Stories, Thoughts and Snippets


Self Knowledge 1 Self Knowledge 2 Self Knowledge 3 Self Knowledge 4

"Have you ever killed a man before?"

"No."

"Don't be afraid, it will be easy, tonight that will be what bothers you. How easy it was."

"I don't think it will bother me."

"Perhaps not tonight, perhaps not until you have killed a few more, perhaps not until you yourself are dying. But it will bother you eventually, if doesn't then there is something very wrong with you."

"That wouldn't surprise me."

"Life would not be beautiful if it had no value, why bother to live if it means nothing to take life?"

"We see things very differently, you and I."

"Clearly...Here he comes, don't run when you come back out of the door, walk quickly, but naturally. Good luck."

"Thanks." I was cocking my pistol. I fell into step behind a Mr. Mohammed Al Ar-Zaqwi. I caught the door to his apartment building just before the mechanism caught. The door swung back open fairly soundlessly, but Ar-Zaqwi turned around anyway, perhaps because he did not hear the customary click. As his face came around, slowly and casually, I raised my pistol, there was only a moment of recognition in his eyes before I pulled the trigger. I'm sure the first shot killed him, but following protocol I approached his body and shot him once more in the head, and then once in the chest. With the silencer on anyone passing on the street would think I had just dropped a few stones against the marble floor. I slid the gun under the robe that covered my body and my hair, and walked back into the street, there was no one who seemed worried, no one who even seemed to notice my emergence.

"It's done?"

"It's done." We walked back to his waiting car, and were quickly lost in traffic. We arrived back at his home in time for a late lunch, which we took on his roof, which gave us excellent views around the city. I changed back into my western clothing and lounged, knowing there was nothing for me to do for a week, indeed that I was intended to actively do nothing for a week.

"Do you enjoy lamb?"

"It's fine. This dish is excellent." I replied.

"Good, many of you Americans have no taste for lamb."

"It's much rarer over there."

"So you know what you are to do for the next several days?"

"I am to be your grateful guest, remain in your home, except to make a few obligatory trips to tourist destinations."

"Will that be a problem?"

"Not in the least, you have a lovely home, and I brought a few books with me."

"Good."


Self Knowledge 1 Self Knowledge 2 Self Knowledge 3 Self Knowledge 4