A Father said to a Son:
“If you want to believe it, then everything I have ever said to you about This Kinda Thing is true, and if you do not want to believe it, then it is all untrue. This is why some people so want to believe in a Secret Knowledge that is unconditionally true for everyone, but there is no such thing. Well, there is one thing, but it does no good to talk about it since it is the absolute, very last thing anyone would ever think of – if they were trying to think of it.”
They looked at one another; then at the ceiling, then at the walls, then at the floor, back at one another and then the old man went further. “I could tell you sixty different ways to keep yourself from sleeping. They’re all simple to do – but you gotta stay on top of them every second and that’s the hard part.”
He made the kid take a deep breath – then appeared to continue. “Even as frustrating as it may be/seem/prove – for those who want to wake up, trying-to-wake-up is the only thing that keeps them from going crazy. For someone who has no interest in waking-up, trying to would drive them crazy, and if we lived in a better universe, the full Monty contemplation of that fact alone would be sufficient to drive Morpheus from your lawn forever. Before you start that breathing crap again, catch this corollary: don’t sit when you can stand; don’t stand when you can pace, and don’t pace when you can lie down.”
The dog left the room blousing as the old man glared at the thermostat. “Hardly anyone is really civilized – they just pretend to be – which is all that is required. What else does that remind you of?” Then the cat followed suit, missing hearing the elder say: “An awakened man remembers everything that everyone else has forgotten, and has forgotten everything that everyone else knows.”
J.