"No matter what
disease you think they're carrying, no matter how contagious you say it is, I
am not pouring fire into the valley and wiping an entire tribe from this world.
I am not. We are not. Our little posse of four ends today if you think we are,
and it ends with the three of you killing me, for otherwise, I will stop you. There
is no world in which the slaughter of the innocent is protection, and any that
pretends to be such will lose me to any of the Seven August Heavens that will
have me.
"If you want to
impale me and then unleash the torrents of fire, then pray proceed, for there are
three of you and one of me so the deed is at least plausible. I will ascend to
any of the seven heavens that will receive me.
"I will bask in the shadow of the sun with my most pious ancestors, or I will descend the eternal stair in the company of my quietest ancestors and into the well of the world, or I will drift eternal in the Purgatorial Sea, alone as each cloud must be or in the company of a billion other rays of color that fly from the humble earth. I am at peace with every possible August Heaven, and do not waste breath questioning them, for I already have.
"If hereafters are false places, as three souls who think burning a tribe alive for the crime of being infected must believe, then I shall simply cease to be. If my only options are to exist in a world of genocide or to not exist at all, then falling and decomposing and losing myself to the myriad of unknown and unthought carrion is better. Run me through and know you've left me to die so you can live wringing abomination."
"I will bask in the shadow of the sun with my most pious ancestors, or I will descend the eternal stair in the company of my quietest ancestors and into the well of the world, or I will drift eternal in the Purgatorial Sea, alone as each cloud must be or in the company of a billion other rays of color that fly from the humble earth. I am at peace with every possible August Heaven, and do not waste breath questioning them, for I already have.
"If hereafters are false places, as three souls who think burning a tribe alive for the crime of being infected must believe, then I shall simply cease to be. If my only options are to exist in a world of genocide or to not exist at all, then falling and decomposing and losing myself to the myriad of unknown and unthought carrion is better. Run me through and know you've left me to die so you can live wringing abomination."
Better to die than commit a foul deed.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I got a picture in my head of Jeff Bridges saying this in a Cohen Bros. film. It was awesome.
ReplyDeleteI would love to get Jeff Bridges to do this monologue!
DeleteOne gorgeous declamation, and indeed a high moral code.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. Who was talking? I kept thinking the 4 horsemen, but that really doesn't make sense. lol
ReplyDeleteI actually like that interpretation, though you're right that them considering the heavens is unlikely. I left the narrator ambiguous enough for readers to project identity. Did the ambiguity hurt the piece for you?
DeleteI went to the four horsemen, too. More specifically, Method, as represented in the Highlander TV series. I loved this. :) Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteOops. Autocorrect! I meant Methos!
Delete