03.05.2021 “thinking about the immortality of the crab”
Suppose you saw a crab with three pincers crossing a small stream in while walking through a wooded area. Suppose the crab said “Good day friend!” as you were glancing in its direction. Suppose the ground started sinking under your feet as soon as your brain started processing such a strange occurrence.
You wake up in a very comfortable bed and wonder where you are and how you got there. The light hits your face with a slight sting to your skin but it feels good so you don't move out of the way even though its slightly blinding. An unknown amount of time goes by.
You are walking down a street with narrow shops on either side. The signs are all in a language you can't make out. You see a small shop with a glass front and stop to look inside. There is a single phone off the receiver. It is one of those old type of phones you see only in movies but you can't remember using in any modern time. Do you even remember a single number off the top of your mind? You notice that there is a faint sound of someone talking on the other side of the glass but you cant make out any specific words being spoken. You figure this is because you are in a foreign land. You reach to see if the door is unlocked to see if you can pick up the phone but then realize there no door at all. The store front has three panels of glass and you had assumed one of them was a door but you were mistaken. You think about how this must be some sort of artistic exhibition of some kind. You hate art. It feels like it is always trying to make you feel dumb.
You start walking home, home, home. What does that mean? You know without a doubt what direction to go in this city. You make twists and turns along the narrow streets. But you cannot remember what your home looks like. It was only hours ago you were in a bed so that must be your bed.
You see a bike leaning up against a newspaper box. You instinctively reach for the combo and unlock the bike. It must be your bike otherwise how would you know the combination to the lock. This logic checks out so you are not scared that you are stealing the bike, but you still don't know where you are going.
The air hits your face as you are riding in a way that makes you feel very alive. You have just made it outside of the city. You realize you are getting hungry. You keep biking anyway. You are starting to have a harder time biking because the road you were taking has turned to dirt and sticks and small plants. It is now almost impossible for you to bike and you dismount. You lock your bike to the nearest tree and head into the woods. There is much less light with all the under brush around you. You come to a small stream. “I have missed you!” says the crab.
(Seemingly inspired by reading this wikipedia article I had just come across on the fediverse.)