What I will tell you, son of sons, is this: shortly, if not already, you will begin noticing the blackness inside us all. You will develop black secrets and commit black actions. You will be shocked by the insentitiveness and transgressions you are capable of, yet you will be unable to stop them. And by the time you are thrity, your friends all have black secrets, too, but it will be years before you learn exactly what their black secrets are. Life at that point will become like throwing a frisbee in a graveyard; much of the pleasure of your dealings with your friends will stem from contrast between your sparkling youth and the ink you know lies at your feet.
Later, as you get to be my age, you will see your freinds begin to die, lose their memories, to see their skins turn wrinkled and sick. You will see the effects of dark secrets making themselves known- via their minds and bodies and via their stories your friends- yes, Harmony, Gaia, Mei-Lin, Davidson and the rest- will begin telling you at three thirty in the morning as you put iodine on their bruises, arrange for tetanus shots, dial 911, and listen to them cry.
The only payback for all this- for the conversion of their once-young hearts into tar- will be that you will love your friends more, even though they have made you see the universe as an emptier and scarier place- and they will love you more, too. Zero balance (a get-cracking term form the KittyWhip manual).
Our achievements make us interesting, Tyler, but our darkness makes us lovable. You will have dark secrets, Tyler, and I will still love you. Dan has his dark secrets (well, they're not really secret with him, are they?) and I still love him on my own way. And yes, Tyler, I have my own dark secrets. And I hope you'll love me still. Beauty and sadness are woven together, even Frankenstein gets lonely. So Tyler, you'll just have to forgive Dan. If you do, you'll beat me to it, but forgiveness is what we have no choice but work toward, or else we are just animals. Dark animals. And that is too much to bear. God likes you less for staying home and doing nothing than he does for you going out and maybe getting into a little trouble. Risk the trouble of forgiving Dan. Then forget about him.
Enough, enough. The last things you need is your hippie mother being heavy on you. You are my son, Tyler and I hope I've guided you well. Our home wasn't like on TV, but you know you are always loved here and that there is nothing you can do which will make me not love you. Do what you will, but after doing it, come home. Soon.
(Douglas Coupland: Shampoo Planet)
