May 10, 2021
- By Edward Clifford
I want to tell you an unlikely story. I'd find it hard to believe if it hadn't happened to me, so I'll understand if you choose to take it with a pinch of salt. I assure you, however, that every word you're about to read is true. I hope you'll be able to take what you need for your own life from this tale.
—from "Bele & Zozo," Volume 62, Issue 1 (Spring 2021)
Tell us about one of the first pieces you wrote.
A few years ago I found a school binder with a story I (aged 7) had no recollection of penning. It was the story of a girl who went to a funeral where everybody in attendance died “of pity and sorrow” except her. Then, at the funerals of all those people who had died in the first funeral, people in attendance also died “of pity and sorrow.” This girl always survived these deadly funerals (she attended several, the same thing happened over and over). Eventually she found herself alone in the world, puzzled, walking through innumerable empty towns and cities wondering why everyone but her had died, why she was immortal. I’m not sure what this says about my 7 year-old psyche, but there you go.