WALKING ON THIN ICE

ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND SUICIDES

You have very odd ears. You don’t have a lobe. Instead, the bottom of your ear goes directly into your head.

“Yes, but I have the concept of a lobe… inside my head. Soon I won’t need my eyes because I’ll fully understand my eyes.”

You also have a straight line crease going from the bottom of where the lobe should be separated from the head straight up the side of your ear face interface, two-thirds the way up. It’s like somebody pressed a ruler edge in hot wax. I think it’s where they sealed you together after they finished making you.

“Who are they?”

Well, initially I thot you worked for the rats. You never actually denied that.

“Continue…”

Then I asked you what your purpose was.

“I said my purpose was to replace you.”

And you certainly have re-placed me, from Cleveland to Morocco. You sold my place. So. I don’t know who you work for. You might work for Smokey Grey, for all I know.

“I come from the Future Now.”

I also thought at one point you could be a graduate student coming back from the Future doing your paper on me, in real time.

“That could be, but I don’t remember it. It hasn’t happened yet.”

So in reality, you’re probably not even born yet. It depends how far back you came. So I’m even worse then robbing the cradle. I’m robbing the womb.

“Maybe the womb’s womb. Sounds like our government. They’re really for massive retroactive abortion.”

“It’s really hard when you see the tie lines to the Future.”

The tie lines?

“Yes. I untied mine. I can’t remember the cliff. But I can see the lines dangling. It’s like different ways to get to the plateau without getting squashed. Future can be a plateau, or you can fall off. You can pull yourself up into a better future, or you can let go of the rope.”

Or you can dangle in indecision.

“I think I’m from the Future where we fell off. I have dreams about it and the hundred thousand suicides of third world farmers in India. Did you know that most of the current fighting in Africa is because of scarcity of resources and change of climate?”

Soon coming to a neighborhood near you…

“No one knows each other anymore. We’re too busy on the rat wheel or watching TV.”

Hopefully when things go bad real fast, and they lose their TV, everything else, the citizens will turn upon their politicians and rend them unto Ceasar.

“Unfortunately I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen. Usually the citizens turn on each other.”

Ah… your basic twilight zone episode.

“But it’s so true!”

Oh, yes. There’s that classic Twilight Zone episode, ‘Fear Comes to Elm Street.’ For no reason, entire neighborhood’s lights go out, except for one person. They all get suspicious. They all turn upon that person, tear him to pieces. At the end of the episode, you go up on the hilltop where one alien turns to the other, says, ‘See how easy it is to turn them against each other, with just a few lights? There’ll be no problem.’

“I used to think all this was paranoia.”

Wes Craven’s near my age. He probably saw ‘Fear Comes to Elm Street’ and turned it into ‘Nightmare on Elm Street.’

“I need a good horror movie. I haven’t been scared since Aliens. Now all I have is Reality. Well, maybe that’s why the movies are no longer scary.”

You were easier to scare back then because you’d had less horror in your life. You were young and innocent. Actually, you still are.

“No. I know what I’m getting into. This is the most fascinating time for me to possibly be alive. This is my movie. I’m almost completely aware and cognizant.”

May you live in interesting times.

“I’m glad I can talk to you. Back before I used to talk, I would just say one phrase over and over, turning it in my head, one thought. Couldn’t get past that one thought. Your conversation allows me to row ahead, to float down the river of thought.”

So much depends upon the little red wheelbarrow boat.