Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Monument Road (copy)

Leonard Self made a promise and today he must honor it. His lovely wife, Inetta, died on this date one year ago and before passing she made him promise he would carry out her request. She asks that he take her ashes and toss them over the side of Artists Point cliff. He remembered her saying, “Me and Jesus’ll be watching, and I want to float for a while.”
The cremation was a little out of character for Inetta. She believed along with all the members of Shower of Blessings Holiness Temple that the body should be laid to rest in preparation for the Rapture. The pastor put Leonard at ease by stating, “Inetta’s passed all the Lord’s tests, so I’m sure the Lord can handle hers.”
Why wait a year? This bothered Leonard. Inetta said it was to make sure she was sufficiently “good and dry.” He thought maybe it was more like time to find a wife or Jesus. Inetta was always up to something. It was in her character to hope for these thing, but also in his character to not.
In preparation of this event, Leonard has spent the year giving away most of his belongings. It was easy and no one seemed to notice since he was giving away Inetta’s at the same time. The things he had left were either for the trip or to be given away en route.
The truck had just enough gas to get Leonard to the cliff. He had extra kibble to give his neighbor Winnie for seeing after his dog, Stitches. Another neighbor, Vaughn Hobart, will get a surprise with his mail. Leonard left a set of keys to the house and the title to his truck in the box.
The day is set in motion, but Leonard is running ahead of schedule. He wants to time the event at sunset. He thought his haircut would take longer. He gave away his mirror two months ago and can only imagine the curled up mess he will be presenting to the town barber, Dave Grantham.
Leonard also made a promise to Inetta, although he never spoke of it. He promised when he saw her again it was with a clean head of hair. The only thing that annoyed Inetta was a mess of unruly hair. He teased Dave about not having to cut the crop circle that sat high on his head while giving him the reverse tree line special.
Released in 2013, Monument Road is the first novel by Charlie Quimby. Not his first attempt at writing though, Quimby has written plays, then criticized plays, and now makes individuals sound good for Harvard Business Review. You will love how he turns a phrase.

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