so, there was a story about ben?

oh, yeah.
i never told you about that.
well, it was tuesday. i'd just gotten my hair cut. molly and i were supposed to spend time together or something, maybe watch american beauty. well, that's what i wanted to do anyway. in any event, as soon as we drove down molly's street, i saw her dad's van pull out of the driveway. i tried to open their back door, but to no avail. going around to the front, i tried that door too. it also wouldn't open.

"well, fuck"

but then i hear the doorknob clicking, and ben comes out. he jumps as soon as he sees me, I guess because he doesn't expect a fifteen year old just standing on his front porch. heh.

"WELL FUCK. what is this elf doing on my porch. what're you, some tall elf?"
"heheh. did i scare you?"
"yeah you did, janeanne. i thought you were the guy coming to check our water meter or something. man. that's how i rationalized it, anyway. i thought you were coming to kill me. come in, come in."

so i go in.

"how did you like the girl with the dragon tatoo, ben?"
"oh, it was pretty great. the writing is so, y'know, thick. i actually had to read the entire thing. usually i just skim stuff. it just really gave me a thrill, y'know, to the point where i was actually afraid for the character's life. fuck, y'know, is this character going to live or die? most authors get too attached to the character, never want to see them die. this book, though. the movie wasn't bad either..."

somehow, we get on the topic of god, epistemology, origins of life, etc. i have no idea how this happens.

"i am by no means an atheist, but..." he says.
we talk about hume, descartes, socrates. well, i talk about hume and descartes. he talks about socrates. the guy loves socrates. he talks significantly more than i do, which i like. he likes me enough to share with me. muy excellente.

i am quiet, preserving the shroud of mystery in which i am cloaked. that's a lie. i just don't know what to say. he's smarter than me.

his dad, a devout catholic, comes home from taking molly to the library. we stop talking, especially because ben was talking about classifying himself as "agnostic". i hang around for a while, playing tetris. then, i ask dad (i refer to ben & molly's dad as "dad" if he plans on taking molly & i to the place (it's called the place... it's an arty, incredibly cheap restaurant) after she gets out of the library. dad says that he has to teach a class later, but could possibly take us.

"why don't you ask ben?"

"hey, ben, will you take molly and i to the place to play tetris?"
"what?"
"what, what?"
"why don't you just open the door?"

I open the door.

"i never know what you're doing in here."
"good point. but, yeah, i'll take you. just give me a moment."

after giving him a moment, we hop into dad's van and go for a ride. ben cranks up some mc hawking and we continue our philosophical conversation. we get ice cream, and go down to the marina. we talk about hitler, (not?) being an atheist, absolute evils, kung fu movies, my little pony, and so much more. mainly i don't say much, but i do correct him on the correct usage of "philosopher king".

after a couple hours of this, we pick up molly from the library. molly smiles and asks if i had fun. she knows i have a major crush on her brother, and doesn't really care. anyway, then we go down to the place and, post-eating some decent italian food, play tetris and galaga for 45 minutes. ben gets a call from his recruiter.

reality is re-realized.
ben's a lot better than me at galaga, but overall this was a pretty great day. that's a lame way to end a story, gina, sorry.

narwhal.
(that's not a lame way to end a story.)