"The man you see here tonight is not a man, he's a 12-year-old boy, and this boy is still having fun. And I will remain a boy forever ... You remain invested in your inner child by exploding every day. You don't worry about the future. You don't worry about the past. You just explode."
— Ray Bradbury at San Diego Comic-Con, July 24, 2020, from Ray Bradbury: The Last Interview
*
What do I do now? What do I do? I always knew what to do before, and now I don't. I'm at a loss, at a loss I tell you.
Maybe I just need an afternoon jolt of caffeine to make it all right, all right? All right. (Note to future readers: This is an exercise.) How many days will it take until I know that too much time has passed? Or not enough time? Or both?
*
I turned the page, literally, OK? and nothing has changed. I'm still the guy who doesn't know what to do. And maybe this isn't an exercise, or maybe it's a way to figure out what's wrong — or what's right — or what's what. Am I melting in the heat from a thousand suns or chilling in the chill from too many buckets of ice cream?
Take me now — take me now — show me whatever it is I need to be shown.
Show me, OK? Show me now!
For a moment eternity stopped, with everything hanging in the balance.
And then the clock resumed ticking.
"Did that mean anything? Anything at all?" the reader asked.
Turn the page and find out.
Turn the damn page and find out.
*
Did you pay attention to the quote at the top?
I am another 12-year-old boy, not as brilliant, not as sharp, not as creative, but just as twelve.
That was the explosion.
What happens next? Another day, another blast? I don't know. I'm not sure what to think.
And here the guy just said don't think.
YOU ARE READING
The Exploding Boy
Random"The man you see here tonight is not a man, he's a 12-year-old boy, and this boy is still having fun. And I will remain a boy forever ... You remain invested in your inner child by exploding every day. You don't worry about the future. You don't wor...
