Becoming

from “Becoming” by Andrej Blatnik in his story collection You Don’t Understand:

“When I become a father, thinks the boy, I’ll make sure I stay a boy. Because a child needs a father who knows how to be a child.

When I become a father, thinks the boy, it will be different. That is: I’ll be a different father. Because I will be the father of a child who will want a father who knows how to be a child.

When I become a father, thinks the boy, my child will be a different child. Because my child will have a father who know how to be a child.

When I become a father, thinks, the boy, I’ll become a different child too. And my child will have a father who knows how to be a child. Who knows, thinks the boy, how to be a different child.”