He said it twice and was certain he still wasn’t heard. Later the idea came to him that when the time was right he would take away everything from them. No support, no phone calls, no sympathy, no rights. There is no such thing as nothing, he said to himself. Who needs a job? I’m resourceful. I can stabilize without the crutch of a job. Society makes a man believe he is no better than his job. Day after day this belief will break him down more and more. Soon he will lose all hope if he is forced to hustle to get food in his stomach, to sleep under shelter somehow. And without hope a man is finished. He looked in the mirror. How was it done when there wasn’t the burden of a society? What was it like then? I’ll tell you what it was like—it was chaos, it was animalistic, it was bare bones without the sugar on top. And because of all the hardships and the violence and the turmoil and the wars that our fathers and their fathers dealt with you have whatever you want delivered right to your feet. The world has gone soft on itself. All we are left with are our theories of an afterlife, of what religion to follow, or who is full of shit. You’re digging yourself a whore with those thoughts. After a while you’ll just go along with anything that comes your way. Maybe we are all full of shit. An idea is the pebble that starts an avalanche. Whose remaking what movie you say? Again? Really? Wait another fifteen years and you may see a better version. If a dead horse won’t suffice maybe a clone of the dead horse will. He turned off the light after he made his decision.

• Personal