tell on myself

 "Maybe you should tell on yourself more," he says to me.

"What's that?" I say back.

"Well you keep doing things you're not supposed to do and then someone goes and tells on you and get in a lot of trouble. Why not skip the middle step and tell on yourself instead of waiting around for someone else to do it?"

"Won't I just get in trouble faster that way?"

"No. No. No. It's a brave and honorable thing to admit your own faults. Everyone is doing something wrong all the time so it's very honest to confess."

"I don't think it works that way."

"Sure it does. If you do something wrong because it's convenient for you in that moment and then admit to doing it--all you've done is exert your will without shame. It's much worse to not act at all or to act but then have someone else talk about it--you'll seem a coward."

I rip out the Tree of Life by its roots and throw it into the Sun. The world freezes and burns as it ceases to turn.