Author's Name: David Lewis

As I wrote these words, in front of me was this model, identical to my features. It was made by pouring blue resin over my head and shoulders while I breathed through two tubes inserted into my nostrils. The model's head watched me from across the room. Every now and then, the eyes—which were the same color as mine—blinked, while the mouth opened and closed.

This was perfection, except for one factual difference. While I was getting older, my other head, made over ten years earlier, was still young, putting me in a Dorian Gray situation. That head still had its hair, each one meticulously placed by hand, while mine was falling out rapidly. Its forehead was smooth, while mine was wrinkled. And there was another, more important difference: it was possible to lift the top of the replica's head and remove the brain. I often told people that I had originally created it as an attention-grabbing aid in lectures while teaching neuropsychology. At least, that was the explanation I usually gave when someone asked me why I had wasted so much time and spent so much hard-earned money on such a bizarre object of all things on earth. In fact, it was a practical justification for my irrational and ridiculous impulse purchase. A purchase that I could excuse - as most impulsive actions are - by simply saying it seemed like a good idea at the time!
While the impulse that led to the acquisition of another head was one of my most costly, it was by no means the most life-changing. Of these impulses, so far, there have been three: two completely changed the course of my life, while the third, which I will mention in Chapter 1, saved my life.