Sanity?

As Anarchy faded, the passengers prepared for a long journey, and the representative looked out with Tesuke towards the future. “How can you live out here, on the water?”

“This is my island,” said Tesuke. I find those like you; people whose islands are dangerous, where the rules are broken and the world does not make sense. My catamaran has simple rules, and they do not change.” Confused and tired, the representative rejoined his people.

Later that day Tesuke spotted another island and guided his catamaran towards it. The island looked gentler than Anarchy, and seemed to be entirely soft hills of grass and flowers, with wooded glades in the valleys where the hillsides met. On shore were just a few people dressed in light robes and sandals, and, upon seeing the catamaran they began to wave and call for help. Tesuke was already heading towards them, and the group onboard worried about what this island would be like.

“Thank you!” the newcomers said as soon as they had settled onboard. “We cannot stay here any longer, it is driving us insane.”

Curious, the representative asked “We too left our island; what happened here that made you leave?”

“Oh,” a newcomer said, “Nothing happened. Nothing ever happened. The rules here never change, and the island forbids progress. We are all safe and have all the natural pleasures of the world, but we have no real choices.”

To the representative’s surprise, over half of his people began to talk about staying. “But why?” cried the representative. “We left our home because we didn’t have a choice!” “No,” said his people. “We left because we didn’t feel safe. Now we choose to feel safe.” Half of them decided to get off the boat.

Tesuke was familiar with what was happening, but the representative was lost. As Tesuke pushed off the sandy beach with his long oar and let the wind take the catamaran away, one of the people wandering ashore turned and called out, “What’s this island named?” to which a newcomer yelled back, “It’s known as The Land of the Lotus Eaters!”

For a while no one spoke, but eventually one of the newcomers stood and asked Tesuke, “Where are you taking us?” Nearby, the representative sat, listening. “To Anarchy,” said Tesuke, “It’s the only way to get to the many islands beyond.”