Once upon a time, there were two men who were seriously ill who occupied the same room in a hospital. One man was allowed to sit up against his bed for a few hours every day to help drain fluid from his lungs while the other was forced to lie flat on his back all day. The two men quickly became acquainted to each other and soon became good friends.

They spent most of their waking hours talking to each other. They spoke of their wives and about how they loved them, of their children and how it felt when they first said, “papa”, of their hometowns, of food, of their vacations, of their jobs, and of their likes and dislikes. And every day, the man who could sit beside the window would describe the happenings of the outside world to his friend. The other man soon began to live for these periods of time when his world wasn’t just limited to his room, but to the outside as well, and his life would be broadened and enlivened as he imagined everything his friend said in his mind’s eye. His friend said that the window overlooked a beautiful sparkling lake surrounded by lush greenery, and every day he could see majestic white swans and lovely yellow ducks frolicking on the water’s surface. He also talked about the little children playing in the water and sailing their splendid toy boats. There were families walking together on a bright orange stone path around the lake amidst flowers of every colour of the rainbow. Grand old trees decorated the landscape further, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the horizon.

One day, the man by the window described a parade passing by in the distance. There were magnificent floats accompanied by exotic dancers from other countries. Big balloons, yellow and red, covered the sky. People lined the streets to watch the parade as the police formed a perimeter to ensure the event went smoothly. Although the other man couldn’t hear all the commotion, he could feel himself watching the parade as his friend cleverly used descriptive words to portray the outside.

Suddenly, and briefly, a foreign idea appeared in his mind: “Why should he get to enjoy everything while I never get to see anything at all? It’s not fair.”

He fearfully pushed it aside as quickly as it was conceived. He felt ashamed of himself for having such thoughts about his good friend. However, the feeling of jealousy ate at the back of his mind as his friend continued to describe the world outside to him and eventually he began to resent not being able to see the outside for himself. He became sour and grumpy, and he began to brood about it, and he couldn’t sleep. “I should be the one at the window”. He kept thinking about it and eventually the thought took control of his life.

Late one night while he was staring at the ceiling, the man by the window started to cough and sputter. He was choking on the liquid in his lungs. The other man watched silently as his friend struggled to press the button to call the nurses in the dimly lit room. He could have easily pressed his own button to call for help, but he didn’t. The choking sounds continued for a few more minutes before it stopped altogether. He could see his friend slumped down sideways towards the button, head hanging low, motionless; lifeless. The atmosphere was deathly silent and tense.

The next morning, the nurses arrived on schedule to carry out their routine check-ups when they found the man by the window dead in his bed with liquid dripping out of his mouth. They were deeply saddened by his death because he was a good story teller and shared with them many stories before. They bustled in and out of the room for a while before the man by the window was taken out of the room.

As soon as he felt like enough time had passed and seemed appropriate, the other man requested to be shifted next to the window, the same spot where his friend once was. The nurses were happy to comply and after making sure he was comfortable enough in his bed, they left him alone.

Slowly and painfully, he propped himself up on his elbows. His heart started beating faster as he became excited to finally be able to look outside with his own eyes. His arm shivered as it supported his body weight. He turned his head to look out of the window.

The window faced a blank wall of another building. There were no lakes, no swans, no ducks, no children, no families, no trees, and no parades. It was just a blank, grey, dull wall. At that moment, his arms gave way and he fell down on his bed again. He started sobbing. Some nurses were alerted by the noise and entered the room, only to find him covering his face with his hands and whimpering. They were puzzled. They could only hear him say, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” repeatedly.

He passed away that night.

Written by,

Terence