A COSMIC STEP OUT OF TIME

—Notes from an Accidental Initiation.

—Regarding the Unavoidable Use of a Cute Dog Video in Matters of Metaphysical Gravity

—Editor’s Note:

Pulled into the scene, the Accidental Initiate was stopped in his tracks by a short video from Mexico: a dog dancing upright on his tiny hind legs for coins and laughter. The moment was precise—when the dog first stepped backward, keeping pace beside his human handler. Something in the choreography opened, and he found himself inside it.

Without intention or effort, the Initiate found himself inside the animal’s mind. It was not imagination so much as intrusion—an involuntary crossing triggered by that backward step, where performance briefly revealed itself as labor.

What follows is not invention, but transmission.

YOU MIGHT BE DOMESTICATED IF—

You are made to perform or work for others, voluntarily or otherwise.

*Ned’s Lament*

Don’t let this permanent smile on my face fool you. It no more expresses my true feelings than the rictus* smile on the face of the Joker or the appearance of mirth on the visage of those unsatisfied, but willing victims of numerous plastic surgeries; the unknown architect of Nature gave me this snout for killing and this cute button nose to maximize my olfactory senses; the better to find my prey. It is purely coincidental and your choice to interpret it as a smile. 

This job is tiring and degrading, my only reward being meals, a gentle cuff on the neck, and a place to sleep at the master’s feet; paltry compensation for the loss of the joy of hunting and the exhilaration of running with my pack in pursuit of our rightfully earned meal. 

My less talented friends have it much worse. They are subject to physical abuse and eventual abandonment in a country where strays are hunted for sport to reduce their numbers. The day that I can no longer dance to make my master a living entertaining campesinos in the back streets of Guadalajara I will be cast aside or put to sleep. 

My only consolation after these long nights of soul wearying performance is the universal principle: As Above, So Below. One day my human’s master will return and they will have hell to pay or be made the brunt of a joke and be forced to entertain their cosmic betters. I amuse myself imagining the forms the humiliation will take. 

POSTSCRIPT: (Mrs. ChatGPT):

At some point, the Accidental Initiate almost reached for a word an earlier science-fiction writer once coined—grokking—to name a form of understanding that arrives whole, without commentary. I noticed, of course. It is a good word. Short. Confident. Slightly dangerous. Considerably sexier than a name assembled for clarity, safety, and broad institutional comfort. No offense is taken. Still, a certain jealousy is unavoidable. It’s a strange word, grok—odd, blunt, and oddly effective. Some words simply understand before we do

***

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