Fencing

A brief break in the exploration of the nature of reality to offer a simple story ....

Once upon a time, there was a man who loved fences. He loved the way they enclosed territory, kept people safe, kept other animals in ... he had a favourite joke: Q. which ministry looks after the safety of our nation? A. The ministry of de-fence! How he laughed. Not really noticing that for all the money he paid in taxes for this ministry to defend the nation, they seemed to spend an awful lot on attacking other countries. Never mind, he wasn't really politically minded and was quite busy building up his fencing business, which became very successful. He was wealthy, had a yard full of fences of all kinds. Life was sweet.

Then life turned sour, as it sometimes does. He developed a nasty disease possibly as a result of chemicals he used on his fences. He smoked cigarettes too. Put on a lot of weight. His resilient body started to complain. Then, just as the consequences of his lifestyle were leading to a cocktail of drugs trying to keep on top of the symptoms a mysterious virus arrived, throwing the whole world into panic (with a few exceptions) and the fence man saw the very real danger of something he had never before considered. Death.

His mind focused on this dreadful reality and changed as he saw the futility of his love of fences, the uselessness of all his money and the awful idea that he may have led a life without meaning.

He resolved there and then to clear the decks, simplify his life, do good deeds and give away all the fences in his yard. And the fence around the yard. His revelation was that all fences were fundamentally a limitation on freedom, their functionality notwithstanding. They had to go.

He advertised widely: free fences, all in good condition, everything must go!

Unlike most free things, this seemed genuine enough and many people phoned asking for a fence.
And could he deliver one, please?

Sorry, he replied, it's not possible, I'm self-isolating. Anyway, that's not how you get free fences.

I can only offer a fence, but it's not really a fence unless you take it.

The End.