The Unremarkable Boy

There was once an extraordinary boy who lived in an ordinary town. He had brown curly hair, light brown eyes and dimpled when he smiled. He won every game and every contest, had the highest grades, and was President of his class. He was bubbly and charming and friendly; children and parents alike waited for the invitation to his parties. He was kind, and polite, and very well-mannered, a joy to his parents.

On his tenth birthday, he said, "I think I'll be an unremarkable boy from now on."

His teachers started complaining, "He does well enough, Mrs., but he'll stop getting honors if he keeps it up." He no longer won his spelling bees, he left the basketball team. He became more quiet, though still polite. They wondered what was wrong, they sent him to the counselor's office. Eventually, the townsfolk said, "why, he was just ahead of the rest, that's all, and the rest have managed to catch up."

Years passed and the boy grew up to be a quite ordinary man. He was amiable but not friendly, he made no friends nor enemies. He rose to junior manager at work then stayed there. He dated but didn't marry. If you had met him before and saw him again, you'd wonder why his face was familiar but wouldn't be able to place him.

When he was seventy-four, he died. His will made only one request: that in his tombstone, it be written:

"Here lies a man, who, on his tenth birthday, decided to live happily ever after."