An Idea

"I've been thinking about this... Well, I always kind of wanted to write a book that all took place within the space of a pop song. Like three or four minutes long, the whole thing. The story, the idea, is that there's this guy, right and he's totally depressed. His great dream was to be a lover, an adventurer, you know riding motorcycles through South America. And instead he's sitting at a marble table eating lobster. He's got a good job and a beautiful wife, right, but that...Everything that he needs. But that doesn't matter because what he wants is to fight for meaning. You know? Happiness is in the doing, right? Not in the getting what you want.

So he's sitting there, and just that second his little 5-year-old daughter hops up on the table. And he knows that she should get down, because she could get hurt. But she's dancing to this pop song in a summer dress. And he looks down and all of a sudden, he's sixteen.  And his high-school sweetheart is dropping him off at home. And they just lost their virginity, and she loves him and the same song is playing on the car radio. And she climbs up and starts dancing on the roof of the car. And now he's worried about her. And she's beautiful, with a facial expression just like his daughter's. In fact, maybe that's why he even likes her.

You see, he knows he's not remembering this dance. He's there. He's there, in both moments, simultaneously. And just for an instant, all his life is just folding in on itself. And it's obvious to him
that time is a lie. That it's all happening all the time and inside every moment is another moment. All happening simultaneously. Anyway, that's kind of the idea. Anyway."

A part from "Before Sunset"