<div style="font-size:10pt;font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;color:black;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Drop
Dead</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Marcia
J. Wick, The Write Sisters</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">August
2020</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Word
Count: 446</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Note
to readers: Tongue-in-cheek, sort of. Some may find dark humor
uncomfortable.</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">I think this must be a comment on how your
husband <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font size="3">takes chances with his life</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font size="3"> </font></span></font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><font face="Times New Roman"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3">ande how you disapprove of it. </font></span></u></b><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"> </font><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><font size="3">It is very funny in a macabre<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></font><font size="3">way.</font><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><font size="3"> </font></span></u></b></span></font></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">I especially like the comment on his
butterfly stroke death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font></font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Other swemmers could be surprised to find
a butterfly floating dead in the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font></font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Which part of this diatribe is
tongue-in-cheek?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font></font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">When you say that pay-back is a bitch, who
is the victim , and who is<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font size="3">the
perpetrator? </font></font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">It seems to me that the one who has to
take care of him is the true victim.</font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">I
will be haunted for sure when he dies. I’ve wished him dead countless times in
so many different ways. Today, perhaps he’ll collapse on his bike ride. There
is smoke in the air from nearby wildfires, it’s getting into the hottest part
of the afternoon, and he’s been coughing. Perhaps the exertion, the heat, the
smoke, and his high blood pressure will combine to do the trick. I’ll receive a
phone call later in the evening explaining that my husband was found dead on
the side of the trail. Police may speculate the cyclist suffered a massive
heart attack.</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Yesterday,
I wished him dead when he went out shopping. I heard a news report about a
fatal car accident at an intersection near our home. He could have been at that
location at the precise time that an S.U.V. slammed into a light pole. The news
anchor wondered if the elderly driver killed at the scene had passed out behind
the wheel.</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Do you think he is too old to be driving?</font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">The
day before that, I imagined he had drowned. An avid swimmer, he fancies himself
competitive at age 74. He boasts about winning the gold medal in his age
bracket while failing to mention he is the only competitor in the bracket.
Perhaps, while trying to impress fellow swimmers by sprinting to improve his
butterfly time, his heart will stop. One minute, he could be pumping his legs
and ducking his head under water. The next minute, others might notice the
butterfly floating face down.</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">When
the roads were icy last week, I wondered (not worried) if the man I married
would meet his end by flying off a frozen bridge. Or, maybe the drive by
shooter on the nightly news nailed him? That would explain why he was late for
dinner.</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">That would explain why he was late for
dinner. I guess it would.</font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Such a funny line.</font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Speaking
of dinner, he could choke while shoveling food in his face, sitting one foot
away from the kitchen television, blocking my access to the microwave, sink,
and garbage. Hence, subjugated to another room, I won’t be in the kitchen when
he begins flailing his arms around, unable to speak or breathe.</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3">Good one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></font><font size="3">He shouldn’t shovel food down his mouth. </font></font></span></u></b></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Then
again, it could conveniently occur if he were to fall and hit his head while
shoveling snow from the driveway. I could stumble upon him a few hours later on
my walk to the mailbox, but I’m afraid it would be too late. There would be
some consolation, I suppose - I’ve heard that freezing to death isn’t the worst
way to go.</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman"><font size="3"> </font><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><font size="3">That’s a little unfair. Would you be
happier if he left the snow on the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></font><font size="3">drive
and mail box where you could stumble and fall?</font></u></b></font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">Tonight,
in his sleep, I wonder if he will succumb to a stroke. However, in that event,
he could linger for some time, incapacitated and totally dependent upon me.
Payback’s a bitch, I warn him.</font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font><p style="margin: 1em 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"> </font></span></p><font face="Times New Roman" size="3">
</font></div>