A Whole New World

You

Me

                                     Images inspired by and adapted from Mailbox App

I never did trust the Pied Piper. His reputation preceded him, but not everyone wanted to see him for who he really was. He was a charmer, perhaps a descendant of the cunning folk. So when he arrived in town touting his promises of a whole new world and new beginnings and how everything would be transformed in the blink of an eye - “like magic”, he promised - most of the townspeople fell for it. 

It did not take long for the townsfolk to split themselves into two groups, those in favour of and those opposed to the piper’s promises.

“Out with the old, make way for the new,” the Piper’s supporters chanted. 

“Don’t get carried away, you fools!” cried the cynics. “The grass is always greener on the other side.”

“Frogs in the well, that’s what you will all remain,” mocked the champions of the piper’s cause.

“Better than the shallow roots you lay everywhere,” the opponents quipped. 

And so on and so forth the two groups quarrelled. The aficionados sought to induct more townspeople into their clan. Whether by persuasion or coercion was irrelevant. What mattered was an increasing number of supporters of their cause. Change or be changed, was their motto. 

Lovers were torn apart, families were in shreds, friends turned their backs on each other on differences of opinion. Old relationships were ruined, in their place newer ones were forged and linked tenuously by communal interest. 

The day the Piper played his pipe, his followers sang in merry voices. Your was the loudest and the happiest. His music and your song led the way. By the light of the setting sun, the ardent crowd of devotees coursed through the town in a trance, leaving broken hearts and deserted houses in their trail. A whole new world and new beginnings awaited us on the other side of midnight, the Piper promised.

It was quite poignant, you know, the way you all danced through the town. Drums beating, hearts thumping, feet tapping, voices chanting. Like a carnival that was about to swoop up and drag all the joy and life and magic out of the town in its bacchanalian departure. 

The euphoria was infectious. Our resistance weakened. Some of us joined you out of curiosity, some to partake in the festivities. But mostly none of us wanted to be left behind to clean up the lonely confetti of memories the next morning. 

You waved out to me, whether in beckoning or farewell I could not tell. I shrugged my shoulders and said to myself, “So what if we can’t see eye to eye, you and I can still be together.” And I joined the cavalcade.

So now there’s you and me. 

But also everyone else in between.

Only the lame one tottered behind me.