The Man Who Wasn't There

I do not believe in God. At least, not a real God. I am, however, agnostic about the existenZ of a cartoon God.

There is, of course, no irrefutable evidence that such a creature exists. But throughout my life I have accumulated events of varying silliness. Any one event judged on its own is deserving of little more than a smirk. But the sum total is a little harder to counter with reason.

This afternoon, I went for a walk. The weather was accommodating. It was cool, but not jacket cold, and the sun shone invitingly. I noted the progress of the hotel springing up in my backyard, and the lack of progress of the repairs to my main street, which has been chopped up and roped off for about three months.

Upon returning, something felt off. The sign for my apartment complex had changed. What's more, the name had changed. How had this occurred during the half hour or so I was gone?

I couldn't help but look over my shoulder, briefly entertaining the notion that I was being watched by a cartoon nemesis, some two-dimensional trickster hoping to send me on a detour.

But I quickly dismissed such thoughts as overly paranoid.

Nobody has a cartoon nemesis.

Right?