George Saunders - Lincoln in the Bardo

Are you “sick,” Kugel? said Grandmother. Do doctors put sick people into “sick-boxes”?

I do not recall that practice ever being followed in our time, Elsbeth said.

Therefore what must we conclude, Kugel? said Grandmother. What are you? Where are you? Admit it, dearest, believe it, say it aloud, profit by it, join us.

We say these things to speed you along, said Elsbeth.

And I saw that I must apply the ultimate antidote.

To whom do you speak? I said. Who is hearing you? To whom do you listen? Whose hand do you now follow, as it lifts to point to the heavens? What is the source of the voice causing those looks of consternation to appear even now upon your faces? Here I am. I am here. Am I not?

This had its usual effect.

Confused and deflated, the brides huddled, whispering to one another, devising a new plan of attack.

Fortunately, at that moment, their fraudulent conference was disrupted by the sound of two more distinct and separate firesound/matterlightblooming occurrences: one from the south, one from the northwest.

hans vollman

Eddie took off running at them sounds.

Sometimes he gets pretty f — ing scared of s—.

One of them sluts came right up to me. Then I seen it is not a slut. But our own daughter, Mary Mag! All f — ing dressed up! Finally come to visit! After all these f — ing years of not!

Mother, she said. We are sorry to have been so remiss. Everett and I.

Who’s Everett? I said.

Your son, she said. My brother.

Edward, you mean? I said. Eddie? Eddie Jr.?

Edward, yes, correct, sorry, she said. Anyway, we should have come a long time ago. But I have been quite busy. Being successful. And loved. And producing many children of surpassing beauty. And intelligence. As has Everett.

Edward, I said.

Edward, yes, she said. I am just so exhausted! From…from all my successes!

Well, that’s all right, I said. You’re here now, kid.

And Mother? she said. Please know. Everything is all right. You did the best you could. We blame you for nothing. Although we know that you feel you may have, at times, exhibited certain defects of maternal—

I was kind of a s— mother, wasn’t I? I said.

Whatever failures you feel you may have been responsible for, leave them behind you now, she said. All turned out beautifully. Come with us.

Come where though? I said. I don’t—

You are a wave that has crashed upon the shore, she said.

See, I don’t get that, I said.

Just then Eddie came racing back.

My hero!

Ha.

Clear the f— out of here, you, he said.

It’s Mary Mag, I said.

No it ain’t, he said. Watch this.

He picked up a stone and shagged it. Right at Mary Mag! As the stone passed through, she was not Mary Mag anymore at all, but I don’t f — ing know who. Or what. Some blob or blast of sun in the shape of a G — n dress!

You, sir, are a fool, the light-blob said.

Then it turned to me.

You, madam, it said. Are less so.

betsy baron

The lead angel took my face into her hands as her wing swished back and forth, putting me in mind of a horse’s tail as that animal feeds.

Are you thriving here, Reverend? she said, wing extended lazily above her. Is He whom you served in life present here?

I–I believe He is, I said.

He is, of course, everywhere, she said. But does not like to see you lingering here. Among such low companions.

Her beauty was considerable and increasing by the second. I saw I must end our interview or risk disaster.

Please go, I said. I do not — I do not require you today.

But soon, I think? she said.

Her beauty swelled beyond description.

And I burst into tears.

the reverend everly thomas

As abruptly as it had begun, the onslaught now ended.

hans vollman

As if upon some common signal, our tormentors departed, their song turning somber and mournful.

the reverend everly thomas

The trees went gray in their wake, the food vanished, the streams receded, the breeze fell, the singing ceased.

roger bevins iii

And we were alone.

hans vollman

And all was dismal again.

the reverend everly thomas

Mr. Vollman, Reverend Thomas, and I went forth immediately to determine who had succumbed.

roger bevins iii

The first had been the frugal Mrs. Blass.

the reverend everly thomas

Scattered around the surface of her home-place were her treasured dead-bird parts, twigs, motes, et al., now unattended: objects of value no more.

hans vollman

A. G. Coombs, it appeared, had been the second to succumb.

the reverend everly thomas

Poor fellow. None of us knew him well. He had been here many years. But only rarely left his sick-box.

hans vollman

And when he did, was always heard to bark, “Do you know who I am, sir? They hold me a table at Binlay’s! I wear the Legion of the Eagle!” I still recall his shock when I told him I did not know of that place. “Binlay’s is the finest house of the City!” he exclaimed. “Of what city?” I inquired, and he said Washington, and described the location of that place, but I knew that intersection, and it was, most decidedly, a place of stables, and I told him so. “I pity you!” he said. But I had shaken him. He sat awhile on his mound, pensively stroking his beard. “But surely you know the esteemed Mr. Humphries?” he thundered.

And now he was gone.

Goodbye, Mr. Coombs, and may they know of Binlay’s wherever you are bound!

roger bevins iii

We wandered past many sitting dejectedly upon their mounds or the steps of their stone homes, weeping with the effort of resistance. Others sat quietly sorting through the various seductive visions and temptations to which they had lately been exposed.

the reverend everly thomas

I felt a renewed affection for all who remained.

roger bevins iii

Wheat had been separated from chaff.

the reverend everly thomas

Our path is not for everyone. Many people — I do not mean to disparage them? Lack the necessary resolve.

hans vollman

Nothing matters sufficiently to them, that is the thing.

roger bevins iii

Unsure of who the third victim had been, we suddenly remembered the lad.

hans vollman

It seemed unlikely that one so young could have survived such a merciless assault.

the reverend everly thomas

This being the desired outcome—

roger bevins iii

Given his youth—

hans vollman

The alternative being his eternal enslavement—

roger bevins iii

We found ourselves in a saddened but relieved state of mind as we set off to confirm his departure.

the reverend everly thomas

Imagine our surprise when we found him sitting cross-legged on the roof of the white stone home.

hans vollman

Still here, Mr. Vollman said in amazement.

Yes, the lad answered dryly.

roger bevins iii

His appearance was startling.

the reverend everly thomas

The effort of resistance had cost him dearly.

hans vollman

These young ones are not meant to tarry.

the reverend everly thomas

He was out of breath; his hands were shaking; he had lost, by my estimation, approximately half his bodyweight. His cheekbones protruded; his shirt collar hung huge about his suddenly sticklike neck; charcoal-dark rings had appeared under his eyes; all of these combining to give him a peculiar, wraith-like appearance.

roger bevins iii

He had been a chubby boy.

hans vollman

But was chubby no longer.

roger bevins iii

Good God, Mr. Bevins whispered.

hans vollman

It had taken the Traynor girl nearly a month to descend to this level.