Inference Of An Unlikely Mind ; A short story By Mona Auji

2006-08-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

Close your eyes, he thought, close them! It's the only way you're going to hear anything. He stood up, walked to the corner of his room, and closed his eyes.

You're not going to hear anything you know...

Go away, he urged, GO!

Suit yourself.

* * *

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to stop the violence."

"How?"

"By hearing them, of course."

"Of course...of course... But...how?"

"By hearing them, it's the only way!"

"Don't you see it? If you hear them you can see them better..."

"... isn't it the other way round?"

"No...? You can't see what I'm doing?"

"No..."

"Have you heard what I said?"

"Yes.."

"But your eyes were open!"

"So?"

"You only heard what you saw!"

"It's the same th..."

"No!..No its NOT! If you heard me without looking at me it would be different! You'd understand"

* * *

" Let me introduce myself. My name is Daniel Hughes Paquin Tomas. You'd probably never be able to tell where I'm from or what I do... And if I told you, you'd probably never be able to understand. But... let me try and paint you a picture..." staring at the man sitting across him, " would you like that?"

The man nods in assent.

"Well, you know that 'they' group everyone tends to mention at some point?...Well.. I'm 'they'"

* * *

"What am I supposed to understand?"

"What I'm doing!"

"But you're not doing anything..."

"You couldn't hear me"

"Yes I COULD!"

"You only heard what you saw..."

* * *

Close your eyes, he thought, please just close them.

It's not working is it?

It will

Let's face it. you're not the person you were ten years ago.

This thing doesn't go with age...

Who's talking about age?

Just... go... away...

* * *

"Why are you sighing now?"

"Because you won't go away."

"But you asked me to come here... you asked me to stay..."

"No, you see, I asked you to try and understand."

"Thats what I'm doing!"

" You're not even in the neighborhood of cl..."

"So Help Me Out!"

* * *

"So... Mr. Tomas.."

"Call me Dan.."

"Mr Tomas... what does this have to do with the war?"

"I'm trying to help... you see, I'm the only one who can stop it..."

* * *

It's the woman in red, she's crossing the street.

Make sure she doesn't go left...

Let's make her go left then... perfect... maybe she should move a tad bit slower, just to make
sure everyones looking at her.

Then what?

Then we sit back and watch this beautiful daughter of eve...

* * *

"Okay babe.."

"Dont call me babe."

"Why not?"

" It's demeaning..."

" Alright then, Miss??"

"Paquin?...Maria Paquin?"

"Do you want to understand what I'm doing?"

"Yes"

"You have to really want to.."

"I do"

"Good, now... lets see... if you met a woman who not only liked to cut herself, but needed to... what would you think at the time you met her?"

* * *

The man chuckled, Daniel plasters a benign smile on his face. He's used to this type of reaction. But oh how he missed the old days, people were alot less cynical then.

"So you're the one who can stop the war?"

"In the flesh..."

"I'm sorry Mr Tomas but..."

"Dan..."

"But you must realise how ludicrous this sounds. One person cannot stop a war."

"Why not? One person can start one..."

The man sighs, "Listen, Mr. Tomas..."

"You know you should really get used to calling me Dan."

* * *

You don't know what you're doing do you?

Of course I do...

This is brilliant.

What? I do!

You don't have a clue...

Suit yourself...

* * *

“I would be worried about her."

"Why?"

"Obviously because she’s hurting herself"

"What if she said she needed to cut herself to feel alive?"

"She needs help..."

"Why? Why think that? She never tried to kill her self; she never tried to hurt anyone…"

"But you never know, she might"

"Alright, but I asked what you'd think WHEN you met a woman that liked to cut herself."

* * *

"..Is there something in particular you'd like me to call you?"

"My names Patrick, if that’s what you're asking..."

"Patrick...Patrick what?"

"What does it matter?"

"Just want to humour this formality..."

"Hughes...Patrick Hughes…"

* * *

Doesn't seem like this beautiful daughter of Eve is getting anywhere...

Are you kidding? She's just getting started.

Too slow...

I wanted it that way.

Close your eyes, he thought, close them!

* * *

"...the only reason you can't comprehend why this woman would ever want to cut herself, is because you wouldn't want to do it yourself. But what if you would?"

"I guess we'd have something to talk about then..."

"Precisely... and you would be hearing her..."

"Let me guess... without looking at her?"

"Now we move on to the issue of mocking what we don't understand..."

* * *

"Interesting... Now Mr. Hughes, is there anything you'd like to ask me?"

"For laughs? Well, how you alone intend on stopping this war. For my own curiosity... is there a reason why you are sitting here in front of me?

"Did I interrupt anything?"

"My lunch..."

"Anything else?"

* * *

Why is it that you constantly attempt to do this?

Because it's the right thing to do...

But you never end up following through...

I will this time… you'll see…

You said that last time...

She seems hungry don’t you think?

* * *

"... I'm not mocking... I just don’t see how any of the things you've said so far have anything to
do with one another"

"Alright, imagine one car accident witnessed by 20 people...Go up to each of these people and ask them to recount the story...What do you get?"

"20 stories of the same car accident"

"20 different stories of the same car accident. It's not that any of them are lying... it's just that every person will subconsciously fill in the parts omitted in their memory, with something of their own. So really, you can't trust any of these 20 stories entirely. And yet the most troublesome of all, is that you can't trust your own account entirely."

* * *

"...Are you sure I’m not blocking your view...? You'd like to meet that woman would you not?"

"How is this more important then what I asked you?"

"Because I’m in the way..."

"Well...I’m indifferent"

"Ah, but you are most certainly lying... look at her: that discrete smile with her lips only slightly curling at the edges, those emerald eyes that seem to light up with her conversation, the dark hair that flows ever so freely from her head to that upper body, that red dress that hangs gracefully off her shoulders and yet seems to accentuate every single dazzling curve on that heavenly figure... as I said… you are most definitely lying..."

"What makes that woman desirable is not the description you just gave her. It's the fact that every man in this room is thinking the same thing..."

"Very good..."

* * *

All around the mulberry bush
The monkey chased the weasel
The monkey thought it was all for fun
Pop! Goes the weasel

Very funny...

* * *

"If you cannot count on your own memory to not manipulate your thoughts, let alone others, that’s when you know, you... are all alone. All you can count on is what you know of yourself. But what you must also try and perceive is that every other person in the world is doing exactly the same thing"

"This isn’t exactly new to anyone..."

"I'm not trying to introduce anything new... you see, the problem with mankind is that they have all the given factors of life marked from A to Z, and yet it never crosses their mind to mark it from Z to A"

* * *

"Maybe you should try and answer my first question now..."

"Right… have you ever met a manipulative person Pat?"

"ehm... sure"

"Ever met an intuitive person?"

"Yes..."

"How about a perceptive person?"

"Is this going anywhere?"

With a genuinely shocked look on his face Dan replies, "Of course..."

* * *

You could at least try and prove me wrong...

How’s that?

Show me that you aren't useless...

...Can you really not see where this is going…?

* * *

"If you could understand yourself entirely through complete intro-and retro-spection, then you wouldn't have to depend on anyone to do it for you..."

"What’s the use of that? Everyone is afraid of being alone, no one wants that..."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Because...you're lonely then I guess…?"

"No...Would you ever want to be stuck in a room with a complete stranger that could be a serial
killer, for all you know?"

"I guess not"

"Why not?”

“…Because, I guess, what you don’t know scares you…”

“…And what you do not understand, so then it’s not so hard to imagine why you would not like to be left alone.”

* * *

"Adolf Hitler, for example, was a man with most of those qualities... what did he turn out to be?"

"An overused example?"

"No... He went on to be a great man... terrible, but great"

"The relevance?"

"If someone had the ability to go back in time and kill him before he had even started to gain power, how different do you think the world would have been today?"

* * *

Women are a great tool, look how she coerces that waiter, gets him to do exactly what she wants by making a promise that may or may never be fulfilled.

Very original, women have been used for this cause since the beginning of time... Do you really think you're going to get away with it?

Why not? It's the simple plans that work.

* * *

"The key to understanding others… is understanding yourself. One you've mastered that, your ability to analyse those that have potential, will become more and more accurate."

"…Why would I want to do that?"

"…The plot thickens…"

* * *

A waiter walks up to the two men sitting at the centre table, "This if for you sir…"

"I didn't order a drink…"

"No but she did, " pointing towards the woman in red, "She also sent you this note…"

"Thank you." Patrick raises his glass to the woman in red, looks at the man sitting across him long enough to notice a slight smirk, then lowers his gaze towards to the note.

* * *

Still can't see what I'm doing?

It didn't work the first time, there is no need to worry…

Then you've obviously never spent time with these people…

* * *

"…I could've done what any boss does, I could have set out the orders for you and let you do your job…but this is too important for that…"

"How is this any different?"

"Because there are no orders…"

* * *

Patrick looks up quizzically at the waiter," Is there anything else?"

"Yes sir, the lady asked me not to leave until I got an answer to give back to her."

Daniel lets out a chuckle, "Forward, admirable."

"Would you please tell the lady that I will be right over to… discuss…"

"Yes sir," The waiter walks towards the woman in red.

Patrick edges his gaze from the woman to the man sitting across of him, was that a laugh?

"Discuss," Daniel lets out with a chuckle, "that's all you could say?"

* * *

What if this doesn't work?

Then obviously, I have a back up plan…

You can't be serious…

Close your eyes, he thought, close them now!

* * *

"So what is it I'm meant to do? And why did we go through all this trouble if you weren't here to tell me anything?"

"I needed you to understand, I still do, that is the only way you're going to accomplish anything. What you are about to do, is something that will combine all your skills and your innate intuition. We had this conversation because I needed you to understand how to use that intuition."

"But I still don't know what I'm meant to do…"

* * *

"Anyways, I can tell when I've overstayed my welcome… But, I just need you to entertain one thought."

"Do tell…"

"What would happen if you met one person with all those skills that I've mentioned to you…?"

"I'd probably hire them…"

* * *

The woman in red eyes Patrick from across the room, what was he waiting for? What could Daniel possibly be telling him that he would wait this long before accepting her offer? The man breaks out in laugher, shakes Patrick's hand, stands up and walks out of the restaurant. Enough waiting, she says to herself. The woman in red makes her way across the room to Patrick's table.

"I never thought any man could keep me waiting that long…"

"I'm sorry, if not for an imposing acquaintance I would have never hesitated to come right over…"

"Are you one for idle chatter?"

"No, necessary is enough…" Patrick replies with a wry smile.

* * *

Not a very original one, are you?

One need not be original to get things done…

Things aren't always as they seem, you may think you've won today, but whatever you do will not change the way things are, so many people, including you, have worked to assure that. Bring down one, there will be a thousand others waiting on standby.

Goodbye Tomas…

* * *

Patrick closes the door behind him.

"What's your name?"

"Does it matter?"

"Call it a fetish…"

"Maria…"

"I'm glad I met you Maria…Please… let me help you out of that"

He slowly unzips her dress, kissing every inch of her body as it bares, pulling her closer to him, feeling her breath as it quickens. The dress falls to her feet, she pulls herself away from him.

"Would you mind if the lights were off?" she asks with her back turned to him.

"Whatever you want…" Patrick turns around and heads for the switch.

"Did you know that thirty percent of the blood pumped by the heart passes through your liver?"

Patrick pauses in his track as the hair on the back of his neck starts to prickle. She's right behind him. Her hand squeezes in between his right arm and his side, showing the gleaming hilt of a knife that swiftly stabs Patrick right above his abdomen and straight into his liver, slowly twisting the knife. He staggers backwards, his weight falling onto her. Then she does it again.

"You might wonder why I chose the liver; it is your liver that has been damaged, you see it takes a person on average around 40 minutes to die from a liver wound. And I don't believe in killing anyone unless they have the chance to ask as many questions as they can before they… pass away."

"…W..hy?"

“To stop the violence of course…”

* * *

Semistry Introspection

Inference Of An Unlikely Mind ; A short story By Mona Auji