Yes, for a minute I actually attempt to do the math.  My eyes wiggle in all sorts of twisted directions before I give up.

                “Now take that number.  Take that number and remember you’ve already thrown out 1/3 of your little existence to sleep.”  And after a deep breathe Mr. Quigley says, “I guess my question is- when are we ever awake long enough to be considered ‘alive’?”

                The brakes squeal.  The voice over the loudspeaker says, “Biel.  Biel Rd,” and I put my book away- for this is the end for me.  My time has come.

                And yet no one reads the introduction.  Every Dom, Nick and Barry flip flip flip to CHAPTER ONE: THE BEGINNING (said in a masculine! tone) and never really wonder about the inspiration behind it.  No, instead they take my word.  If I write, “Once upon a time,” then that is law, written in stone, I tell you.  And from there their little eyes glaze over letters and words and sentences.  The story unfolds and well, we all learn a “lesson” in the end now don’t we?

                But I can’t live like that.  No, impossible.  I must beg the question, “Where does this beginning, begin?”

                And I should probably point out that right now, at this very moment, I am at the bar eyeing a blond but still scribbling (in tiny abbreviations and near hieroglyphics) on this receipt.  Yes, this is my introduction, dear readers.  An introduction to what I’m not sure, but I’ll tuck it back inside Lolita and one day return the book to the library.  Perhaps you will come across this receipt.  Perhaps not. 

As a closing thought, I want you to keep in mind the Asis, M.’s and the Mr. Quigley’s of the world.  Remember them, for they are the beginning to MY beginning, and it is up to you to find your own.

Sincerely,

The Unexamined Author

P.S. Immediately after laying the pen down, a thought jogged across my mind.  It was of Mr. Quigley’s final words.  Not the ones I wrote but the ones he spoke as I stepped off the bus.  He called after me, “With all the shit that goes on, you ever wonder if God woke up from that nap?”