Well, ok, true - they
do decide what happens within a limited sphere of influence pertaining to the societies they populate. What I meant was that they had nothing to do with
my life, nor the way I conceived of life (for right or wrong, at that selfish age) - and I found great consolation in the idea that they could not go back and forth
in time as freely I could. Their forward-only perspective formed a sort of natural barrier-reef to what I saw as the world - as one really can't be certain of one's continued existence any more than about 12-seconds ahead (airplanes falling on your head, brain-clots bursting, suicide, miscellaneous serial-killers moving in next door and inviting you to dinner) - the future (
their future) is a transient thing.
And true, having an affinity for caves has helped in this respect - and I accept that I have gone out of my way to avoid the "responsibilities" most people (should you ask them) would consider obligatory and unavoidable in this world - sometimes, more often than not, to my detriment - but it is always a matter of choice. As long as I can mentally track the boundaries of their "limited spheres of influence", they are powerless. Should I lose track of that...
...well, I never said there weren't any monsters under the bed.
)
