Fifty Nine

Excerpt:

“Where do you want to be five years from now?”
“With you.”

Silence followed.

In this silence there was much deliberation. This was a simple question. It was specific enough to require thought but obviously casual enough to assume a reaction of blasé. However this assumption was proven wrong because the response came without any hesitation and its arrival was so sudden that it raised an unsettling surprise. Of course, it was not expected that any heavily weighted consideration would be needed, but this by far was too easy. It seemed there was no need at all for thought because it was as though the question had already been well thought out. In fact, the pause that took place after the answer should have preceded its delivery. The question had, no doubt, been internally asked prior to this point. There was definitely pre-planning involved. There had to be. It was so oddly natural that it actually made the question seem strange – even though it wasn’t because the question lacked sophistication, almost to the point where it seemed meaningless. But it couldn’t have been meaningless if the answer had been premeditated. The importance of this question was surely overlooked. It was just a simple question though, wasn't it? Or at least that's what it was intended to be until the answer changed all that. And so in this silence, confusion was born.

“You don’t know where I’ll be - ”
“I don’t care where you’ll be.”
“Five years from now I could be dead…”
“So would I. I wouldn’t want to live without you.”
“That’s so irrational, there’s an entire world of possibilities out there - ”
“This world couldn’t possibly mean anything if you weren’t a part of it.”
“You’re funny. Sometimes I wonder about you.”
“That’s funny, I think about you all the time.”