The Boy Who Shouldn’t Have Died

by Mark Steven Long

About the Author: Mark Steven Long is a freelance copyeditor from New York City. He has previously published work in National Lampoon magazine, Reed, Paragraph, and InterText.

Excerpt

“Gretchen!” Clack-clack-clack.

Barely a foot in the door. She sighed, hauled the rest of herself into the house, and slung her purse on the table. “I just walked in,” she called out.

The clack-clack-clack of his typewriter was still constant, hadn’t paused even slightly. “I’m hungry!” he called out. Clack-clack-clack. “How long till dinner?” Clack-clack-clack.

“I just walked in,” she wearily repeated. “Have you been up there all day?”

Clack-clack-clack. “You know I can’t stop! I’ll die if I do!”

Gretchen’s sigh almost hitched itself into a sob. “You won’t die,” she said quietly.

Clack-clack-clack. “Gretchen?”

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