Jul 2010
[a tired greeting]
-Hello, Mr. Douglass?
[a concerned response]
-Mr. Douglass, I…
[a question on well-being]
-Well, yes… yes Mr. Douglass that’s…that’s actually why I’m calling.
[an impatient plea]
-Mr. Douglass, please understand, there is absolutely no easy way for me to say…
[…]
-We’ve done everything we could do, Mr. Douglass, everything. Some things… some things just aren’t meant to be.
[a painful cry]
[a curse to God]
[a question to reality]
-Mr. Douglass, at the rate it spread… it was just too much. Mr. Douglass, frankly I am surprised she lasted as long as she did, but she was exactly what you said, a fighter until the end…
[a sob]
-Mr. Douglass, I…
[a wish to give up]
-Please don’t say that Mr. Douglass…
[a lost value in life]
-I know, I know… Mr. Douglass, you must realize this isn’t any easier for me either.
[how to rediscover that value]
-I’ll tell you what you have to live for Mr. Douglass. You have a son and daughter. Do you think orphaning your children is what she’d want? If you can’t do it for them, do it for her.
[love’s anger]
[a plea to end]
-…and what Mr. Douglass? Are you going to so quickly deliver yourself to the very thing she suffered for so long to avoid? You would become a monument of contempt for her struggle.
[life versus death]
-And she wanted to live Mr. Douglass… I'm sure she'd wish the same for you.
[hurried walking]
[incoherent mutterings]
[glass breaking]
-Please Mr. Douglass, please, calm down. It would be best if your children didn’t hear…
[fate’s morality]
-I know it is not fair Mr. Douglass. If there’s anything I’ve learned in my forty-six years at this institution it’s life is anything but fair. We were born by the grace of God. Unfortunately, he is an Indian giver…
[the impossibility to endure]
-It is times like this where all we can do is weep.
[the click of the chamber]
-No Mr. Douglass! Don’t do it!
[a quiet sob]
[teeth on metal]
-Wait Mr. Douglass, please! Her last request! At least let me fulfill her last request!
[jarring silence]
-She… she wanted you to hear her last words…
[falling tears]
-Mr. Douglass… she said,
please… please tell him… no matter what happens… no matter… I will
always be there for him…
[gentle crying]
[…]
-Mr. Douglass? Mr. Douglass, are you there?
[…]
-Mr. Douglass!?!
[a smile]
-Hello, Mr. Douglass?
[a concerned response]
-Mr. Douglass, I…
[a question on well-being]
-Well, yes… yes Mr. Douglass that’s…that’s actually why I’m calling.
[an impatient plea]
-Mr. Douglass, please understand, there is absolutely no easy way for me to say…
[…]
-We’ve done everything we could do, Mr. Douglass, everything. Some things… some things just aren’t meant to be.
[a painful cry]
[a curse to God]
[a question to reality]
-Mr. Douglass, at the rate it spread… it was just too much. Mr. Douglass, frankly I am surprised she lasted as long as she did, but she was exactly what you said, a fighter until the end…
[a sob]
-Mr. Douglass, I…
[a wish to give up]
-Please don’t say that Mr. Douglass…
[a lost value in life]
-I know, I know… Mr. Douglass, you must realize this isn’t any easier for me either.
[how to rediscover that value]
-I’ll tell you what you have to live for Mr. Douglass. You have a son and daughter. Do you think orphaning your children is what she’d want? If you can’t do it for them, do it for her.
[love’s anger]
[a plea to end]
-…and what Mr. Douglass? Are you going to so quickly deliver yourself to the very thing she suffered for so long to avoid? You would become a monument of contempt for her struggle.
[life versus death]
-And she wanted to live Mr. Douglass… I'm sure she'd wish the same for you.
[hurried walking]
[incoherent mutterings]
[glass breaking]
-Please Mr. Douglass, please, calm down. It would be best if your children didn’t hear…
[fate’s morality]
-I know it is not fair Mr. Douglass. If there’s anything I’ve learned in my forty-six years at this institution it’s life is anything but fair. We were born by the grace of God. Unfortunately, he is an Indian giver…
[the impossibility to endure]
-It is times like this where all we can do is weep.
[the click of the chamber]
-No Mr. Douglass! Don’t do it!
[a quiet sob]
[teeth on metal]
-Wait Mr. Douglass, please! Her last request! At least let me fulfill her last request!
[jarring silence]
-She… she wanted you to hear her last words…
[falling tears]
-Mr. Douglass… she said,
please… please tell him… no matter what happens… no matter… I will
always be there for him…
[gentle crying]
[…]
-Mr. Douglass? Mr. Douglass, are you there?
[…]
-Mr. Douglass!?!
[a smile]
