One can worship anything, I suppose. Money, sex, silence. Often I’ve wondered if humans were made to worship, not the other way around. Recently, a lot of hub-bub was made of Göbekli Tepe, one of oldest–if not the oldest–discovered places of worship. It’s said that possibly civilization was brought to life by the need for religion. A thought worth repeating: possibly civilization was brought to life by religion.
Whether you follow or not, you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist. And if you do, you’re blind already. Ben Loory is, to me, the sine qua non of the short-short form. I visualize the opening scene in my head as taking place in a suburban home in spring, during a downpour and the last scene as during autumn, in the evening, when the light is like weak tea.
Honey? says the man’s wife. Are you in there?
Yes, says the man, but please, leave me alone. I’m in here with the pig.
The man’s wife hesitates.
But we miss you, she says. And also the pig.
.
That’s a really great story. I think I feel almost exactly like this man more often than not.
I know. I think I appreciate the absolutely unexpected last line.