Bryce thought for a minute. Then he laughed at his situation: using a Martian, in a bar, for a confessor. But perhaps it was appropriate. - Walter Tevis

"Is there a God?" I said. "I mean, are you in touch, telepathically, with any kind of God?"
"No. I'm not in touch with anything like that. As far as I know, there is no God."
"Oh," I said.
"It doesn't bother you," the voice said. "You may think it does; but it doesn't. You're really on your own. You've been learning that."

The sky at the top of the gray ocean has become much lighter now. The sun is about to rise. I will end this recording for now and stop the bus and walk outside and watch the sun rise over the ocean.
My God, the world can be beautiful.

It all began, I suppose, with learning to build fire—to warm the cave and keep the predators out. And it ended with time-release Valium.