The Story Spark for this piece was: A Few Questions. We had 25 minutes to write. This is as far as I got.
The Question is…
Paul had but one question, and he always asked it. “Why?”
“It’s time to go out and play,” his mother would say, “Now be off with you.”
“Why?” was his response.
“Because you need fresh air and exercise to stay healthy.”
“But why?” he asked again.
I could go on and on about the dialogue with his mother. Eventually, she just stopped explaining and said, “Because I said so. End of discussion.”
This would go on and on with anyone he interacted with. The rest of his family, the kids and teachers at school, even people who came to his front door or called on the phone and asked, “Is your mother at home?” or Can I speak to your sister?”
“Why?” would be his retort.
Paul was destined to be the whys guy of the family.
What good is it to be asking why questions all of the time, his parents bemoaned to each other.
He did adapt it sometimes, when they or others tried to trick him with a question that required more than a one-word answer.
Lots of people asked him, “Why do you always answer why for everything we ask you or tell you to do?”
You’d think Paul would need to have a complete answer to that one. He did. It was either “Why not?” or “Why do you want to know?” Which kind of meant the same thing as just “Why?”
Then came the day the stranger came.
He introduced himself as a questionable therapist – an expert in
resolving speech problems of individuals who cannot stop questioning. He was highly recommended.
Paul’s parents, not fully understanding who this therapist was, decided to give him a try.
The therapist’s instructions were to be left alone in the room with Paul for 1-hour.
Though they had concerns, they let him proceed with his therapy session.
Paul and the therapist sat at a table in the room. The therapist said he was going to play a short word game with Paul. And before Paul could react, the therapist said, The one rule that you have to follow to win is that you cannot use any words that have the letter Y in it.
Of course, Paul asked Why?
The therapist quickly responded with, “You lose. You used a Y”
It took three more responses like that before Paul stopped asking questions. Paul did not like losing, but what could he say that didn’t include the letter Y?
