The Answer Is No: A Short Story

Down on the street the protesters are shouting at each other, and at Lucas, but most of all they’re probably shouting just to shout. Just to be heard. Lucas stands quietly for a very, very long time, thinking about how awful it must feel: to be a person who so desperately wants something to happen. Lucas never wants anything to go on at all.

Just to be clear: It’s not that Lucas hates other people. He just really enjoys being where other people aren’t. He works well in groups as long as it’s groups of fewer than two people.

“I usually keep my peanuts next to a jar of peanut butter, so they understand what I’m capable of!”

Love isn’t powerful enough. But spite? Spite can change the world.

Now, there’s probably some poor reader out there who’s going to protest with some nonsense along the lines of “Um, well actually, humans are herd animals!” And that may be true. But more than anything else, humans have historically proved to be in-need-of-therapy animals.

Don’t look on the internet for someone who is exactly like you. Look for someone who isn’t. Love is not to never fight. Love is always making up.

If you ask people what they think, they start thinking, and that’s how wars start.

They couldn’t agree on exactly what the angel, that is to say you, meant when you said ‘guard the pile.’ So there was an argument, and they divided into factions that interpreted your words differently. Some thought you meant they should watch so that no new things were added, but others thought you meant that no things should be taken away!” the w