Life, actually…

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WATCHING YOU WHILE YOU WATCH ME WATCHING YOU

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Several generations ago, before your time but during my time, I was actually a small child. Hard to believe, isn’t it?

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Because I, like you, began life as a child, my evolution toward adulthood was an adventure. An adventure worth examining along the way, worthy of examination many years later—like right now, for instance.

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As a young’un, I learned everything the hard way. Each experience was a first-time happening. Each moment was exciting. Each time I closed my eyes, then opened them, I saw something fresh and new.

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I did a lot of pondering back then.

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I punch the rear view button of my time machine. I select Five Years Old.

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And here I am, back in my childhood hometown.

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I’m getting dressed for the day, layering myself with protective clothing, when I realize someone is secretly watching me getting dressed. I look at my bare feet, and there is the culprit. Superman is staring straight at me from the front cover of a comic book.

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This Superman needs to remain safely inside his pages. He doesn’t need to observe my personal life, except when he’s keeping enemies at bay.

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I turn the comic face-down and continue grooming. I’m safe in my room and Superman is safely napping inside the pages I will be turning shortly as I observe his exploits. I always feel safe when Superman is nearby.

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I’m later breaking my fast at the kitchen counter, munching on toast and reading the labels of a cereal box and a Pet Milk container. Suddenly, I realize that the can’s label is illustrated with a picture of a cow peeking out from inside a can of Pet Milk.

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Hmm…

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Looking closer, I see that the picture of the canned cow depicts a picture of a canned cow. I squint to see how many pictures of canned cows inside pictures of canned cows there might be, each one smaller than the one before.

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This infinitude of cows disappearing into atom-sized illustrations is more than I can grasp. Where does it end?

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Years from now, when I read Richard Matheson’s novel The Shrinking Man, I come to understand that the infinite diminishing of anything cannot be dealt with logically, even when I become an adult.

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The Shrinking Man steadily shrinks into infinity, never stopping. Where is he now?

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Maybe he’s enjoying life with the Pet Milk cow, knowing that all is well and safe, particularly while Superman stands guard

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© Jim Reed 2022 A.D.

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