"The Red Bow"
This was a guy whose idea of a big day was checking the mail
and getting up a few times to waggle the TV antenna--and here he was, in a suit, his face
all red and sort of proud and shiny--
Well Uncle Matt got up and thanked everyone for coming, and Mrs. DeFran-cini, owner
of Tweeter Deux, held up that chewed-up foreleg, and Dr. Vincent showed slides of cross
sections of the brain of one of the original four dogs, and then at the end I talked, only I
got choked up and couldn't say much except thanks to everybody, their support had meant
the world to us, and I tried to say about how much we had all loved her but couldn't go
on.
Uncle Matt and Dr. Vincent had, on the iMac, on their own (not wanting to bother me)
drawn up what they called a Three-Point Emergency Plan, which the three points were: 1)
All Village animals must immediately undergo an Evaluation, to determine was the
animal Infected, and 2) all Infected or Suspected Infected animals must be destroyed at
once, and 3) all Infected or Suspected Infected animals, once destroyed, must be burned
at once to minimize the possibility of Second-Hand Infection.
Then someone asked could they please clarify the meaning of
"suspected"?
Suspected, you know, said Uncle Matt. That means we suspect and have good reason to
suspect that an animal is, or may be, Infected.
The exact methodology is currently under development, said Dr. Vincent.
How can we, how can you, ensure that this assessment will be fair and reasonable
though? the guy asked.
Well that is a good question, said Uncle Matt. The key to that is, we will have the
assessment done by fair-minded persons who will do the Evaluation in an objective way
that seems reasonable to all.
Trust us, said Dr. Vincent. We know it is so very important.
Then Uncle Matt held up the bow--actually a new bow, very big, about the size of a
ladies' hat, really, I don't know where he found that--and said: All of this may seem
confusing but it is not confusing if we remember that it is all about This, simply This,
about honoring This, preventing This.
Then it was time for the vote, and it was something like 393 for and none against, with a
handful of people abstaining, which I found sort of hurtful, but then following the vote
everyone rose to their feet and, regarding me and Uncle Matt with--well they were
smiling these warm smiles, some even fighting back tears--it was just a very nice, very
kind moment, and I will never forget it, and will be grateful for it until the day I die.
AFTER THE meeting Uncle Matt and Trooper Kelly and a few others went and did what
had to be done in terms of Merton, over poor Father Terry's objections--I mean, he was
upset about it, of course, so upset it took five men to hold him back, him being so fit and
all--and then they brought Merton, Merton's body, back to our place and burned it, out at
the tree line where we had burned the others, and someone asked should we give Father
Terry the ashes, and Uncle Matt said why take the chance, we have not ruled out the
possibility of airborne transmission, and, putting on the little white masks supplied by Dr.
Vincent, we raked Merton's ashes into the swamp.
That night my wife came out of our bedroom for the first time since the tragedy, and we
told her everything that had been happening.
And I watched her closely, to see what she thought, to see what I should think, her having
always been my rock.
Kill every dog, every cat, she said very slowly. Kill every mouse, every bird. Kill every
fish. Anyone objects, kill them too. write a critical idea in a word length of 45 like a 8th grader