Lincoln in the Bardo

hans vollman

The boy came through the ceiling and landed on the floor beside his father.

Followed closely by Mr. Vollman.

roger bevins iii

Who, from his knees, urged the boy forward.

Go in, listen well, he said. You may learn something useful.

We have recently heard your father express a certain wish, said Mr. Bevins.

Of where he hopes you are, said Mr. Vollman.

In some bright place, said Mr. Bevins.

Free of suffering, said Mr. Vollman.

Resplendent in a new mode of being, said Mr. Bevins.

Go in, said Mr. Vollman.

Be thus guided, said Mr. Bevins. See what he would have you do.

the reverend everly thomas

The lad got weakly to his feet.

hans vollman

Greatly compromised by his affliction.

roger bevins iii

In the gait of an old man, he hobbled toward his father.

the reverend everly thomas

He had not entered the man intentionally before, but inadvertently.

hans vollman

And seemed reluctant to do so now.

roger bevins iii





LXIV.

All this time the crowd had been reassembling around the white stone home.

roger bevins iii

Word of this second visitation having spread rapidly.

the reverend everly thomas With more individuals arriving every moment.

hans vollman

Such was their eagerness to be in attendance at this extraordinary event.

roger bevins iii

All craved the slightest participation in the transformative moment that must be imminent.

hans vollman

They had abandoned any pretext of speaking one at a time, many calling out desperately from where they stood, others darting brazenly up to the open door to shout their story in.

roger bevins iii



The result was cacophony.

the reverend everly thomas





LXV.

It was me started that fire.

andy thorne

I steal every chanse I git.

janice p. dwightson

I give her dimonds and perls and broke the harts of wife and children and sell the house from under us to buy more dimonds and perls but she thows me over for mr hollyfen with his big yellow laughing horseteeth and huge preceding paunch?

robert g. twistings

Sixty acres with a good return & a penful of hog & thirty head cattle & six fine horses & a cobbled stone house snug as a cradle in winter & a fine wife who looks adoringly at me & three fine boys who hang on my every word & a fine orchard giving pears apples plums peaches & still Father don’t care for me?

lance durning

One thing I dont like is I am dumb! Everyone treats me like I am dumb all my life. And I am! Dumb. Even sewing for me is a hard one. My aunt who raised me sat hours showing me sewing. Do it like this, hon, she would say. And I would. Once. Then next time I needed to do it that way I would just sit there, needle raised. And auntie would say lord child this is the nine-millionth time I am showing you this. Whatever it was. See, now I cant remember! What it was. What auntie showed me that I forgot. When a young man come a-courting he would say something such as about the guv’ment and I would say, oh, yes, the guv’ment, my aunts teaching me to sew. And his face’d go blank. Who would want to hold or love one so dull. Unless she is fair. Which I am not. Just plain. Soon I am too old for the young men to come and be bored and that is that. And my teeth go yellow and some fall out. But even when you are a solitary older lady it is no treat to be dumb. Always at a party or so on you are left to sit by the fire, smiling as if happy, knowing none desire to speak with you.

miss tamara doolittle

Lugged seventy-pound pipe-lengths up Swatt Hill—Come home hands torn to hell & bleeding—Rolled gravel nineteen hours straight ––& look how I am rewarded—Edna & girls shuffling in and out, gowns stained attending me—Always worked hard, worked cheerful—& once I am better will get right back at it—Only, my left boot needs resoled—& need to collect what Dougherty owes me—Edna knows not of it—& it will go uncollected I fear—It is much needed just now—As I cannot work—If you could kindly inform Edna—So she may collect—It is much needed just now—As I am ill & abed and of little use to them.

tobin “badger” muller

Mr. Johns Melburn did take me to a remote part of the manse and touch me in an evil way. I was just a boy. And he an eminence. Not a word of protest did I (could I) speak. Ever. To anyone. I should like to speak of it now. I should like to speak of it and speak of— vesper johannes

Mr. DeCroix and Professor Bloomer came blundering up, shouldering Mr. Johannes rudely aside, lurching bumpily up into the doorway, conjoined at the hip from their many years of mutual flattery.

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