180 My Big Fat Book of Life: an Autobiography — Part 2

My autobiography is finished, which is a startling realization. It sits on a dusty shelf of my personal museum, and there's an exhibition--by invitation only.

The book is revealing. It is a celebration; it is a critique. It has both joy and pathos. It is the story of maturation and the immature pitfalls that heralded punishing delays.

Having perused it, I find that my caprices of my youth required a lot of explanation, accounting for all of the footnotes I didn't bother to read when plowing through this compendium of my life. I was never one to bother.

Or to read between the lines.

There are entirely different stories between the lines and in the footnotes. The index in the back sums everything up, and right before that index is the final chapter. Like many impatient cheaters, I turn to the back of my book, but I find that the final chapter has been ripped out.

I demand answers. I demand to see the one in charge.

"I say! This last chapter has been removed--torn out, it seems."

"Yes," the librarian agrees with me. "It seems so."

"Do you happen to know who has checked out this book before?" I asked him. He just smiles. I repeat my question, more sternly, so less politely.

"Why, the person who had this book before now--who has always had this book--is you."

"No one else?"

"Why would it be anyone else?"

"But the last chapter. It's been removed. Torn out sloppily, I might add."

"Maybe the reader didn't like what he read, perhaps?"

"I'm the reader. And I'm the writer, too!"

"Sometimes you can't be both," the librarian clarifies cryptically.

"Please! How does it end? What's in the last chapter of my life? Please, I must know!"

"Sir, do something you've never done before--in your reading, your actions, or your life--be mindful as you go. You will duly find out."

"But it's been written already."

"And, it appears, it's been unwritten as well."

"By me?"

"You'll see."

"I'll never get back the original inspiration. The art behind the writing."

"Perhaps not, but you will finish the book, nonetheless. Just pay attention, and you can give it a happy ending."

__________

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

For Friday, June 28, Day 180 of the Story-a-Day Challenge

366 WORDS (without A/N)

Title-accompaniment photo was AI-generated but the Cliff notes were not!

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ABOUT THIS STORY

This is a 2-parter, but in keeping with the new story-a-day motif, each can stand alone. Skipping ahead to see how a book ends is cheating, but we've all done it. Yet, we must be extremely careful with our autobiographies! Who will make sure we don't read what we weren't meant to read until it was right? Who is our librarian?

See Part 1 My Big Fat Book of Life: an Autobiography — Part 1

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There are currently three surviving Vocal writers still participating in the insane 2024 Story-a-Day Challenge and approaching only its halfway mark:

• L.C. Schäfer, challenge originator

• Rachel Deeming

• Gerard DiLeo (some other guy)

Read them. Support them. Pray for them. Read ahead with them--just be careful not to dog-ear the pages!"