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Through a Different Lens

Following are responses to recent questions on a journaling site I visit. For the second question, except for one sentence, I tried to create a person completely different than me.

Do you prefer beach or forest?

I prefer the forest because I like the warmth and comfort of a campfire with friends. I like watching the progress of rivers, listening to the steady and powerful rush of millions of gallons of water, having carved their course to the oceans; and I like the smell of pine trees and the company of unseen birds and animals. I enjoy thinking about the fact that a lake can exist well above sea level, that one can swim high above a valley. I like the variety in scenery offered by forests, with mountains here, grasses there, and patches of sunlight that penetrate the canopy and flood an open plain. In fact, the sun is more pleasant in a forest than elsewhere because the forest is cold, and the fact that you have limited access to the sun makes it the more pleasant when you do finally feel its warmth on your person. In a forest, too, you take nature in one step at a time, and relish each new discovery as it unfolds.


Describe your life in an alternate universe.

Loud, outgoing, and authoritative, I command the attention of all in earshot. I am short, but evoke fear in those who look at me. This is because I am a fighter, whose short temper has earned me the name "Red." I hate reading, though books have been written of me. I eat fish live, raw from the stream, and I chew with my mouth open. Chuck Norris once asked for my autograph.

I wander, moving from place to place, and though my charisma and natural eloquence has earned me the high opinion of street thug and diplomat alike, I crave the companionship of no one. I am self-made, grown and hardened on the asphalt of city streets. I fight men for sport. Children have been named after me.

I raise pit bulls and nourish a secret love for espionage. I am no man's patriot and belong to no country. I am a mercenary. My name is Tony, and I am a man.

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