I Who Exist To Be

By Dylan Burkett

What if I told you I was lying? Just like that; say it out loud with me: “I am lying.”

But how could you know if I was telling the truth? If I said I was lying, then that would be a lie. Then I wouldn’t really be lying, would I? If I was lying about lying, then I would be telling the truth. In that sense, I never lied. But I did lie; I just said I lied. I lied, then I lied; but I lied about lying, so I was telling the truth; but I was still effectively lying. Now you may wonder, exactly where am I going with this? Well that’s how I ended the universe. That’s a doozy, now isn’t it? You may be wondering how exactly you are still alive if I destroyed the universe. See, I didn’t destroy your universe, I destroyed mine. Yes, all of it. It’s just gone because of a single lie. I suppose you’re wondering why as this may sound very confusing to a being like you who until reading this, didn’t know that another universe existed and that I had destroyed it. Maybe it’s time we discuss the issue.

Let’s start off simple. “Who am I?” you ask.

Well, I am me and I exist and if I didn’t exist then I wouldn’t be me, now would I?

So you see, I am me and that is not a lie. What exactly I am I do not know, only that I am here and not there. When I am from is easy. I have always existed and I always will exist. I remember no beginning and see no end. Where I come from is complicated. I am from somewhere, but that somewhere no longer exists, or rather, it has never existed for I have destroyed it, but how can I destroy something that has never existed? We’ll get to that. Why I exist is to be. By being I fulfill my purpose. To be is to exist and to exist is to be and by existing I am me because I exist and have always existed but where I am from does not exist for I have destroyed it.

When one tells a lie, one is not telling the truth. When you tell a lie about lying you are telling the truth while you are lying as we discussed. This very kind of thing is what unravels the fabrics of space and time: the very being of existence. At one point I said, “I am lying.” followed by “The universe exists.” Which itself was both a lie and the truth because if I was lying it would not exist, but I was lying about lying so it would not exist. Then I said, “The universe doesn't exist.” Since this was also a truth and a lie, it was contradictory to the previous statement which was, as well, a truth and a lie. Now, it is not possible for something to exist and not exist and yet it must because that is what is because I said so and that was a lie but it wasn’t a lie, but it is so it must. And so the universe ceased to exist, not in the sense that it was destroyed--although I did destroy it--it just never existed because it couldn’t could and couldn’t. Nothing ended because nothing ever began, and even though it did, it didn’t.

The very being of reality is therefore destroyed by this concept. By lying about lying and repeating a statement in both the positive and negative, it is possible for everything and nothing to exist at the same time. Anything I wish will be, but it will not be at the same time. “I am lying” and you know by now that this statement is a lie. “An elephant has appeared before you and yet it has not appeared at all.” The elephant now exists before you because by lying about lying I was telling the truth but I was still lying. The elephant has always existed and yet it has never existed and this is both a truth and a lie. Now both are true and you no longer know what to believe because you believe both since both are true. I have this power and I alone because I am me and I can manipulate everything. I exist because I am and I do not exist-- it seems my passion got the better of me…

Power is ephemeral. Lies are corruptions.

Two plus two doesn’t equal five; and yet, in s sense, it does.

Dylan Burkett always loved books and the adventures they told. His absolute favorite is The Lord of the Rings. After dabbling in creative writing a little bit in middle school, he didn't really get into it until his mother passed away in 2019. He started writing a book in order to escape. Two years later and he has been accepted into Arcadia University to major in creative writing and digital art. One day he hopes to become a published fantasy author and screenwriter.