The Moon
A: Do you see that?
B: See what?
A: That right there!
B: The moon?
A: Yeah, the moon!
B: What about it?
A: Isn’t it incredible that we’re sitting here looking at the moon? The moon!
B: Okay…
A: I mean it’s millions of miles away.
B: No, it’s like two hundred thousand miles away.
A: Fine, it’s two hundred thousand miles away. But it’s right there.
B: It’s right there all the time. We see it everyday.
A: Yeah, we see it, but we don’t lose our minds over it. We don’t stop in our tracks overwhelmed by our smallness, by the fact that we’re these tiny, tiny specks in a seemingly infinite galaxy. We don’t get dizzy thinking about the transient nature of our being.
B: Because people have things to do. Places to be. Thoughts to tweet.
A: But *we* don’t have anything to do.
B: Right.
A: So why isn’t your mind blown right now?
B: It’s just the moon, man.
A: Okay, do me a favour. Look at the moon and think about how long it’s been up there.
B: Okay.
A: Now think about how long you’ve been down here.
B: Done.
A: And?
B: I’m cool with it.
A: You’re cool with the fact that the moon has outlived all your ancestors and will *easily* outlive those who come after you?
B: Who would want to live as long as the moon anyway?
A: I wouldn’t mind.
B: What would you do with all that time?
A: I would travel far and wide, explore the lands and the seas. Buy multiple flags bearing my initials and pitch them in the capital of every country.
B: And after that? What happens when all the mountains start looking alike and the seas just become the same shimmering things in different shades of blue? Or when you run out of flags and couldn’t give a damn about putting in an order for more?
A: That won’t happen.
B: Of course it will. I mean, do you see that?
A: See what?
B: The moon.
A: What about it?
B: Exactly.
