Excerpt: Sincerely, Mr Nobody

Stuart was the kind of guy who went about his life in an ordinary sort of way. He lived his life, as most people did, in a manner that suited him perfectly and offered little to no surprises. That is not to say that there was a mundaneness about him. No, Stuart was a very lively kind of man. The kind of man people would say ‘isn’t he a charming man’, or ‘isn’t he a most intriguing person’. That sort of thing. Stuart’s life did not however have any real adventure. He enjoyed the simply things. Going to the pub, going to work and then enjoying the classic movies on the flat screen TV he shouted himself to three Christmas prior. Yes Stuart’s life was an ordinary and yet not boring sort of life. Well Stuart never thought so anyway. I mean how can someone feel their life in mundane when they are quite content following the same routine, with the odd lash out on things, like the flat screen TV purchased three Christmases ago. Stuart worked in the sort of place where there existed people who were over the top and chipper. Yes, chipper. Those perky, optimistic people who were always smiling despite the walls crumbling around them. They were the kind of people who said phrases like ‘at least you have your health’ despite the fact that Frank had just lost his wife, dog and favourite CD in a car accident. Or when Jenny’s husband left her and she developed an addiction of hoarding and collecting the used coke pulls of coke cans found in the rubbish bins. ‘At least you still had your health’ they’d say, smiling away. Stuart was not one of these people. His life was pleasant and enjoyable, and the television made it that much greater.