Time for Endings: Interview #2

It's good to see you again.
Why?

It just is.
Okay. I'll accept that.

When we left off last time, we were talking about why you write.
I've decided not to answer that. It's an unanswerable question.

I don't agree.
It doesn't matter.

Okay. I'll accept that.
Nobody likes a smartass.

Let's move on, then. What do you hope to accomplish with this project?
I believe that I told you before that I have no expectations. I also have no hope.

Perhaps you're simply trying to find a way to be creative.
That could very well be. I like that answer.

And if you don't have any readers, why even write?
That sounds suspiciously similar to asking why I write. You're clever!

But don't you want readers?
[sighs] I suppose I do. At some level, anyway. But when I go fishing, I don't have to catch a fish to be happy. Sometimes standing in the river is enough.

But catching a fish feels good, right?
It does. But the older I get, the more I identify with the fish. All they want to do is live, eat, procreate, and die in perfect water. That seems like a perfect way to live one's life.

I have to say that you seem especially morose this evening.
Morose? No. I like to describe myself as a practical realist.

Maybe that's why you're focusing on endings--they seem more real than beginnings.
So, it's an age-thing?

Could be. As we get older, we see fewer beginnings. Or, we've seen enough to...
...make us happy?

I was going to say "make us understand that how we end is as important as how we begin."
Where do you come up with this drivel?

You're mood is contagious.
You're wrong about my mood. Perhaps your the one who is feeling morose. And I don't like how this is going, by the way. I don't need therapy.

Do you think that's what this is?
You sound like a therapist. You don't have much time left; ask me relevant questions.

Okay. Do you like to write?
Mostly, yes. Mostly I feel as though I have no choice, however.

Like you're driven to write?
You could say... Oh! Wait! You circled right back to the question about why I write, didn't you! You're good!

Have you ever thought that you might have readers at some point, and that those readers will want to know your motivation?
I've thought no such thing.

Let's get back to your project. How would readers know they're reading fiction?
I'll tell them.

You'll tell them?
Yes. 

Oh--I remember you wrote something about that in your introduction to the project. You'll use "end" or something like that.
Yes. Somewhere at the start or the end of the piece.

So, it'll be obvious.
Yes.

What if the readers don't get the hint?
Frankly, in the end, what does it matter?