FLASH FICTION

"In the purple and gray morning..."

Such an innocent line but so fraught with meaning now. That's what I'm thinking as I stand here in the early morning mist. You said those exact words to me once. They were going to be the opening words to your great American novel.

We were standing right here in this spot. So young, so innocent, so damn poor. So very much in love. Scrabbling for every bite we had to eat. Scratching and scrambling to keep a roof over our heads. I remember crying because a man such as you, talented and brilliant, should never be treated the way you were.

No matter what though, through it all, we hung in there, dark days, living in the car, going hungry, living in shelters, and you always, always continued to write. You wrote on paper bags, napkins, take out menus you found on the streets. You never gave up on your dream. I wouldn't let you. It was going to be our ticket out. All we had to do was believe.

Then, finally, one day, the miracle. Christ on a cross, all those years, all the hardships, they were going to pay off. Our ship had come in. You were the success I always knew you were going to be. It was more than we could ever have hoped or even dreamed of. How, how could I never have seen it coming though? There were never any signs. When did it happen? Were you always such a miserly bastard? Was that your true persona and I just didn't see it?

One thing was obvious - I didn't waste my youth and my life not to enjoy the fruits of your talent. That was not going to happen, not in this lifetime or any other. You just had to go, and as everyone knows, if you want something done right, you do it yourself. You never even suspected a thing when I brought you back out here to the beginning, back to where it all began, did you?

I was so sure you would never agree to come back out here to this little meadow in the woods where you first said those words to me "In the purple and gray morning..."

So now here I stand, alone in the early morning mist. Well, not really alone, as I'm standing here with you. Unfortunately, for you that is, I'm standing on top of where you are buried, where you will spend all of eternity with your purple and gray mornings.

While I'm out spending your money that is. I only think that's appropriate.