DEATH DEFYING ACTS - excerpt
SWAN DIVE
To Death, the loan shark who gambles life and always wins.
Dear Marvin the Marsupial,
By the time you get this there will be much to forgive but I won’t ask that of you. You are not responsible. You couldn’t do anything about it. I love you, brother. You’re my heart and soul. I know this is a terrible way of thanking you for that but like I said my wounds were self-inflicted. Like you I had a choice.
Keep the manuscripts. They’re bound to be more valuable now that I’m dead. After all mortality pays. Only thing is you’re not around to collect it. And to tell you the truth that really sucks. But hey, it’s not like you don’t have to sacrifice something. I mean that’s a ridiculous thought. That it’s some kind of magic carpet ride across an endless blue sky.
You asked me why I’ve been practicing gymnastics. I couldn’t tell you then. You see, I wanted to end it real graceful. O.K. Gracefully. I hate the way you always corrected my English. Always saying, “And you’re supposed to be the writer,” you little prick.
No, really, you’ve been a good brother. At least I think you’ve been. Since you’re the only one I’ve got I have no one to compare you to. Like if you never tasted truffles you’d think they were mushrooms. You wouldn’t know the difference.
I can’t tell you how to deal with the rest of the family. If I pull the usual, they won’t miss me until next Christmas. That’s seven months from now. It’s Spring, baby brother. Our time of year. My time and yours. You have to give that to me.
I left a list of things I’d like you to distribute and the rest I leave to you. A paltry sum perhaps, but it’s something. With that I could fix my fireplace, replace the roof, dig a well or build a balcony off of my bedroom so I could see Long Island Sound on a clear spring day. Consider yourself fortunate in that sense. As for being among the living, well you know what I think about that. Don’t get me started.
Enough said. I shall remain forever within.
Until the end, baby brother,
P.S. You can ride shotgun when you get here.
To Death, the loan shark who gambles life and always wins.
Dear Marvin the Marsupial,
By the time you get this there will be much to forgive but I won’t ask that of you. You are not responsible. You couldn’t do anything about it. I love you, brother. You’re my heart and soul. I know this is a terrible way of thanking you for that but like I said my wounds were self-inflicted. Like you I had a choice.
Keep the manuscripts. They’re bound to be more valuable now that I’m dead. After all mortality pays. Only thing is you’re not around to collect it. And to tell you the truth that really sucks. But hey, it’s not like you don’t have to sacrifice something. I mean that’s a ridiculous thought. That it’s some kind of magic carpet ride across an endless blue sky.
You asked me why I’ve been practicing gymnastics. I couldn’t tell you then. You see, I wanted to end it real graceful. O.K. Gracefully. I hate the way you always corrected my English. Always saying, “And you’re supposed to be the writer,” you little prick.
No, really, you’ve been a good brother. At least I think you’ve been. Since you’re the only one I’ve got I have no one to compare you to. Like if you never tasted truffles you’d think they were mushrooms. You wouldn’t know the difference.
I can’t tell you how to deal with the rest of the family. If I pull the usual, they won’t miss me until next Christmas. That’s seven months from now. It’s Spring, baby brother. Our time of year. My time and yours. You have to give that to me.
I left a list of things I’d like you to distribute and the rest I leave to you. A paltry sum perhaps, but it’s something. With that I could fix my fireplace, replace the roof, dig a well or build a balcony off of my bedroom so I could see Long Island Sound on a clear spring day. Consider yourself fortunate in that sense. As for being among the living, well you know what I think about that. Don’t get me started.
Enough said. I shall remain forever within.
Until the end, baby brother,
P.S. You can ride shotgun when you get here.
