Sunday, March 4, 2007

Contents of A Dead Man's Briefcase


Thanks for all the comments regarding the posts since I've come back online. I'm glad everyone got to see what the Faceless One will find in my wallet before the morgue attendant, and Sid has given some thought towards a similar post. Well, this post is one I should have made months ago, but I need to do it now before the briefcase is given back to the Salvation Army. I had purchased this now somewhat beaten up satchel for a buck forty at the local SA when I had a temp job on the far northside. It was in pristine condition, the kind of thing you find at apartment sales or even estate sales. One day, I noticed a lower pocket below the one I kept my bus schedules in, and I unzipped it, expecting to find nothing. Rather, there was one folded piece of paper, still crisp. I am only assuming it belonged to the owner of the briefcase. It was a letter with lab results stating that the 29 year old man had an inoperable brain tumor. It made me wonder if this is why the briefcase was in such excellent condition; of course, now it is ragged, after two winters and being dragged along almost each of the last 700 days. I bought a backpack, because I really don't need a briefcase when I no longer wear a suit and tie to work, and a backpack allows me to run for the bus (or from zombies) (or Sternberg) without getting out of breath. And so the briefcase gets recycled, yet still I wonder if the original owner ever made it to the age of 30. There are always things I end up thinking way too much about.

12 comments:

Drizel said...

You Always find the weirdess interresting things....I hope the 29 year old is ok....that is so young to have a brain tumor:(

James Robert Smith said...

You should have kept the briefcase! Adequately loaded, they make excellent bludgeons against attacking zombies!

Good grief!

Sidney said...

Technology is improving for the treatment of brain tumors. Maybe he found care in time.

lee said...

Ah, that's the pits, the poor fella. Didn't get to give his briefcase much use, obviously. Isn't it odd- someone else could have come along, bought the briefcase, glanced at the piece of paper and not have given it a second thought.

Charles Gramlich said...

Etain, you're right. Wayne seems to have a sixth sense for finding the weird. I wonder what other such weirdities are blowing in the wind all around us every day, that most of us pass by without a glance. Wayne always seems to notice.

tkkerouac said...

interesting blog, thanks for stopping by.

Lucas Pederson said...

I hope that guy will be okay. Brain tumors. Reminds me of a story I wrote once upon a time. Pretty good. Anyway. Sorry I haven't been visiting much lately. It's hard to do this blog thing and write and work a lifeless day job all at once.
Anyway. Maybe you should keep the bag. You never know, it might have some sort of mystic power that will send your senses soaring and soon become the next super hero. Well, you never know..

Anonymous said...

It's so strange and very, very sad that today you would write about finding that note in your briefcase. With an inoperable brain tumor, all I can say is that the previous owner of your briefcase joins in eternity an LJ friend of mine, Richard (http://armoire-man.livejournal.com/), who died this morning at 3 a.m. of his own inoperable brain tumor. Perhaps they'll meet somewhere beyond our comprehension.

Wayne Allen Sallee said...

lucas, everyone here, even our young'un etain, will say that you must write in whatever way you can each day. if you do not blog or comment, that's cool. but remember, there are times when reading a post or making your own will give you more insight than if you sat with a blank piece of paper in front of you for an hour. my point, brother, is to just keep writing. we are all in this elevated hell together. stay well and do not give up. i know too many people who gave up, like actors in hollywood. email me when sternberg isn't imposing his mind control over you. most of all, be well. any job that is not a writing job, well, i call that a mostly crappy job. i'm a writer more than anything else. and i sincverely wish that the owner of that briefcase is still around, maybe writing himself, maybe studying psychiatry or something more meaningful than being known for a blog entry adrift in the seas of a million other blog entries.

Teresa said...

To have found something like that would have left me wondering for a long time too.

Stewart Sternberg (half of L.P. Styles) said...

I love finding things. When I was a kid, I used to reach up inside drawers of old chests and desks, hoping that I would find some secret compartment.

However, to find such a statement, such a summation of a human life is somewhat chilling. And profoundly sad.

Drizel said...

Intense....and yes one must write everyday...everydy:)