Short Story
When we die
like the Dandelions do
I woke up with a
cough and struggled to breathe. It was particularly bad this
morning and the sharp pain in my chest was unbearable and
left me irritable.
I was putting on my coat at the front door when my wife
looked at me frowning. ”Where are you going,” she asked. ”I
am on my way out to go and see the little flower,“ I mumbled
and left for the woods and a feeling of increasingly
hostility settled inside me. ”I am nobodies God damn baby,“
I thought loudly and suddenly felt guilty because she
sacrificed so much during that horrible time of my
treatment.
It was a beautiful day and the sky was a deep Prussian blue
with a few whiffs of clouds floating aimlessly in space. My
mind enjoyed this scenery but it seemed my body was
screaming me to be back into my bedroom with the shutters
closed and the central heating on.
Approaching the old wood of pine trees I was for the first
time aware how they swayed in the bosom and rhythm of the
wind and how a soft and sad sound came from them as if
somebody died.
I came at the spot where I settled my little flower the day
before and the discovery left me cold with a sweat. Shock
forced me on my knees because I found that the little flower
perished all brown and shriveled up.
Tears welled up in his eyes and the feeling of utter despair
over flooded his repressive state and he cried out of a
centre inside him he never knew existed.
“I am sorry, I am so terribly sorry and I am the cause of
your death little flower.” Sobbing and burying the little
flower he sang a hymn therefore formalizing the proceedings
of the funeral of the little flower.
Feeling somebody watching him he looked up and saw an old
man looking steady and serene at him.
He looked dignified and reminded him of somebody he saw once
maybe on the cinema or the museum. ”Ah now I remember,“ as
the thought shot through his mind.
The Marcus Aureluis look alike spoke authoritatively but
tenderly, “The life expectancy of a Dandelion is maybe four
or five months at most and then it returns back to the
elements that constituted it. Built from dust he turns back
to dust leaving its dual existence to unify again with the
primal Oneness of the universe.”
The old man pulled me up seeing that I am unable to do so
myself and continued with his talk. “That is why you will
find that Dandelions do not need your tears and if you
observe closely next to the dead little flower you will see
that her seeds are already submerging into the soil, soon to
start sprouting a new life, where your little flower left
it.”
Smiling he said, “But you are not crying for the death of
that little flower because that little being lived without
remorse or conflict. You are simply projecting your own
fears into that little flower because you are too scared to
fear your own confrontation with death, feeling all sorry
for yourself and the struggle to detach yourself from your
possessive self.“
Feeling furious I cried, “Who the hell are you and for the
record I am dying of cancer you insensitive bastard!"
“Oh, you know
who I am and why I am here friend,“ said the old man whose
face lighted up with a little chuckle. ”Oh come on old fart
are you playing the grim reaper? it’s a bloody sick joke and
who put you up to this shock tactic?“
I was looking around me for the closest rock or stick in
case the bearded one was some kind of serial killer but he
said, “There is nothing supernatural occurring here and I am
merely your conscience you yet again projected into an
image. I am also your gut confirming your suspicion that you
will be corpus mortis in less than five minutes.”
“Death means nothing to you the departed one and the
consequences of death stay in the lives and memory of those
that will grieve your loss and then continue with their
lives till their line is drawn.”
“Be at peace and stand tall, death will not sting....and you
will leave fond memories to those that loved you
passionately...it will seem that your presence is still
there to comfort them but that is of course fiction.”
Feeling a black film covering his eyes he uttered, “at last
I understand and what it is to drop the ego and to embrace
the universal."
Feeling concerned his wife went to go look for him in the
woods and she found him next to the dead little yellow
flower. His eyes were open and they were staring blank into
the deep blue void and his whole face smiled.
On the eve of her husband’s funeral she kept her self busy
by packing and organising her husband notes, books and
letters in his study. Working through their love letters and
photos she found a little scroll tied with a red ribbon.
When she opened it she saw a poem of her husband’s last
wishes.
When I die
When I
die
Do not confine me
To a box or catacomb wall
Burn and scatter
My earth to orchard virile winds
Unleash my particle lightness
To the Hex river valley
Where laughter and dreaming was easy
as spring trees blossom
Should our child enquire?
Take her there
and let the spirit that
dwells between these mountains
play through her hair
and touch her cheeks
whispering through cliffs and ridges
that daddy never left her side
Crying without
anybody having success to console her, she picked up the
receiver of the phone and contacted the funeral room saying,
“I want to make changes to the funeral planning I gave.”
Her daughter seeing her sadness walked up to her and gave
her the look of the ancient sages and said,” Do not worry
mommy, father is with that Dandelion in heaven.
It is a
Jungle out there
The rule of
cautioning Precedence and consistency: A modern horror tale
1
A burning
sensation starts up in the lacerated bicep as John leaves
the cells. Supported by one of his Lieutenants, he asks to
be taken to the charge office.The first aider binds up his
arm and he changes his blood stained shirt.
It has been already six months after his deployment in the
Cape Flats. The prosecution rate target has already been
reached and figures are still rocketing with rowing suspects
towing the chare office line.
One of the arresting officers, still a new inductee,
approaches him and salutes. ”Sir we have a unique case here.
An elderly lady has been arrested for shoplifting at one of
the department stores, must we book her in?”
The new trooper looks perplexed and his eyes are watery. He
pleads, ”She only stole one bottle of cough mixture and she
is sick.“ The room is filled with serious crime offenders
like switchblade Johnny and Lays. They watch Scarface
Capitan intently.
Johnny says, “do not soften up my Captain, we all alike,
hunting predators my man."
Lays says, “Put her in my cell and I will rejuvenate her.”
Irritated for the mitigating request and the snickering con
man the Commander calls the young guard to him. He has a
real boyish face and a barber shop square cut you get at the
teenager hostels.
The Captains says, ”Why are you making this request
private?” His immediate commander launches forward to grab
the private by the arm.
"Leave him alone and you sir bring forward your old lady for
arbitration."
2
He guessed she
was probably in her late sixties and she shuffled forward to
the bench. A rotting stench exuded from her jersey and she
looked blankly and without remorse at me. ”What is your
story,“ I ask?
The old lady had a toothless lisp as she spoke. ”Sir, I was
changed to buy cough syrup for my daughter and then took the
medicine without paying for it. I am sorry but it is
intended for my daughter that is very sick.”
“Yea–yea– I heard that story before, she got the flue
and this justifies you to come and empty my stores. It seems
you are also in need of a doctor to escape the cooler.
What is wrong with your daughter and why did you steal my
stock?”
“Sir, my whole family is unemployed and we survive on my
meager social grant. My husband slept with my daughter in a
forced manner and he gave her Aids. You see boss he is no
good and frequented other woman in the location also giving
me herpes and now HIV.
“Captain please release me, my daughter will die if I do not
tend to her today. Your private officer purchased the syrup
for me and I just want to decrease her suffering. I will
clean this office for you and send my youngest daughter for
your pleasure.”
The Private looked down when the Captain stared at him. The
Lieutenant barked at the Private, “You insolent bastard, I
told you not to meddle with this people, you will pay for
this boy.”
The Captain says,” Do you see that I am wounded; I was just
now stabbed by a street boy with a paper knife.“
The Captain, feeling determined said to the old woman,
“Aunty, opens your blouse and hunch over there. Private take
the wooden bat and give her twenty smacks on the back and
book her for court. Next time know, that if you feed animals
in the wild they become tame and dependant and the
government already struggles to feed the productive. Next
time I will line you up against a wall and shoot you.”
3
The Scarred face
Captain left the Office to respond to an armed robbery and
the rabble looked at him in Gods awe when he drove away in
his armoured vehicle. As he passes pot holed pavements and
rioting streets, he says to his lieutenant, “The kids got to
learn or order more body bags, it’s a Jungle out there.”
(A jealous Walrus bull eats his off spring.)
