Aha!

Eureka! By Jove, I think I've got it! That's it! Success! Mission accomplished! Of course! Brilliant! I can see it now! It all makes sense now!

I found it. The answer. Yeah, that one. The one that answers that most personal question, that most important quandary, that most deeply embedded curiosity. You know the one I'm talking about. That thing you were always too scared to ask. Too scared of what the answer might be. Might have always been. Might become. Remember it now? Guess what? I know the answer.

The solution to every problem that ever came around actually needing a solution. The missing gear in the mechanics of Life. The looking glass through which thirty-seven shades of gray become crystal clear black and white.

I know it.

And you know what?

I'll tell you.

Listen closely.

I'll only say it once.

It depends.

What...?

"Why did you do that?"

"...do what?"

"Don't smart off to me, boy!"

"I...don't have any idea what you're ranting about."

"Drop the stupid act. You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Do I now?"

"Yes...it bloody well saved my life."

"So you burst in from nowhere, screaming to me? How grateful."

"Yes, that was unseemly. You have my apologies..."

"Accepted."

"Quite, quite. Ah...whatever happened to that salamander figurine you had? The one of porcelain?"

"That little thing? The story it has now...but alas, I sold it to a very deserving home."

"I see...pity. What about those diamonds...the ones that glow with a light of their own?"

"They're in better hands as well now. But is business the only reason you came?"

"No, I suppose not. Can't quite remember what the real reason was though."

"Haha, you seem to be growing senile."

"And you seem to be growing fickle. Last I was here, those items weren't for sale."

"Maybe not to you. You never needed them."

"Well of course. No one needs diamonds."

"No, not the diamonds...but what they represented to the person who now possesses them."

"What else can a diamond represent but wealth?"

"See, a person in your situation couldn't understand...would never need to understand."

"I don't know if I should take offense to that..."

"Are you happy?"

"Aren't you blunt? I suppose it took me a while...but yes, I believe I am."

"It took you a while?"

"Money makes fools of us all."

"How eloquent...but why did it take so long for you to realize this?"

"Dear boy, it just occurred to me."

"Hm?"

"You never answered my original question."

"Which was...?"

"Why did you do that?"

"Sigh...do what?"

"Kill me."