Conundrum

  *********

  “So there I am, standing in the middle lane of the motorway, watching my five-hundred-pound car drifting from its course along the left hand lane, across the solid white line and onto the hard shoulder. Then gracefully across the hard shoulder and into the concrete strut of the bridge at the top of the hill.

  And at once I knew that I had completed my mission. These 26 years on earth had been an investigation into the bizarre behaviour of humans. I had made enough observations to know what makes them tick and there was no real reason for me to stick around any longer. Sure enough, I would miss many of the friends I had made, but I couldn’t allow sentiment to impede my findings. Before I came, I had always been told that when the time was right I would find a way out of my situation, and sure enough I had!

  I knew that I had to do nothing more, for the information I had collated was safely stored in my mind and that those who sent me would be able to access it soon.

  My investigations into the human species have led to a conclusion that there are two types of people; those who exhibit the normal human characteristic of empathy and those who do not. It is with this second type of person that I am chiefly concerned.

  From my studies, it would appear that those who fall into this second category are unable to achieve peace of mind through the usual means, and can only derive such pleasure from the weighing down of others with psychological burdens. They view their own happiness as being like a set of scales. As the moods of others fall, so their's must rise. This is purely a comparative view of wellbeing, and whilst such people may think of themselves as superior in their ability to manipulate their fellows, they in fact have a blinkered view, being unable to assess the facts of their own existence at face value.

  During romantic encounters it is possible for human beings to contract a number of viruses of various degrees of seriousness. However, encounters with these non-empathetic humans can result in contracting a virus of the mind that can potentially flip the victim into the same ‘altered state.’ The danger is that if a person’s only experience of a situation is as a victim, they may see becoming the very thing they despise as an easy route to happiness. In this way the ‘virus’ spreads.

  Human beings often talk about sadistic forms of entertainment of bygone eras, such as the gladiatorial combats indulged in Roman times, yet these people who delight in the misfortune of others constantly stage their own ‘puppet shows’ by playing one person off against another. And every conversation, no matter how trivial, simply has to result in a feeling that one has gained the upper hand. Yet, the engineers of such situations seem to have little or no notion of the fallout this can inflict in the minds of their ‘puppets.’

  I have witnessed scenes of atomic explosions on human television screens, but I have also witnessed a mushroom cloud of turmoil engulfing every aspect of a victim’s daily existence. My chief subject here is my friend John, who required counselling and two years of antidepressant tablets as a result of manipulation by a young lady of this persuasion. And watching his recovery was like observing the fading of radioactive fallout with a half-life of around six months, for in six months it appeared that half of his bad feelings had gone, in twelve months it had quartered and in eighteen months these events appeared to have just one eighth of their original impact. However, the protagonist is rarely around to witness the slow speed that recovery from their actions takes place at. Having obtained their entertainment, they will merely move on to another target.

  My 26-year survey is still unsatisfactory however, for the question remains unanswered as to whether the protagonist is responsible for their behaviour or if it is just part of their very nature. I would like to return to my previous situation to assess further the interactions of such people and report in due course.”