Expanding Horizons: Aina's Unconventional Reality in Josephat

"This is your payment."

I stared at the small, square device in my palm. It was no longer than my thumb, and black except for a white lettering that read *FIND MY PHONE*. I looked up at Doctor Jones, the head of Josephat's clinic. A large man whose frame could break me in two with ease, but who had always been kind to me.

"You're giving me this?" I asked him incredulously. "As payment?"

He nodded his head slowly. "It is what you wanted."

"I wanted money!" I said loudly. "Not some dumb piece of tech."

The doctor smiled at me. He had a gentle smile, which made it impossible not to return it. "It's worth more than you think." His voice was calm as always. I couldn't remember a time when he was angry or upset with anyone.

"How much more?" I asked him.

"Well..." he began slowly, "how about fifty thousand dollars?"

***

My eyes must have widened tenfold. Did that make sense? Fifty thousand dollars in exchange for... nothing? I didn't understand how he could give something so valuable away for free.

"But why are you doing this?" I demanded from him, still staring down at the device. Its purpose was now clear - it would allow others to find their phones easily by making them ring even if they were on silent mode or turned off altogether.

"Because it's better this way." Doctor Jones' voice was still just as calm and kind as ever, but now I could hear something behind it: relief.

"Better than what?" I asked him suspiciously.

He clapped his hands together once and smiled at me again. "Why don't we go over to my office and talk there? You should be leaving soon anyway." He started walking towards the door, expecting me to follow him obediently like I always did but today I stopped and refused to budge an inch further until he answered my question. He stopped and looked back at me expectantly when he realized that I wasn't following him anymore, and sighed exasperatedly before answering my question reluctantly:

"Better than keeping you here any longer," he said simply, without meeting my eyes directly. For some reason, this answer filled me with dread rather than relief like it had for him earlier on, and I felt a cold shiver run down my spine despite the warm weather outside as well as inside the building thanks to the air conditioning system which remained running all year round despite the rest of our village being hot and humid all year round too because we didn't have enough budget to pay for any other sources of cooling other than the one installed by Doctor Jones himself years ago when he first arrived here in Josephat to establish our clinic so that everyone could get immediate medical help whenever they needed it regardless of their financial status or background in life; a system which saved us so many lives over the years including mine only last month when an infected cut on my finger almost got out of control while I was working in the kitchen at home but thankfully after a quick trip down to Dr Jones' clinic where he immediately diagnosed it as infected and gave me medicine right on the spot (which later saved my life) before sending me home for bed rest for three days (a great opportunity for me to catch up on all my friends' lives since there hadn't met them in person since last week), paid for by our town council who thought that it would be good publicity since people from all over East Africa came here every day knowing full well that Doctor Jones would treat them regardless of their ability to pay for treatment because our government believed that everyone should have equal access to quality healthcare regardless of their wealth or social status; what had happened exactly? Oh yes - so great that Doctor Jones never charged us anything for his services despite usually charging hundreds of dollars per visit depending on the severity of one's illness or injury) - didn't cost us a dime! - because he was doing his part in helping people get medical care where they needed it most desperately instead of trying to make money off of simple ailments like most doctors did around the world these days; saving lives while also saving money! What a great guy! And what a crazy coincidence that his clinic didn't even accept cash payments but preferred donations alone! That meant that everything else - salaries, equipment upgrades, repairs - had all been paid entirely by donations alone which were mostly made by foreign governments who appreciated Doctor Jones' work too much not to support him financially in any way possible because they knew how much good work he did here in Josephat helping poor people like us receive affordable medical care at little cost! But still... why was Doctor Jones giving away his greatest treasure for free? Wasn't that strange? What was going on?)