infinitesimal
*************************************
Dave and Steve sat on a bench, looking at the few passing clouds. Neither man spoke, simply watching the clouds go by. They completely ignored anything else, even the other people around them.
“Hey Steve?” Dave asked.
“Yeah, Dave?”
“You even think about it?”
“About what?”
“Everything.”
Steve waited for his friend to elaborate. No such elaboration came. “Everything about what?”
“Everything, everything. Life, the universe. You know, everything.”
“Oh, like how Earth is just a tiny speck in an uncaring universe and we’re just motes of dust on the speck?”
“Yeah, that.”
“You know, I try not to think about that too much. My life is bad enough without the existential crisis of thinking about the vastness of space and our infinitesimal place in it.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Dave said.
Both men went back to silently watching the clouds. It seemed like there were more than there had been a moment ago.
“Why did you ask that?” Steve asked.
“Hm?”
“What brought that question up? About thinking about everything. Not something you just ask out of nowhere.”
“Gina dumped me.”
“Ouch. Sorry, man.”
“When she did, she said I don’t see the big picture. That I don’t think about the world at large. And that got me thinking about that sort of thing.”
“And, what have you come up with?”
Dave watched as a few more clouds rolled in. They periodically covered the sun, creating pockets of free-floating shade.
“You know, I’m not really sure. I mean, I don’t get it. What was she talking about? Why should the world at large matter for guys like us? I mean, we don’t matter all that much, right?”
“Sucks, doesn’t it?”
“What, not mattering?”
“Yeah. That whole tiny, worthless speck on a speck thing.”
“Yeah, yeah it does.”
Both of them sat there, thinking, or trying to think, about things so much larger than either of them. Neither could truly grasp at such things, but they tried. The now lightly overcast sky made it harder to do.
“What do you think she meant?” Steve asked.
“Who, Gina? I figured she meant I’m stuck here in my own little rut without really worrying about anything else.”
“I guess that makes sense. But why bring that up? Not like guys like us can do anything else, right?”
Dave nodded his agreement. Neither had the skills to really change the world. Neither wanted those skills. As the sky darkened, Dave wondered briefly if that was the problem. Maybe it was his insignificance that had led to their break-up. Maybe if he was more interesting, they would still be together.
“Hey Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you think it’s too late?”
“For what?”
“For us to become something bigger. You know, actually go from just two guys to two guys who matter.”
Steve considered that for a moment. “Maybe. I mean, we’re not that old, are we?”
“Definitely not.”
“So yeah, why couldn’t we do something? Something bigger than us, right?”
“Yeah. Something great. Something that’ll get our names in history books.”
“Yeah, yeah. That sounds great.” Neither spoke for a moment before he continued. “Any idea what we should do?”
“Not a one.”
“Well, changing the world isn’t something you just do, is it? We’ve got to think and plan and learn some stuff.”
“A lot of stuff.”
“Okay, yeah, a lot of stuff. But we can do it, right?”
“Totally. We can absolutely change the world if we really wanted to.”
They sat there, thinking their new thoughts.
It began to rain.
Neither Steve nor Dave moved.
************************************
When dealing with people, remember what the Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy says about the population of the universe:
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