**Episode 62 - THE SHADOW OF ENOUGH**
**Part Three: The Market of Endless Wants**
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The jungle grew quieter...
Not because the birds had stopped singing...
But because everyone had started thinking.
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The Walker continued toward the lonely stone arch.
His footsteps made almost no sound.
Yet somehow...
Everyone could hear them.
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Tarzan scratched his head.
"...I DO NOT LIKE WHEN OLD MEN SPEAK IN RIDDLES."
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Milo adjusted his glasses.
"Actually...
I find riddles intellectually stimulating."
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Tarzan looked at him.
"...THAT IS BECAUSE..."
"...YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN HIT BY ONE."
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Professor Gandalf coughed into his beard.
"I once met a riddle."
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Everyone turned.
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"...IT HIT YOU?"
asked Tarzan.
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"No."
said Gandalf.
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"It charged consulting fees."
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Milo blinked.
"What?"
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"I still owe it money."
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Nobody knew whether he was joking.
Even Gandalf wasn't sure anymore.
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The group finally reached the ancient stone arch.
Unlike everything else in the jungle...
The arch looked...
Wrong.
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Not evil.
Not magical.
Simply...
Out of place.
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It looked as though someone had accidentally dropped an old marketplace...
Into the middle of untouched wilderness.
---
Beyond the arch...
Stretched a long stone road.
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Tiny wooden stalls lined both sides.
Bright flags fluttered lazily.
Lanterns swayed.
Wind chimes whispered.
Fresh bread...
Flowers...
Books...
Jewelry...
Strange inventions...
Everything imaginable.
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Yet...
There wasn't a single shopkeeper.
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"...ABANDONED."
Tarzan whispered.
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"Not exactly."
said the Walker.
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"Watch."
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The moment Arjun stepped through the arch...
A cheerful voice echoed from nowhere.
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"WELCOME!"
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Another voice followed.
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"CONGRATULATIONS!"
---
Another.
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"YOU DESERVE MORE!"
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Then dozens.
Hundreds.
---
"YOU NEED THIS!"
"LIMITED OFFER!"
"UPGRADE YOURSELF!"
"BECOME BETTER!"
"BUY HAPPINESS!"
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The voices overlapped endlessly.
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Milo looked around.
"No speakers."
---
"No microphones."
---
"No visible source."
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The Walker nodded.
"They don't need one."
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"They already live..."
"...inside you."
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Silence.
---
Tarzan looked alarmed.
"...THERE ARE SHOPKEEPERS..."
"...INSIDE MY HEAD?"
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"Only one."
said Gandalf.
---
"It is very loud."
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Tarzan gasped dramatically.
"...CAN WE EVICT HIM?"
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"We've tried."
said Milo.
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"He signed a permanent lease."
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The voices grew louder.
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Suddenly...
The empty stalls began filling themselves.
---
Not with ordinary goods.
---
Each stall displayed something...
Different...
For every person.
---
Arjun stopped.
His eyes widened.
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His stall contained...
Maps.
Thousands of them.
---
Maps leading to treasure.
Success.
Respect.
Recognition.
Every path promised...
"This one finally changes everything."
---
Arjun reached toward one.
---
The map immediately transformed.
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Now it promised...
An even greater destination.
---
He frowned.
---
"No...
This one looks better."
---
It changed again.
---
And again.
---
Every time he chose...
Something better appeared.
---
He never actually picked one.
---
The Walker quietly observed.
---
"Interesting."
---
Nearby...
Meera found her own stall.
---
It contained tiny glowing jars.
---
Each one had a label.
---
"If only..."
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"If I had more time..."
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"If people understood me..."
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"If nobody left..."
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"If I never failed..."
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She reached for one.
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Another appeared.
Even prettier.
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Then another.
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Then another.
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None of them ever opened.
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Diana's stall displayed books.
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Millions of books.
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"The Complete Guide To Becoming Perfect."
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"The Secret Method Nobody Else Knows."
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"The Final Answer."
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She opened one.
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Inside...
Only one sentence.
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*"Read the next book."*
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She grabbed another.
---
Same sentence.
---
Another.
---
Same.
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"...THAT IS RUDE."
she muttered.
---
Professor Gandalf discovered...
Hats.
---
Thousands...
Upon thousands...
Of wizard hats.
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Pointed hats.
Round hats.
Feather hats.
Glowing hats.
Invisible hats.
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He gasped.
---
"I have finally reached paradise."
---
He immediately tried one on.
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It meowed.
---
He removed it.
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Another.
---
It sneezed.
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Another.
---
It began singing opera.
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Tarzan applauded.
---
"...THAT HAT HAS TALENT."
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Gandalf proudly nodded.
"It also has allergies."
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Meanwhile...
Milo's stall appeared.
---
It contained...
Machines.
---
Every invention he'd ever dreamed of.
---
A gravity reverser.
A weather editor.
A quantum toaster.
A machine capable of folding socks perfectly.
---
Milo froze.
---
"...Impossible..."
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Then...
Behind them...
Appeared...
An even better machine.
---
It sparkled.
---
A sign real...
**NOW 37% SMARTER THAN YOUR CURRENT DREAM.**
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Milo immediately forgot the first one.
---
Then another appeared.
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**NOW 64% BETTER.**
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Then another.
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**NOW WITH EXTRA SCIENCE.**
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"What does that even mean?"
he whispered.
---
Nobody knew.
---
Even the machine seemed uncertain.
---
Tarzan finally found his own stall.
---
His eyes nearly exploded with joy.
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BANANAS.
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Mountains...
Of bananas.
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Golden bananas.
Chocolate bananas.
Ice cream bananas.
Flying bananas.
Square bananas.
Rainbow bananas.
Bananas shaped like smaller bananas.
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Tarzan dropped to his knees.
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"...I HAVE FOUND..."
He sniffled.
"...HEAVEN."
---
He reached for one.
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The pile instantly doubled.
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Then tripled.
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Then became even larger.
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His eyes widened.
---
"...SO MANY..."
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He grabbed another.
---
More appeared.
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Another.
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Even more.
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Soon...
The banana mountain reached the clouds.
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Tarzan stared upward.
---
"...I HAVE MADE..."
"...A TERRIBLE MISTAKE."
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A single banana rolled down.
Hit him on the head.
---
Then another.
---
Then fifty.
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Within seconds...
An avalanche of bananas buried him completely.
---
"...HELP..."
came a muffled voice.
---
"...I AM BEING..."
---
Another banana landed.
---
"...DELICIOUSLY ATTACKED..."
---
Arjun and Milo pulled him free.
---
Tarzan emerged wearing three banana peels like medals.
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"...I REGRET..."
He paused.
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"...NOTHING."
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The Walker laughed.
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"You wanted enough."
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"The market gave you..."
"...more."
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Tarzan blinked.
---
"...ENOUGH WAS BETTER."
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The Walker smiled.
---
"Exactly."
---
He raised his walking stick.
---
Instantly...
Every stall vanished.
---
Silence returned.
---
The road became empty once more.
---
The travelers stood there...
Holding absolutely nothing.
---
The Walker looked at them kindly.
---
"The Market of Endless Wants..."
he said...
"...never sells."
---
"It only advertises."
---
"What it offers..."
"...can never be owned."
---
"It survives..."
"...because people believe..."
"...the next thing..."
"...will finally be enough."
---
He picked up a single pebble from the road.
---
"What is enough?"
he asked.
---
Nobody answered.
---
He placed the pebble into the empty wooden bowl.
---
The bowl was still...
Mostly empty.
---
Yet somehow...
It looked complete.
---
"The strange thing about enough..."
the Walker whispered...
"...is that it never arrives..."
"...from outside."
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"It appears..."
"...the moment you stop arguing..."
"...with what already is."
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The jungle breeze carried his words through the trees.
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Tarzan quietly raised one finger.
---
"...VERY IMPORTANT QUESTION."
---
The Walker smiled knowingly.
---
"Yes?"
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"...IF I AM SATISFIED..."
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"...CAN I STILL EAT BANANAS?"
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The Walker burst into laughter.
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"Of course."
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"...HOW MANY?"
---
The old man pretended to calculate the mathematics of existence.
---
"Hmm..."
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"As many as you can enjoy..."
"...before the bananas start eating you."
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Tarzan frowned.
---
"...BANANAS DO THAT?"
---
Milo sighed.
---
"Not literally."
---
Tarzan looked relieved.
---
"...GOOD."
He smiled proudly.
"...BECAUSE I WAS ABOUT TO APOLOGIZE TO THEM."
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Even the Walker laughed so hard that he had to lean on his staff.
---
Somewhere above...
A monkey looked down at Tarzan...
Slowly hid its own banana behind its back...
And quietly climbed away.
---
Tarzan pointed upward.
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"...EVEN THE MONKEY..."
"...DOES NOT TRUST ME ANYMORE."
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The entire jungle erupted with laughter.
---
Yet beneath the laughter...
Each traveler carried away something invisible.
A question.
Not about what they still lacked...
But about why they had believed...
That one more thing...
Would finally make them complete.
---
Far beyond the stone arch...
Hidden deep within the mist...
Another figure watched silently.
Unlike the Walker...
This stranger never smiled.
And in his hands...
He carried...
A bowl that was overflowing...
Yet he still whispered,
**"More..."**
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**TO BE CONTINUED... **
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :Maximus.
©All Rights Reserved