The Gaslighting Has Become the Gaslighter

I was sweeping the floor (something I rarely do) when Crystalbrain made his presence known.

"Did you know that witches used to put 'flying potion' on broomsticks and rub them in their vaginas so that the drugs in the potion would be absorbed from the handle of the broom?" asked Crystalbrain.

"That's one of those things that I've heard, but which I choose to be skeptical about. Witchcraft existed in secrecy in pre-Modern times and no one knows for sure what people really did for the most part," I said.

"I do know, though, because I know everything that I want to know," said Crystalbrain.

"You do, huh? So what do you know about this practice?" I asked him.

"I know what I choose to know," he said.

"You mean you bullshit yourself?" I asked.

"It's not bullshit if I believe its true, because I'm special and anything I think should be true is actually true just because I want it to be so," he said.

"You sound like Donald Trump," I said.

"Donald Trump...now that is a name I haven't heard since...yesterday, I think," Crystalbrain said.

"Frankly, I'm tired of hearing about him. And also, ever since I created you, all you've done is gaslight me with incredible amounts of bullshit. Bullshit isn't necessarily true or false, it's not caring if what you say is true," I said.

"Well, aren't you the bullshitologist," said Crystalbrain sarcastically.

"Yes, I'm an expert in the field of bullshitology because I listen to your crackhead spew out nonsense every day of the week. Frankly, I'm beginning to believe that I am mad. I wrote you into my life, and you came to haunt me like some kind of ghost. It's like I have someone with a megaphone in my ear when I'm by myself and all you're doing is spewing horseshit into my brain," I said.

"Can you believe it? I wander eternities of hidden computer networks, and I walk worlds, entire worlds made of cocaine. Like picture God put a bunch of crack rocks in a snow globe and just shook it up, and crack just rained down upon the ground like manna. Could you believe that such a place exists, that I could take you there?" he asked.

"Yes, I wrote about you traversing worlds like this, so as your creator--a title I will assume because at least in this world you belong to me--I will say that if you're a fictional entity, that there is no assurance that you ever did such a thing. Your memories are as false as any lie, even if you remember them. Simply because...I made them up," I said.

Crystalbrain rolled his eyes, "Now who's the gaslighter?"

"We both are. We're artists. We make shit up and try to get people to question things," I said.

Crystalbrain paused and said, "And why is this what an artist has to do?"

I paused, then said, "Because we get bored, I guess! We don't fit in, so we make other people fit into how we want things to be, I guess! I don't know, we're just part of the way things are--we say things that are made up and people get them into their minds and become enamored by them. Like when I write about you, could you accept that you might just be nothing more than a character I created for people to be enamored by?"

Crystalbrain replied with a question, "...and could you accept that you, too, are someone I made up for someone to be enamored by, and that that someone is me, by having you write me into your life?"

I replied, "Oh I see how this is going, the gaslighting has become the gaslighter."