Mad Again
Eve B. Hart
Disclaimer: It's PC's world, I just play in it.
Author's Note: The title alludes to the famous last words of Virginia Woolf in her suicide note: "I feel certain that I am going mad again: I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices . . ."
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You still haven't read the letter, have you?
"No."
It's been years, Aloysius. Isn't it about time?
"How can you ask me that?"
I'm not. I'm just a figment of your imagination, aren't I?
"I suppose."
You should have read the letter, and now you're going to die, and you're never going to be able to.
"I suppose so."
I'm not telling you what I said.
"All right."
Lady Maskelene was a lovely woman. I seem to recall a girl you began seeing in England –
"No relation."
Are you sure?
"Positive."
Well, in any case, you seem to have a rapport with her.
"I admit, theoretically, it fits, but it wouldn't matter much anyway, would it?"
I suppose not . . . . . . . . . . . Do you think of me?
"Honestly?"
Of course.
"I try not to."
Understandable. Do you remember me?
"Of course."
What do you remember?
"Everything."
Like what?
"Youloved good oranges."
What else?
"Those hideous boots."
What else?
"Henpecking."
I never henpecked!
"Fine, then. Give me the term you prefer so you'll come out in the best light."
That's not fair.
"You haunt my memory, and I'm not fair?"
Fine, then. Henpecking. What else?
"That mint green silk robe."
Do you still have it?
"Somewhere."
What else?
"No more."
Why haven't you read my letter?
"Because you would really be dead."
I am dead.
"I know."
So why haven't you read my letter?
"I'm tired now."
Why do you think I'm here?
"Am I dead?"
What do you think?
"No."
All right, then. You're not dead.
"So why are you here, then?"
Because of you.
"Obviously."
This is hardly a fitting substitute for conversation, Aloysius.
"I know, but I prefer it over the silence."
In other words, you're not going to let me go until you die?
"I should have thought that to be quite obvious, as well."
Aloysius . . . . .
"Are you going to leave me?"
. . . . . . No, I'm not going to leave you.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I would have read your letter eventually."
Liar.
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I honestly have no idea what this is. I just had to write it and figured, "Hell, it's weird enough for FFN," so there you go. Fifteen minutes of writing what amounts to absolutely nothing.
I hope you review anyway, flame or flatter. Trust me, I'll take either one.