Cold stones – The Immanent Frame.
When I first received the invitation to contribute to “Is This All There Is,” I thought immediately of the great speculative fiction author Douglas Adams. The question called to mind the title of his novel So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish. An open question about endings demanded an equally amorphous valediction. My goal was to write a series of seemingly unconnected vignettes, which would ultimately connect to a point and work in the number “42.” Inspired by recent resignation letters from the executive branch of the US government, which used the initial letters of paragraphs to spell out the words “RESIST,” and “IMPEACH,” I thought it might be fun to do something like “SKYWALKER,” “CYCLOPS,” or “MS. MARVEL.” Unfortunately, I realized quickly that I lacked the fortitude and creativity to do something like that. However, in keeping with the spirit of Adams, there is a secret message embedded within the text, but the cryptographic key has yet to be determined.