The Parable of the Fugitive Lovers

Josh lives.  Josh walks.  Josh breathes.  Josh speaks. 

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, the American experiment seems to be in a constant state of tension between the collective interest of the democratic majority and the liberty of the individual.  Can the two ever be reconciled?”

Josh spoke thus:

A man and a woman had fled and were hiding.

“You do not love me enough,” the woman told the man while they were hiding.

“This is not the time for that discussion,” the man said.

“So you admit it,” the woman said, “You don’t love me enough.”

“How much is enough?” the man asked, “I’m fleeing with you.  I’m hiding with you.  Isn’t that love enough?”

“If it were love enough,” the woman said, “You wouldn’t have had to hide behind ‘This is not the time.’”

“I’m concentrating on hiding behind this bush,” the man said.

“Don’t be flippant,” the woman said.

The man remained silent as they slipped into a storage drain.  Boots tromped over their heads.

“Now you’re sulking,” the woman said.

“You’re being unreasonable,” the man said.

“Because I want you to love me?” the woman asked.

“Because you want me right now to love you more than I love you right now,” the man said.

“So you’re saying you could love me more,” the woman said.

They ducked into a back garden.  A nearby tree shimmered with the inspection of a flashlight.

“I’m not saying anything,” the man said, “I’m a little preoccupied right now.  Do you really think now is the time for this discussion?”

“There should be no discussion,” the woman said.

“I agree,” the man said, “There should be no discussion.  Not now.”

“Not ever,” the woman said, “The fact that we need a discussion makes me question why I’m even coming with you.”

“Because you’ll die if you don’t,” the man said.

“Always with the clever answer,” the woman said as the man boosted her up onto a stone wall.

“We could go back,” the man said, as he joined her atop the wall.

“There is no going back,” the woman said.

“I agree, there is no going back,” the man said.

They could hear a dog searching the ground where they had recently been standing.  They crept along the wall and climbed up into the gridwork of a bridge across the river.  They were two-hundred yards from freedom.

“Will you still love me when you’re free?” the woman asked the man.

“I will love you more because I’m free,” the man replied.

They stepped onto the river bank of freedom.

“Will you love me now you’re free?” the man asked the woman.

The woman replied, “I don’t know if I can love you enough.”