Self-deception

"Whaddaya mean, 'How can you?'
It works if you slant it,
It works if you twist the whole thing around,
Turn it upside down:
It works."

"It does?"
"Sure, see?
It works if you switch it,
It works if you stretch the truth all 'round,
Turn back around:
It works."

"Just barely."
"Oh."

Some mornings I wake up an hour or so early. I will get up and go into the living room, turn on a lamp and go back to bed, leaving the bedroom door open.

When my alarm clock wakes me up again, I will open my eyes and see the glow from the lamp in my hallway. For one very comfortable second I believe there is someone else in my apartment. Something to greet me, other than a cold kitchen floor and a droning refrigerator.

Self`-de*cep"tion (?), n.

Self-deceit.

© Webster 1913.