Mara watched Chibi eating toast.

Mara:
“How do you know you’re awake?”

Chibi:
“Because I’m eating toast.”

Mara:
“You can eat toast in a dream.”

Chibi stopped chewing.

Chibi:
“Fine. Because eventually I wake up.”

Mara:
“That only proves the dream wasn’t this.”

He stared at her.

Mara:
“It doesn’t prove what this is.”

Chibi slowly put down the toast.

Chibi:
“I preferred breakfast before philosophy.”

Mara held up her hand.

Mara:
“You don’t see this directly. Your eyes receive light. Your brain turns it into what you see.”

Chibi:
“So my brain lies?”

Mara:
“Maybe it guesses.”

Chibi:
“That’s lying with confidence.”

She laughed.

Mara:
“And dreams can feel real until you wake up.”

Chibi:
“So we could be in a simulation?”

Mara:
“That doesn’t prove anything.”

Chibi:
“Good. Because whoever programmed this forgot to keep my toast warm.”

Mara looked out at the rain.

Mara:
“Maybe nobody programmed it.”

Chibi:
“Then what?”

Mara:
“Maybe reality is simply bigger than the part we can see.”

Chibi was quiet.

Then:

Chibi:
“How do we find out?”

Mara smiled.

Mara:
“I think that’s what everyone’s been trying to do.”

AND WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Dreams can feel real until we wake. Our perception gives us an experienced world, not reality untouched.

That doesn’t prove a simulation, another layer of reality, or anything supernatural.

But it leaves Mara’s question:

If everything you have ever known about reality has reached you through your consciousness, how would you prove that what you experience is the whole thing?

Different answers are welcome. Disagreement is welcome. Spam, trolling and personal attacks are not.