I have two fathers. One is sitting at the kitchen table, suggesting things to give the other father for his birthday. He says I have to get him something good, or he'll get worse. The other father is off somewhere else, getting worse.

The first father tells me no one understands the second father. He says the second father speaks in code. Even his prayers are in code. He is afraid his messages will be intercepted before they reach heaven, by some force of evil or passerby.

"Why would they intercept his messages?" I ask.

"Oh, I don't know," says the first father, "but your other father knows. You underestimate the value of his secrets. He is privy to the innermost thoughts of God."

With horror, I see my first father has cracked down the middle. Soon I will have three fathers.


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