Two gophers were playfully chasing each other in circles, up and down trees. The frantic grace of these two animals was immediately soothing and he smiled a smile of benign amusement which quickly dissipated upon closer inspection. As his eyes fell in line with the blur of their movement, he noticed that the gophers were three dimensional deadringers for Mac and Tosh, cartoon characters created by Chuck Jones and Warner Brothers Studios. Feeling an immediate rush of concern for the current status of his sanity, he turned away and silently continued his walk. Mac and Tosh. He used to watch Mac and Tosh, along with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and all the other Warner cartoons throughout his childhood just like everyone else. The superior two-level quality of the show's scripts never failed to be hilarious and through repeated daytime TV viewings, made an indelible mark on the sense of humor and irony present within him and, now that he's thinking about it, just about everyone. Bill could vaguely remember his father, lying on the living room floor, laughing loudly with him during these cartoons back when he was around five years old. This was one of about six cloudy scenarios involving his father that have been filed away in an easily accessible part of his memory to this date and probably for the rest of his life. His second favorite recollection had something to do with cinnamon Pop-Tarts. “It's nice to get out like this. You know it's not often that I'm out in the open air like this in the middle of the week... It feels great.” “I do this three, sometimes four times a week. Wouldn't miss it for the world. I think I see your ball over there by that tree.” “Playing golf like this on a regular basis would be impossible for me. I would feel too guilty about not being productive with those hours... Not doing something to get me closer to where I have to be.” “There's nothing wrong with ambition and drive.” “Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying I would necessarily be accomplishing anything during that time, I would just be sure to feel bad about it if I didn't. It's the next best thing.” Bill walked over to his Titleist patiently waiting for him at the edge of the fairway and took his best, if somewhat hurried swing. Failing to achieve any height, it skipped erratically down the fairway. "They say I'm here because I feel too much." “That's kind of a simplified euphemism around here. It really means you lack perspective. After the most prosperous century known to man, you, and many like you, have been too long disassociated from the natural order of things. Rather than the harsh realities, you are much more familiar with the endless morality plays you grew up watching and the romantic, idealistic fiction you grew up reading. You look for justice where equality plays no part. The food chain has never been broken. Processes such as evolution and natural selection did not cease when they entered your college textbook. It goes on all around you. At one time or another, people suffer. It's only natural.”

Next Page