When the fog lifts, don’t run yet

It is winter, wet and cold. Night is almost over and on the horizon you can see a diffuse light. A dense fog hangs over the fields so you have little visibility. Dawn is about to break, but you don’t know where you are or what is going on around you. At last it is here.

But you are not standing in a field of flowers or cows. You are standing at a busy intersection in a megacity. The billboards scream at you. All those bright lights obscure your view of the dirty alleys. The honking prevents you from hearing the gentle cries of the poor. The big city.

Where should you go? Can you believe those advertisements? Wait a moment. The fog is gone. Right? Or is it? Is the night actually over? Is this really a new day? Then what has changed, because that advertising and noise is still the same. Has that fog even lifted? Or does it just seem that way?

You stand still and think

You can’t concentrate here so you take a cab, out of the center to a quiet park. Where were you yesterday? Yes, in this same city. Then it was also winter. Now it’s still winter. And cold and wet. Did you dream it then? Did you think something had really changed?

But of course, they put up different billboards. That’s why it looked different anyway. The noise was still the same, though. The headlines didn’t actually change either. Why do you think anything changed? Did you hope so? You thought a new day, new opportunities? Today?

What was in the newspaper? Oh yes, people had been killed again in the West Bank. Violence is going on again in the Congo. Trump says he’s going to save the world. Russia is to blame for everything. You can win a few million in the lottery. Soon there will be sex dolls with AI.

There was also an Internet site with alternative news. We are all going to the fifth dimension soon. Don’t ask what or when exactly that is. Trump is going to save the world. Hollywood is a gathering place for pedophiles. The Earth is flat and hollow at the same time. Click here for alternative products.

You wake up and stretch

What an extraordinary dream. The world seemed changed, but you dreamed it. Yet something has changed. You have changed. The dream has given you insight. The world doesn’t change so fast. The commercials do, but the noise doesn’t. Tomorrow it will still be the same. Or maybe a little bit different.

You are fortunately not disappointed. Right? When you expect a lot you do have a problem. You changed a little bit last night. Because of that dream. What do you think all those other people are doing? Running faster than you? Just enjoy all those nights ahead, it’s wonderful to dream.

What are you going to do? Will you go back downtown or stay in the park for a while? Will you visit the billboards again and watch them change? Do you fancy the noise or do you like the silence and the singing of some free birds? Yes, you want to stay informed. Maybe something is changing.

It’s getting evening and cooler. Darkness falls in. Bedtime. Up early again tomorrow. There must be fog again. You pull the sheets and blankets over you. You can. You go to sleep thinking, “What is real life anyway?” Before you fall asleep you pray for all the people who have it worse than you. You change. Fog.

By Nico Cost for GlobalSouth.co