When we got back to the camp and we were sitting around the campfire, I opened up this briefcase that had all of these wadded up pieces of paper in them. I started tossing them into the fire. The girl snatched one away from me and opened it up. She saw that it was one of the crayon drawings. She lunged forward and tried to stop me from burning the rest. With tears in her eyes she pleaded with me. She told me that this was all that was left of them. I understood, but we had to keep the fire going.
“Stupid Boy!”
2 days ago
As a short story in the dream genre this is so enviably neat. "The world had fallen" is so crisp and expressive. "I understood, but we had to keep the fire going" contains a world of pathos.
ReplyDeleteAnd the whole piece can be seen as a parable, a multi-purpose one. It shows for example how economic necessity, or progress, or population growth, however you want to call it, devours and destroys old languages, old ways, self-contained villages.
The neatest thing is that the story is more concise than adequate words of praise could be.
Thank you, Mr. Vincent. I like your interpretation.
DeleteYou know, I'm reminded now of one of the old stories that used to be here called "What Happened at Woodmark." It featured a similar scene where a girl had died and she left a note and the note angered the father so much that he wadded it up to throw it away, but the girl's elderly boyfriend retrieved it and smoothed it out saying, "Please, this is all that's left of her." That same idea of a person enduring in the mementos they leave behind.
DeleteCreative story liked it. I love creativity and new thing also who investigate these matter.
ReplyDelete