me in on it, I mean just look at you, man, you look higher than... something very high." 

Harris laughed, his happiness was apparent. Even this person, a druggie, saw through him, but he did nothing to mask it. Instead, he clapped the chum on the shoulder and moved away.

"Hey wait, man." the guy called. "Just tell me how much. I just get so tired sometimes. I just wanna feel free like you."

"Tired?" Harris asked in disbelief. Was it even possible to think that? It seemed preposterous to him. "My boy, you're young and still pretty healthy, why would you be tired of life? Don't you see what I see? The sun, the atmosphere. You look like you could be a great skater, tell you what."

He pulled out his wallet and gave the boy a hundred dollars.

"Take this, I don't know how much skateboards are worth but if that doesn't cover it, you'll see me around here easily. But I want to see you riding these streets. You say you're tired of life? I say forget all that and enjoy."

"Thanks," the guy replied, looking as if deciding whether Harris was crazy or not. Harris, on the other hand, noticed none of that and happily walked away.

A bicycle screeched to a halt in front of him while he strolled along. It was a small boy, puffing heavily, who looked at Harris in fright.

"Gee, I'm real sorry, mister." The kid apologized.

Harris simply stared, strode over to the boy, and placed a hand on his bicycle. The kid gulped anxiously.

"Cool bike, where did you get it from?" Harris asked. The kid looked up in surprise, having expected a scolding.

"I'm thinking of getting one myself, but in a bigger size of course."

"What?"

"You're not on the same thing the previous guy was, are you kid?"

"Umm, no," the boy replied, still in surprise at Harris's enthusiasm.

"Hey, how about a race?" Harris asked him. The boy scratched his head.

"You don't have a bike."

"Who says you need a bike to race someone?"

"You okay, mister?"

"That is a popular question today," said Harris amusedly, "so how about it?"

"Sure."

After a count to three, he was off. Chest puffing at the speed at which he galloped, nodding at the people who stared at his antic. He had no idea whether he was winning or losing. Eventually, he had to come to a halt as the breathlessness settled in. He placed his hands on his knees, seeing stars in front of his eyes but that didn't bother him. On the contrary, he was amused at the sensation. The kid on the bike rode next to him.

"Wow, mister, you beat me and you don't even have a bike."

"Well when you've got the option of running, why not use it?" said Harris.

"You some kind of athlete?" the boy asked, not understanding Harris's words.

"No."

"Then why'd you wanna race?"

"Why not?" Harris winked at him and left.

To think he had once been so uptight, it was almost unimaginable now.

The beach, oddly enough, was scarcely populated. While he'd once loved this empty environment because it meant little interaction with people, now it felt like a shame. 

He spotted a group of people playing volleyball and asked to join in. The game was fun; Harris was the standout player with his numerous dives and saves.

"Come on guys, look alive," said Harris.

"Man, you're running on some extra charged batteries," one of his teammates quipped.

"I am feeling pretty charged up," he replied. The ball wandered away without his teammates noticing.

Harris went after it. The end of the beach was heavily bordered by long, jagged rocks. This wasn't a common dwelling for people of the town so Harris was slightly surprised when he saw a man sitting on one of those rocks, the ball a little distance away.

"Hey, how about throwing the ball here?" Harris asked. The man didn't seem to hear him.

"You listening?" He asked, the man stirred and looked at him.

Harris spread his hands out for the ball. After a few seconds, the man realized what he meant and tossed it, then resumed his inattentiveness. Feeling it was probably best to leave him in his musings, Harris walked back to join in on the game.

That evening he went to the bowling alley, easily beating the local record. His prize was a free dinner at the ritzy restaurant near the beach. Thinking he still had the rest of the day to pass by, Harris went off to the cinema to watch the latest film on display. He had no idea which movie to watch and settled for a foreign language one.

After finishing up at the cinema he went off to his free dinner where he had one of the most scrumptious meals of his life. He savored every mouthful of the delicious crab bisque served, and after offering a very generous tip to his waiter he bought dessert for everyone present at the restaurant. Later on, he went out for a walk in the streets.

Even though this was something he had done back in his reclusive days, it still felt nice to be out in the open. Harris thought to take the beach route back to his house.

Strolling along the footpath, he saw several couples hand in hand enjoying the ambiance, some nestled by the benches or lying on the sand. But there was one man all alone.

Harris halted, wondering if it could be the same person. If so, then he'd been in the same place for about seven hours now. Harris mulled on approaching him but decided against it. Perhaps that man was just as enthralled by the beach as the rest. 

Under the stars, it was a great place to be, and besides, Harris himself was standing out there alone. Chuckling at this realization, he made his way back towards the beach house.