Nobody Cares! A short story by Judah Palacpac

Once upon a time, there was a guy named Judah. He was the middle child of a family of five,

leading a rather mundane life. His routine consisted of doing chores, attempting something "creative," participating in homeschooling, and finally having the freedom to do "whatever he wanted." However, this routine felt boring to him.

One day, he decided to venture into the world, indifferent to what it might have in store for him. His first stop was a local supermarket, where he gathered food and proceeded to the counter. To his surprise, he realized he had no money. However, when it was his turn, the person at the counter simply said, "next," allowing him to leave without paying. Encountering similar generosity, he later stayed at a hotel for free without any objections from the managers or the owner.

The following day, as he moved through a forest, he discovered an unexpected fact—he wasn't starving. Though he could go without eating, he paid little attention to this strange development. His journey led him to a nearby cave, where he found a dragon's nest. Ignoring the dragon and the treasure around it, he picked some gold. Moving on, he discovered a garden filled with golden fruits and a lady who seemed like a goddess at its center. Unfazed, he plucked a fruit and unknowingly consumed a cursed one, yet everything, including the curses, ignored him.

Continuing his peculiar journey, he took a space flight without paying the exorbitant millions required. Surprisingly, no one objected. In the space terminal, populated by robots, people, and cyborgs, he slept in a high-tech hotel without facing any consequences. Returning to Earth, he explored further, stumbling upon a staircase that led to heaven. Angels flew around him, playing golden instruments, seemingly oblivious to his presence.

Descending another staircase, he found himself in hell—an endless chasm of flame, torture, and screams. Strangely, eternal torture eluded him, and he felt no pain. Upon returning to Earth, he spent a week in a temple, where he found only a door. Stepping through, he entered a white void with a lone bench. A mysterious man approached him, initiating the first conversation he had experienced in what felt like months.

Mysterious Man asks, “What brings you here, child?"

Judah replied,  "I was trying to figure out the purpose of this journey."

The man answered, "Well, it's up to you. Do you remember why you set out into the world?"

Judah answered, "Well, it was because I wanted to leave my house and boring life."

The man nodded, then asked, "Did you care about the world?"

Judah replied, "No."

The man asked again, “Did you care about what you would find in the world?"

Judah answered, more thoughtfully this time, "N-no."

The man explained,  "Well, let me tell you this, kid: if you didn't care about the world, then why would it care about you? You're basically counteracting your own reason for leaving."

In that moment, Judah realized something profound. His life at home, while seemingly mundane, was filled with care and concern from his family. The way they treated him was far better than how he treated the world and how it treated him. Realizing this, he ran back through everywhere he had been in the last few months and rang the doorbell.

"Mom! I'm home!"

The end