The infinite in layers, a goodbye, someone new

So much of note has happened since last I addressed me to you. Just six days ago while glide-stepping as a way of simulating walking on water, I met an old friend; Reubrech, the boy from the boulangerie! "My dear boy," said I, "how good it is to see you. My confection as of late has been left unsprinkled with the sweet poetry of youthful yearning."



"Arvel, always pining like a tree for the love that evades thee, dangling in front of you like a carrot in a hare's race that never ends. Likeiwise have I remembered fondly our acquaintance. How have you been?"



"You already know the answer. You've just spoken it."



"My good friend, the meek shall indeed inherit the earth."



"But the earth is full of misery, pollution, and neighbor's dithering each other's promises. This gift I shall refuse for all of my existence."



"So shall I."



"Where are you heading?"



"Perhaps an oasis, perhaps under a porch. I am heading in one direction, and wherever I end, that's where I'll be."



"Wonderful."

_______________

I'm afraid to say it for fear of the slightest sound disturbing the fragily reconstructed pieces and shattering the glass again, but I have met a woman. It is a strange but wonderful situation as the very one who has hooked me like a bad performer at Carnegie is the sister of my next door neighbor Parphit.

Parphit was celebrating his newfound success in acting as he was just cast in a supporting role as a radical Islamic terrorist in a major Holywood film called "Those Who Kill Us." I arrived home one afternoon wishing only to sink into my couch as a ship sinks for having no hope to survive the damage when I was accosted by obnoxious Indian techno music. There Parphit danced with an awkward suggestiveness that suggested a hernia and loss of bodily function. I couldn't help but pause in disgust. I then noticed his parter. Dolores-that trollop, betrayer of man's last shred of decency. For a moment I felt rage and jealousy. Then I noticed her licking and running through her teeth Parphit's new gold dollar-sign necklace. At that moment I couldn't even feel rage, just regretful lament that I ever fell for this woman. That's when I saw her standing by the window, looking wistfully out the window. She emitted a heavy, defeated sigh. She was the most beautiful (and I mean that in the literal sense) woman I had ever seen. Her graceful clothing and elegant demeanor (yes, I could sense her elegance even as she stood motionless!) suggested she could walk on the very clouds and the angels would kiss her feet. Parphit noticed me and enthusiastically invited me to join the party. I barely noticed him. Dolores even protested slightly but she was too drunk to care for too long and I was too awestruck to care at all. I glided towards her as if hypnotized. She turned to me and our eyes locked like asteroids unable to break away from their gravitational pull, setting them on a certain collision course...of love.

I knew instantly that we felt the sadness of all creatures neglected and exploited. I knew we both felt the resurrection of the hunted from the table of the taxidermist preparing to stuff them for the decoration of the homes of the wicked. We were no longer on that table...

"I am Arvel."

"The feeling is mutual." She said in a thick Indian accent. Her expression never changed. I knew not whether she was Wordsworth or Groucho. Either way, I was enthralled. "I am Gumptha."

Gumptha.