I was famous right from the word ‘Go’. Even before all of this, way before all of this, I was famous. Famous like a fiery meteorite streaking through the sky on a winter’s night. As famous as the cold star that shines down from above. So aloof, so removed from human affairs. A thing apart from ordinary life. Very much apart; so much apart – in fact – that we lose sight of it entirely and dwell in darkness! Alas for us, alas for us. Alas for us because we think the darkness to be good and we bow to it in prayer. In the face of such ignorance fame shines all the brighter, of course. ‘How could you forget?’ – that’s what the Light of Fame says. ‘How could you forget?’ That is all very well of course but the fact of the matter is that I did forget. The plain fact of the matter is that I always forget. I’m reliable that particular way, you see. I’m utterly dependable in this respect – you could set your watch by me. And then from time to time I’ll remember that I’d been famous all along. Famous all along but not knowing it. Oh no, I didn’t know it at all because I was lost in the darkness, thinking it to be good, thinking it to be wholesome. Lost and not knowing that I was famous. Not having a clue. Thinking that I was normal. Sure beyond any doubt that I was normal. Convinced beyond any hope of reversal. Stumbling here and stumbling there and trying to make up stories about who I was, what I was doing, and what I should be doing. Trying to make up appropriate stories to account for myself but failing. Failing miserably, failing unhappily. Making a fool of myself as usual. Not realising my own true status. Not realising that I was famous and had been all along. Not realising that I had been famous right from the very beginning. Famous like a show you see many, many times but always forget. Famous like an angry squirrel suddenly leaping onto your head from the tree you are walking under. Famous like geese are famous, famous just as chickens are. ‘As famous as fame itself,’ you might say. As famous as the words that drip so languidly from my pen – these words were famous all along, they were famous right from the word ‘Go’. Just waiting for me to write them down, just as destiny had always intended. The Glory of all Creation pouring forth from every object I encountered, pouring forth from the invisible cracks that run all through this world. Everything was famous now, and there’s no denying it. There is no getting away from it. Not anymore – the word was out, the whisper was abroad on the breeze. I lived in a famous world, I realised, and the whole universe is famous. Fame leaking out from all sides – Eternal Fame, the fame that passes all understanding, the Fame that comes from beyond space and time…