{"id":418,"date":"2015-09-19T16:24:06","date_gmt":"2015-09-19T20:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/?p=418"},"modified":"2015-09-19T16:33:29","modified_gmt":"2015-09-19T20:33:29","slug":"legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/?p=418","title":{"rendered":"Legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"dying-man\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

My father lay dying, gasping through the oxygen mask.\u00a0 I admit I was hovering, knowing the end was near, and not comfortable with it.\u00a0 He was my mentor, the patriarch of the family business.\u00a0 He had taught me most of what I know, and this end was not fitting for him.<\/p>\n

He beckoned me over with a finger twitch.\u00a0 I bent over him, looked him in the eyes, and he smiled up at me.<\/p>\n

\u201cJoey, I\u2019ve been waiting to tell you this for forty years.\u00a0 Pay attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

His other hand came out from under the covers, trembling with the effort.\u00a0 In it was his tool of choice in the family business.\u00a0 A short steel scratch awl.\u00a0 He held the wooden handle with confidence, even this close to the end.\u00a0 The silver metal gleamed.\u00a0 He kept it very clean, although I knew it was stained with the blood of at least two hundred thirty souls.\u00a0 Business had been good.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne day, Son, this awl will be yours!\u201d\u00a0 He cackled at me then, collapsing back on his pillow, gasping for breath and sucking in oxygen as fast as he could breath.\u00a0 I gaped at him, not believing his wit and timing.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know where all the bodies are buried.\u00a0 You were the only threat to me, and I taught you so you could be loyal to me and I wouldn\u2019t have to work in fear.\u00a0 I\u2019m trusting you to keep the business going.\u201d<\/p>\n

He gasped at the end of this long speech.\u00a0 His skin had a bluish cast to it.\u00a0 The oxygen wasn\u2019t helping.\u00a0 Through the translucent skin I could see a vein pulsing, throbbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want just one thing from you now.\u00a0 It has been a long life, and I\u2019m ready to go.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure where I\u2019ll end up, but it doesn\u2019t matter anymore.\u00a0 I\u2019m tired, and I just want to sleep.\u00a0 Take it.\u00a0 It\u2019s yours now.\u00a0 I\u2019m finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t my Dad\u2019s life that was flashing before my eyes.\u00a0 It was the faces of all the men, and the few women, who he had helped across the same divide he now faced himself.\u00a0 There was no historical record.\u00a0 I was the record.\u00a0 He was leaving me behind as his legacy.<\/p>\n

I bent over him again.\u00a0 \u201cI hear you, Pop.\u00a0 I\u2019ll do what you want.\u00a0 You won\u2019t be forgotten.\u201d<\/p>\n

He smiled, and his hand opened.\u00a0 I reached out to him and took the awl.\u00a0 The handle was warm.\u00a0 He must have been saving it for me for quite some time.<\/p>\n

I stood up, bent down to kiss my father on the forehead, and slid the awl into his ear and through to the left side of his brain.\u00a0 His eyes widened, his body surged up slightly, and then fell back onto the bed.\u00a0 I slid the awl out.\u00a0 There was no blood.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he preferred it.\u00a0 The fogging on the oxygen mask cleared.<\/p>\n

I picked up the phone and dialed.<\/p>\n

\u201cRhyerson\u2019s Funeral Home. How may I help you?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is Joseph Wickerson calling.\u00a0 My father has just passed away, and I believe he made his funeral arrangements through you.\u00a0 Could you tell me what I should do next?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy deapest condolences to you, Mr. Wickerson.\u00a0 I talked to your father last week and he said that you might be calling.\u00a0 We will send a hearse over immediately and take care of everything.\u00a0 There will be some papers for you to sign, but you shouldn\u2019t concern yourself right now.\u00a0 It can be a difficult time, and we will do all we can to help you through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I thanked the man, put the phone down, and slid the awl into my jacket pocket.\u00a0 Then I sat and waited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  My father lay dying, gasping through the oxygen mask.\u00a0 I admit I was hovering, knowing the end was near, and not comfortable with it.\u00a0 He was my mentor, the patriarch of the family business.\u00a0 He had taught me most of what I know, and this end was not fitting for him. He beckoned me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-promptedwriting"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=418"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":423,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418\/revisions\/423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mainlyprompts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}