A comic tragedy presented as a trilogy
To be published in the Afterlife
I. The Life of Amber Sweezey
(or Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Life But Were Too Confused To Ask)
Part ? – (Untitled)
Part ? – Saga of the Iron Tower
Part ? – The Road to the Future
II. The Life of Jodi Hyde
(or A Study of Emotional Barriers – How to Build Them and How to Tear Them Down)
(or 19 Questions With No Real Answers)
(or It is Better to Look Happy Than to Feel Happy)
Part ? – (Untitled)
Part ? – Saga of the Iron Tower
Part ? – (Untitled)
III. The Life of Andre Monserrat
(or A Defense of Suicide)
(or Reality: Who Needs It?)
(or Secret Tales of the Bizarre, Explained)
Part 1 – Bring on the Next Contestant in the Game of Life
Part 2 – The Naive Years
Part 3 – Love, Life and Everything
Part 4 – Darkness Falls
Part 5 – Welcome to the Real World, Mr. Human
Part 6 – Darkness Revisited
Part 7 – Saga of the Iron Tower
Part 8 – Dawn on the Field of Shattered Dreams
CHAPTER 5
“This bridge isn’t going to last 20 weeks,” said the girl. Her ashen feet were now concealed by a flowing graduation gown. A matching cap rested upon her head, its tassle dangling before her face. “It’s more like 2.”
The Boy Who Thought He Knew It All sat on the edge of his cliff, his feet swaying over the chasm. Even if the impact of those words could reach across the chasm, they would bounce off the shield that now encased his heart. (This is Mr. Scott reporting, sir. Shields are operating at full potential. No photon torpedo is going to get through to us!) So he just sat there, blithely twiddling his thumbs.
When she heard this, two tears rolled down the other girl’s cheeks, but they were hidden by the mask she now wore. To the others she appeared to be smiling, as happy as could be.
“How do you feel about this?” she asked the Suicidal Depressive.
“I don’t know,” he lied. He was a little frightened by the way he could so easily keep things from her these days. There was a time when she could pry anything from his soul. Anything…
“Well, it’s not like I’m dying,” said the girl in the cap and gown.
“In a way it is,” replied the Boy Who Had Deceived His Friends. “I mean, you won’t be around any more. It won’t be easy to talk about things. Same difference.” She looked hurt by his words, but did not reply.
“So what are we going to do?” asked the girl with the mask.
“I can do something,” offered the Boy Who Wouldn’t Let His True Emotions Show. He snapped his fingers. There was a thunderous rumbling and an awful grinding noise as the three cliff sections joined together once more.
“This will last for 2 weeks,” he explained. “After that, they will separate again, forming a chasm as wide as the ocean. Let us use our time wisely.”
The three of them stepped closer together, closer then they had been for a long time.
“But…there is a catch,” said He That Chronicles Reality. At this the girl with the mask sighed and the other girl puffed at the tassle. He handed each of them a pile of school books, setting his own pile off to the side. He also handed the girl with the mask a yearbook and added one to his pile. Reaching into his pocket, he brought out a pair of dice and set these on his stack. Then he revealed a set of metal weights, each labeled “Other Annoying Problems.” They each received one of those. In addition to these, he got one labeled “Family.”
They each hefted their respective loads, testing their weight. The girl with the mask wore a golden necklace with a small half heart; it helped lighten her burden. The girl in the gown had her ways of making her load easier to bear. The Boy Whose Name Changed All Of The Time grimly carried his pile with no assistance.
Suddenly his form shimmered. He now appeared older and different somehow. He wore a dark trenchcoat.
“Who are you?” the girls asked in unison.
“I am someone whom you have rarely seen: myself,” answered the Boy Who Had Recently Discovered His True Self And Was Just Now Revealing It (Not That It Mattered Anymore).
“Shall we be off?” he asked, gesturing to a door that magically appeared. On it were the words:
REALITY
Abandon All Hope All Ye Who Enter Here
He opened the door and they stepped through to the other side.
Thus ends the Saga of the Iron Tower. Here the trilogy becomes untangled once more as one path branches off, seeking its own end. The two remaining paths run side by side for a while before they also must part company.