Chapter One
Lock, Bach, and K-pop
We didn’t call the police right away. Later, I would blame myself, wonder if things would have turned out differently if I hadn’t shrugged it off, insisted Dad wasn’t missing but was just delayed probably still in the woods looking for Eugene, thinking he’d run off somewhere. Mom says it wasn’t my fault, that I was merely being optimistic, but I know better. I don’t believe in optimism. I believe there’s a fine line (if any) between optimism and willful idiocy, so I try to avoid optimism altogether, lest I fall over the line mistakenly.
My twin bother John, keeps trying to make me feel better, too, saying we couldn’t have known something was wrong because it was such a typical morning which is an asanine thing to say because why would they assume things can’t go wrong simply because they haven’t yet. Life isn’t geometry, terrible, life-changing moments don’t happen predictably, at the bottom of a linear slope. Tragedies and accidents are tragic and accidents precisely because of their unexpectedness. Besides, labeling anything about our family as “typical”–I just have to shake my head. I’m not even thinking about the typical-adjacent stuff like John’s and my twin girl-boy thing, our biracial mix (Korean and White) untraditional gender roles (working mom, stay-at-home dad) or different last names (Parson for Dad +Park for Mom =the mashed up Parkson for us kids) not common, certainly, but hardly shocking in our area these days. Where we’re indubitably inherently atypical is with our little brother Eguene’s dual diagnosis: autism and a rare genetic disorder called mosaic Angelman syndrome (AS), which means he can’t talk, has motor difficulties, and, this is what fascinates most people who’ve never heard of AS– has an unusually happy demeanor with frequent smiles and laughter.
Sorry, I’m getting sidetracked. It’s one of my biggest faults, something I’m working hard on. (To be honest I don’t like shutting it down entirely because sometimes, those tangents can end up being important and/or fun. Take for example my honors thesis, Philosophy of Music and Algorithmic Programming: Lock, Bach, and K-pop vs Prokokviev, Sartre, and Jazz Rap, grew from a footnote in my original proposal. Also, I can’t help it; it’s the way my mind works. So here’s a compromise: I’ll put my side points in footnotes. If you love fun little detours like Dad and me, you can read them. If you find footnotes annoying (like John) or want to know what happened ASAP (like Mom), you can skip them. If you’re undecided, you can try a few, mix and match.
What do you think? I’d follow this narrator anywhere. And yes, the story does have footnotes.
I’m in book trouble–as in I’ve got far too many stacked around here that need reading, but I’m distracted by balmy Indian Summer days, the election, writing get-out-the-vote letters, and working on a fabulous manuscript by a talented writer. I’m currently reading Happiness Falls and am dazzled by her story, its complexity, and her quirky, brilliant family. I don’t want to give away too much, but I will recommend it if you’d like to read something fresh and original in the suspense category. Also, her first novel, Miracle Creek was an award-winning smash of a bestseller. Sometimes that second or sophomore novel can be tricky to write; especially if a debut novel does so well. But she’s pulled it off in spades.
Keep writing, keep dreaming, have heart
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