Conspiracy Theorist

Taking a break here. Thanks for all the kudos, folks.

I'm not sure whether or not to expand the last vignette though if I do, I'm thinking of submitting it somewhere. Maybe Strange Horizons (following in the footsteps of the venerable Dean), I think. Am I selling out? Why not? *wide grin*

Seriously speaking, I've been getting some weird ideas about the spate of deaths as reported by the papers.

For example, the former head of the government agency dealing with volcanoes and earthquakes was killed when his helicopter crashed somewhere north of the capital. Prior to that, the teenaged daughter of a local congressman quickly sickened and died due to-- of all things-- E. Coli bacterium. Another, the daughter of the Speaker of the House, died tragically last December when their home caught fire. Earlier this month, a doctor somewhat related to the first girl was slain by unknown assassins. Likewise, an ex-congressman was also killed by a lone gunman while eating lunch a few weeks ago.

I know everyone dies but of course, not everyone gets front-page treatment like those above. Still, it made the wheels of my imagination spin as I wondered if there was a connection among the five deaths.

If I was really paranoid, I would have proclaimed that all the deaths could be-- more or less-- manufactured. A helicopter crash? Sabotage, of course, but easily made to look like an accident. Some contaminated food for one victim while setting a house on fire for another. As for the two slain in cold blood, well, it's easy to hire assassins here-- last I heard, a case of beer and a ream of cigarettes will get it done for you.

In the end, I suppose, maybe it's just a part of my mind that's looking for answers about such senseless deaths. But then again, is there such a thing as a 'sense-full' death?

As Dean says in a heart-felt post about grief and the act of creation on the part of the writer:

There is a certain helplessness that accompanies the experience of those whose lives are touched by the death of someone known. A swirling anger at the inevitability of things...

What if it happened to me? What would I do? Would I say that everything happens for a reason? Would I believe that God has a perfect plan for everything that occurs? Will I find enough strength to carry on and not collapse into tears when I see another father embrace his child?

Maybe the best answers to questions like these are the ones we can come up. After all, no one else will answer it for you.