The boy who would

From a story I started back in 2011 called “Hank Patrick is Dead, Long Live Hank Patrick” – more on that here.

Books had captivated Marcus since he was a young boy, though his fascination was not so much with reading them as it was with collecting them.  This is not to say that he didn’t enjoy the fantastical worlds that were conjured up between some covers or that he didn’t respect the tomes that held the compiled knowledge wrought by centuries of study, because he most certainly did.  However, it was the act of collecting varying types and organizing them that he loved most.  

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Thanks for waiting 25 years

From a story I started back in 2011 called “Hank Patrick is Dead, Long Live Hank Patrick” – more on that here.

When he woke Marcus was most assuredly still drunk, but his mindset more closely resembled a sober man; he was focused and engaged.  He performed a normal ritual of forcing himself to throw up and then showering and brushing his teeth to remove the first layer of foul smell that was emanating from his body.  It was a good ritual that besides the obvious symbolism of washing away the sins of the prior evening’s activities also provided a mental boost.  He planned to spend one more night at the hotel, though tonight he would be completely sober in an attempt to shock himself back into his usual life.

He didn’t bother reflecting on the events of the previous night because he didn’t remember them all too well and besides the whole point of this exercise was to forget everything.  It was blissful for him to loose almost two entire days worth of memories and feelings into the ether of alcohol and it was the main reason he continued with this activity.  He suspected deep down that his wife might know what he was up to when he said he was leaving on a business trip over a weekend every second month, but she had never said anything.  

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Chicken Dinner

From a story I started back in 2011 called “Hank Patrick is Dead, Long Live Hank Patrick” – more on that here.

Marcus managed to pull himself out of the bathtub and then he leaned on the bathroom counter and stared at himself in the mirror.  He concluded that he was staring at a shitty human being, but that he shouldn’t give himself such a hard time.  It was time for him to continue the night before the liquor hit him so hard that he passed out, which he estimated would only take another hour or so.  Therefore it was imperative that he kicked off phase three – blackjack.

Gambling is an exhilarating experience that is borne out of the slim chances of winning big from mediocre stakes.  Marcus thought that it was the second best concept that man had ever invented.  It turned a horrible aspect of life, that is the procurment of currency, into an enjoyable experience.  He hadn’t quite decided what the first best idea that man had ever dreamt up was, but he knew gambling wasn’t it so he ranked it second while he discovered the first.  

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Digging up some old writing

Hank Patrick is Dead, Long Live Hank PatrickA story that I started writing back in 2011. The idea sprang out of the love of the phrase, “The King is dead, long live the King,” and all the wonderful underlying meaning in it. Paired with my disinclination toward monarchy, but still with an interest in the idea of a lineage of some sort, I wrote this story about an immortal man who is really different men. Think “The Phantom” meets, well, I’m not sure what exactly.

I never finished it, but wanted to share – I’ll spread out the few chapters I do have. If people find it interesting, I’ll try and revisit and finish it!