Why Would I Write

  • Revisionist History

    “What if it was doomed to fail in the first place? And that incident only served as a catalyst to speed things up? What if we were already falling apart at that time, but just didn’t know it?”

    “And what if it wasn’t? What if you weren’t so fucking stupid and didn’t do what you did – what then? Would it have ended some other way?”

    “Not that I can think of at the moment…”

    “Exactly.”

    I dragged on my cigarette and exhaled into the tortoise’s face. It didn’t seem to mind – it never did. It just stared ahead, through me, seeing through all the smoke and bullshit.

    “Stop trying to revise history. Just swallow the pill and man up. You fucked up, that’s all there is to it. There’s no point trying to believe otherwise.”

    “Can I make things right?”

    “It’s unlikely. And if I were you, I wouldn’t even try. Why the fuck would anybody give you another chance to let them down again? You’re better off dead. You should’ve killed yourself in that car crash.”

    “Yeah, I should’ve stepped on the pedal harder.”

    “Probably.”

    There was nothing left to be said. I put out my cigarette, and walked back into the house.

    ***

    “And to think I was actually rooting for him,” the tortoise thought to itself. It turned and retreated into its alcove.

  • A slow descent

    I’m tired, cynical and broken but wiser.

    It’s been almost a month since the incident. Yet it replayed in his head over and over again, as though it had just taken place yesterday. He let out a sigh. What choice do I have? Plenty. And you chose to walk down that path. You’re just another statistic.

    Fuck.

    (more…)

  • The specieist in me

    So today, I was linked to an article about some folks in China shaming a rat – literally. They strung up a dead rat, hung a sign on it saying “Is that all you’ve got? You can kill me and I still won’t admit it was me who stole your rice!”

    While I was amused by the picture, I found it cruel at the same time. I mean, if they had done the same thing to a dog, I would have been outraged. Which got me thinking – is it wrong to favor an animal over another? Like, let’s say a dog stole some rice, or maybe it killed a child. Then it was slaughtered and hung out to be shamed. How would I feel about that? I don’t know.

    But then again, China gives no shits about what kind of animal you are when it comes to punishment.

    We gave ourselves the right to put down animals without any fear of retribution. Imagine if animals could band together to avenge their fallen ones? Would we reconsider how we treated them then?

    Sometimes pets are treated better than human beings.

    Is owning a pet equivalent to keeping a child in captivity?

    I’ve read a quote saying something like “if you claim you love dogs but you eat meat, you’re a hypocrite”. Would that mean someone saying they love eating carrots but hate potatoes is a hypocrite? Where do you draw the line?

    If animals like dogs and cats were bred to be slaughtered for food (like chickens and cows), would that be any better? What makes eating one animal versus another frowned upon (assuming that neither of them are endangered)?

    I enjoy eating meat. I also love dogs a lot and would probably never eat their meat under any circumstance. I love most vegetables except bitter gourd (that isn’t deep-fried), lady fingers, and other slimy vegetables. I don’t mind people who are vegans. However, I don’t like people who feel the need to shove their beliefs down the throats of others (though this isn’t limited to just dietary habits *cough*religion*cough* sorry, I used to be one of those people). Also, eating meat isn’t such a bad thing.