Hector had always been fastidious. There was not an ounce of spontaneity in his genes (nor in his jeans for that matter). When he was approaching his sixtieth birthday he made a list of the names of his parents, grandparents, uncles, and aunts. Next to each name he wrote their exact age when they died.
Aunt Peggy, for example, died when she was sixty-one years and eleven days. Uncle Sylvester died aged seventy-two and ninety-six days. His maternal grandmother died aged eighty-three and two hundred and seventeen days. He would mark off each person when he passed their age. He would beat them all! He would draw a great big happy face next to each name the day he passed their death age! Ha! Ha! Ha! A happy face to celebrate!
Hector pinned his plan to the back of his kitchen door.
That was one hundred and twenty-four years ago. Not a single happy face was ever added to the list.
You have left the protagonist’s tryst with the Grim Reaper to imagination but the suspense is killing. Neither the jeans nor the kitchen door offer a clue. That is a wicked way of putting in the twist.
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Thanks Uma. We might be gravitating towards a new genre!
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I take it he departed before he thought it was time…
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Presumably!
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Guess he’s passed on to his own happy face. He could try to beat my grandmother (103)!
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Great Scot! You have longevity in the genes! You’ve still got 73 years of blogging!
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Well, not really – I’m 75 this year. I have my Dad’s genes for a young face and my Mom’s energy so I am the new 60.
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No wonder you write so well; you had started school before I was born (just!)
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You made me think about this one! Happy faces were far too light-hearted for fastidious Hector anyway!
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You might be right! I only used the word “fastidious” because I hadn’t used it in any of the other stories!
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Poor Hector–his first act of spontaneity was also his last!
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No need to get sentimental!!!
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