"Ever hear of solipsism?" asked your friend, as he idly ran one hand through his hair. His other hand tapped out a brief rhythm on your desk. He'd turned his chair around, and was facing you.
You rolled your eyes. This was going to turn into another long-winded lecture on some dull topic, wasn't it? Despite your lack of enthusiasm, you did have time to kill until the next class. Against your better judgment, you figured you'd humor him.
"What's that? Something to do with sleeping?" you said in as uninterested a tone as possible.
"Heh, not quite. You've heard 'I think, therefore I am', right? Solipsism is just that taken a step further."
"...is that so?" you replied, while maintaining your vacant stare into the sky. Apparently misinterpreting your statement of disinterest as a request to elaborate, he continued.
"Essentially, it's the belief that only oneself can truly be known to exist. From your perspective that'd mean myself, your classmates, your parents and teachers and everyone else -- they're all figments of your imagination."
You broke your gaze from the window, turning to face your friend.
"So I'm God, then? Isn't that just narcissism?"
"No, no, no. In a way, solipsists are narcissists -- but they are narcissists by necessity. A solipsist might believe that the entire world is but a dream and he is the dreamer, while a narcissist would think himself the entire world and everything else."
"Those sound exactly the same to me," you muttered, casting aside your eyes once more.
Perhaps finally understanding your desire for silence, your friend chuckled, then turned his chair around and faced the front.
"The entire world's a dream, huh..." you thought to yourself, head propped on hand, eyes closed, waiting for the bell.
"What stupidity."
You don't know why that conversation came to mind now. In this situation, that kind of information really isn't what you needed to be retrieving from your brain's filing cabinets. The girl with the gun was still, well, a girl with a gun. And it was still pointed at you. You were standing with your back against a wall, in the alley of some slummy neighborhood. The maniacal smile on her face didn't suit her features. She looked about your age, probably younger -- definitely still a student, judging from the uniform -- and a light in her eyes seemed to twinkle with every breath you took. She was just looking for an excuse to pull the trigger.
"Interesting. You're so interesting! I've never seen anyone like you before! Tell me, what's your name?" asked the girl, her short brown hair shaking as she made exaggerated movements with the pistol in her hand.
Why was this happening to you, of all people? How did this lady even manage to acquire a firearm in the first place? Cold sweat trickled down your back. You seriously regret wandering off. You regret wandering through this part of town. Most of all, you regret mistaking her for a damsel in distress and calling out, thinking you could help. If you make it out of this situation alive you swear to never enter a back alley again.
>...
Status: Being held at gunpoint in an alley by some crazy highschool-aged girl.
Skills: None to speak of.
Inventory: A cell-phone in your pocket, and a wallet with $10 and change.
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Topic: Solipsist (Freeform Suggestion Game) (Read 677 times)