The following text is from the short story: “World Collector” written by Petros Arkoudeas
The two friends take the road home. They pass the high school where Kosmas tries to locate the window of his classroom.
– I did not manage to explain myself before, but the coat is starting to fill up.
– You do not want that? Vangelis asked him.
– Maybe I do, but the knowledge that there is only a little room for my collections worries me. It may sound silly but the anxiety that one day I will not be able to collect comfortably overwhelms me, even though I still have time.
– Try not to think about it.
– I try but that’s when I feel I neglect it. Change is something that scares me. I’m not saying I’m a pagan, on the contrary, I like the weird. But have you thought about doing something one day and not the next? I want to be happy when I collect but I know that one day this will cease to be valid. I may lose my coat, my belongings may be stolen, even worse I may just get bored. Maybe I should not devote too much to the collection because the more joy I feel now, the more I will be upset when the time comes.
The silence that followed seemed eternal, indigestible to both of them.
-In my opinion, you should not think like that. You do not anticipate an outgoing event, you only torture yourself beyond something indefinable. “Do not worry about anything until the time has come for you to worry.”
– Did you just make that up? Kosmas asked curiously.
– No. It’s, if I’m not mistaken, the final message from a Harry Potter book.
– Oh and there I was thinking you were a philosopher.
– I’m not;
– Ha ha, of course, you are. See you.
– Goodbye.
Vangelis stayed at the stop and Kosmas continued his path.