A Short Story: Fallacy
The coffee cafeteria was a quaint, quite place at the time of this year. It was
situated among tacky, mediocre retail shops where strangely attracted more people’s attention most of the time. The narrow street in front of it was packed with people during rush hours, but soon afterwards detached from noise, as if nothing had ever happened.
I was told the owner of the cafeteria was a retired professor from school, andthe cafeteria was named by frequenters as the hub of language and culture center in this city. I decided to go there for a look. My life was in a messy state
now:Just ended up an unsuccessful relationship, got lost and disillusioned by the futile life, attempted to have a new start but felt being drawn back by the environs where elites were wanting.
It was a toneless evening. I rode back to the dormitory. My roommate was talking
with another two girls about earrings. One said she had her ear pierced years before and it wasn’t hurt at all and she wanted to buy a new pair of earrings from the new retail shop at the back door of the dormitory. My roommate conceded to go with the girl and also to check out if there was the type of lipstick she desired to buy. Most of her friends had it.
I went to my desk and put my books on the bookshelf sheepishly. I was conscious
of myself not being in the swim. I could never understand what the latest fashion was for clothing, shoes, makeup, or whatever. The hurricane of fashion swept
over the whole school hall but spared me aside resolutely. I got the hang of being ignorant of it, but sometimes I felt out of place and awkward when they asked me purposefully what to wear with a half-joking but still malicious look.
I decided to get a fresh air in the cafeteria. Moments I had desired to drop behind all and swooshed to places that I had never seen. There I could feel at ease
by being nobody and nothing. There would be more underlying understanding. I would be more relaxed to be me without getting attacked. I eyed for tolerance and
openness toward differences. For how could I struggle along only for something,
which should have been the most natural thing over this world? All that I wanted
was, when there was difference, a moderate level of indifference after all.
It was twenty RMB before I could step onto the second floor, which said to be the hub of culture and language communication. With expectation I tiptoed onto the
floor so as not to disturb the quietness of the cafeteria. There were six or seven people already, who, like me, wore an expectant look for the coming event. The poster outside of the cafeteria said the professor would give a lecture tonight.
I looked up around the floor and found this was by no means coffee cafeteria in
a normal sense. In the cabinets there were quite a few quaint looking antiques with price tag by their side. I was wondering aimlessly when the professor appeared, huffing and puffing along the way. Throwing himself onto the lumpy sofa, he
started to complain about the dilemma of running the cafeteria. We listened to
him with awe.
He said it was just a minute ago there was a guy who run into the cafeteria with
no intention to pay the entrance fee. The guy’s excuse was he didn’t buy anything here but only wanted to sit and rest for a while. But, the professor said that, his face swollen due to excitement and anger, the entrance fee was only marginal, and if anyone all wanted to come into for a free rest at the table, the
name of cafeteria should be replaced with voluntary refuge. I am not a philanthropist once and for all, he puffing voice permeated in the air.
I couldn’t remember what he said afterwards, not even his lecture. I was alarmed by what happened earlier on which wholly dissipated my excitement and expectation. Sitting there, I was thinking this was only but a secular place. The only difference was that the professor somehow had managed to run it in the name of culture and language communication, which sounded noble and respectable but as debasing as ever in its real sense. Maybe for this and for all there was no nobleness after all...