The Bucket - By Vera Mont
"Come on, not much farther," Grant urged.
Miriam was out of breath and her hands ached. She dared not look down, and looking up, all she saw was vertical grey rock. This was the easiest path, according to the tourist map, but the last, highest, most dangerous part was yet to come.
Grant climbed on. As her harness was attached to his by a rope, she had to follow. However frightened, Miriam struggled on. At last, Grant reached the top, pulled her up and helped her to her feet. The view was indeed stunning. She hung back, while her boyfriend boldly walked to the very edge. Then he undid his flies and urinated into the chasm below. Miriam was aghast, but Grant only laughed.
"I've been wanting to do that since I was ten, saw that Chevy commercial. Actually, I wanted to push the car off, with that broad in it. This was the second last item on my bucket list."
She had to ask, "What's the last?"
"Come 'ere. It's okay, I'm right behind you."
"Well?"
"To kill somebody."
He shoved her over the edge and gloried in the sensation as the rope went taut.
Miriam was out of breath and her hands ached. She dared not look down, and looking up, all she saw was vertical grey rock. This was the easiest path, according to the tourist map, but the last, highest, most dangerous part was yet to come.
Grant climbed on. As her harness was attached to his by a rope, she had to follow. However frightened, Miriam struggled on. At last, Grant reached the top, pulled her up and helped her to her feet. The view was indeed stunning. She hung back, while her boyfriend boldly walked to the very edge. Then he undid his flies and urinated into the chasm below. Miriam was aghast, but Grant only laughed.
"I've been wanting to do that since I was ten, saw that Chevy commercial. Actually, I wanted to push the car off, with that broad in it. This was the second last item on my bucket list."
She had to ask, "What's the last?"
"Come 'ere. It's okay, I'm right behind you."
"Well?"
"To kill somebody."
He shoved her over the edge and gloried in the sensation as the rope went taut.
Comments (3)
Firstly, a man pissing from the highest summit seems to denote a territorial act. "this is mine" because I urinated on it. Its quite animalistic and speaks to instinct.
As does the impulse to kill. The ending is left ambiguous however. As the rope came taught, I wonder, did the man hold fast preventing Miriam from actually falling to her death, or did she take him with her, being connected by the rope.
It is Afterall his last wish on his bucket list. If she is to die he has nothing left in life to tick off the list so it may well be that he too tumbled to his death.
A bucket carries water, so I was ready for the allusion to the Biblical story, which it could have been because upon this Miriam's death, his bucket became empty metaphorically because his bucket list was now complete.
I doubt the author thought any of this, but the name of the character made me think she was Jewish, as that name often is.
Anywho, I'm really enjoying projecting my meaning on these stories, without regard to likely author intent. To the author, though, know that it did spark all these thoughts, so well done.
I don't like the guy. He pisses into the great abyss... reeks of disrespect for Mother Nature. On the other hand I know how hard it would be to hold his water all the way down after he had come all the way up. It is not child's play to hold back when you really have to go.
And if you really think about it, the stream hits the ground, whether it falls only a couple of feet or a couple of thousands of feet.
And I absolutely don't agree with his boyish sense of humour when she scares Miriam. She does not die, of course, the rope that ties her harness to his will save her. But she gets the thrill of her life. If it happened to me, I'd die of fright. He is an asshole. But not a criminal, and not a murderer.
Despite not liking him, at all, I enjoyed the story. It was a story. It was a well presented story. Sometimes assholes get to be the antagonists in a story... and sometimes antagonists win. This is not nice. But real.