WRITTEN IN BLOOD
BASED ON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BY ART SPIEGELMAN
The Next Chapter
It's 8:30 PM. Art stares at the blank piece of paper in front of him. With his pen
clutched tightly in his right paw, he can't think of what to write next. His tail swung from
side-to-side unconsciously. Art brushed back some fur on his scalp. Just then, the door
opened. Standing there was Art's wife.
"Art, come to bed. Please?" she said.
"In a minute hon'." He replied.
"Okay. I swear, you work on those comic books like your life depended on it."
And with that, she closed the door.
"Like my life depended on it." Repeated Art. He was suddenly struck with
inspiration. He dipped his pen back into the bottle of ink and started drawing. He kept
dipping and writing, and dipping and drawing over and over and over. The last
conversation he had with Vladek was slowly coming back to him vividly as the actual
experience. He drew and drew and drew until his paw was all black with ink. He had
finally finished the comic book. He put the pen back into the jar of ink, got out of his chair
and went to the bathroom. He scrubbed his paws until he saw no more ink. He pulled out
some paper towels and dried his paws. As he threw out the paper towels, one of his claws
caught on a hole in them. He shook the towel a few times and it fell into the trashcan. He
pushed the door open and left the bathroom.
It's 11:21 PM. Art is running through a forest with trees surrounding him. He
doesn't know what he's running from. He looks behind him and sees a cat with a swastika
on his arm. The cat keeps screaming something. Eventually Art can tell what the cat is
saying.
"JUDEN RUAS! TÖTEN SIE DIE MAUS!" The cat keeps screaming this over and over. Art finally loses the
cat. But he is also lost himself. He is surrounded by trees. Trees as far as the eye can see.
Suddenly, the trees start shrinking. One by one, they start growing shorter. The bark starts
morphing into fur. Art is petrified. All the trees have turned to Nazi guards all pointing their
guns at Art. *RAKA-TACKA-TACKA!* Blood engulfs Art as he is repeatedly shot. As he
dies, he starts to float towards the sky. As he keeps going, he floats into his bed. Art
wakes up. Next to him, his wife is woken by Art's screaming in his dream.
"It's okay Art. It was only a dream." She said.
"Töten sie die maus." Art said.
"What?"
"Töten sie die maus. That's what the cat was saying to me in my dream."
"It's okay."
"You're right. It's great!"
"Why?"
"Now I can finally give my comic book a title!"
"What is it?"
"Maus."
BASED ON THE GRAPHIC NOVEL BY ART SPIEGELMAN
The Next Chapter
It's 8:30 PM. Art stares at the blank piece of paper in front of him. With his pen
clutched tightly in his right paw, he can't think of what to write next. His tail swung from
side-to-side unconsciously. Art brushed back some fur on his scalp. Just then, the door
opened. Standing there was Art's wife.
"Art, come to bed. Please?" she said.
"In a minute hon'." He replied.
"Okay. I swear, you work on those comic books like your life depended on it."
And with that, she closed the door.
"Like my life depended on it." Repeated Art. He was suddenly struck with
inspiration. He dipped his pen back into the bottle of ink and started drawing. He kept
dipping and writing, and dipping and drawing over and over and over. The last
conversation he had with Vladek was slowly coming back to him vividly as the actual
experience. He drew and drew and drew until his paw was all black with ink. He had
finally finished the comic book. He put the pen back into the jar of ink, got out of his chair
and went to the bathroom. He scrubbed his paws until he saw no more ink. He pulled out
some paper towels and dried his paws. As he threw out the paper towels, one of his claws
caught on a hole in them. He shook the towel a few times and it fell into the trashcan. He
pushed the door open and left the bathroom.
It's 11:21 PM. Art is running through a forest with trees surrounding him. He
doesn't know what he's running from. He looks behind him and sees a cat with a swastika
on his arm. The cat keeps screaming something. Eventually Art can tell what the cat is
saying.
"JUDEN RUAS! TÖTEN SIE DIE MAUS!" The cat keeps screaming this over and over. Art finally loses the
cat. But he is also lost himself. He is surrounded by trees. Trees as far as the eye can see.
Suddenly, the trees start shrinking. One by one, they start growing shorter. The bark starts
morphing into fur. Art is petrified. All the trees have turned to Nazi guards all pointing their
guns at Art. *RAKA-TACKA-TACKA!* Blood engulfs Art as he is repeatedly shot. As he
dies, he starts to float towards the sky. As he keeps going, he floats into his bed. Art
wakes up. Next to him, his wife is woken by Art's screaming in his dream.
"It's okay Art. It was only a dream." She said.
"Töten sie die maus." Art said.
"What?"
"Töten sie die maus. That's what the cat was saying to me in my dream."
"It's okay."
"You're right. It's great!"
"Why?"
"Now I can finally give my comic book a title!"
"What is it?"
"Maus."