A Man Split in Two
One Man, two lives: which is better?
Thomas Janus was walking down the street and noticed his shadow. He smiled as he entertained a playful childhood memory.
Suddenly a short man with ginger curls bumped into him.
“Hey!” Thomas said.
The short man looked at him, smiled, and clicked his fingers. He then ran away, chuckling.
Thomas shrugged and went home.
Thomas 1
Thomas woke up with a splitting headache. The alarm next to his bed beeped loud. He bashed it with his fist. He cried out when he felt the pain, swore, then got out of bed.
The bus was busy on his journey to work in town, and he scowled at everyone, taking a seat when he could, and avoided looking at the elderly man who stood next to him.
The café he worked at was loud and almost full, and he was dealing with a particularly long queue at the counter. Relieved when he got to the last one, he lifted the covering of some cakes too quickly, bashing the cover of the ones behind as they collided and broke the glass cases. He scowled, keeping his rage and despair inward so he would at least still be a bit professional. The rest of the staff and some of the customers tried to make light of the situation, but he remained distraught.
“You can go home if you like,” said the chef.
He nodded and left.
In the bus station, he was filled with the thoughts of the day and thought it couldn’t get worse. Nearby he saw there was an old man who was talking to himself and fidgeting, and Thomas worried that he would talk to him. He was vaguely familiar, but Thomas was too annoyed to think more about it. It also didn’t help that the bus was cancelled.
Waiting half an hour longer, he finally got on the bus and went home.
After watching TV and doing some reading, Thomas walked to the shop.
But he never got there, because he was hit by a car.
His thoughts, while he lay in the road, throbbing with pain, was that this was a really bad day.
Thomas A
Thomas woke up with a splitting headache. The alarm next to his bed beeped loud. He smiled to himself and felt happy to think of what the day had in store. Energised, he got out of bed.
The bus was busy on his journey to work in town, and he felt warm to spend his time with so many people. He was even pleased to see people he recognised from other journeys. He was further elevated when he had the opportunity to give his seat up for an elderly person.
The café he worked at was loud and almost full, and he was dealing with a particularly long queue at the counter. Relieved when he got to the last one, he lifted the covering of some cakes too quickly, bashing the cover of the ones behind as they collided and broke the glass. He was worried, and very upset, but appreciated the fact the customers and the staff were trying to make him feel better by making light of the situation.
“You can go home if you like,” said the chef.
He decided to stay to the end but worried about the damage.
“They’re just cakes,” said the manager.
Thomas was relieved and endured the rest of the work shift then it was time to go.
At the bus station, Thomas noticed that his bus was cancelled. He also noticed an old man he was aware of from travelling before, who was talking to himself and shaking. Realising the man may be late to where he usually goes every week, Thomas offered to pay the man a taxi.
“No thank you, but thanks for the kindness mate,” he said and gave him a can to drink.
“That was a nice thing you did there,” said a woman named Mary, and they went back on the same bus, where he listened to the sad stories of her losses and felt he’d made a new friend.
After watching TV and doing some reading, Thomas walked to the shop.
But he never got there, because he was hit by a car.
His thoughts, while he lay in the road, throbbing with pain, was that this was a bad day.
Thomas 1 and Thomas A
Thomas stared at his reflection. Well, what he thought was his reflection, which was actually a doorway, and standing in it, was himself.
“What the hell!” said Thomas.
“Who are you?” said Thomas.
“I’m Thomas Janus.”
“So am I!”
There was laughter from a small man with ginger curls who stepped into the room.
“What’s going on?” asked the Thomas’s.
“Well, I decided to create a parallel world with the click of my fingers. Because I was bored. And I wanted to test and experiment. Thomas 1, the one on the left, wait there.”
And the doorway vanished, and it became a screen, showing the day Thomas A had.
“And what do you think?” asked the small man after the film had ended.
“That he had a better life than me.”
“But you had the same life. Same person, same day.” The ginger man gave a slight curl of a smile.
“Yes, but somehow…it was better.”
The screen then vanished, and Thomas A was standing in the doorway.
“I showed Thomas A the same.” said the ginger man, “What do you feel of Thomas 1?”
“I…I felt sorry for him.”
Thomas 1 nodded. “Am I in hell?”
“No.” said the small man, laughing, “Just in my realm of experiments. Seeing how different internal reactions, different choices can affect the same person. You two will now wake up in your hospital bed with a faded memory of a dream, in two new realities. “
“And what are you?” asked Thomas 1.
“Oh, just a scientific fairy.”
“A what?” asked the Thomas’s.
“Now split,” said the fairy, and snapped his fingers.
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way…between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”
-Viktor Frankl
