This is a short story. This story is very silly. In fact, you would be better off not reading it.

John lived at home. At times he went out, and came back later. John had a cat. The cat’s name was Cat. John wasn’t very fond of complicated things.

John taught philosophy at university. There he spoke of the reasons behind it all, the matters of life and death, the purpose, the subconscious, the unconscious, and the semi-conscious.

I could draw pictures to put in here to make the story better, but I never did finish my architecture education.

John was a strong believer in the ideas of Johann Gottlieb Fichte. Johann Gottlieb Fichte, in his turn, argued that everything exists because we believe it does. Our belief is what makes things real.

“You are alive because you are so sure of it,” lectured John. “If you believed you were dead, you would stop existing.”

So, to illustrate his point, John stopped believing that he was alive, and started believing that he was dead. And so he stopped existing. John just disappeared. The air was warm and blurred a little in the place he had stood. It didn’t smell good.

Weeks, and years, and fourteen bottles of perfume later, once I get my Ph.D. and start dying my hair for the purpose of hiding the grey, I will tear this paper to shreds and pieces; and place them in between the pages of my very own OED, 3rd edition, hardback, a thousand pounds and not a shilling less.

Technorati Tags: short, story, fichte, philosophy