Monday, December 20, 2010

Randomness 12-20-2010

-I've got a cold. Or maybe allergies, possibly both. I've got various medication running through my blood. Let's get kooky.

-I'm deathly afraid of slipping in the shower, always have been. As a kid, I'd stand on a wash cloth while showering, which in hindsight, would make me more susceptible to slipping and cracking my head open.

-I named my cat Taco because I love tacos.



-There's a documentary coming out called Bad Writing, and got me thinking: Is writing something you can get better with practice, or is it something you're inherently good at? I believe that writing is like a muscle, and the more you exercise it, the better it gets. That's why I write every day in journal, or do stuff like this when I'm feeling uncreative/uninspired to write. Gotta to keep your muscles in shape, right?

-My favorite comics super-heroes are, in order: Nightcrawler, Moon Knight, Batman, Iron Man, and Spider-Man.

-The funny thing is, that list is populated with Marvel charcters, but when I was a kid, I read primarily DC. Every Christmas I'd get an huge pack of 50 or so random DC comics.

-My first comic was given to me by a guy dressed up as Spider-Man, and in the comics, Spider-Man fought the Scorpion. It was rad.

-Nightcrawler is,or I guess was, the heart of the X-Men. He had one of the more original looks in comics, and one of the more fleshed out personalities. He was quirky, fun-loving, charismatic, and soulful. I think a lot of comic characters lack that "heart" that made Nightcrawler so appealing. He was the undaunted immigrant, the forever optimistic, and one of the few characters whose religion helped mold the characters, as opposed to defining the character. I think that's something writer's missed in later years, trying to define the character by his Catholicism, as opposed to it being a part, of many parts, about the character. I'm okay with deaths in comics, but I do think the X-Men comics lack the heart and warmth that Nightcrawler gave them.

-I write about comics a lot, but this isn't a comics blog. It's just something I like to discuss.

- Mumford & Sons "Sigh No More" is the album of the year for me, one of the best albums I've ever heard. I can listen it from start to finish and love every moment of it. Eels "End Times" , Eminem "Recovery", Kanye West's "My Beautiful, Dark, Twisted Fantasy" , and Johnny Cash's "American VI: Ain't No Grave" rounding out the top five.

-Kanye West, Jay-Z, and Brand New are my, right now, artists I'm trying to get every vinyl record of. I'm also trying to snag every vinyl of Cash's American series.

-I've recently really started to get in Bright Eyes. That's going to be my new "Gotta Have It" vinyl to be sure.

-When actually writing, I like to play stuff like Bright Eyes, or Brand New, in the background. Non-voice stuff, like NIN's Ghosts or even classical music, really works for me too.

-Google ads keeps trying to convince me I need Susan Boyle in my life. In fact, I do not need Susan Boyle in my life.

-Public School Reform is the hot topic that isn't getting nearly enough attention. Expct a longer, smarter post soon about this but yeah, the education in this country needs fixing.

-I'm a Ravens fan, and I love them to death and love when Ray Rice and company have a stellar game, but god damn, why did it have to happen in the fantasy football play-offs, when my opponent has Ray Rice?


As always, click the links over here ------> to buy/download some Kinsey goodness.

-K

Thursday, December 16, 2010

"Waking Up" the first Chapter of Gravity, available now

Just go Here and download it for free.

You can sign up for the Kinsey newsletter by sending an email here

And as always, you can purchase Satellites from Amazon.com

-K

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Gravity news

Tomorrow will be the first chapter release of the serialized novel, "Gravity". I will be posting chapters on a weekly schedule, and since I'm already 5 weeks ahead, I should be able to keep that pace for the remainder.

"Gravity" is a sprawling, multi-connected story set in Baltimore and beyond. It concerns the lives of various characters, and how they deal with events, people, and troubles in their lives. I will post the chapters here, and also put them up for download for ebook, for free.

In other news, work is being done for the scifi book "After Midnight", and should be released sometime in January/February.

You can still purchase "Satellites" off Amazon.com or lulu.com.

Satellites for Kindle.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Mickey Salo

I'll get back to the Christmas buyer's guide tomorrow, but before that, I wanted to share this. I wrote this, along with a proposal, for an artist for a comic book that hasn't come to fruition just yet. It's something I want to do eventually, but I wrote this up as an introduction to the world of the comic book, to help establish the various vulgarities and outright absurdities of the world.

Unrelated note, I'm in the process of figuring out a totem for myself, so I can keep track of my reality.

---

This is very unprofessional.
I mean, I have a job to do, and yet, where am I? I'm in the plane's bathroom, dick deep in some brunette wearing cat ears.
I wish she wouldn't meow.
I'm not even enjoying the sex. Granted, she's attractive. Long, brown hair and the kind of tits that bounce perfectly. I've done far worse. I once went to the circus and fucked the bearded lady. Sex addiction isn't all cock rings and threesomes, kids.
Her orgasm sounds like a cat dying, which is probably intentional. She raises her furry arms in the air and screeches, then whips me in the face with her tail as she jumps off. Quickly, I try and find my pants, before she calls my penis a nice bit of catnip. Again.
Kerplunk!
That is the sound of pistol falling into the shitter.
“Is that a gun?”, Cat-Girl asks me, as she slips on furry feet.
“Yup, but don't worry, I'm an Air Marshall.”, I tell her, sitting on the toilet as I light up one of my cigarettes. It's a total lie, but easier to explain than what I really am. I exhale a dark black cloud of smoke, as the Cat-Girl looks at me funny.
“You can't smoke in a plane!”
“I don't think those rules apply on this plane, kiddo.”
Cat-Girl shrugs her shoulders, and exits the bathroom. I can hear the music as she opens the door, get a glimpse of the strobe lights. Before the door closes, a see someone dressed like Snoopy sucking off a blue teddy bear.
“Fucking Christ.”, I say to no one in particular. Except maybe Duffy, but that's a bit too much to explain right now, so I won't.
I take another drag from my cigarette, and I can feel a decent buzz coming. I try and stray away from your regular over-the-counter smokes, I get mine special order from a dealer I know. It's a mixture of weed, PCP, and salvia. He tosses in a pinch of cilantro, for extra flavor. I few more deep drags, and I snuff out the ciggarette, and rise from the john, and stare at myself in the mirror. I look like shit for 28, but I guess that makes perfect sense. I glance at Duffy, who gives me that disapproving look of his. He thinks I need the gun.
“Fuck it, Duff, I'll figure something out. I'm a pro, yeah?”
Two quick eyedrops of LSD later, and I walk back into the hedonistic Pleasure Plane. All around me, people dressed as animals are fucking. You've got Dog-on-Cat, Bear-on-Bear, even the elusive mouse threesome. Walt Disney would have a field day. A naked cat girl, different than the one I just fucked, walks by with a tray of champagne glasses. I snatch two, and down them quickly. It's 42 steps from the bathroom to the entrance of the V.I.P section. I need to figure out, in those 42 steps, how to kill the host of this party. I had planned on shooting him in the head, my usual plan. But since my gun is swimming in shit and I am fairly sensitive to smells, I'll have to figure something out.
“Someone catch that pussy!”
A cat runs by, a real one I mean, and a naked man chases after it. The sad thing is, on my scale, this is less strange than usual. A plane full of people who like to dress up like furry animals and fuck is just a regular Tuesday for me. Is it Tuesday? Fuck, I've got to call Paul and tell him I won't make it to A.A. I look down and notice a red scarf, and quickly pick it up. It's wet. I don't want to know what it's wet with, but I can uses this. I wrap the scarf around the leftover champagne glass, and break it. I pick through, and find the biggest shard of glass, about two inches long. If you can't shoot a man in the skull, slit his throat. That's usually Plan B.
I pause for a minute, to eye up the guards. They are professionals, no doubt. The small black guy has been to a party like this before, not paying any mind to the debauchery going on, instead scanning with his eyes for any shit. Both carry H&K MP5s, not even trying to hide them. The one on the left is a big black guy, less experienced then the small black guy on the right. His eyes dart back and forth, from one perverted scene of frantic animal sex to the next. His fingers tap dance on the MP5. It's only a matter of time before he takes a piss-break to relieve himself on this anxiety. When he does, I'll make my move. Until then, well, I've never turned down an open bar in my life So I walk pass the guards and the V.I.P door, and take a seat at the bar. I have to chuckle to myself. Ten years ago you couldn't even imagine a full bar in a plane, and yet now I'm sitting in an in-flight pub, ordering aged whiskey that an alcoholic would skin himself for. And it's all free. Perks of the job, my friend.
The bar is barren, save for one other lonely soul besides yours truly. I guess when you have the option of sex or booze, you choose sex. I take a seat next to the old man, who is wearing on of those wool coats you expect a teacher to wear. Doesn't fit the pleasure flight scene.
“A young man with good taste, I see.”
He looks to be about 55, maybe 60. His hair is a stark white but his eyes have kept that twinkle of young years. He is sipping on a fine cognac worth more than my car.
“My grandfather used to drink this whiskey, guess I picked it up from him. My name's Mickey.”, I tell him with a friendly smile. It's a total lie. My grandfather was a bastard who was shot down in a failed armed robbery before I was even born.
“Pleasure, I'm Carl,”he raises his glass to me, “So what brings you on this hedonistic plane ride? You don't seem to be partaking in the activities.”
“Ah, well, I fucked a cat in the bathroom, if it's any consolation”, I answer as I bring out my smokes again, “You mind?”
“By all means, no. This is supposed to be a flight of vice, you should be allowed to smoke.”
“That's good to hear. You know, back home? I can't light a cig in a bar, but you're allowed to have concealed weapons. How screwed up is that?”
“Conceal weapons much?”
“Usually, but not right now. Dropped it in the toilet. A nice little Sig P250. But, c'est la vie, guess I need to get a new one.”
There is a moment of silence, something I'm used to. I exhale a cloud of smoke, and smile to myself. It feels good to be honest and open about what I'm thinking. Paul would be proud.
“So, what is it you do, exactly, Mickey?”
“That, Carl, is a tricky question to answer. I guess if you really want to break it down in the simplest terms, well, I kill people for money.”
Carl's eyes go wide, and his eyebrows arch upwards. He let's out a barely audible “Oh”. I finished the whiskey and order 4 fingers more.
“I mean, It's not always killing, that's just what it usually comes to. More problems in the world are solved via bullet to the head than you'd think.”
Carl takes a deep gulp of the cognac, and turns to me.
“So am I to take it you're on the job right now?”
“I am, Carl, I am. Burning the midnight oil, as it were.” My phone begins to ring, Paul is calling to ask why I'm not at A.A. I don't answer, but send him a quick text telling him I'm stuck at work. No need for him to hear al the sex going on in the background.
“You're very open about this. I guess that means I'm in no danger then. So, who could it be? Our host, perhaps?”
“Would make sense, wouldn't it? I mean, he is a dirty Russian bastard. Pretty much holding the world ransom with his oil prices. “
“Not to mention that little bout of genocide.”, Carl interjects.
“Very true.”
Guard number 2 finally walks away, taking his break. I guess the three little pigs threesome happening in front of him was too much. While the bartender isn't look, I snag a bottle of cheap rum.
“Excuse me, Carl.”
As I stand, I splash some rum on me and begin to stumble towards the guard. I grab a random teddy bear and pull it close to me. The guard gives me a dirty look.
“I'm, I'm a Veep. You know what that means, guard-o? Means you've got to let me through so I can go and gives this bear some honey!”
The guard doesn't say a word, just shakes his head no. He is a pro, all right. I try the drunk fucker routine one more time.
“Listen, come on, let me in. I'm supposed to be in there with Demetri!”, I slur at the guard while the teddy bear's furry hand goes down my pants. I really hope it is a girl. The guard won't budge, so I start screaming.
“DEMETRI! DEMETRI, LEMME IN!”
The guard finally loses his cool, grabs me with both hands. I break his grip, wrap my arms around his throat, and he passes out. This was the best possible outcome. No shots fired, no throats slit. I don't have too much time though, as the teddy bear has already ran off to find help. I slip inside the V.I.P room, dragging the passed out guard with me. Before the door closes, I notice a smiling Carl looking my way.
The V.I.P section is essentially one huge room. I feel like I've walked into a penthouse. I pass by two women doing blow on a coffee table, they look up at me with those dead eyes. It sends a shudder down my back. I walk away from them as fast as possible. I can feel their eyes on me as I walk away, but they don't say a word as I head towards the bed.
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Fuck you bitch!”
Whack!
Demetri Tarasov, oil baron and Russian political force, is thrusting his 300 pounds into a lifeless waif of a girl. He punches her again, leaving her face a broken mess. He doesn't notice me behind him. It doesn't matter, I've seen enough. I grab his curly brown hair, pull back, and slice his throat. The only sound he makes is a weak gargle. His body flops to the ground, and I look at the girl. Her face has been mashed in and you can still see the b;lack marks on her neck were he strangled her. The dead girl stares at me, without saying a sound. For a second, it looks like she is trying to give me a smile, but it doesn't last. The dead girl just looks at me, blinking and making a wet noise as she tries to breath with blood in her lungs.
Slowly, I walk back to the pleasure party. I pass by the girls doing blow. They don't seem fazed by what just happened. Why would they?
As odd as it sounds, it felt good to be back surrounded by furry sex. It feels far more normal than what I just went through. I head back to the bar, and sit back down next to Carl. I order another 4 fingers.
“Look's like you made it back in time.”, Carl tells me, as he points to the returning guard. He is missing his MP5 and there is a huge cum stain on his pants. I don't even want to know.
“Lucky me, eh?”, I reply as I down the 4 fingers, and order 4 more.
“Job well done?”
“Well, Tarasov is dead. Doesn't mean a job well done though.”
Carl pauses, and gulps deeply. His face turns pale white.
“Don't try to run, Doctor. You know it wouldn't work. And anyway, where the fuck would you go on a plane?”
“So it wasn't just Tarasov then.”, he says meekly.
“No Doctor, not just him.”, I say blankly. Duffy gives me a quizzical look. The little bear knows what I'm thinking.
“So how will this be done? You have no weapons.”
“Doctor, you know as well as I do that I don't need weapons.”
“Fair point. So what, then, is the plan?”
“Well, I'm to offer you a job, at OpQuo. You'd work for them. If you decline, I kill you. Obviously, you'll take the job.”
“I will, I accept the job offer.”
I laugh, and shake my head. I light up another cig. It helps tame the urge.
“I saw the girls, Doctor. I saw them. Come on, let's go.”
I grab the good Doctor by the shoulder, forcefully, and drag him towards the back of the plane. We walk past threesomes and sodomy, without blinking or talking. Past all that is the kitchen, where a famed Michelin chef cooking up some caviar. Though, not the kind you're thinking about. Google it. We finally reach a compartment, where I have two parachutes waiting for us. Carl looks at me, scared. I toss him one of the packs.
“I guess you've made your decision, then.”, he says relieved. He begins to strap on the parachute.
“I'm a pro, Doctor. I do what I do to get paid. Even if I'd rather not. “, I reply while I strap on my own pack.
“That's good to hear, Mickey. I'm sure your bosses would be quite displeased if I had died.”, The Doctor says with a smirk.
“Oh, they would. It's just too bad you struggled with me.”
“Struggled?”
I snatch Carl by the arm, and with a twisting motion, break it. He screams in pain as I open the door, and kick him out of the plane. I watch him fall until he disappears beneath a cloud. Half of me hopes he remembers to pull the chute. The other half, well, fuck him. My head throbs, so I bring out my LSD eye drops. Duffy gives me that strange teddy bear grin of his, and jumps out of the plane. Before I jump out myself, I hear the shrill sounds of a cat being fucked.
My name is Mickey Salo. This is my life.




Friday, December 10, 2010

Kinsey Helps you Holiday Shop! Part 1

I'm a huge comic nerd, huge. Well, maybe not as bad as some others, but don't put it past me to dress up like The Spirit for the Baltimore comic-con. But the problem is, I think everyone sticks to the super-hero genre and that, well, that's just sad. Don't get me wrong, I like super-heroes, but I think its unfair to pigeonhole comics as strictly for super-heroes. So here is some non-superhero graphic novels or comics you should check out, or even pick up as a gift during Christmas/Kwanza season. I'm going to try and go unconventional picks here so, yeah, no Preacher or anything like that.

For Her: Love as a Foreign Language
"Fish out of water" is such a staple of romance stories, because when it's done correctly, it's near perfect. This is a story a Joel, an English teacher in Korea, a country he is suffering complete and utter culture shock with. Joel falls for Hana, a secretary at the school, and along the series, Joel grows, comes to terms with his culture shock, and maybe gets the girl. Maybe.

It doesn't break any new ground, but it does everything so well, and the relationship between Hana and Joel feels so natural, that it rises above it's chick flick structure and becomes simply a great story that you'll keep going back to.




For Him: Brian Wood Comics
Brian Wood is my favorite writer working today. Right now, I like his stuff more than Grant Morrison, more than Warren Ellis, more than Matt Fraction. Especially since he just keeps getting better!


Demo, volumes 1 and 2, is about people with powers, but goes at it at a completely different angle than "Has pwoers, become superhero." Each issue tells a complete, stand alone story. The stories usually revolve around the characters, and how they're affected by their powers, than any absurd display of power or super fights. Issue 9 of the first volume, "Breaking Up", is my favorite single issue of any comic book, ever. And the art by Becky Cloonan is expressive, and matches each story perfectly. I actually voted Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan as the #1 writer and artist, respectively, for Comics Should Be Good blog's Top 100 Artists/Writers.

Pounded, a comic Wood did with artist Steve Rolston, is the exact opposite of Demo and equally as brilliant. It's a quick, loud, violent punk rock love song, where the main character of Heavy Parker is an asshole, yeah, but you can't help but like him. The best thing is, Heavy stays an asshole, even as he matures during the story. The Heavy Parker of page one and the Heavy Parker of page 44 is the same character, just a character who has grown because of the what happened during the story.







For the audiophile: Phonogram
Music as a form of magic. That is Phonogram summed up in a sentence, but it expands on that idea, and through two volumes, builds this world up so completely, that you hate Kieron Gillen and Jamie Mckelvie for doing work for Marvel because, fuck it, they should be giving us more Phonogram.

The second volume is one of the few times, in my opinion, that a sequel is better than the original. Seven stand alone, yet interconnected, stories set in the same club, on the same night. Charming, lovely, and all together mad, Phonogram is the only place where using magic to play an Artic Monkey's song could happen.





I'll be back with part two, where I help you shop for that marijuana loving little brother of yours, and that horror fiend mother-in-law.

-K

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Update

Just some quick bits of news an randomness.

-Starting today, you can purchase "Satellites", a short story collection of mine, off of Lulu for $1.35. You can find that Here .

-There will be a Kindle version, at $.99, available once they approve it. Hopefully by today.

-There won't be a print edition, as of this time. It's a short collection(only six stories) primarily meant to bring traffic to the blog. I had hoped to be able to price it as free, but was unable to on Amazon.com. So I priced them at the bare minimum. Plus, now I make 35 cents for each collection sold!

-Starting in January, updates to this blog will be increased dramatically. I will be releasing "In Transit" as a serialized novel. A chapter posted every two weeks. This is something that has been brewing for a while, and I'm excited to do a sprawling, Dickensian story.

-I'll still be posting short stories and random blogs post, of course. There will be another "Satelites" ebook collection, again priced at bare minimum. Eventually, after about three "Satelites" volumes, I'll released a deluxe print edition, that hopefully you'll gobble up.

-I am looking for an artist to do an online comic. If you are said artist, send me an email.

-K

Monday, November 22, 2010

Gravity

My brother always seemed to be the first. My parents came to America in 1897, leaving Ireland to start a new life. I once asked my father, why he decided to leave, and all he would tell me is “It seemed like the right thing to do.” in that thick Irish brogue of his. My brother, Rowan, was born in January of 1900, the first born, the first son, the first of a new century. My mother would tell me later that he came early, he was due in February. But Rowan, being Rowan, had to be the first. He was the first boy born in Harper county. My mother would tell me that Rowan was the first baby boy of the 1900s. That was just Rowan's way, I guess, always the first.

I was born two years later, a baby so small my father could hold me in the palm of his hand. The doctor told my parents I wouldn't last, I wouldn't survive. I like to think I proved them wrong, in a way. I've always been “frail”, in my mother's words. “A sweet, sweet boy.” My father had to have been disappointed, a strong man like himself having a son like me. My father probably expected to have many strong, hearty sons to work on the farm. He was left with just Rowan and myself, when my mother died. No more sons. Just a frail boy and the first boy.

Now, don't take to believing I thought badly of my father. Far from it. He may have been slighted to find such a weak boy as his son, but he was a Mumford, a proud man. While Rowan and my father worked on the farm, a task too strenuous for me, I was tasked with learning. “These here”, my father would say as he set down a stack of books, “Will be finished by tonight, ya' hear?” If I wasn't going to be a strong Mumford farmer, my father decided I'd be a smart Mumford. Maybe a lawyer, or doctor. He would go into town, grabbing as many books as he could. It had to have been a humbling experience, my father asking the librarian for books for myself. My mother's legacy was teaching her boys to read, something my father could never do.

I would read every day, from sunrise to sunset. I explored worlds with Gulliver, fought Indians with David Bowie, and sailed the seas with Captain Ahab. And every night, Rowan would come into our room, sore from the days work, and ask me to tell him a story.

I found out very quickly, that I had a knack for telling a story. Rowan would sit there, enamored as I told him the stories I had read during the day. The best compliment Rowan ever gave me is, after telling him a story, he looks at me and goes “Ferg', some days I wish I was you. I wish I could be you sometimes.” Now, whether or not it was meant as a compliment, I haven't a clue. But it was nice, it was nice to know the great Rowan, the first boy of 1900, felt some jealously. He felt jealous of me.

Whether coincidence or not, the next morning changed everything. “Ferg, Fergal, wake up” Rowan poked me awake, and as I rubbed my eyes awake, I couldn't help myself but chuckle.

“Rowan, what in blazes are you wearing?”

Rowan was dressed in pants and a shirt, but he was wearing a belt with all sorts of metal and bags full of sand attached to him. He just looked at me, eyes wide, and pressed his finger to his lip to quiet me. Then he took off the belt.

At first, it seemed like nothing happened. But then, Rowan started to rise, lifting into the air until he was pressed against the ceiling. At first, I thought it was some kind of trick, and I looked for strings or a platform of which he could be standing on. But there was nothing. My brother was floating in the air. His eyes were wide, Rowan looked terrified. He grabbed the bannister of the bed, and pulled himself back down to earth, putting the belt on himself once more. Then he looked at me, looking for answers.

“Is it the Devil, Fergal?” By brother asked, sucking air in a panic.

“Rowan, you can levitate.”

“Ferg'?”

“Remember that book, about the genies and the Arabians? Remember the flying carpet? That's you!”

“But I don't want it to be me!”

My father must've heard the ruckus, and came to our room, asking us what all the fuss was about. This time, I didn't watch Rowan, I instead watched my father. As Rowan took off the belt once more, my father's eyes lit up, as he watched his sixteen year old son rise to the ceiling. At first, I thought it was fear, but then I realized what it was: Amazement. Wonder. Envy.

Things moved pretty fast after that. It took me a few days to convince my father and brother, but eventually the agreed with me. People would want to see my brother and what he could do, and they'd be willing to pay.

We went town to town, all over Kansas. Pay a nickel, and see the amazing levitating boy. My father fashioned a tent for us to use. People would pay, and come in. After a few choice words, by myself, Rowan would come in. He would stand in the middle of the tent, as we had set the chairs up in a circle. Rowan would do it slowly, untying one bag of sand attached to him at a time. And slowly, slowly, he would rise. To the very top of the tent, and then he would float there, looking down on the people. They would gasp, they would blame it on the Devil, then call Rowan an angel. And then, once my father and I pulled Rowan down, they would pay to see it again.

“Rowan, what's it like? Floating, I mean?” I asked him once, after a show. We were taking down the tent, getting ready to head off to the next town.

“It's comfortable. Wearing these weights”, he said pointing at his belt with the sand bags, “Just don't feel right. Sometimes I wonder, if I took the belt off in the middle of the field, how far up would I go.”

“I think you'd go all the way, Rowan.”

“All the way to Heaven, right?”

“That's right, Rowan. That's right”

It was at the next town, at the edge of Kansas, that my father said good-bye. It must have been hard, to admit that it was just too much work for him. Going town to town, the constant travel of it all. He looked at us and told us he was proud. Proud of his boys. “I raised myself two good men.” He smiled when he said this, something I rarely saw from my father. He gave Rowan a bear hug, and then squeezed my shoulder, and he left. Sometime later, in the house my father had built with his own hands, he died in his sleep. I guess he knew what was coming, and wanted to do it at home.

It was later that night, after my father left, that Rowan and I started to discuss the future. We had done two shows that day, and decided to reward ourselves with something to drink. The little tavern was dirty and cramped, but it suited us just fine. Rowan drank whiskey, while I stuck to water. I wanted to keep traveling, go to other states and towns. Maybe, one day, the white house, I suggested. Rowan just chuckled, and took a sip.

“Fergal, why does it matter? I think we should've gone home with Pop. All of Kansas has seen me, and we've taken a dime from them all. What more is there? More money?”

“You don't get it do you. Rowan, it's not the money. You can do something no one else can,. You're special. Shouldn't the world see that?”

“I don't care about the world, and I don't care about being special.”

“Then what is it, then, for you Rowan?”

“My wee lil' brother, that's what” He laughed, and ruffled up my hair. “Fergal, as long as you want to keep doing this, I'll do it. I ain't got no one else in this world anyway, mine as well spend it with you, eh, little brother?”

So we continued the show, we traveled all the way to Georgia even. Rowan was 22 at the time, a splitting image of my father. We did a show in a little town called, funny enough, Century. Just like the other shows, the townspeople filled up the tent, got quiet as Rowan began to take off the belt, then exploded in gasps and shock when they him float to the very top. I never got tired of watching it, the look in peoples eyes. That look of amazement. I could never get enough of it. Sometimes I wonder, if I knew this was going to be the last show, would I have appreciated it more? Or would have it taken away from the enjoyment of it all? I guess I'll never know.

I was beginning to pack up things after the show, already thinking of the next night's show, when I noticed Rowan. He was talking to a fair, dimunitive girl. She had blond hair and freckles all over her face. She was smiling, almost as much as Rowan.

In my later years, I regretted how I felt at that moment. I should have been happy for my brother, but instead I was jealous. I was hurt. It had always been Rowan and Fergal. I don't think I could imagine another person taking my brother's affections. I felt betrayed, and I left. I left that night, I didn't even say good-bye to Rowan. I'm sure at first, he was surprised. But Rowan, was smart, he had to have realized why I left.

It wasn't until years later, that I saw my brother again. I had returned to Kansas, and was living in the house I grew up in. I figured my father would want it that way, one of his boys living there. I had no need for the farm, and the land around the house grew wildly. As I got older, things became harder for me. On my good days, I could make it into town. But most days, I stayed in the house. A stray dog found his way into my home, one day. A mangy, frail looking scamp. He had wide, brown eyes though. He reminded me of myself, in my younger days, and I decided to keep the little thing. I named him Conor, after my father.

Sometime around my 29th birthday, 29 more years than the doctor had given me, and I heard a knock on my door. I opened the door and found my brother standing there.

“Hey Fergal.” Rowan said to me, his smile weak. It isn't a lie to say that his hug hurt me, as I was much weaker than last he had seen of me. But it was worth it.

I motioned him inside, but he declined. “I like it outdoors.” He said, softly. He looked off into the wild fields, and began to tell me what had happened since I left.

Her name was Mary. It was simple, yet fitting, he told me. She had come to the show that night, and it was love at first sight. For the both of them.

“Her voice, Ferg', God, do I wish you had talked to her. Her voice was angelic.”

It had hurt him, he told me, when I left. But he knew why, just as I had known he would. With nowhere to go, he stayed in Century. Within three months, he had asked Mary for her hand in marriage. She, of course, said yes.

This was the life Rowan had always wanted but never had. A wife, a home, a simple life. These days, I feel guilty. Rowan lived the life I had wanted, for me. I sometimes wonder if that was wrong of me, to take him on the road, town to town. Did I make him a side show freak? But when I start to feel too guilty, when I start to get tight in my chest, I just remember what Rowan had told me that day: “Fergal, if we hadn't gone on the road, I'd never met her. Thank you.”

For a time, everything was perfect. Rowan and Mary were married, and with the money we had made, they didn't have too many worries. They spend some days walking in the grass, hand-in-hand, he told me.

As Rowan got older, though, it took more and more weights to stay on the ground. By the time Rowan was 27, it took 88 pounds of sand to keep him on the ground. He had become like me, spending most of his days in a chair. It must have felt horrible, like being in prison. His body was strong and healthy, and yet, confined.

Mary fell sick, in the wintertime, a sickness she never recovered from. I asked him, what was the last thing Mary had told him.

His eyes went moist, and he began to sob. “An angel”, Rowan said softly, “She told me I was her angel.”

I had never seen my brother like this. I could never imagine him this sad, it broke my heart. I told him, I wish I could take it back. Wish I hadn't left that night. Then I asked him what he planned on doing now.

“I feel...” He began, before drifting off, thinking about it all, “Everything feels so heavy, Fergal. I just want to to let go. Walk with me, please?”

I nodded yes, and walked with my brother, to the middle of a field. The walk took everything out of me, and I was ready to collapse by time we stopped. Rowan looked at me and smiled.

“I love you, Fergal.” He told me, as he slowly took off the sand bags on his belt. I was too weak to do anything to stop him, and sometimes I wonder if that was his plan. Slowly, he began to rise off the ground. I looked in amazement, just like every person who had ever paid a dime to see the show. I fell to the ground, weak, as Rowan rose in the air. He looked at me, below him, and gave me a smile, before looking upwards, to the heavens. I sat there, and watched as my brother floated into the air, until all that was left was the sky above me.