He drops the pill to see it explode in a scatter and settle at the periphery of a glass. It’s cloudy and only the most persistent of sunrays make through the filter of the window of his car. With a forced chuckle he gulps, rejecting his quintessential human experience. The clicks of his watch space out and vanish.
"Falling through pages of Martens on angels
Feeling my heart pull west
I saw the future dressed as a stranger."
The radio blips on the turn of the key, internal combustion subdues in him as it rages in the engine. The machine sets in motion; windscreen grows grainier with the drizzle leaving a rainbow in the rearview. Not quite sure if the rainbow was in a distance or just refraction of the corner of his eye. The funny thing with rainbows is that they don’t have a location; they are as much in the eye as the distance anyway. What he was certain of was the meander of a road that trailed behind. It had seasoned his hands on the wheel; just as much he had seasoned it in fair exchange.
The drizzle matured to a downpour playing a staccato in partnership with the wipers, the flicker of headlights arguing with dim crimson of the sun. The road ahead bent in a slight curve, an unlikely human figure stood at the far end of his vision. It stood like a milestone certain of its place, patiently waiting.
“To be driving in this god forsaken limbo. You’re stupid or lost?”
‘Lost! You need a ride?’
“Now asking a stranger that…I am guessing you’re stupid too. As a matter of fact I do. My baby here twisted her rim; need to find her a repair station”
‘Hop in. Stranger!’
“Yeah let’s roll”.
They exchange a casual smirk as a remainder of an old joke. The hiker clasped the bike on the carrier of the car roof and slid his F-Cut Hobner to the back seat. He briefly wondered if small talk would keep away an avalanche of silence between them.
‘So you know this place?’
“Long enough to ride outta here with blinds on”
‘That’s comforting! It’s a strange place for a nube like myself and a darn scary one at that. Anyway when did you pick up on the guitar?’
“Ah! Somewhere around when I stopped cribbing about what a bitch life is and started seeking for the best in myself”
‘Sheeking out the bessht in myself. What a cliché!’
“Oh! Shepherd me my blind master, I am guilty of not seeking answers in an empty glass of moonshine on my dashboard. We all get sucker-punched, we all have blindspots. Get out of it”
‘Get out of what?’
“Your Spot”
‘Spot?’
“Your alcove of distress.”
‘Hehe quite a plum pudding conversation we are having here, banality decorated with big words. You haven’t changed much. I am having second thoughts if giving you a ride was a good idea’
“May be, maybe not. But I can bet this is the first time you’re smiling on the whole trip “
‘Why are you here?’
“I guessed you could use some navigation and nostalgia airlines host some very hospitable flights to this place.”
‘So Mr. Navigator you’re going to choose all the turns for me?’
“Au contraire, it shall be the other way round and I won’t complain.”
‘What if I fatigue?’ His voice: listless and grim.
“You’ll see through it. Keep faith”.
‘Keep faith, Right! I need reasons.’
“Why?”
‘Why? Coz I hate reason role-playing a crippled little brother to faith. Faith: the fulcrum around which the world revolves. The war of religions, the concept of money, even science does not escape unscathed: ‘atoms are spherical’ predicates the kinetic theory of gases which underlies the working principle of air conditioner of my car. All connected through a causal DAG yet faith stands as a force in itself and does not always require reason to validate it. Like a cruel trick nature played on us’
“Don’t you think we played a cruel trick on ourselves? The language of reason is defined in a definite framework with finite outcomes. It’s not designed to work precisely in random universe with literally inexhaustible outcomes. That’s where faith comes in. It shields us from a callous resignation to the external world while we keep our reason at work exploring options. On a long enough time-line a team of reason and faith always win. Think of them as expedients for survival, each used when their application is appropriate. Besides you don’t question survival, do you? Because you’re not wired to, your reason too is no more than a little trick you play on yourself guided by your primal need to survive. Existence precedes Essence, hence my pathological optimism that this too shall pass if you keep faith.”
His face...austere, slowly stretching for a smile. His eyes laden with unruffled lunacy. The rain ceased; making the road resplendent grey.
’I guess it’s time you play me something’
“Of course!”
Supercondensed Summary: If you could summon your future self, how cool is that for a super power?
"Falling through pages of Martens on angels
Feeling my heart pull west
I saw the future dressed as a stranger."
The radio blips on the turn of the key, internal combustion subdues in him as it rages in the engine. The machine sets in motion; windscreen grows grainier with the drizzle leaving a rainbow in the rearview. Not quite sure if the rainbow was in a distance or just refraction of the corner of his eye. The funny thing with rainbows is that they don’t have a location; they are as much in the eye as the distance anyway. What he was certain of was the meander of a road that trailed behind. It had seasoned his hands on the wheel; just as much he had seasoned it in fair exchange.
The drizzle matured to a downpour playing a staccato in partnership with the wipers, the flicker of headlights arguing with dim crimson of the sun. The road ahead bent in a slight curve, an unlikely human figure stood at the far end of his vision. It stood like a milestone certain of its place, patiently waiting.
“To be driving in this god forsaken limbo. You’re stupid or lost?”
‘Lost! You need a ride?’
“Now asking a stranger that…I am guessing you’re stupid too. As a matter of fact I do. My baby here twisted her rim; need to find her a repair station”
‘Hop in. Stranger!’
“Yeah let’s roll”.
They exchange a casual smirk as a remainder of an old joke. The hiker clasped the bike on the carrier of the car roof and slid his F-Cut Hobner to the back seat. He briefly wondered if small talk would keep away an avalanche of silence between them.
‘So you know this place?’
“Long enough to ride outta here with blinds on”
‘That’s comforting! It’s a strange place for a nube like myself and a darn scary one at that. Anyway when did you pick up on the guitar?’
“Ah! Somewhere around when I stopped cribbing about what a bitch life is and started seeking for the best in myself”
‘Sheeking out the bessht in myself. What a cliché!’
“Oh! Shepherd me my blind master, I am guilty of not seeking answers in an empty glass of moonshine on my dashboard. We all get sucker-punched, we all have blindspots. Get out of it”
‘Get out of what?’
“Your Spot”
‘Spot?’
“Your alcove of distress.”
‘Hehe quite a plum pudding conversation we are having here, banality decorated with big words. You haven’t changed much. I am having second thoughts if giving you a ride was a good idea’
“May be, maybe not. But I can bet this is the first time you’re smiling on the whole trip “
‘Why are you here?’
“I guessed you could use some navigation and nostalgia airlines host some very hospitable flights to this place.”
‘So Mr. Navigator you’re going to choose all the turns for me?’
“Au contraire, it shall be the other way round and I won’t complain.”
‘What if I fatigue?’ His voice: listless and grim.
“You’ll see through it. Keep faith”.
‘Keep faith, Right! I need reasons.’
“Why?”
‘Why? Coz I hate reason role-playing a crippled little brother to faith. Faith: the fulcrum around which the world revolves. The war of religions, the concept of money, even science does not escape unscathed: ‘atoms are spherical’ predicates the kinetic theory of gases which underlies the working principle of air conditioner of my car. All connected through a causal DAG yet faith stands as a force in itself and does not always require reason to validate it. Like a cruel trick nature played on us’
“Don’t you think we played a cruel trick on ourselves? The language of reason is defined in a definite framework with finite outcomes. It’s not designed to work precisely in random universe with literally inexhaustible outcomes. That’s where faith comes in. It shields us from a callous resignation to the external world while we keep our reason at work exploring options. On a long enough time-line a team of reason and faith always win. Think of them as expedients for survival, each used when their application is appropriate. Besides you don’t question survival, do you? Because you’re not wired to, your reason too is no more than a little trick you play on yourself guided by your primal need to survive. Existence precedes Essence, hence my pathological optimism that this too shall pass if you keep faith.”
His face...austere, slowly stretching for a smile. His eyes laden with unruffled lunacy. The rain ceased; making the road resplendent grey.
’I guess it’s time you play me something’
“Of course!”
Supercondensed Summary: If you could summon your future self, how cool is that for a super power?
