Sweet Packages Distributed in a Quiet Square - 1/27/2026

Summary

In a town square, people gather, and everyone believes they can receive a free sweet package. However, someone steals much of the ingredients for the package, leaving only the leftovers lying around the square. This article illustrates this mechanism by intertwining it with everyday scenes. It attempts to allow readers to feel the weight hidden behind the sweetness.

Keywords

Square, Package, Sweetness, Shadow, Distribution

Piles in a Square at Dusk

At dusk, a small platform is placed in the town square, and colorful packages are piled on it. Passersby gratefully accept them, calling them "gifts for the town." The packages contain small pieces of candy or small items that may make tomorrow's life easier.

A sign on the town's bulletin board reads: "We will continue to increase the number of packages to support everyone's lives." People feel relieved. If the number of packages increases, tomorrow will be a little easier than today, they thought.

But no one pays attention to what's behind the platform where the packages are piled up. There, a narrow passage leads to a large warehouse on the outskirts of town, where the ingredients for making the packages are brought in. The people in the square don't know what's inside the warehouse, but they believe that since the number of packages is increasing, the warehouse must be getting richer.

What's happening at the back of the warehouse

Inside the warehouse, the ingredients for making the packages are piled up. Wooden boxes are filled with candy ingredients, wrapping paper, and decorative string. However, as you go deeper into the warehouse, a strange sight unfolds. The pile of ingredients is plentiful at the front, but it thins out the further you go, and there are large holes here and there.

The town's influential people are standing near the holes. They say they "manage" the ingredients for making the packages, and they use the hole to stuff the ingredients into their own bags and take them home. The bags are thick, nothing compared to the thin paper bags the people in the square are carrying.

Still, packages pile up in the square. They can make packages for a while with just the materials at the front of the warehouse. People don't notice. The back of the warehouse is gradually becoming hollow.

The same message is posted on the bulletin board in the square today: "The number of packages is increasing."

But deep inside the warehouse, a different message is quietly echoing.

Sweetness imbalance = Increase in packages ÷ Material outflow

Few know this formula. Even if they do, they don't speak it in the square. They don't want to see the faces of the people receiving the packages cloud over.

The true nature of the shadow casting in the square

One day, while standing in the square, I noticed that the shadow of the pile of packages was stretching longer than usual. While the number of packages was certainly increasing, the shadow seemed unnaturally dark.

The true nature of the shadow was something happening deep inside the warehouse. Each time a material fell out, the warehouse floor sank, slightly distorting the ground beneath the square. This distortion manifested as a shadow.

The people in the square paid no attention to the shadow. "The number of packages is increasing, so it's no wonder the shadow is getting darker," they say. But the shadow has nothing to do with the number of packages. It's proof that the depths of the warehouse are hollow.

Soon, the influential people standing at the back of the warehouse notice that their ingredients are dwindling. But they don't panic. They change bags and start walking out of town. The heavier the bag, the lighter their steps.

The people in the square don't see them. All they can see are the piles of packages, as usual.

The Day the Sweetness of the Packages Changes

One morning, when they open the packages lined up in the square, they notice that the candy has become less flavorful. The wrappers, too, seem somewhat unreliable.

People shake their heads. "Maybe the ingredients have changed," some say, while others laugh, saying, "Maybe the warehouse has gotten bigger."

But deep inside the warehouse, there's almost no ingredient left. The hole widens, and the floor creaks. The package makers scrape together the remaining ingredients, somehow shape them, and carry them to the square.

That evening, the shadows in the square were darker and longer than usual.

The people who received the packages stood still in the shadows. Few considered why the sweetness had faded. However, a faint weight remained in the hands of those holding the packages.

That weight was a reminder of what had happened deep inside the warehouse.

The sweetness of the packages is not determined by the number piled up in the square. It is determined by who took how many from deep inside the warehouse.

And then, the people standing in the square finally began to realize.

An increase in the number of packages and maintaining the sweetness are entirely different things.