I keep two dolls in my room. One is a small beanie-baby vulture named "Carter the Carrion Bird." The other is a plastic rendering of Zeus, a marketing creation of Disney's Hercules. Zeus reminds me that hubris is punished. Carter reminds me that I will die.

Building this story is an attempt to cheat death by creating something that lasts. But as I write it, I hope to avoid the hubris that God seems love smiting people for.

I would like you to come back every week, to read the next installment. I would like you to tell your friends about this novella, and talk to them about it. I would like to amuse you.

If I fail, I apologize. My previous attempts to write longer works of fiction have all tanked. If I muddy the waters of the narrative, or create shallow, unsympathetic characters, or take needless digressions, then I have wasted your time. I apologize in advance.

Write to me. I'd like to hear whether the dialogue works. I'd like to hear that you really enjoy a particular character and would like to see more of him or her or it. I'd like to hear that you're confused, and not enjoying the story anymore.

Perhaps I can fix it.

Thank you for reading this story.

chapter one: soul bowling >>>