I think, with those words, he finally saw me there, perhaps even for the first time.  One after another, expressions flitted across his face like fast-moving clouds: suspicion, realization, fear, and finally resignation.  He asked, Why are you here if neither of us believes the Dream anymore?  Because, I replied, you think the Dream is [...]

At this point I decided it was time to move.  The fog had begun to clear, metaphorically and in reality.  Of course the Dream is a lie, I said.  But it’s a compelling, powerful, and useful lie.  Every aspect of our collective existence is manufactured through continual appeals to the American Dream, from the things [...]

I could see the folly of it then. The frantic drive toward unlimited growth, and the relentless demands of shareholders hungry for bottomless profits drove us to this moment. And I shepherded them into it, countless people whose admiration filled my coffers. I, their prosperity prophet, taught them to subjugate their fears and replace them [...]

Why don’t you tell me what’s really bothering you, I said.  I didn’t expect a real answer, but he surprised me.  He shivered, rammed stubby fingers through the blondish gray hair that sparsely forested his crown, and sighed.  I suppose you’re too close now, he said.  It’s okay, I replied, I am not afraid of [...]

What he didn’t know was that I was the only stranger present. I knew him, or of him. I had followed him here, to the place where he sat teasing out the strands of his darkest nature, wailing his confession to any who would listen. He sat with his head in his hands, as if [...]

A quizzical expression formed on the stranger’s face, as if he lacked the means to decipher what he had just said. Tell me about iniquities, I said. He shook his head. Did I say iniquities? I meant secrets. They can be the same, depending on how they are used. We all keep them, some better [...]

The question shifted, became something unrecognizable. What do I do when the totality of my world extends no further than my one head? What would you do if, no matter where you went or what you did, you came back always to the same places, where you eat and drink and sleep and shit and [...]