it is who you are that counts

by fred flynn

night was beginning to fall when jennifer and eugene finally reached the campsite outside the tower. the campsite was not as big as they had expected, and the tower itself was not nearly as tall as they had expected. still, the tower was the only building of any height in sight, and stood out starkly in the fading light. it was not as lit up as jennifer and eugene had expected. in fact, only a single window, near the top, showed any light. jennifer and eugene took their packs off their backs and began to set up camp. an ordinary looking little man had a small tent set up a little to their right, and was sitting on the ground in front of it, and eugene, who was a friendly sort, went over and approached him. the little man looked up at eugene, with no expression on his face that eugene could read. eugene noticed a hand printed sign beside the man. it read: i had a flower in colorado and a friend in the sky above singapore what does that mean?, eugene asked. don’t mean nothing, said the man, it’s just who i am. oh, eugene answered politely. my name is eugene, he told the man, what is yours? rutherford. well, rutherford, i must say i am a little surprised to see how few people are here. it’s a warm night, said rutherford, on a cold night there would be more people because there is a little bit of warmth always coming off the tower. i see, said eugene, but right now i do not feel anything from the tower. it ain’t what it used to be, said rutherford, but still a little bit and you can feel it on a cold night. do you think the tower will fall any time soon? , eugene asked. hard to say. but it don’t matter if it stands or falls, it is who you are that counts. of course, eugene agreed. just then jennifer called to eugene to come help her put up their tent, so he said goodbye to rutherford and went back and joined her. as eugene walked back, he thought that he might make himself a sign like rutherford’s, showing who he really was. what were you talking to that bum for? jennifer asked. i just was, eugene answered. you shouldn’t be talking to bums, you should be thinking about how to get in to the tower. eugene just nodded. he never argued with jennifer, or with anybody. there are two kinds of people - upward lookers and downward lookers. eugene was a downward looker - always thinking, at least i am better off than them. jennifer was an upward looker, always thinking, how come they are better off than me? up in the tower, catherine was looking was looking out the window. alexander was trying to make contact with headquarters. he had been trying for over a year. but he thought that dusk was the best time to try, so he always gave it another try just as the sun went down. catherine was a downward looker, alexander was an upward looker. i think you should give up tonight, catherine told alexander. maybe try again tomorrow night. no maybe, alexander replied, try again for sure. i am never giving up. what are you looking at, anyway? just the people down there. they all look so sad. maybe we should just slip away, then they could give up and slip away too. never, alexander replied resolutely. that is not who i am. but with a sigh, he gave up for the night. and so the tower still stood, against the darkening sky.