It was 5 O'clock in the afternoon. The day was sunny, a perfect one; you could argue. The weather was just right, about seventy degrees, no clouds in the sky, and a light breeze. Time stood still; it, like the trees, was unaffected by the slow passing wind. The grass and telephone lines around the city weren’t affected as well; or the occasional flag hung outside a patriots house... nothing moved. No birds were out,  or at least they didn’t dare move and break the stillness and silence of the scene. Hundreds of small flowers filled the grass, their smell was evident in the area, though they didn’t dare shake in the wind, only their scent, which is invisible to eyes. Everything was clear, no matter what dirty window or scratched lens you saw the world from, it was clear and beautiful. Beautiful and troubled, perhaps, it’s not very often you get a day with such stillness and tranquility. Everything appeared to be fine on the outside, but troubled on the inside? Impossible! There was a contented feeling with the setting—something about the motionless and perfect afternoon that let the world know everything was going to be okay—that seemed to last forever. No cars passed, and no one was outside at the time; and if someone didn’t know better, they might think they were the last person on Earth.

“What’s the matter?” Anthony says as he takes a long draw from his cigarette.
“Bad times...” Ross answered, with the look of repulsion on his face.
“What?” he says to Ross.
“Put that thing down, it’ll kill you, Tony,” he exclaims with an even more look of utter disgust on his face, “plus I don’t wanna be around that, you know as well as anyone I’m the clingy type… and if I stay around that....”
“Yea, that might be true, but that also might be the point. I don’t wanna live till I’m fifty!” Anthony says, interrupting Ross as he takes another draw.
“What a wonderful life you've had for yourself already. You’re only 19, you've already raised a beautiful family. What do you want to be when you grow up?” Anthony starts to sing.
“Shut up, Tony, I’m not in the mood,” Ross says to him.
“So… Times are bad?” Anthony says, trying to make a conversation before silence sets in.
“Yeah, times are bad… The pizzeria downtown... I lost my job there. I had to take care of my mom yesterday… she’s ill; and I had to watch my little sister, what else was I suppose to do?!” he shouts.
Anthony doesn’t reply.
“Let’s go for a walk, I need to clear my mind,” Ross says.
When they entered outside, the scene was not broken, yet remained perfectly still, as if the world revolved around them.
“Yea, I lost my job and rent is due next week, look’s like it’ll be rent or food again,” he says with a long sigh.
Anthony lights another cigarette, Ross thinks to smack it to the ground for a second, but the scent releases his nerves.
Anthony starts to speak, “I feel for you, work’s not getting any easier in the plumbing business either... Seems like every week more and more people break their faucets, or worse their toilets; they can’t get their s*** together. Being a college dropout is no eas-”
“How much do you make?” Ross interrupts suddenly.
“Around 25 dollars… After the bills and food it’s not much. There’s competition too, big competition, competition that can run me out of business. Then what will I be stuck doing? Working at a minimum wage job.”
Ross doesn’t reply, something on his mind is eating his attention.
“...But if minimum wage got a raise, then flipping burgers might not be such a hell! That won’t happen though, the government wouldn’t dare think about raising it any time soon, and if they do, so what? Those corporate bastards won’t give their billions away without a fight,” Anthony says.
Ross grows a smile, and eventually starts to laugh, “You never were the patriotic type, huh Tony?”
“Well, I don’t know too much about politics… but I know I had the right to stay seated when the pledge came on. I also know what the government lets by, they don’t see anything; it’s like their eyes are all sleep deprived or something,” he replies.
“So… Why did you stand up?” he says, trying to keep the conversation going before silence sets in, to Ross, stealing him away from his own thoughts.
Ross stops walking; Anthony’s cigarette goes out, he tosses it to the ground and steps on it.
“I know everything’s going to s***,” Ross suddenly says, “it has been for a while now, but damnit Tony, you could’ve had some respect! I don’t believe or trust everything the government throws at us, but that flag… well, it’s something more than that.”
Tony doesn’t reply. They start walking again.
“I might need one of your cigarettes, Tony” Ross says to try to relieve the situation.
Anthony pulls his cigarette cart from his pocket quickly, and gestures for him to grab one, they both stop walking. Ross looks down at the nearly empty cart and smacks it out of his hand. Ross walks away while stepping on the cart. Anthony bends down to recover the damaged cart. He tries to heal the punctured cigarettes left in the cart.
“These will never be right…” he says, “These will never be right!”.
He throws the cart back down on the cement, and crushes it until the cart looks empty. Anthony starts to run, finally catching up with Ross, “Ross!” he exclaims with joy.
Ross see’s the smile on Anthony’s face; a face that is no stranger to disappointment and anger, yet is still so content and cool despite difficult circumstances.
“What?” Ross says, starting to grow a smile.
“Well… I had a choice back there, a choice of picking the cigarettes up, and smoking each one of them until there’s nothing left; but then I realized I was on my knees trying to fix broken cigarettes. What a mess I must’ve looked like!  Or the other option, to leave them there! I thought to myself ‘These will never be right!’, and then I thought, ‘I’m leaving these here, and I’m gonna stop smoking!’. That’s what I thought; life can be easy!” he answers.
Ross, now gleaming with joy as well, replies to Anthony, believing in every word he had just said, “Tony, that’s great! To quit smoking is a hell of a statement; I mean, that’s giving up something you love in the name of progress. That’s no easy task, but this is a damned good start!”
Ross’ eyes start to glow, maybe due to the sun, but it appeared that something was radiating from within him, “Yea… I like that; ‘Life can be easy’... I’m gonna go to the pizzeria and ask for my job back, tell them no more excuses, my mom might be sick, but she’ll be fine! And my little sister, I’m sure she’ll be on her best behavior for her. And you know what? If they don’t give me my job back, I hear the skating rink just a few blocks down is hiring! Yea, I like this ‘Life can be easy’ thing it’s simple; not every day you have an epiphany like that! ...I’m also gonna start being more content with what I do have. I might not be rich, I might not be a person of many possessions,  but what will I do with those objects in forty years? Besides, who wants to live to be fifty, right? ...And if I’m happy then damnit that’s all that matters! I’ll start getting to bed earlier too, yea, 9 O'clock, that’ll be the hour. I’ll be getting around 8 hours of sleep; that’s the amount you’re suppose to get. Man, how that’s gonna feel… I haven’t slept that long in, in… I don’t know how long! I’ve been so sleep deprived... I’ve probably stunted my growth because of it. You wait and see, I’ll get to bed tonight at 9 O'clock on the dot, and I’ll wake up tomorrow and be seven feet tall!”
“Let’s hope for the best.”