And as we should all know by now, anytime you predict failure you have an excellent chance of being right.

I looked around the store and what I saw was not very encouraging. There were rows and rows of violent toys...aisle after aisle of training devices for recreational slaughter. No wonder our world was such a mean and violent place...if we teach children that killing is fun, can we really be surprised if now and then someone is smart enough to learn?

Why bother inflicting enormous pain on yourself when sooner or later Life would certainly get around to doing it for you?

Whatever made me the way I am left me hollow, empty inside, unable to feel. It doesn't seem like a big deal. I'm quite sure most people fake an awful lot of everyday human contact. I just fake it all. I fake it very well, and the feelings are never there.

But what could I do? Be stupid for a while? I wasn't sure I knew how, even after so many years of careful observation.

I nodded with genuine synthetic sympathy.

The mind picks some very bad times to take a walk doesn't it?