The D Chronicles Vol 1 - (Men): Different

Different

When Norton Ennulds begin his morning routine he found himself in a unique situation. Something had changed and he wasn’t quite sure what it was until he realized it was him.

Norton Ennulds was an extremely dull man with a penchant for habitual repetition. And he made up for anything dull he lacked with a bit of boring. In fact the only thing interesting about Norton happened to be his lack of interest.

Some men like things to vary in taste and color which Norton couldn’t seem to get enough of the same thing. He wasn’t particularly interested in the other things that life offered. Once he had his mind set on a pattern there would be no change. Norton wasn’t the kind of man to wake up one morning and want something new. Often his day began with a cigarette and a cup of coffee which had been the constant for nearly ten years.

One thing you have to understand about Norton Ennulds is that he was a creature of routine. Terribly set in his own way he did nothing any different than the day before. He wore his hair the same length at under an inch and a half. Every week his hair was trimmed at the Barber Shop closest to his home. He left the cut of his pants the same. Twenty-two pairs of the same tan slacks cut with the same inseam by the same man who had tailored his clothes since he was a child. The same pants were paired with the same off-white button up shirt that never quite matched in coloring. With the same pant and shirt it was no wonder that his shoes happened to be the same brown loafer that lay twelve by two deep in rows tucked neatly in his closet. 

Since his clothing, his haircut and his life stayed the same day after day he never required a mirror to assess his appearance. As Norton Ennulds knew nothing different could happen when everything was the same.

And a man with such a flair for the “same old same old” noticed when anything went out of the ordinary. Quickly he was the first to point out anything uncommon in the ordinary schedule of things. Not one slip could he have missed. Whether it was sounds or smells it was instantly noticeable when it changed in variation.

On this particular day Norton had found himself face to face with quite the variation in his routine. For when he woke up his eyes didn’t open just right. A slight blur made it hard focus and his eyes felt farther apart. The usual smell of his percolated coffee didn’t fill the air. It didn’t seem to much of a bother as Norton had realized an unusual stiffness in his neck that just wouldn’t let him turn his head right. Beneath the blankets he had felt unusually cold as he lay still. The temperature in the room had usually been warm so he hadn’t thought ahead to lay out another blanket.

Norton thought no matter when he propelled himself from the bed with a quickness upward only to find his legs didn’t match his body movement. Paying not much notice to the shift in his weight Norton planned to continue through his routine.  Until it became clear that he couldn’t.

There was no question that something was in fact different as Norton attempted to dress. Removing his pajamas revealed something quite discerning. Instead of his normally beige legs two wiry supports extended far beneath his elongated torso and what looked much like a grey thin wire extended from his backside. Two additional grey limbs reached out and waved in front of him. Instead of five fingers he had four webbed digits that behaved erratically when he tried to move them to undress. The webbing on his feet stuck to the inseam of his slacks and his head no longer fit into the hole of his shirt. Norton knew without a doubt that something about him had changed and he needed help.

Without another thought he decided to call for help. But as he reached for the line "who" became the bigger question when it mattered very little as he realized that the webbing on his feet made it too difficult to dial the line.

Head to toe his body looked and felt quite unusual. It resembled that of a lizard from the neck down. Above his head he could sense a lack of hair and moved toward the notion that perhaps his situation wasn't merely below the neck. With this thought his panic set in. What would become of him without help? Norton Ennulds was not a man of variation and this wouldn’t do. His routine had been comprised this morning there would be no coffee or cigarette. And despite a slight rumble in his belly there would be no breakfast either.

Now this morning unlike all the others Norton remained stationary in his home well past the hour of eleven. At eleven every other Tuesday his cleaning lady came. The woman found him to be quite drab although she never mentioned it. If you can, try to imagine her surprise when she found an oversized lizard in the middle of Norton Ennulds boring apartment. Now she did what any normal person might do when confronted with an unusually large insect or reptile; She tried to kill him. Armed with a broom and a bottle of Lysol she came at him.

Almost out of an instinct or perhaps it was hunger pains Norton reacted. It wasn’t what he thought or normally would do. It was completely outside of his routine what he did next. With the snap of his jaw and click of her head the Tuesday cleaning lady no longer was a threat and his belly no longer rumbled.

Until this morning Norton Ennulds hadn’t worried about the variation life could offer. The dull routine offered him no peace when he realized there would never be another chance to try anything new in his ordinary boring life. In fact as Norton Ennulds sat finishing off his cleaning lady for lunch he knew with certainty this change meant nothing would be routine ever again.

Different. Do you try to do things differently every day? I like to change it up a bit. In life there is a necessity for variation. If you try once and do not succeed you try again… a little differently. There are thousands of ways to unsuccessfully make a light bulb but only one way will work. Success comes from variation. Mistakes are meant to be learned from and apologies mean nothing if you do the same thing again. Anyhow… enjoy. kisses. m.