He left the village because of what he did. No one wanted to believe me, because that would make their favoured son a monster. No one wanted to keep us in the same place, because that was making him sad. So they gently encouraged him to leave, and made it out to be a grand adventure.
Now he’s back, after all these years. He’s seen the world and known its many wonders, while I have stayed here to attend to the care of the old. Long I have wondered what adventure would be like.
They are overjoyed to see him, carefully avoiding the subject of why he left in the first place. Some people ask me out of earshot of him to not bring up my so-called claim. Don’t worry, I will not.
I simply wonder what will happen when they find their favoured son castrated in his bed. I wonder who they will claim did it. I wonder if they will send her on her merry way, to lands unknown on a great adventure, because their mutilated hero is making her sad with his self-pity.
Paddy Dobson
18th August 2022