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Bud Grossmann’s
Words of the Week
for the Week of
August 17, 2008
Previously unpublished fiction.
© 2008 by Bud Grossmann.
All Rights Reserved.
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Man & Motorcycle, 1976
© 1976 by Bud Grossmann
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LIVING A FICTIONAL LIFE WITH
A PRESUMABLY REAL INSOMNIA
7:22AM
My dear Debbie, I bid you good morning.
I'm sorry you were up at half-past midnight your time, glad you were free to bring me words I'd rather not hear (of your profound discomfort, and a threat, as I perceive it, to pull back from me). Glad, yes, that you can speak to me and do speak to me. And that you listen.
I hope you are resting now, but I might call you or your machine at 7AM your time.
My message will be brief (I hope). Relax. Come to see me. Think about Madison. Think about Fjord. Think about your present home and your pre-fictional "life." Think about mortality and health, spirituality, love, food, friends, family, geography, climate, fiction, rabbits, the Daily Show, literature, music, employment, superficiality, imperfections, faithfulness and betrayal, mistakes, urgency, blood blisters, my mother, your parents, several kinds of pie, Netflix, e-mails, deer, Lyme Disease, Alzheimer's, stroke, swimming, rafts, hybrid automobiles, farmers' markets, Farmers Insurance, house cleaning, landlord-tenant relationships, door latches, ice, snow, Cherry Garcia, sleep loss, my big belly, my apparent love for you, Florida, Oregon, road trips, autumn colors, putting out fires, setting fires, drinking fluids and nothing but fluids, art, garfunkel, and brevity.
I'm going to try to go back to sleep.
Next time you propose taking up residence in Madison, I intend to lie to you. Fiction comes in a variety of styles. Thank you for allowing me to shred a night's sleep in consequence of the J. Ferris fiction, which probably was not set in Madison. I am lying when I say I intend to lie.
Now I lay me down to sleep.
Love, Dave
7:32AM, 7:36AM
♦
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