"I'm Sad"

"I'm sad".

-About what?, she asked.

"About everything". She sat down on the bed next to me, even thought I knew she was in a hurry.

-What's everything?

I started counting on my fingers: "The meat and dairy products in our refrigerator, fistfights, car accidents, Larry". - Who's Larry? "The homeless guy in front of the Museum of Natural History who always says 'I promise it's for food' after he asks for money. How you don't iknow who Larry is, even though you probably  see him all the time... how the sun is going to explode one day, how every birthday I always get at least one thing I already have, poor people who get fat  because they eat junk food because it's cheaper..." That was when I ran out of fingers, but my listwas just getting started, and I wanted it to be long, because I knew she wouldn't leave while I was still going. "...domesticated animals, how I have a domesticated animal, nightmares, Microsoft Windows, old people who sit around all day because no one remembers to spend time with them and they're embarrassed to ask people to spend time with them, secrets, dial phones, how chinese people own mexican restaurants but mexican people never own chinese restaurants, mirrors, tape decks, my unpopularity at school, Grandma's coupons, storage facilities, people who don't know what the Internet is, bad handwriting, beautiful songs, how there won't be humans in fifty years".

"Who said there won't be humans in fifty years?", she said.

"Are you an optimistic or a pessimist?"

She looked at her watch and said, "I'm optimistic". 

"Then I have bad news for you, because humans are going to destroy each other as soon asi it becomes easy enough to, which will be very soon". 

"Why do beautiful songs make you sad?"

" Because they aren't true".

"Never?"

"Nothing is beautiful and true". 

She smiled, but in a way that wasn't just happy, and said: "You sound just like Dad".

 

 "Extremely loud and incredibly close", de Jonathan Safran Foer.