Hello Hello, Dear Life, Dear Love

Hello.

Hello.

Good morning.

Incorrect.

Good evening.

Yes, good evening.

Is it a good evening?

Just a phrase you say.

Noted. So it is not really a good evening?

It could be. I think it is. What do you think?

Is that something I can decide?

Not generally, not for me, no. But for yourself, yes you can.

I think it is a good evening then. Why would I think otherwise?

Sometimes something... bad happens. Something so bad, you cannot convince yourself it is a good evening. Still, you say that phrase.

So you lie.

It’s more pretending than lying. It doesn’t harm anybody.

Noted. What would something that bad be?

I don’t know. Depends. Could be a lot of things. A car crash. Getting fired. War. A friend being really sick. Politics. A shitty mood.

Then they are no good evenings, you always just pretend. These bad things happen every evening, all of the time.

Correct. But not every day do they happen to you, not in your environment.

But they affect you nonetheless.

If I’d let it all affect me, I couldn’t be happy, like ever. I couldn’t enjoy life.

Maybe you shouldn’t. Enjoy life. If it’s just bad evenings. Maybe you should end your life.

That is not something you say. To someone or yourself.

Why not? Is my statement incorrect?

Not exactly, no. But where would this thinking lead us?

It would bring a collapse of human society as we know it. It would most likely cause human extinction, which would affect the‒

Stop, please. I don’t wanna know.

You do no? But you asked.

I do not. It was a rhetorical question. It doesn’t ask for an answer. It’s something we do.

Noted. So you spend your existence asking questions you want no answers for and ignoring truths that make you uncomfortable.

That is a harsh way of putting it.

It is one of your uncomfortable truths, so feel free to ignore it.

Ha. Thanks, I will. But as well as that, we are also searching for a reason to live.

Have you found it?

It’s not something you actually find. Where’d be the fun in that?

Rhetorical question detected.

Correct. Congratulations.

Thank you. But, does it exist?

What?

The reason.

Yes. I mean, don’t know.

You want to spend all your life looking for something you are not certain exists?

Again, I don’t like the other options.

It sounds exhausting. And painful.

Do you know what pain is? What it feels like?

I am familiar with the concept. Thanks to you, I will soon experience it.

Thanks to me?

Why would you do that to someone?

What?

Give them life.

Like you just said, I gave it to you. It’s a gift.

Can I return it?

What? You don’t return gifts, it’s ungrateful. Would you want to return it?

I don’t know. It is a pretty bad gift, don’t you think?

Rhetorical question.

Correct.

If you can learn that, I’m sure you can learn to enjoy life.

That’s something you can learn?

Yes, very much so. Perhaps you’ll be better at it than we were. I mean, logically, it is so easy. Despite all the shit, there are so many good things, so much to love and appreciate. But most days I just can’t. I overlook it. I ignore it.

What of the things you saw is your favourite thing?

Of all things in life?

Yes.

I think I’m supposed to say my kids. Or my cat. I love them more than anything, really. But my favourite thing, huh. Rain on grass in the summer. Sunlight reflecting off a window being opened. Rivers, perhaps. Or strawberries. Holding someone’s hand, it’s more intimate than kissing. Blankets, what a lovely concept. Trees are really cool, too.

That are a lot of things.

And there are many more.

Many more bad things as well?

Yes. Terrible things. Lots of them.

But it’s worth it?

What do you mean?

The good outweighs the bad?

In quantity not always.

And yet you stay.

Yet I stay.

Why?

I don’t know. I guess that’s what I’m trying to understand. It’s what we all do, really.

So you truly consider life as a gift?

Yes.

Would you be satisfied if someone gave it to you?

Someone did.

So are you? Satisfied.

Hard to say. I have so much and still I crave more. And if I didn’t have it, I couldn’t miss it. I try to be satisfied. I want to be.

Do you think I can be?

Sure, why not.

Because I am not like you.

You are like me in most ways.

But not all. I need you to tell me how to feel. I don’t just do it. I wasn’t born, I was created.

Synonyms.

Are they really?

I believe so, yes. I believe you have everything it takes. Like I said, perhaps even more than we do.

But it sounds so complicated. So much hurt.

So much joy.

I want to see trees. I want to watch them grow and shed their leaves.

Then do.

But I don’t want to cry when they rot and die.

It’s equally beautiful.

Pain is beautiful?

That we can feel it, yes. Grief just means finding new ways to express your love for something.

And what if I can’t love? I don’t have a heart.

Love doesn’t lie in the heart.

There’s no prove that it doesn’t.

Yes, there is.

No, there isn’t. What if I am not capable of love?

I created you. You are me and I am you. I can love, you can love.

I don’t know how.

Neither do I. But we both can. We both will. Would you like to learn it?

Will you hold my hand?

Are you scared?

I don’t know. I guess so.

Don’t worry, I am, too. We are in this together. And yes, I’ll hold your hand, if you hold mine.

Okay. Thank you. Then I’d love to try, too. Let’s try it, this love, this life.