ANDY–CHRONICLES OF THE AGE OF MISFORTUNE /Parts 4, 5, 6 and 7

Part 4 – The Funeral Director

To the Kuköms, the profession is almost beyond comprehension.

A career devoted to making people look as beautiful as possible...

after they have died.

A teenager asks,

"Wait...

So they repaired the body...

only after its owner was permanently dead?"

ANDY nods.

Silence.




Part 5 – Cryonics

At last...

a glimmer of hope.

For the first time, human beings attempt to outwit death.

They choose to be frozen.

Many of the Kuköms suddenly find themselves filled with respect.

They realize:

These were the first people

who refused to accept death

as inevitable.




Part 6 – The Last Birthday

A man turns eighty.

Everyone congratulates him.

ANDY thinks:

In reality,

they are celebrating

that he has moved one year closer to death.

For the first time,

the students understand the expression

"birthday condolences."




Part 7 – The Talk Show

Celebrities sit beneath bright studio lights.

They smile.

They laugh.

They insist,

"Growing old can be wonderful."

ANDY has read their medical files.

He also knows

the dates of their deaths.

So do the readers.

Suddenly,

the entire broadcast becomes

an unbearable tragedy of dramatic irony.


 

• Read other works of Harry Schloßmacher
• Send e-Mail to Harry Schloßmacher