Life's Calling

It was Friday and life was calling.

I arrived at work with a skip in my step today. There was an echo in the air. Life was calling and I could hear it, everyone could. We all arrived with a skip in our step today.

There was lots to be done, as usual. Ordinarily we’re all very serious about it, but today that echo of life’s call was bouncing around the room. The echo would crash into people and crack the mask that they had put on all week. You know, the mask that people wear enabling them to treat utterly boring and pointless tasks with absolute importance. As the masks cracked, the serious people began to smile. Every now and then, they even threw out the odd joke.

By about two in the afternoon, the masks were off. They had been smashed to pieces and voluntarily discarded. There were smiles all around. People had broken the chains tying them to their desks. They idled around the coffee station, chatting. Just chatting. Not about anything that would be considered important, not in an office situation anyway. They were chatting about things that made life worth it. About things they liked, stories they found funny and memories they held dear.

Another hour and a half passed. Idle chat had now turned into laughter and jokes. People were animated around the office. A group of colleagues were in a gaggle around a bit of rope, inventing a game of sorts. Those that did sit at their desks were sat back, feet up. A lucky few left early. People became people. Life was calling to us and we were only too eager to heed its call.

I joined in of course. In fact, I was one of the early adopters. I made jokes, talked about weekend plans and hobbies. I investigated the odd game that was evolving around the bit of rope. It seemed pretty fun actually. Who knows, maybe it’ll become the next big national past time. At the end of the day, there were important tasks left stewing, unfinished. We didn’t care, life was calling and we were answering.