Asylum

There was a hole under the sink, roughly the size of a child’s baseball mitt. How this hole came into existence was a bit unclear, but there it was just the same. The shock of the discovery was made a bit more distressing by the sudden appearance of a head thrust through the aperture, seemingly rising from the abyss. The head was followed by the body of a rather large mouse, or possibly a small rat. He had an inviting aspect, not having the visage of some of the more repulsive species of rats; no red eyes or matted fur, and his front teeth were not dripping blood. His fur looked clean, and his large eyes bulged out of his head with the characteristic twitching whiskers moving like a humming birds wings to and fro. The hole itself can be experienced in several different planes, all relating to the five senses possessed by mankind. It can be seen, felt, and even measured. It can even be intruded upon by the intellect, within the sphere of conjecture and hypothesis. Science and reason can explain aspects of the existence of the hole, and offer postulations instead of explanation when appropriate, even though the hole is not in an of itself an existential reality; the hole is not self-actualized, it is an absence. The hole under the kitchen sink is an aberration, a perversion of the integrity of the cabinet itself. While the hole can be said to exist, it does not. While the hole can be experienced, it is a falsity, a non-existence, an absence.

The edges of the wood seem jagged and uneven, and all of this translates into language that the brain can systematically deconstruct, and reconstitute into something meaningful. The hole can have purpose, the hole can facilitate a differing usage of the cabinet space, but it does not exist separately from the cabinet.

In spite of all of this inner monologue something was lacking. In order for this hole to be anything more than an unsightly aperture in an otherwise fairly nondescript cabinet, another plane of experience must be reached. It could not simply be seen, felt, and categorized neatly; the hole could not be labelled and tossed aside like archived copies of a Sears catalogue. The reason this hole was in the cabinet and the mode of its creation were suddenly very pressing subjects, even though its very existence was unknown a moment before. The human mind relentlessly grasps at anything it can hold for more than a fleeting instant that will translate experience into words, into story. The mind must fill the hole in our understanding with anything that can serve to add knowledge of truth to our repertoire. even those who do not consciously seek truth are constantly seeking it nonetheless.

The mouse experienced the hole in an entirely unique way, his perspective adding an element of familiarity to the conversation concerning the hole. The mouse, in his limited understanding, possesses an aspect of truth concerning the hole which is unavailable to the human mind; he can experientially explore the hole with his entire being, and can therefore understand its function more holistically. He offers his perspective on the matter, but it seems that his observations fall on deaf ears. Those in the kitchen do not see the hole as the mouse’s mode of transportation, the entry point into his home, his domain; instead, those in the kitchen merely see a rat, an invasive species, a disease-carrying degenerate who must be annihilated.

Nonplussed at this unexpected turn of events and hostile greeting, the mouse attempts to flee the scene of his now impending incarceration and possible demise. He merely wanted to offer his take on the existence of the hole, but he is now a refugee, an undesirable, a fugitive. He pleads for the humans to hear his side, but it is of no use. Those in the kitchen have spoken, and the mouse must die.