the interloper, part one

by nick nelson

part one of eight

who am I? have I only lost track? or did i ever know? am i the only one? or are all the same? all the worried faces in the street, the sad faces on trains and buses, the impassive ones in elevators, the contentedly chewing ones in restaurants, the carefully coffee sipping ones in cafes - are they all really like me - with no real existence, just playing parts for millions of others who are also just playing parts - excuse me? very well, then. i will as you so politely request, get on with it. I was born on the so-called planet earth, as a so-called human being. what was that? i can skip the “so-called”s and take them for granted? very well, whatever makes you happy. i was born on planet earth in the form of a human being, one of about nine billion human beings living at that time. i was born in the city of h__________, one of the many large cities springing up all over the planet to accommodate the ever burgeoning population. my so-called intelligence was measured at birth, and i was assigned to the fifty-third percentile… excuse me? yes, i am sorry. i will try to refrain from using the term “so-called” . being in the fifty-third percentile, i was in the upper reaches of the so… of the fifth grade of intelligence, of eight grades. the grades were from the first to the fifth percentile, from the 6th to the 10th, the 11th to the 25th, the 26th to the 50th, the 51st to the 75th, the 76th to the 90th, the 91st to the 95th, and the 96th to the lowest. i was classed in the 48th percentile of strength, the 50th of discipline, the 97th of energy, and the 96th of imagination. on completing my thirty-three years of schooling, i was assigned to the supply department of the space corps. the space corps had had no assignments or purpose for over four hundred years . but the supply department still had purpose, because even people with no purpose need to be supplied. i forgot to mention that i was a mauve. of course until my assignment i had never seen, or been associated with any other than mauves like myself. for the first time i was confronted with reds, greens, blues, and magentas. the education we all receive, from the highest percentiles to the lowest, is of course designed to preclude any friction between the groups when they are fully grown and released into each other’s company. counselors are , of course, always on hand to resolve frictions between members of different groups, as well as any other conflicts. i settled into my new life confident of my ability to navigate any pitfalls by myself. i never consulted the counselors, and quite consciously avoided them. i looked forward to a long and uneventful life, broken by nothing. how wrong i was! part two