A Tale of Two Towns

Once there was a town called Misery. It was a town full of anger, strife, and heartache. The buildings leaned like drunken sailors, propped up against each other. Cries of anger, pain, and sadness filled the air. The people of this place were mean, petty, cruel, and vicious. They lived like pigs in their own filth. They were drunk most of the time and spitting mad the rest. It needs not to be said that the town had no visitors, for no one likes to dwell in Misery. Instead they would stay in places like Fortune and Fame and Success. 

Until one day, from who knows where, a stranger arrived in Misery, dressed in a bright red coat. The people of Misery all came out to stare, gawking from windows and doors. The children threw stones and the adults hurled insults at this new person in red. The stranger hurried past the crowd that was forming, into Misery’s only inn. The inn was dirty, dark, and dingy, because, of course, there were no visitors. You should have seen the inn-owners face when the stranger in red asked for a room. He handed over the key and with a look of dismay, he watched the stranger walk away, up the stairs and into a room that had never before seen any use.

Later on, the stranger left and went out to look about the town. Again the people mocked and jeered as the stranger ducked into a greasy restaurant. The cook stared from behind the counter as the stranger in the red coat sat down and ordered a meal. The cook served the stranger, then was called by a man at a nearby table, 

“This meat is too tough,” said the man. 

“And mine is stone-cold!” called a woman. 

“This isn’t what I ordered!” yelled another. 

The harried cook shook his fists and shouted at them, “If you don’t like it then leave!” And some people did just that. Soon, the stranger finished the meal and waved the cook over.

 “What is it now?” said the cook, “Was it too stringy, or dry or disgusting? Because too bad for you, we don’t offer refunds!” 

“No, no,” said the stranger, “It’s not that at all. The meal was delicious and I’d like to thank you.”

The cook’s mouth hung open as the stranger stood up and left. The figure in red went back to the inn and spent the night there. In the morning, the stranger left, headed for lands far abroad. But the cook remembered the compliment paid to him and tried to pass it on. When a woman outside his restaurant dropped the packages she was carrying, he went outside and helped her pick them up. 

The woman was shocked, no one had done something like that for her before, not in Misery. So she, in turn, helped her neighbor hang up her laundry. The neighbor was amazed, she had always thought that the woman hated her because of an old fight they had had long ago. 

Because of the love shown to her, the neighbor went and told her father, who she had not seen in years, that she loved him. The father broke down in tears and told his daughter that he loved her too. The father then went and apologized to his wife about an argument they had had. His wife forgave him and hugged him tightly. 

Then she went and helped the elderly widow next door to weed her garden. The widow felt loved for the first time in a long time. When she went out shopping that day, she told the teenage girl who rang up her purchases how pretty she was. That girl had just broken up with her boyfriend and was feeling worthless and ugly. No one had ever called her beautiful before, not in Misery. 

The next day the girl thanked her teacher as she left the class. The teacher was amazed, she had thought all of the students slept through her class. In fact, she had been considering quitting the job she loved because she felt that she was a bad teacher. 

Later, that teacher saw a little boy crying on the playground. She went and hugged him and held him while he cried. The boy’s mother had just died and he was so sad that it hurt. The hug reminded him that the world was not completely dark and made him begin to feel like he could be happy again. 

After school, the boy went home and played with his little sister, even though they usually argued and fought constantly. This made his father so happy that he took them out for a special dinner and complimented the cook on his food. 

From then on, love and happiness grew. People started to help each other and be kind and generous. People started to realize that they actually liked one another. They began to clean up the town and make it look nicer. Most of the buildings were rebuilt or repainted, and the ones that weren’t were torn down to make room for the new parks and playgrounds. People started to come together to celebrate and to have fun. The town gained a new life, and everyone was affected by it. They elected a mayor who was kind and fair, who renamed the town after what it had become.

Years later, a stranger wearing a tattered red coat traveled to a town called Joy. The stranger was greeted heartily, and welcomed into the large, bustling inn. The inn-keeper vaguely recognized the stranger, but thought nothing of it. Joy had many visitors these days. The stranger went to a restaurant nearby and ate a delicious meal. The stranger stayed at the inn for a night, then departed in the morning. The stranger looked back as he left, “I could have sworn that this was the town called Misery that I visited so long ago, but it can’t be. This town is called Joy.”