about good Jenny and bad Jenny

I'm not sure where they came from. All I know is, one day I began speaking to hundreds of thousands of little people who followed me everywhere. Each of them had an identical twin with the same name except that; each one was either "good" or "bad". The main four, with whom I spoke the most, were Good Jenny and Bad Jenny and Good Robert and Bad Robert.

My favorite was Bad Jenny.

I was like a god among these little people. I would settle their squabbles, punish them for their wrong doings and praise them for their goodness. I fancied myself a real Solomon, fair yet unyielding. Every night, in bed, I would counsel them through their problems and reassure them about what was good and what was not.

I was attending a very conservative Roman Catholic school at the time of my disciples appearance. Our school motto was, "Nous sommes porteurs de paix"or, for you Anglophones, "We are Peacemakers". I was fully enamored of the whole religion. I can recall begging my parents to let me get baptized (I never was). I would recite the ''Our Father" every night before bed. I never sinned that I didn't immediately repent. But, I knew that I was bound for hell nonetheless. I was reminded every day in catechism what awaited an illegitimate heathen in the after life.

I can't remember when Jenny and the crowd left. I think it was around the same time that we moved to a new city. I was broken hearted at having to leave my friends, my school, my home. I remember pleading with god to help me, to take me back to my old classroom just for one last look, one last smell of the books. Nothing. I endured that misery and heartache alone and when I emerged on the other side I knew that there was no god. I understood that whatever I was going to do or have in this life I would have to get on my own. And so the Jennys disappeared.

I miss the Jennys and the gang sometimes though. Their funny little bowl cuts, their corduroy pants and their antics. Salu, little ones.