He was at a halloween party. He was joined by his close friends. His friend, Jake, stared blankly at another group. I was playing with my fingers, trying to entertain myself. I decided to poke my finger in the ants hole.

“What are you thinking Jake?” I asked. His friend faced him with a wicked smirk. His friend’s face told the world that he knew something that no one else did. “Say it already,” I implored. He always did this when he cracked himself up with some idea.

Our banter started pulling the attention of the rest of our friends. Everyone knew Jake pretty well. Jake had charisma. His charisma is not always present. It only blooms when Jake has something interesting to say.

“Do you guys know the screaming world riddle?” No one did, but he knew too well to know any less.

“The riddle goes like this.”

“Everyone. And I mean every person in the world is screaming. But, here is the thing. They can’t scream in front of you. And I mean you as you.”

“So you're saying outside of this building everyone is screaming.” someone inquired. He slowly stood up, “Sure”. Jake fiddled with his pockets and pulled out his pack of smokes. He looked at the door and back at us. “I am going to take a quick smoke.”

He left the rest of us with the riddle. One of the girls tried lighting up the mood, “Hey, it wouldn’t matter if the world was screaming or not, my kids would probably be screaming either way.”

Another friend said something that was on my mind. “This riddle has matrix vibes.” I grunted in agreement. And added, “The riddle would still hold true even if you are not the only person who is not screaming.” His skin froze up at his own words.