All Mask, No Face: Chapter 1 – Blinded by the Light

Chapter 1 – Blinded by the Light

Since yesterday, Dario has been wary about every door he goes through. He expects that each door could be the one taking him to the theatre, and yet none of them do. He tries to relax and keep his focus on his work at the charity so he doesn’t mess up. However, after he walks through a doorless doorway, he finds himself in the theatre and is immediately caught off guard.

I appear in front of him in a firework and say, “Good afternoon, Dario! How are you doing?”

“Fine that I’m finally here. I was in suspense all day wondering what door would bring me here,” Dario says.

“You don’t need to go through a door to get here. I can bring you here if you were on a plane, in the ocean, in a fight, or simply lying on your bed.”

“Really? Since we’re on the topic, what happens outside the theatre when I’m in here?”

“Absolutely nothing. This place is outside of time, and as such, you can spend years here, and not a second would pass in the normal reality.”

“That’s…impossibly amazing.”

“Anything is possible for me. I am the Stage Master and all of reality is my stage. As for you, you will be helping a man named Carlo on his stage. He has the issue of being too positive. It’s clouded his conscience as he only cares about being happy and directing others to do the same.”

“I see. Will you be with me while I try to convince him to change?”

“I’ll be with you in spirit and helping you to say what you need to. Other than that, it’s all you.”

“Okay. I think I got this.”

“I know you do. Now, let me show you to Carlo’s stage.”

Dario is lifted into the air by the invisible force of my power and flies through the many halls of the theatre until we reach Carlo’s stage. He laughs and mentions how fun that was and then enters the room. In it, blinding lights that mostly consist of shades of yellow and gold immediately come on.

“Could you turn down the brightness?” Dario asks.

“Haha, can’t do that. Carlo wants them to be as bright as possible. Who doesn’t want their life to be bright all the time anyway?” the mischievous lighting technician says.

With his eyes squinted and hands giving him some shade, Dario makes his way through the blinding light until he sees Carlo who is sitting on a beach looking out at the horizon. His real body is barely there as he only has his half torso that wears golden chains and a light blue shirt and lacks arms and legs while every other part of his body is comprised of various shades of blue strings. Half of his face shows his brown eyes and blonde air and the other has his mask that has banana-like pieces of hair coming out of his head, crescent eyes, eyebrows, and nose, and a smile showing his golden teeth that stretch his face so much that it threatens to tear his face.

“Carlo?” Dario asks.

“Hello there! Are you here to bask in this wonderful day with me? What’s your name boy?” Carlo asks.

“Kind of. My name is Dario and I’m here to help you change your life.”

“Ah, a coworker in the same profession. Thank you for offering, but I’m fine as I am. I see joy and happiness in my everyday life even if things go wrong during them.”

“That’s the problem right there. You’re viewing it a bit too positively.”

One of the lights breaks, causing a dark spot in Carlo’s bright day.

“What do you mean, Dario? There’s no such thing as being too positive.”

“There can be when it blinds you to everything else in your life.”

“Explain more and look at this.” The beach scene changes to show Carlo’s many talks to the positivity groups he manages. “These are the many groups I manage where I spread messages of positivity and happy living. What’s so wrong about this?”

“You’re focusing on being happy and treating it as the goal of your life when you shouldn’t.”

Another light breaks and the scene changes, this time showing Carlo breaking off family connections, quitting jobs, and begging his followers for money.

“Of course, I had to do these things. They kept me from being happy. Again, what’s wrong with this?”

“Can’t you see the answer? You broke your family’s heart and are leaning on your followers so you don’t have to work a job to support yourself. You’re making others miserable so you can be happy.”

“Those people deserved it because they kept me from doing what I wanted just like you are now. You don’t help people by making them feel miserable.”

“What’s making you feel miserable is your conscience, your guilt. That feeling of misery will help you confess that what you’re doing is wrong and live a better life.”

“But…but if I stop what I’m doing, then the people who follow me will think I’m a phony, stop paying me to give lessons, and go back to being sad.”

“Then you should help each other after confessing. Don’t be afraid of the consequences of your actions. It’s better to be true than to lie to yourself every day. I’m sure your followers will understand.”

“No…I don’t think they will.”

Two more lights break and the scene changes this time to show Carlo helping a woman who can’t find anything in life that makes her happy.

“Please, no,” Carlo says while looking away from the scene.

“I don’t know what to do,” the woman said. “Nothing makes me happy. I’ve tried gambling, sports, traveling, focusing on work, hanging out with family and friends, none of it makes me happy.”

With a grim look on his face, Carlo said, “I don’t know what to tell you. If I couldn’t find anything happy to live for, then I’d stop living.”

“I didn’t mean to say it that way!”

“But it’s what you felt,” Dario says. “It’s what you believe, that if you’re not happy every day of your life, then you shouldn’t keep living.”

More lights break until the room is in complete darkness except for one light that shows a news report about the same woman Carlo was talking to killing herself.

“I’m sorry…” Carlo says as he starts to cry. Every light in the room turns on again and points itself at Carlo. “I have to keep being happy and making them feel that way so no one ends up like her.”

“No, someone will end up like her if you do. She killed herself because she couldn’t be happy, so you need to tell people that there’s more to life than happiness.”

“What? If we don’t live to make ourselves and others happy, then what’s there to live for?”

“We can live to improve the lives of others and ourselves through hard work and determination. I work at a charity where I do nothing but run around helping the sick, hungry, and needy. It’s backbreaking and intense work. Not everyone I help becomes happy, but they are thankful and are able to continue living.”

“But life is full of so much pain and misery. Sometimes I just want it to end so I never feel the harshness of it again.”

“Life can make you feel that way. Even though I’m not happy every day and sometimes miserable for one reason or another, I find peace knowing that I did the right thing for the day, that someone was helped by my actions, and hope to do more and better the next day.”

“Yeah…yeah, you’re right, kid. Do you think I can do the same as you?”

Dario walks over to Carlo and hugs him.

“I think you can.” The darkness lights up and reveals all the people that Carlo made happy.  “Remember that you made dozens of people happy. You’re an inspiration to them. You just need to orient them in the right direction, and if they leave you or you mess up, then pick yourself up and try better next time. That’s all you have to do.”

“Right. You’re right! Thank you so much, Dario. Maybe we can collaborate on a project together to help others. What do you say?”

“I’d like that.”

Carlo and Dario shake hands. In the blink of an eye, Dario finds himself back at the charity. After work, he looks up Carlo online and messages him to follow up on what Carlo offered. Even though Carlo hardly remembers Dario, he accepts and they arrange to meet each other one day to plan their collaboration, a day that Dario happily looks forward to.