September 8, 2010

• Conversation Piece

  I love a good book. Many a time I’ve looked at the clock and founds that I’ve read for four or five hours straight. It’s a good feeling, submerging myself into a whole other world, forgetting real life problems, taking on a whole new identity. My favorite book series is Animorphs, except for the ending, but that’s a different story. Action, drama, some sci-fy, as long as it’s well written, I’ll read it, but especially mysteries. I have at least four collections of mystery stories, plus a huge collection of Sherlock Holmes. I love pausing, trying to make my own deductions, guessing at who could be the culprit. I’m actually pretty good at it. But there’s one collection of short stories I own, called Cop Cade, it’s got some great stories in there.  There’s one real short one, by a guy named Ned Guymon, and it’s one of the greatest short stories I’ve ever read, so I just had to share it with you guys. So here it is.

                                             CONVERSATION PIECE

                                                      by  Ned Guymon

   

  “No!”
  “Yes.”
  “You didn’t!”
  “I did.”
  “When?”
  “Just now.”
  “Where?”
  “Bathroom.”
  “Dead?”
  “Yes.”
  “God!”
  “Yes.”
  “Why?”
  “You know.”
  “I don’t”
  “You do.”
  “Unfaithful?”
  “Yes.”
  “With whom?”
  “With you.”
  “No!”
  “Yes.”
  “She didn’t-”
  “She did.”
  “We didn’t-”
  “You did.”
  “You knew?”
  “I knew.”
  “How long?”
  “Long enough.”
  “What now?”
  “Guess.”
  “Police?”
  “Later.”
  “Why later?”
  “Guess again.”
  “Tell me!”
  “Look.”
  “Oh no!”
  “Oh yes.”
  “You can’t!”
  “I can.”
  “Please!”
  “Don’t beg.”
  “Forgive me!”
  “Too late.”
  “Good God!”
  “Goodbye.”

  “Operator?”
  “Yes, sir.”
  “The police.”

   

   

  • 6:43 pm
  • 18 Comments