Fugue #108

- Is that why you do it, Zed? Because I can tell you, happiness is always closer than wealth.
- I’m not sure. I’m not like this, I’m not. You know me well enough to know that. It’s just...it’s confusing. Everything is happening so fast.

Marbell is wearing his disappointed face, and he’s overplaying it by half. His response is like an essay.

- Listen...we’ve gotten older, Zed. But not yet wiser for our mistakes. Instead of learning, we’ve opted to relearn, to relive moments, to remember. With ‘what if’ as a mantra, and sometime, almost convincingly, even ‘why not.’ We’re sheepish and embarrassed, knowing that what has happened - if it didn’t happen for a reason - happened because of choices that we made...which, for better or worse, brought us here today. And we can’t do it all over again.
- I know . But think of this. We’re not locked in. We’re not bound to any one view of the past. It’s not singular, it’s plural. Because the past only exists in the in minds of those of us in the present - and in interpretations WE give it - it is never too late to do something about the past.
- That’s John Barth. You’re cribbing Barth from The End of the Road. Ha, you never change, do you?