I stole (borrowed, if you insist on the veneer of gentility) today's title and label from one of my favorite stops in the Vapor World every day, Six Word Stories.
As someone who indiscriminately consumes words as I take revenge on every Literacy Volunteer in the world (and let's not forget Gutenberg (and I don't mean Steve)), I admire the laser-like focus and the precision of thought that demands and dictates an entire story may only be six words in length.
The words themselves are of critical import as there can be only six and the story, such as it is, must end. When you sample a few of the stories, I'm sure you'll agree, in comparison, especially to my meanderings, more is less, and with all deference to Dick Van Patten, six is the proper number. Go ahead, skip back to the site, and read some for yourself. I have all the time in the world.
That last statement, as we all know, is not true. We never have enough time but know that no matter how much we do have, it is still never never enough. When I came upon the story of Welles Crowther and his red bandanna, I found myself haunted and halted by the question, "What would you do if today were your last day on earth?" It continues to resonate with me and, judging from the kind notes people have sent me over the decades around this time of year, I am not alone.
Alone, however, twenty-two years yesterday is how thousands of people at various stages in their life stories had them suddenly, and cruelly, end. So many stories never told, so many people who never grew old. The blue became grey and then black in the sky and we wept 'til we had no more tears left to cry. We remember and we recover as we hold on to each other.
-bill kenny
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