Mr S's dream

It was seven o'clock and he'd just woken up, well, actually it was 7:03 because he liked to keep his eyes closed for a little while just after the alarm went off. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, going through the errands he had to run that day in his mind. That's right! He'd been dreaming of some lake, yes, he was on a boat and something happened, but what was it? Oh, how he wished he could record his dreams on real time and watch them when he woke up every morning. If anyone knew the adventures he had! But even he would never know, what a shame. So, anyway, he should get ready, he had to do a lot of things before lunch time. And very important ones, too! Where was the other slipper? Oh, right. Now, clothes. That shirt he wore yesterday was still clean, he could wear it this morning.

After his shower, he always had two pieces of fruit and a glass of milk. It was his favourite meal in the day. He needed to buy more plums. Maybe he should make a list, he always forgot one thing or another, but, oh, it was 7:35 already! While he brushed his teeth he thought of small things. Why is it that we think of unusual things when we shower or clean our teeth? Who knows... He was also running out of toothpaste, by the way. Fine, so plums, toothpaste, and, obviously, that! Oh, was he happy! But where did he take his shoes off, yesterday?

Everybody in town knew Mr. S. He fixed things. Almost anything. He hadn't gone to school, but he always had some job to do. No, he was not rich, but he was doing fine. After that day, he would have more than he could have ever wished for. And even before that, he lived in a small flat he could take care of, he looked after his plants, he had his own tools and clean clothes to put on every day... But, oh, today his most ambitious dreams would finally come true! He thought life was easy once you were ready to do your share.

- Morning, Sue. I hope you're doing well?

- Hey, Mr. S! Oh, yes! Haven't had any more trouble with my lawnmower. Thanks again!

That's a very boring story, auntie, I want to hear about dragons or dolphins or horses or –I know! Someone with supernatural powers! Someone who can move things with their mind or bend things just by touching them!

But you didn't let me finish my story, the best part is about to come. And you will see not every exciting story is like what you see on TV. Mr. S was about to have a big adventure that day, even if he didn't yet know just how big it would be...

So once he'd bought his fruit and fresh fish from the market, he went to Lola's shop. Now, Lola sold all kind of things. Most of them were stationery items, like rubbers that could erase your skin and pens that would make anything taste like banana candy, but she also had chairs to stand on, keyboards to write backwards with or even postcards that sent themselves. But Mr. S had something special in mind that day. For months, he'd been secretly buying different items in town and storing them carefully with a single idea in his mind and now the day had finally arrived to obtain the last pieces of his special kind of jigsaw puzzle. Needless to say he was beyond excited. Lola realized something was going on the minute he saw him.

- Wow, Mr. S! So What's it going to be today?

- Oh, dear Lola, I made it! Today I'm the happiest man in this town! For weeks and weeks I've only thought of one thing, day and night, and night and day. I need one last thing from your shop and now the day to buy it has finally arrived. I can't begin to express my feelings!

-  But, Mr. S, you visit my shop every other day. I wonder what you could be talking about!

There's something I haven't told you about Mr. S yet. He loved being upside down. It was the one thing in the world he wanted most. He did everything he could upside down. He'd fixed his bed so that, when he pressed a button on a remote control, it would turn into a big, cozy tube, and he would climb on it and jump inside, so that his hands would touch the floor and his feet would peek out of the tube, like wiggly birds on a wire. That was how he fell asleep every night. The bed had a timer, and after some minutes it would automatically unfold itself and become a normal bed again. You must know that it makes you dizzy to stay upside down for too long. Also, instead of a hammock he had in his little garden two ropes tied to two rings and when he was free he would hang upside down with his feet in the rings and relax. In the good old days, when he was younger, he used to take walks on his hands and see how far he could go. Once, he reached the end of the town without stopping for a single break. Indeed, that was one of his most pleasing memories. Some kids often tried to beat him back then, but he would always win. And every year for his birthday people in town would gather and celebrate handstand competitions and hand races.

- I thought you had already managed to adapt everything in your home so that you could stand on your hands when you do the washing up or when you sweep, Mr. S. What else do you need?

- All that is great, Lola, it's true. But, frankly, I've always wanted one more thing. My perfect world is this one we live in, only... upside down, right? So what if it wasn't me who had to stand on his hands. What if the whole world could be upside down?

- What do you mean, Mr. S? Should I be scared?

Mr. S laughed sincerly. "Sweet Lola", he thought, "you always crack me up".

- There's no need to be scared, child. How much are those sunglasses?

- Which ones? The yellow ones? Only two bleezers, Mr. S.

- Here you are, I'll take them.

They said goodbye and Mr. S left the shop with a big smile on his face.

But I don't get it, auntie, he only bought a pair of sunglasses. What's so special about that?

Don't be impatient, you need to hear the full story to understand, okay? Can I go on?

Okay, fine, but I thought he would buy a time machine or a T-Rex!

Shush now... Let me continue. Where was I? Right, Mr. S came out of Lola's shop with a big smile on his face. He went to Louie's place and asked him if he had anything for him.

- Oh, yes, Mr. S! Your order arrived yesterday. Here you go, I'll like to see what you make of all of these!

- Ha ha, you will, Louie. Have a good day.

- You too Mr. S! Come back soon.

"This is what I call a morning well spent", he thought, while he was walking back home. He missed walking on his hands, but he had had to stop some years ago. Doctor's orders. Now that was about to be fixed once and for all. He couldn't wait!

After that, nobody in town saw Mr. S for some days. Finally, Lola asked Dave, who lived in front of Mr. S, had he seen him come or go lately? Now that she mentioned it, it had been a couple of days since he had last seen Mr. S. What could have happened to him? He never stayed for long inside his flat. He didn't even own a TV!

In the meantime, Mr. S had been super busy. He barely stopped working to eat or drink for three days. Lola and Dave rang the doorbell, but he was so focused in what he was doing that he didn't hear it. They rang and waited for some minutes. Lola began to worry. They rang again. It was a longer riiing this time. No, he didn't answer to that either.

 - Wait here, I have a copy of the key for emergency situations. I'll get it and come back –said Dave.

When he returned, they opened the main door and found the furniture was beginning to collect dust. The kitchen was clean, but he wasn't there. The dining room was also empty, and so was his room. The bathroom door was wide open –no one there.

- I found him! In the garden!

Dave run towards Lola's voice. There he was. But which one was he? Lola was standing in the middle of two Mr. Ss! The only differences were that one of them was wearing yellow sunglasses and that the other one was... upside down! Both Lola and Dave were startled. What had he done this time?! How could it be? What did this mean?

Mr. S started laughing. No one has ever laughed a longer or more honest laugh. His laugh had a soothing effect on his friends –even though the sound came from the man upside down! He laughed for more than ten minutes and, when he was finally done, he said:

- Now I'll never need to stand on my feet again, kids! The world is upside down forever!

It took all that afternoon and a lot of demonstrations for them to understand what he had done. In short, he had created another body for himself that could walk upside down and never get tired or dizzy. He had bought more than twenty sensors from Louie's shop, and with different materials, he'd built a special robot that looked exactly like him and filled it up with the sensors and loudspeakers. The sensors sent signals to the yellow sunglasses, which he had turned into a small computer. He used different kinds of cloth, glass, plastic, wood, clay and rubber for different parts of the body. The truth is that no one but him knew exactly how he'd done it, but he'd managed to create a unique device –a body that could transfer digital signals to and from his brain so that he could feel he was in the robot when he was next to it. That was the only problem with his creation, that the power of the signals was weak, so that if he wanted to receive them, he had to accompany the robot wherever it went.

It wasn't long after that day that Mr. S became a legend, and not just in his town! Every year people from around the country went to visit the amazing Opposite twinS, as they became known. From then on, Mr. S never felt sad again in his life. He would never take his magic sunglasses off or go anywhere without his Upside Down Body or UDB. They would eat together, go to the swimming pool together, drive together, run errands together... In short, Mr. S did nothing without UDB, so that he always felt he was upside down. He'd made it. After years of hard work, his dream had become a reality and his world was forever upside down.