2004-04-03 - 11:17 a.m.

He couldn't bear to kill the child. And so he brought it to the dark place, with the intention of abandoning it there.

"Child," he said, "This is your playground. Here, you are free to roam, to run wild - and nobody will care. And you need not feel guilty."

But the child said, "I never felt guilty."

He turned around and started to walk away. The child asked, "What have I done wrong?"

Without turning, he replied, "You have done nothing wrong. If there is any wrong done, it is by me and only me."

He was some distance away by now and the child had to shout it's next sentence; "Without me, you will not feel happy!"

And it was his turn to shout now: "I never felt happy. You have done nothing wrong - your entire existence itself is wrong. You have become as like a hindrance, and now I must abandon you."

And he thought he heard the question: "Who are you abandoning? Me or yourself?"

It was a question he could not answer and so he walked on without replying.

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