Don't Be Too Happy
1402 Words
Thursday, 23rd February 2017 0630hrs
I woke up early that morning and I awoke with a start since I find myself lying down on a soft cushy mattress and thought that I was still dreaming!
I discovered that it was not a dream and I went to the washroom to wash up as I thought about the dream I had when I chatted with Sue to find out more things about the system and I stumbled upon something which I could take the most advantage of.
Since last night, discovering something in my semi-conscious state only gives me half of the satisfaction so I brought up my system panel as I was brushing my teeth and I tried to look for the international band names such as The Beatles© and discovered that it does not exist in this world!!!
WWHHAATT?!?!?!
“It was true after all!!! Hahahaha!!! I will surely dominate the world with all the songs that I knew since my childhood like Yellow River from Christie The Band. Watch out world!!! I am like a walking jukebox and I have tons of songs in my head that I could churn out as top quality songs!!!”
It was until Sue appeared once again in my head and interrupted my train of thoughts and my newfound joy.
“Don’t be too happy, Matthew! To achieve top quality songs, you need at least Advanced or Professional 5-star level! Even if you could attain 5 stars in Basic, your song quality, melody and rhythm would not be to the audience’s favour if your songs had the following stars and ranking:”
1 star – Very Poor
1.5 star – Poor
2 stars – Fair
2.5 stars – OK
3 stars – Good
3.5 stars - Very good
4 stars - Excellent
4.5 stars - Outstanding
5 stars – PERFECT!
“You could easily sell out a stadium concert arena of 65,000 attendees if your songs are ranked PERFECT with 5 stars and you could be considered as GODLY and believe me, by that time a lot of record companies and TV stations would like to sign you up for live broadcastings or pay-per-view through satellite channels!”
I listened to Sue narrating to me the rest of the wonders of making a song to become the top hits of the world and I wondered if I could do it since I have not even started acquiring any Skill Books at all!
Once I had done the washing up, I already gathered that what I was dreaming last night was true and I was talking in my sleep as some of the destitute around me had dark circles under their eyes and they all looked like China Pandas!
I chuckled to myself and took a hurried breakfast of toast and weak tea as I then took the broom and dustpan once more and cleared up the sleeping quarters and even found a dropped penny and I kept it. Who knows that penny would turned out to be a lucky coin!
Soon, I was riding the metro down to Russell Square Station and was heading to Tesco where I made a beeline behind the building to reach Skoob Books on 66 The Brunswick.
“Good day, young man. You’re off to an early start today. Welcome and come in, young fella. I didn’t introduce myself properly last night. My name is Edwards, Chris Edwards and I am the current owner of Skoob Books. Do you know why this is called Skoob Books? Look at the sign before you, could you see that Skoob spelt backwards is Books? Hahaha…!!! Gotcha, young man!”
The bespectacled Chris Edwards seemed rather jovial today and we began our formal introduction that day.
“My name’s Watkins, Matthew Watkins. Nice to be acquainted since last night we were a bit distracted on the books flying out form the bins. Yeah, hope today we would have a good start, eh?”
“That’s right, young man. Why don’t you go on ahead and sort the books out as usual? I hope you would find something that you like soon.”
“Thanks! Mr Edwards. I would hope to find a book that I require most from the pile. It may take time, and I do have the time in the world to do it even though its two hours per day!”
I replied as I went ahead and began to be on my elbows and knees as I dug through the pile like as if a beaver burrowing through the wooded areas to make a dam over a stream. But this is no stream and no easy feat since I have to start from the bottom and who would be the smart ass to climb on the top to start, am I right?
This time I did not toss the books into their respective bins but I arranged them on the floor first according to their genre while I keep a lookout for the self-help Skill Books that I was looking for.
After I had made a sizeable stack of books, I carried them to the bin and arranged them accordingly. This time the books did not jump out from the bins and return to the pile but remained in the bins happily like as if it knew that it had been treated with some dignity!
“Would you like to have a cuppa tea, young man?” Mr Edwards poked his head as he nodded approvingly at my work since I was able to fill up the bins accordingly by stacking them on the floor first. Even though it was the basement and ventilation was rather poor, but it beats working in a cold environment as beads of sweat began to appear on my forehead and dripped down the sides of my face like watery sunburns.
“Don’t mind if I do, Mr Edwards. I am bushed right now and I think I had cleared quite a bit. I wondered how many books you have here in this pile, Mr Edwards?”
I asked since I was curious about the number of books that were in this mountainous pile that seemed that none of his associates bothered to clear into the bins and then into the rows of bookshelves.
“Oh, we trade about 100,000 books per year and we buy all used books and grade them according to their outlook and appearance. Torn pages, broken spines and missing covers are a no-no and that means it would be used to fire up the heater furnace we have right under this basement. You see, these books make a good source of heat in this type of weather if they are found in such conditions.”
Then out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a spine with the gold trimmings that Sue was telling me about and I quickly dived to retrieve it, in case it doesn’t want to be discovered and decided to burrow itself deeper like a living thing!
I brushed the cover of the book and yes, it was a Skills Book after all. Basic Manipulation. What in the world is Basic Manipulation?
“Sue, what book is this? Is this book any good?” I asked and it took some time before Sue replied.
“Blimey! You got a rare book there, Matthew! Book of Manipulation is rarely found in such a store! It is a book more on influence and it has the psychology on persuasion skills. More like negotiations in a business deal. It is being used for those who are into business and marketing. It does not influence anything musically but it would give a good impact if you want to negotiate for a better deal in record signings or from tv stations!”
“Crikey! I’ve found a gem! Would it be alright if you hang on to this self-help Skills Book, Mr Matthews? I wondered how much it would cost me for this dusty old book.”
“Here, lad. Let me take a look at it.” Mr Matthews accepted the book I stretched out to him and then he scrutinised it.
“Frankly, lad. This book costs you……………..”
- Writer
