The Dream That Was

Part 7: Denouement ; Stuff - 2000

Brendan arrived home to find that their place looked like it had been robbed. There were piles of clothes and household objects scattered everywhere.

"Horatio?" he called out.

There was no answer. Then he heard a noise upstairs, so he quickly ran up. What was going on, he wondered? He was worried about Horatio.

"Honey?"

Since there was no answer, he made his way rapidly down the hall. In their bedroom he saw Horatio standing with a heap of clothes around him. Horatio had a dazed look in his eyes.

"Honey, what is going on?" Brendan asked concerned.

"I am afraid I am becoming like her," Horatio said in a strange voice.

"Like who?"

"Dagny."

"Dagny?"

"Yes...I am scared that I am becoming like her."

Brendan looked at the ransacked room around him. He was confused. He looked back at Horatio.

"HC, you are frightening me."

Horatio took a deep breath.

"Look at all of this stuff! Why do I need all of this shit? I have too much. It is all meaningless. It is just manufactured to make me materialistic. Look at this hat," he grabbed a hold of a hat that was in his closet. "I don't need this. I never wear it. I saw it on a billboard and bought it because I liked it. It serves no purpose...other than to make me a copycat follower. Is this who I have become? Is this who I want to be? A billboard model? A flake? A plastic unfeeling blob of nothingness?"

Horatio tossed the hat to the other side of the room.

"Honey, I think you are overreacting. You are not a materialistic person," Brendan said.

Horatio looked into Brendan's eyes. He turned away.

"Yes I am," he expressed dryly. "I have become so two-dimensional. But it is so hard. It is so hard living in a society that places such high values on manufactured goods. A society that entices you to buy. That entices you to be cool. That entices you to be like everyone else."

"But you are above that."

Brendan turned Horatio back to facing him.

"Am I? I have found myself becoming more and more like the people that I never wanted to ressemble. Look at us? We own a huge house, yet we have no children. Why is that? Status? Prestige? Stupidity?" Horatio asked.

"We live comfortably. We can afford to do so. Is that wrong?"

"So did Dagny."

"That was different."

"Is it? We are all humans. Humans are like machines of mass consumption. We feed off of stuff that we can buy. We have no care for anything else. Just look at it outside...that is smog out there. Why is that? Because humans are selfish. We are uncaring, base, consumerist nonentities. We squaunder and pollute; that is all we do."

"I agree, Horatio. Just look at all of the land that is being gobbled up in places like North Brampton. Mississauga has reached its frontiers; they have nearly run out of land to develop. Even Urbia went out of control. It was originally supposed to have more parks and open spaces. The Urbia Golf Course was even closed and built over. Nothing was left untouched. The tradition continues to this day in the Greater Toronto Area. It is in these places that farmland is fast disappearing. In the past, farms fed us food. Today they give us a place to feed our desire to live in a low density suburban environment."

"But that is what makes money. You have to do what the people want," Horatio said with ease.

Then he gasped, and covered his mouth.

"See, I am turning into Dagny."

"No you aren't."

"I am. I am thinking about money and not lives. It is such a sin to do so. But maybe I can't escape it; maybe it is in my genes?"

Brendan walked over and hugged Horatio. Horatio dropped the clothes he was holding onto the floor.

"It is not in your genes. You father is not like that. You are not Dagny. You have feelings...and you have compassion. Dagny lost all of that. So what if you like buying things? Is that a crime?" Brendan said.

"But I like having money. I take pleasure in collecting inanimate objects. Isn't that base and superficial?"

"Welcome to contemporary society. The thing that makes you different is that you realise that you are doing it. That is what makes it okay. Never lose sight of that fact and you will always be better than the sheep."

Brendan made a sheep noise in attempt to make Horatio laugh. It did not work.

"Sometimes I am tempted to give up all of my worldly possessions and to go live like a hermit up North somewhere," Horatio continued.

"And what about me?"

"You can join me."

"Gee...thanks. I would rather you stay here with me. If you want, we can go through all of our stuff and give some away to the needy."

"But that doesn't make things better. How can you stand living with me? I am a terrible person."

"No. You are an amazing person. You are smart, funny and compassionate."

"Really?"

"Yes. You are a good person Horatio. That is why I have been with you for all of these years. Now stop being so serious. I truly love you."

Horatio sighed and looked at Brendan. Then he leaned in and gave Brendan a deep kiss.

"I love you too. I guess you are right. Giving some of this crap away will make me feel a little better. I don't need to run away to the Great White North after all," he said defeated.

He kicked at the pile of clothes by his feet.

"I think I know what will make you feel a lot better," Brendan said.

His eyes lit up. Then Brendan put his hands down Horatio's pants. He moved in and French kissed Horatio.

"You can be so dirty sometimes," Horatio said laughing.

"Is that bad? Does that really make me a bad person?"

"No. I actually love that about you."

"Good. Come help me get the bed cleaned off, so we can get down and be dirty."

"Who needs a bed? There is enough cushioning on the floor with all of my clothes."

"I think my dirtiness is rubbing off on you."

"I sure hope so."