He sidled up from behind and peered over my shoulder as I busily scribbled at my desk.
“You are doing Math?”
“You gave me a fright. Yes, I am. Why?”
His grin quickly changed into a look of seriousness when I turned around with a scrutiny of evaluation. He let out a cough at my gaze of suspicion before continuing.
“Well. ‘Y’ is indeed the question.”
“Ehm.. why?”
It was starting to feel like we were pulling neverending puns on each other.
“You know how there are variables in Math equations, represented by letters like ‘y’ and ‘x’ and et cetera?”
“Uh… yeah…?”
“And how usually the value of ‘y’ changes with the value of ‘x’ or vice versa?”
“Umm, yea?”
Was it going to be a revision of calculus? He let out a chortle, as if reading my thoughts at that moment.
“Now, you would say these variables are affected by each other, won’t you? In whatever way they are related.“
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“Now, consider the constant in a relation, sometimes abbreviated endearingly as ‘c’. It is an important part of it, but yet it remains unchanged, regardless what happens to either or both variables.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I was getting more and more perplexed. He must have noticed, and thus let out a reassuring grin before continuing.
“So, assuming both the variable and the constant in a relationship could take on positive values only. The variable could still result in a negative result, but the constant always positively amplifies the outcome. That right?”
He continued, looking at me, still smiling.
“My Math question for you today is: assuming you are a positive value. Would you choose to be a variable, subjected to the fluctuations of other variables, or would you choose to be an unwavering constant?”
He gave me a bright grin, then sauntered away, whistling.
I think I know my answer.
Awl and Scribe 