Let Me In Chapter 2: And It Was So
Let Me In Chapter 2: And It Was So
If you read a book about your life, how far could you get before you had to stop?
Let Me In
Chapter 2: And It Was So
John Martin Fauss
Born November 10, 1986
Town of Morven in Anson County North Carolina
Southeastern United States
Two Parents Present at Time of Birth
Married and Practicing BelieversEditor’s Note: The first years have been removed as instructed by the Implied Innocence Covenant laid out by The Great Redactor. It should be noted the exception will be date of birth, region of birth (location), parent status as well as their state of marriage, and the status of the family in regards to faith. Going forward any changes or removals of content will be addressed at the beginning of the section so modified.
John Martin Fauss, of standard conscious development, has begun the reconciliation process of morality.
It was a typical day in Morven when it happened. Typical is relative, of course, so it must be said typical refers to what you would expect out of a summer day in the Southeastern part of the United States. Hot, sunny, as close to unbearable after spending any amount of time unsheltered outside as you can get. At least that was how John felt.
He was seven at the time and full of energy so this was not a great realization for him to have and he knew it. Choosing to ignore it as best he can he continued to play with his figurines in the makeshift warzone he constructed the day before.
What should have been mud, and what had been mere hours before, was now dried clay. Had it been buried a few inches underground it would have been impermeable, rocklike, useless. By virtue of having been raised from that position the previous day and drying out in the sun it no longer had those properties.
While he would have preferred his army men to trudge through thick, wet clay, he knew from movies and from stories he had heard that you have to be prepared for anything in war, even sudden shifts in terrain and weather. With this in mind his little green men trudged on, ever compliant and uncomplaining. In John’s mind this has no need to be mentioned, they are army men after all. They are superheroes.
But John was not one of his figurines. He was not a superhero. He was thirsty and he knew it. As such, and understanding his army men were trained to persevere even in the harshest conditioned, he decided to leave them for a time so he could quench this thirst.
Note: Perspective is important here for whomever may be reading this. As a seven year old child of standard cognitive development, not to mention conscious development, John is still grappling with what is real and what is story. The implied falsehood of acting in movies is, to him, very real in contrast. There is still a hint of objective personification with objects as well, though that will quickly dissipate as time goes on. These men are toys with the possibility of being real, essentially, and this must be understood before reading on.
Tap water was the preferred method of rehydration of his parents. That was how they expected him to quench his thirst. John had other ideas and wrestled with his desire to drink what he wanted, not what he had been instructed to. As the door to the refrigerator opened and he assessed his options it occurred to him the noise may give away his intentions. Thinking quickly he slowly broke the seal to the freezer and closed the refrigeration section as close to the same time as he was able.
Assuming this had its desired effect, that being not making his parents aware of his aborted attempt at transgression, he carried on getting cubes of ice like normal. The clink of the ice against his glass was familiar and comforting for him but had a secondary effect he wasn’t expecting. It made him realize he was thirstier than he suspected. He hurriedly went over to the tap and finished what he originally set out to do.
With his mission accomplished, John sought refuge between the comforting arms of his family’s couch. The thought of going back outside felt exhausting. There’s plenty to do inside, he reasoned, and it’s comfortable in here. The television would be a wonderful distraction from the drudgery of war. Sure, battle is exciting, but troop movement could be painfully dull. The army men, being superheroes, could stand to wait for a while being no worse for wear.
As he woke from his involuntary afternoon slumber he felt an intense panic take over. John sat up and started looking around, trying to figure out what had him gripped in such a manner. Once it clicked he abandoned his post for far too long, he rushed outside to be with his men. His thoughts racing, worried about their current state of readiness and their wellbeing after baking in the sun all day.
Relieved they didn’t appear any different than before and therefore perfectly fine he continued on with his simulated battle.
They did end up victorious, of course.
Addendum: This organic manifestation of panic due to the unintentional shirking of his responsibility to those little green men was his first of this kind. As such, the development of the tools around morality (guilt, regret, relief, empathy, etc) can be seen to have started forming and being utilized. With this in mind, we can accurately state that these tools would have been present down the road. Given the availability and his capacity to use them effectively, any argument about their absence or of John having a limited ability to utilize them effectively may prove fruitless.
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