the coverup

twocancook
last week i had read about the writer martin mcdononough....he won an oscar for best short film the other day....

his story was about the pied piper.

the pied piper was a mean, dirty man. in today's
world he would work as a handyman, moonlight as an animal wrangler.
odd jobs, might live in his basement shop. defintley smokes alot of pot.

my wife called to tell me that the old cat, otis, had a bleeding paw. so i called up "handy man, odd jobs, animal wrangler" phil.
yes , phil. no last name.
do you remember that 90's film with nick nolte. he was an l.a. handyman who helped tune up lonely wives.
phil was kind of that guy. one time i introduced him to a 40 something maiden. nancy.
she had a leaky shower. even though she'd lived for 20 plu syears in a rent controlled $400/month apartmenet, the landlord wouyldn't fix the leak. was that bein gcheap, or just doing business??

after a few days on the job, phil said he had convinced nancy to purchase and install a brand new shower, bathroom, and kitchen. he started referring to her as "the widow nancy."
"i'm off to see the widow nancy."

2 days later, he was living on her couch. the hardships of basement life perhaps too great for him.
he was also in his 40 somethings.

not being too swift myself, i caught on to his habits: smoking pot. having strange playmates over to smoke pot. smoking pot with the "widow nancy."
he saved a litter of mutts from the nearby construction site. he kept one, a beautiful dark mutt-doberman mix, he namd him elvis.
he also adopted a little kitten.
phil knew a lot about animals.
animal wisdom: at meal time, have your dog wait away from the table. let him see that you are eating, tha th emust wait for you. only when you are completely finished eating your meal , then you may place your plate with scraps on the floor for the dog.]
his father used to raise dogs. a dog's greatest honor comes from cleaning up the scraps of his master's plate.....

one night my wife called me. the old male cat. otis, had blood on his paw. "call phil' i said. now, i never expected any nick nolte treatment on this job. and my wife wouldn't have allowed it, as she was wise to this pied piper handyman. naturally, he saw the bloody paw and said, without hesitation: take it to the vet. his nail is growing in, and it might get infected."

not long after this, phil moved out of the widow's apartment.
we weren't sure how she felt about it. one night over drinks. she broke down and cried.
"i do love him. i don't know why he can't stay with me?" nobody else knew why, either.
he also left the dog and cat with her.....

he had over the years done some jobs for me. knowing the tale of the pied piper, i always paid him. i paid him, so he wouldn't lead my children and beloved pets away. i have to try to remember, if he ever cut off any of my toes and took them with him???

martin mcdonough's pied piper did that as a thank you.
one night a boy was eating his supper. remember, this was in the time of the plague. natural human conventions were suspended.
many towns were overrun with rats and pests.
the world was full of death and dying. susan sontag can only imagine. she wrote a well written book called "illness as metaphor"(title?).
comparisons of the plague to aids in our time.

yes, the boy was eating his supper. on a bridge. it was nearing nightfall. it was almost dark.
a dirty, mean old man came over the bridge, driving a cart that reeked of filthy animals, probably rats. we now know that this man was the pied piper, so , yes his cart had probably borne rats and other diseased animals.
why did he never get the plague?
the boy offered to share his meal. was he not frightened of this strange man?
in this dark time of death and disease, there was still some decency.
compassion stirred within the old man.
"here is one good, kind person in this miserable town. the elders begged me for help,
to rid them of this plague.
i led away the rats and pests.
now their hamlet can prosper. and they refused to pay me.
tonight i will return and lead away their children.
this boy i will save.
what can i do to warn him? it is hopeless,as he will follow my flute with th eother children....??"
the piper said to the boy, "can i repay you for this kindness?"
the boy nodded, yes.
piper reached into his knapsack, pulled out a large meat cleaver, and chopped off the toes of the boy's right foot.

what did the boy think of this?

later that night, the piper played his flute. all of the children of the hamlet were never seen again.
only this poor, now crippled boy was spared. he could not keep up with the other children, slowed by his missing toes.

an irish blessing????