Five lies, five truths
What makes a lie, a lie? Can a truth be a lie? Can a lie be a truth? For that matter, what is truth? What is a lie? A thousand questions churned in a cloud of almost tangible chaos above the table in front of me. At the same moment, four other sets of eyes met mine as they too looked toward the center of the table.
Each one of the five beings around the table had one task. To prove their existence. The rules of the game were simple, and there could only be one winner. In order to survive, one had to prove that one truly existed, and that the other beings did not.
I gathered my courage and spoke first, "I know that I exist, because I know how I came here, and what came before. I know the story of my life until now."
This had no effect, other than gathering four assenting murmurs from the other beings around the table. This was going to be harder than I thought.
Next, the being to my left, who looked like a satyr, spoke, "I am conscious. I know my own thoughts, and can reflect upon my own nature. I must therefore exist."
I joined three other beings in agreeing with this sentiment. Now, one of the beings opposite me spoke, the words emerging from a swirling black shadow with silhouette of a woman within, "None of you can possibly exist. I see, I hear, I feel, I taste, I smell. My senses tell me that I exist, therefore I must exist."
Again, a murmur of assent traveled around the table. The shadow looked distressed. The being to my right spoke, "My world, which I have been so cruelly plucked from, has existed for longer than anyone can remember. That I come from a world with such a long history must surely prove that I exist."
As the murmur of agreement rose yet again, the last being spoke, "I cannot conclusively prove that my being exists, but I can prove without a doubt that the matter that I am comprised of exists, and that it exists in the shape that I perceive myself in."
After a moment of silence, there was once again a unanimous agreement. We stared at each other, puzzled. None of us could prove that we existed more than another.
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Five beings sat around a table. Each held a paper scroll with writing upon it. They stared at each other, and glowered. None of them could prove that their skill in storytelling was greater than that of another. No one had won this contest, all were equal. As they rose and parted ways, five other beings were returned to their rightful places in their own stories. For in the end, none of them existed, they were all lies. But, while each story was a lie to other worlds, to itself, it was truth, and truth and lies were relative.