No.25: The Blue Building ,1989

At the tender age of forty six , Roy Marden recognised the fact that he had never really been happy .He had experienced moments of joy , he had been through periods
of relative contentment and reached states of momentary ecstasy .But never , he was honest enough to admit to himself ,was he near the midst of pure and unadulterated happiness . Yet the ticket he now held in his hand , purchased form Network South East's Silver Street Station , this was a step in the right direction .

He never believed that one's attainment of happiness came necessarily from one's employment , but this was different . He was heading for the town , and the town although only a small market town just outside of Greater London was a beautiful spot green and fresh , small enough to be noticed in and yet big enough to feel free in. He would be living in the town in his successfully appointed situation .He had previously worked in all sorts offices but this place really was special .He attended two interviews before he was informed by Tim Norton that his application had been successful .He had seen for himself , that in this establishment , within the boundaries of an exquisite town , he would be moving in the right direction , to eventual bliss. The people there were friendly , beyond the mask of convention .Some how more genuine .

As he boarded the train , a glimmering smile adorned his rugged features .Tim Norton will be expecting him in ninety minutes he pondered .Roy Marden had learnt to live simply .With him on his journey north of London , he had taken with him only one case .Only slightly larger than a brief case , and in this he carried everything he needed for his daily living needs .This is what he knew for sure ; that to be tied down with too many material possessions was one road that led to eventual unhappiness . For the past four years , Roy had been living in rented bed sitting accommodation , and prior to confirmation of his present appointment , had reluctantly owned a car .What a marvellous thing he thought , to do away with that vehicle in exchange for hard cash.He would have done it much sooner , had he realised the pleasure it gave to rid himself of such an obsolete form of transport in this age of extreme congestion of the roads . He would have no use for it in the town anyway . Everything was nearby and he felt quite strongly that he would rather not do much more travelling by road , especially in the direction of London . The accommodation arranged for him in the town was ideal .In fact he was damned pleased to see the back of the last building he lived in , not that it was squalid or anything like that ,for Roy Marden was a successful accountant by trade and always made sure that his arithmetic would not leave him hard done by . It was basically the idea of living in a bundle of small uninteresting towns all stuck together to form one heap of concrete called London that he loathed the most .

The train pulled out of another station and on looking at the map above where he was sitting ,he could see that he had already passed the half way mark of his journey .


Roy Marden had married young, not as young as some others he had seen in his time , but looking back , twenty two years of age was too young for himself to have married he believed . At the time he had been naive enough to be convinced that he was happy , and for many years enjoyed the fun and companionship of his wife Alice .When his child had been born , years of contentment followed . The years of contentment were followed by years of mediocrity and these in turn were followed by a few months of bitterness which were eventually laid to rest by one single day of disillusionment . He was too sincere a man to stay in a situation that held itself together purely by the merits of habit alone , and a bad habit for that matter . When at the age of thirty six , he finally came out with it and told Alice of his intentions, her initial protests and objections meant nothing and the fact that the whole thing ended amicably only helped to prove that deep down putting habit aside , Alice shared his view .He had not seen his son Eric, for over five years now .Eric must now be in his twenties he thought to himself .Twenty or so years ago Roy Marden couldn't even imagine living apart from his own little baby boy and even despised other parents that willingly did so . Yet Eric was a twelve year old when he was deserted by his father . A twelve year old with a very different character and outlook than his father's and one that his father didn't even care to think about very often .

Three More stops and he will have arrived . Roy was proud of his profession in accounts and always felt grateful to his own father the help and support he offered when encouraging him to enter the field . Although not a work addict , Roy Marden did attach a great deal of importance to his work especially after the break up of his marriage . He had seen a lot of life through his work and from auditing accounts of large motor-vehicle manufacturers to dealing with petty cash slips for scruffy building sub contractors , he had gained some Worthy experience in life and a degree of satisfaction . But not enough to be really happy . He loved numerical figures ,he had in a sense been fortunate enough to be in the profession of numbers .The digits that still carry with them the Pythagorean mystique . Anything could be done with figures , he himself, could be reduced for the purpose of national statistics to a
simple number .There were thousands of different figures in his body , indicating the various biological process , chemical levels and variety of functions within his own physical organism .He was definitely convinced by the magic of numerals , and although he could not grasp their every meaning,he would continue to try .

Roy Marden loved his profession and would rather give up work all together than change it . Up until now he had never had the opportunity to investigate the deeper and purer aspect of numbers in a place of work and this was precisely why this career move was so vital to his development .He will be in an occupation where he can examine every aspect of the meaning of figures and investigate how functions and calculations can change the very nature of themselves purely by applying the appropriate formula upon them . Roy Marden took in a long breath of enthusiasm , in
this place , in a cosy little town , these things that concerned him personally as well as professionally were to be his full time occupation . What more could he ask for ? This can only be seen as success.

The sun greeted Roy as he handed his ticket to the collector at the town station . The building was mere three minute's walk away from the train station .He felt a warm volcanic lava permeate his body as he approached the bright blue building .

Roy Marden glanced with awe at the Romanesque fountain in the courtyard before approaching the automated doors of the building.
"Good morning Mr Marden ". Smiled the receptionist .
"Good morning ".
"Tim Norton's expecting you ,go to the second floor , turn right and you should find him in the the third door down . It's number thirty seven ".
"Thanks Carol ,I'll see you around ". As he was making his way out of the lift in the direction he was instructed , he saw Tim Norton walking towards him . Tim Norton greeted him with a warm hand shake and reassuring smile .
"Hello Mr Marden ,it's nice to see , welcome . I'll be with you in a couple of minutes . I've got your place organised for you , it's the second door from the end , please excuse me for a sec and I'll be with you ." Tim Norton dashed out of sight through a large door . Roy Marden continued to walk in the direction of what was to be his new occupation . They had even nicely personalised everything for him : A sign on his office door with Roman hand painted text read : Roy Marden , BSC hons.He stood there staring at his new environment trying to take it all in calmly , as his heart pounded with joy. He looked through the corridor window at the outer surrounding trees whereby a river flowed . He smiled. He then dived onto his allocated bed before him , clutching the pillow as if to tear it apart , dug his heels repeatedly into the mattress as he spewed a bitter-sweet flurry of laughter and unintelligible ranting that echoed far beyond the end of the hospital ward. Doctor Norton rushed to his bedside and placing one hand on Roy Marden's shoulder began to murmur words of comfort , but all in vain for Dr Norton failed to recognise the primordial cry of happiness.