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It was a beautiful metropolis. Everyone worked in their place, and it flowed more smoothly than a well-oiled machine. But one man was unhappy. There lived in New York a man named Tom. Tom worked in an office in a big building downtown. Tom did the same paperwork every day. And every once in a while, Tom would stare out the window of his 49th floor office at the city and imagine that it was some giant concrete jungle that he could explore and he would become sad. "Oh, how I wish I could go on real adventures in the jungle instead of being stuck in this office." And sometimes his boss would overhear him saying these things, and he would reply by saying, "Tom, this city is a well-oiled machine. If just one cog falls out of its place, the whole machine could break down." His boss was a fat, bald, stern man named Henry. When Henry said things like that, it made Tom angry. But then Tom remembered that Henry was just doing what he thought was best. Tom didn't like all this well-oiled machinery. He wanted to run on his own. "Tony" He said. Tony was Tom's friend who worked next to him. "I don't want to work in this big building, with all this paperwork, in this fancy business suit. I want to do something else." "Gee, Tom," Tony would say. "I don't think that's such a good idea. What would happen to our nice well-oiled machine here?" "There's gotta be something else out there, Tony." "Well, okay. Just make sure to be careful, whatever you do." "Thanks." Tom went home that day from work with a lot on his mind. He got home and kissed his wife, Theresa on the cheek. "How was your day at work today, honey?" "Well, it was the same as it was every day." "That's nice, dear." Tom was even tired of listening to his wife ask him how his day was every single day. Every day it was the same thing. Over dinner, he decided to inquire to his wife about his current state of mind. Maybe she would understand. "How's the pot roast, Tom?" She inquired. "Dear, I don't think i want to work in the city anymore. I want to quit my job." "Remember Miss Tanya from the social club? It's her recipe." "Where you listening to me, Theresa?" "What is it, Tom?" "I want to quit my job." "Oh, Tom, don't be ridiculous. You're part of a well-oiled machine. If you left, that city would absolutely crumble. They need you, dear." Theresa said, trying to encourage her husband. "But I don't want to work there anymore." "Sometimes, Tom, we have to do things that we don't really want to. Besides, what would you do?" Tom went to bed that night very uneasily. Tom was sad. No one seemed to share his point of view. Tom couldn't sleep. He tossed and turned. His eyes, red and drowsy, would not stay closed. Tom decided to take a walk through his neighborhood. Perhaps the night air would clear his head. Tom felt much better after that.
The next morning, Henry walked up to Tony's desk with a nervous look on his face. "Tony!" "Yes, boss?" "Where is Tom?" "I don't know, sir." "Did he come in this morning?" "I didn't see him come in." "Oh, no. This is a disaster! He didn't come in this morning! The marketing department can't work without his paperwork!" "Uh... What should I do, sir?" "Tell me if you see him come in." "Yes, sir." A few miles outside of the City, Tom gaily drove his sedan through the countryside. "What a beautiful drive this is." he told himself. Then he decided that he would drive and visit a lake. The weather is so beautiful out here. I couldn't imagine myself being locked up in that stuffy office.
Meanwhile, back at work, Henry was trying frantically to hold the business together. The workplace had gotten rather chaotic given Tom's absence. Tom, who was supposed to call a repairman at work, neglected to remember that there was a loose water pipe that burst in the payroll department. The water from the burst pipe caused much damage. "Mr. Henry!!" Tony yelled loudly over a speaker phone. "What is it, Tony!?" "The middle of the 48th floor just caved in!!" "NO!!!" "Sir, we've got an emergency in the accounting department on the 47th floor!" "What now?" The water from the pipe had gotten all over the computers in the accounting department and had caused several accountants to become electrocuted. People were running all over the office, yelling and screaming. People were getting hurt, and were bleeding. Executives fearing for their lives began leaping from 38th floor windows. Walls fell over, pushing hundreds of cubicles on top of each other dangerously sandwiching hundreds of people in piles of rubbish. Outside, there were construction workers who were trying to hang a giant sign on the side of the building with a crane. The crane operator was about to set the sign on the ground to get some leverage, when a horde of people came rushing madly out the door in a mob. He swung the giant crane to avoid dropping the giant sign on top of them. In swinging the crane, though, he crashed it into the side of the thin skyscraper. The building began to quake and quiver. In a matter of minutes, the building was crashing over sideways. The building crashed into another starting a gigantic domino effect which knocked over several buildings throughout New York City. Sitting beneath a tree, by the side of a lake, somewhere in the countryside, Tom lay with his hands folded behind his head, soaking up the sunshine. "This is the life..." he mused to himself. "I guess it pays to follow my mind. I never wanted to be part of that well-oiled machine, anyway."
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