Daniel lay on his bed contemplating the universe. He thought about the theory of relativity; how everything only meant anything when compared to something else.
Following this logic, he compared himself to people he knew.
First, he decided to give himself a rating based on a variety of factors which would each be rated from 1-10. He quickly decided on four:
Intelligence. This meant anything to do with knowledge. All academic subjects as well as other random topics. Each subject only being worth as much as it was useful.
Wisdom. Some say knowledge is power. Daniel believed that the application of knowledge is power. Seriously, what use is knowledge of you don't... well, use it? Wisdom was the calculation of how well he applied his intelligence. It also included common sense.
Talent. This one had more to do with potential in any area. Like intelligence though, the less useful whatever he was talented in, the less value it held.
Current Status. Perhaps the most important, this factor covered everything from income and quality of life, to friends and happiness.
Were there plenty of other possible factors that were probably far more important? Yes. Did Daniel care? No. They were his thoughts after all.
Anyway, intelligence. Daniel had to do some soul searching for this one. He had dropped out of high school but he had always been pretty smart. Unfortunately, the things he was actually a bit knowledgeable about were pretty much useless.
Why had he sunk so much time into researching gravity, time dilation and the speed of light when none of them would ever be remotely useful. It was a mystery. In the end, he decided on 6.5/10.
Wisdom. This one left Daniel fearful. The problem with being a bit smart is you realise how stupid you are. Even at this very moment Daniel was lying on his bed when he should be making himself something to eat. It went beyond that though. He should really be getting his life together and he knew how to do it, but he couldn't be bothered.
Luckily, his common sense made up for it (at least that's what he told himself). He almost never said anything stupid and had a good feel for people's behaviour. 3.5/10. Moving on.
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Talent. This was the one he felt he could truly shine in. While he wasn't that good at anything (and probably never would be), he knew he had the potential to be pretty great at certain things.
If he went all out at university he could definitely get one of those maths jobs (whatever those were). He also liked drawing, so he could probably be an architect if he combined it with math. He was also something of a pianist (not really), and he knew he could potentially be amazing.
The more he thought about it, the more Daniel realised he was probably just average. With a snort, Daniel rated himself at 7/10. They were his thoughts after all.
Now, the one that would bring his score to all new lows; Current Status. He was going to be fair and rate himself based on the people who lived in his area. Now came the depressing task of reviewing his current life.
Income: $70 a week. Don't ask.
Quality of life: Living with his siblings, laying around all day doing nothing, perpetually hungry (mostly because he couldn't be stuffed getting up to cook). To be honest he didn't really even know what quality of life meant.
Friends:...
Happiness: Was he happy? Was he unhappy? He couldn't really say for sure. Yeah, no. He was seriously unhappy, but he wasn't sad or mad as it was a life of his own creation. 2/10
So in total that was... 19/40? That was much higher than what he thought. Realistically, your average Joe would have a score of 20. Perhaps Daniel was better than he thought. Maybe he was fine just the way he was...
What a joke.
Seriously, Daniel got a good laugh out of that one.
What was he trying to do in the first place again? Comparing himself to others was it? Who wants to go through the hassle of doing that?
At that moment, someone knocked on his bedroom door, "Oi Daniel, want to come to the gym?" It was his sister Jess.
Daniel pondered for a while, even though he knew full well what he was going to say. "Nah."
"Okay."
Daniel went back to his contemplation of the universe. He delved deep into its hidden mysteries and discovered the meaning of life.
An hour later there was another knock on the door. "Daniel, I ordered some butter chicken. Run in for us." It was his brother Eugene.
Fighting against every fibre of his being, Daniel got up with a sigh. He didn't even bother to get changed out of his pajamas, instead deciding to just get up and go.
"Daniel, do you know where the keys are?"
"I've literally been in my room all day."
"Wait, is the car even here?"
Both walking outside they quickly noticed the lack of cars in the driveway.
"Oh that's right," Daniel recalled, "Jess said she was going to the gym."
"Damn."
Daniel quickly came up with a brilliant idea, "Should I text her?"
His brother sighed, "Yeah."
Half an hour later, Daniel - now back in his room - received a reply from his sister, "What are you talking about? I've been in my room the whole time, I just parked the car on the road."
Instead of getting up and telling his brother, Daniel decided to send him a text. A text that was never replied to.
The food remained at the store, forgotten.