After the bomb went off, they rescued as many as they could from the rubble.
The doctors and surgeons did the best they could. But it wasn’t enough.
That’s when the counselors took over.
Repeat after me:
I am not a victim.
I am not a casualty.
I am not a statistic.
I will live on.
Remember these sixteen words.
And only these words.
They will get you through this.
And then the counselors went through the survivors.
The next day, they’d picked out the ones who were fading, and they harvested their organs.
You will live on.
In them.
Tag: tragedy
The Crime
It was a sunny day without a cloud in the sky when Bert killed Ernie.
After all those years together, Ernie only wanted to share his bathtub with his rubber duckie.
And all those stupid, annoying questions.
The last thing Ernie said was “Why is it Sesame Street instead of Sesame Court?”
Bert snapped.
A few hours later, Bert called the police and confessed.
The police said they’d send someone to pick him up.
Three hours later, the police unit had gotten lost on the way.
The officer called Bert: “Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?”
JJE
Ever hear the phrase “judge, jury, and executioner?”
Well, in Tangle Creek, Alaska, that’s their justice system.
If Old JJ Barleyfield catches you committing a crime in Tangle Creek, your ass is toast.
But then, there’s not much crime in that old mining town… Fred’s the only resident there these days.
Well, was.
Fred must have caught himself committing a crime, because the mail delivery service found him dead the other day.
The paperwork he left behind was just scribbles that nobody could understand.
At first, the state coroner ruled it Suicide, but he scratched that out and wrote Justice.
The Crooked Tree
Tom Waits used to tell the story of a forest full of tall, perfect trees, and one fucked-up crooked tree among them.
The perfect trees all got on the crooked tree’s case.
“Be like us!” they said. “Grow tall and straight and perfect like us.”
The crooked tree laughed, and just got more twisted.
Eventually, the perfect trees were all chopped down for lumber.
Tom said that the lumberjacks left that crooked tree alone, but we all know that Tom’s a liar.
That tree got chopped up for firewood, and popped and hissed as it burned in the logger’s camp.
In Glass Houses
All his life, Ralph designed unusual houses.
His most unusual house was a gigantic disco ball.
It even turned on its base, and it could be lit up at night with massive floodlights.
This annoyed the hell out of the neighbors.
The last straw was when he played that “Disco Duck” song at full volume for four hours straight.
The neighbors called the police, who rushed to the scene.
The mirrored surface of the house reflected the headlights back into the cops’ eyes, blinding them.
They all crashed into the house, and one ended up running over Ralph, killing him.
Seasons
We named our four daughters Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring.
Winter was born with a heart problem. She didn’t make it.
Fall was allergic to a lot of things. We were really careful. But one day, Summer put peanut butter in her hair, and she died from shock.
We didn’t know how to punish Summer for that. Summer tried to run away. She was hit by a car.
Despite all the tragedy she had growing up, Spring turned out fine.
But every so often, on rainy days, I see her staring out the window, and I wonder what she’s thinking.
One Way
NASA never called it a one-way mission to Mars.
They called it a colonization mission.
But the crew knew that once they were on their way, they’d never come back.
NASA launched a series of cargo pods at Mars before launching the colonists.
The plan was to build the colony with all those materials.
Instead, an asteroid took out the lead cargo pod, and the debris knocked the others off course.
The colonists were carrying some supplies, but not enough.
And even if emergency supplies could be launched, the launch window had passed.
NASA finally called the doomed mission “one-way.”
Bow Wood
The best musical instrument bows are made out of the Pernambuco tree. They hold their shape for centuries, and they draw the most beautiful sound out of the instrument they are played with.
Sadly, the Pernambuco, or the Brazilwood, is a rare tree in Brazil that has been exploited to near-extinction.
Thankfully, traditional bow craftsmen are working to conserve the Pernambuco and plant new groves of the tree.
But rival carbon-fiber bow makers, threatened by all that is natural and pure, go around chopping down the Pernambuco and burning them for firewood.
The lesson to be learned?
Play the oboe.
Boston Marathon
The political science professor used to say “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”
Now, he just sits in the special care ward, not saying a thing.
He crossed the finish line at the Boston Marathon when the bombs went off. The concussion and head trauma messed up his brain something fierce.
Still, they give him meals and baths, and physical therapy to keep him from withering away completely.
In case he’ll get better. Which he won’t.
The one bright spot in all of this was: It had been his best time ever.
Too bad he’ll never beat it.
Change Sucks
It’s funny how things change so quickly.
Long ago, Piper was my bedcat, although Edloe and Nardo had their turns on the bed.
When it was down to just Nardo, he was the respectful bedcat.
Then came Bruwyn the kitten. He attacked toes, tails.
Myst couldn’t decide what she wanted. Until Nardo was gone. And Bruwyn.
Tinny was a cuddly bedcat for a few weeks, but she’s gotten a bit cold. Now it’s Myst when she feels like it.
This story will publish in about two years. How will things be then?
I don’t know. I don’t want to know.