May 14th

You haven’t heard of Henry Chassleton?

You probably think it’s a person, but it’s actually a town.

I’m sure that if I tell you what the strange thing about our town is, you will have heard about it somewhere.

You see, in Henry Chassleton we always do things the same way. Everyone has the same exact schedule, not a minute earlier, not a minute later. Why? You might ask, well, it all started 299 years ago.

In a small house alone in the woods, lived a 20-year-old man named Henry Chassleton. He woke up one day, May 14^th, and thought “this is the most important day of my life”. It most certainly was. It was his first day alone after leaving his parents’ house. His parents had always told him that he wouldn’t survive alone, and that two days later he would be back in their house. But Henry wanted to prove them wrong. He had to make the perfect routine that he could follow every day, so that he would live a happy and independent life. He woke up at 7:49 AM. “Well, I’m off to a rough start, I was supposed to wake up earlier to see the sunrise”, he thought. So, he got out of bed, and by 8:01 he had finished breakfast.

Later, he went out and watered all of his crops, picked up the tomatoes and potatoes he had planted a while back, and made his lunch. After that, he sat on his sofa, reading his favorite book: The Collections of Shakespeare. He had a short nap from 3:16 to 4:34, and then he went for a walk in the forest. He ended his day having dinner outside with candles lit, and then went to bed at 10:46.

This routine worked for him and ended up living alone all his life, independent, like he had always wanted, until the day he died.

Now, what does all of this have to do with our town? Well, Henry Chassleton’s story was passed along many generations, and became the main topic of our town. People in Henry Chassleton have been following this same exact routine for as long as I can remember. And it was all perfect.

Until he arrived.

It was the day before the 300^th ceremony of Henry Chassleton.

Michael Blunt.

This man was different.

He completely changed Henry Chassleton.

Whether it was in a good way or a bad way, I don’t know.

He had blond hair and dark green eyes. He was tall, very tall, and walked lightly and happily. Not only that, but he was very different compared to everyone else in Henry Chassleton. I didn’t know who he was, or if he would fit in very well here.

Now, here is where our story begins.

He started working towards my bakery, the Henry Chassleton Bakery, which I own.

“Hello, I’m new here, my name is Michael Blunt.” He talked with a happy voice, as if he had just won the lottery.

“Hi, I’m Katy.”

He ordered a muffin and a coffee, I felt curious, I wanted to know who he was.

“Why did you come to Henry Chassleton?” I asked.

“You see, I’m a street merchant, I go from town to town trying to sell my products, which are mostly watches, perfumes, and jewelry. I’ve come to Henry Chassleton to try to sell my products. I heard there is a huge festival coming up, and I was headed to talk to the mayor about whether I could sell my products there. I’m going at 3:30.”

3:30. He couldn’t go at that hour, that was the time when everybody in Henry Chassleton took a nap.

“You can’t go at that time. The mayor will be taking a nap, just like everyone else in Henry Chassleton, at that hour.” I responded.

“Can’t he take a nap later?”

How could he? Did he have any idea of how ridiculous that idea was? It’s a well-known fact that from 3:16 to 4:34 everyone in the town takes a nap, including the mayor.

I told him that his idea was crazy and chased him away.

“But, why does everybody have to take a nap exactly at that time, what if somebody doesn’t feel like napping? You don’t always have to do exactly what that schedule says. Honestly, I find it quite ridicule. I should get out of this town.”

Hopefully, he wouldn’t come back.

The day passed by slowly, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Michael Blunt had said. Maybe he was right, what if there was more to just having the same exact routine every day?

No, I must be going crazy, I thought. My whole life has been this exact schedule, and I wasn’t going to change it now. Besides, if I ever did anything that wasn’t in the schedule, I would get kicked out of Henry Chassleton, and I don’t want that.

Throughout the whole day I kept convincing myself that Michael’s idea was false, and that he was a crazy man who lived in a chaotic world, where he would never have any luck.

But for some reason, I couldn’t do it.

I couldn’t convince myself.

The next day I woke up, it was the 300^th anniversary of Henry Chassleton! I was very excited. I couldn’t wait to have a celebration with the whole town. It was going to be amazing, I knew it. Especially without that Michael Blunt there to ruin everything.

After breakfast, which was finished at 8:01, we all went to the main square, which they had decorated with many balloons, banners, and other colorful things to commemorate the founder of our town. We were all having a great time, we laughed, and talked with each other, catching up on the lives of others. At about 10:00, the mayor gave a speech:

“We are all gathered here for one reason, and for one reason only, to celebrate the founder of our beautiful town, which we wouldn’t have without him. Three hundred years ago, Henry Chassleton made a routine that has changed all of our lives, and we have so much to thank him for. But before I let you keep having fun, a special guest talked to me and said he wanted to give a few words. Please welcome, Michael Blunt!”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, I thought I scared him away! I couldn’t believe he hadn’t left.

Well, I wasn’t about to leave, so I decided to hear him out, maybe I had changed his mind.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

He started talking, and he said: “Citizens of Henry Chassleton, I believe that what I’m about to tell you will probably shock you. But it’s something you need to hear. There is more than one way of living, just because Henry Chassleton had a perfect day with this routine, doesn’t mean all of your days will be perfect because of this routine. Believe it or not, you can wake up at different hours, and think, what am I going to do today? And not know. It’s something I do, and something that a lot of people do. It’s good to be spontaneous, and not have everything exactly planned.”

Everyone was shocked, they all started booing him, and he left the stage. But the more that I saw this, the more I realized that it was true.

So, I left, and went to my house, and started following my own rules and routine.

I never got a chance to thank Michael Blunt, but I hope someday I will be able to.

Michael Blunt taught me a very valuable moral lesson, that I will never forget.

I will always remember May 14^th, but not because of Henry Chassleton, but because of Michael Blunt.