Reset

by Lou Stone Borenstein
December 22, 2009

In the middle of a year some time ago, on a hot and fateful day, Aldous Fresh set sail for a new life, quite literally. He decided that staying put would not suffice, for it seemed that it would only get him what he had gotten so far, which was not much for the getting. Aldous had trained in the navy, having been an excellent student and an even better sailor. This came in handy, as he quickly became lost at sea. Aldous figured destiny was pointing him towards his…well, destiny. Seven days later, Aldous gave up on destiny and took control of the ship. Within a day, he found land and even people who were gathered together. Moving closer, Aldous discovered they were his favorite kind of people: English speaking people.

Now, having set sail, changed course, and moved within earshot of the people here, Aldous took the final and scariest step: he introduced himself to a stranger. Aldous approached and bravely said “Hi. I’m Aldous Fresh. I’m new here.” Having carefully selected which of the many to approach, it was no big surprise that Aldous first introduced himself to the Grand Chief. This was immediately evident as the Grand Chief replied, “Hi. I’m the Grand Chief.” Aldous inquired as to what was happening. “What’s happening?” he asked. The Grand Chief responded. “We are celebrating Reset.” “What’s Reset?” Aldous queried. The Chief explained, “Reset is the one time after every hundred sunrises that our entire tribe agrees that everything will change.” Aldous was confused and skeptical. “How does that work?” he asked. The Grand Chief continued, “Well, at mid-day, everything resets. Odometers, team records, cholesterol levels, everything.” Aldous was oddly comforted to know that these strangers had cars, organized sports, and cholesterol. But he craved more explanation. “Why at mid-day?” he challenged. “That’s when the Sun is highest in the sky.” With a sudden unexpected dry wit, the Chief added, “Can you think of a better reason?”

Aldous already felt comfortable and welcome, thanks mostly to the Grand Chief’s comforting and welcoming way of speaking. Wanting desperately to not talk about himself, Aldous continued asking about this odd celebration. “So why is it every hundred sunrises?” The Chief responded with slightly less confidence this time. “Well, it hasn’t always been one hundred. Chiefs throughout history have changed the rules a number of times. We’re not really sure how many Resets there have been or when it was changed to one hundred or how they decided which sunrise to begin counting on. But we do know that this one is a hundred sunrises after the last one.” The Chief looked up at the Sun and said, “It is time to count.” The Chief and everybody gathered did, indeed, count. “ONE…TWO…THREE…FOUR…FIVE…SIX…RESET!”

Suddenly, and seemingly out of the blue, nearly everybody was holding a torch lit on fire. But more surprisingly, they were sticking the torches, still on fire, down their throats. Aldous also noticed that people were shaking hands, which he found very conventional, even if not compared to the fire eating. Anxious to ask about the fire, not so much about the handshaking, Aldous was thoughtful enough to let the Grand Chief finish doing both before inquiring. Or at least to try, but it seemed that neither were going to end anytime soon. Aldous finally gave in and interrupted. “Why is everybody eating fire?” he asked quite directly. The Chief responded, “It is the tradition. Even though it damages our tongues, our lips, the roofs of our mouths, and the outside of our faces, we still find it fun. I don’t recommend it for you, though. If you’ve never eaten fire before, you probably won’t like it the first time. Just enjoy Reset and the changes that are coming our way.”

Aldous could not wrap his head around this concept. He knew his next question would be his most daring, and so he almost didn’t ask it. But then he did. “So, what do you do to make things change now?” For the first time, the Grand Chief looked confused. He answered, “On Reset? Nothing. It’s the one time when everything changes without having to make it happen.” Aldous was not convinced, so he asked, “Does anything ever really change?” The Chief rebutted, “You arrived on Reset. That’s a change.” Aldous corrected the Chief. “I arrived a few minutes before Reset.” The Chief smirked and said, “Oh, that’s just because of Daylight Savings, which we completely made up.”