DEDICATED to the CROWNING RESIDUAL: To the HOPE, the PRIDE and the DETERMINATION that Somehow Survived Infancy, Adolescence and Adulthood to Burn Hot and Bright Within the HEARTS of the SEASONED SENIORITY.
… A PRE-HALLOWEEN TREAT PLUCKED FROM MY BAG O’ BOOTY ….
A TRIUMPHANT MARLEY CHANSON casts the net of his soiled grin upon each of the waiting contestants, thinking, a bold, riveting presentation, Marley—a winner. Out of the opposing chair, “Squeaky” tumbles to her crown; her revolver, sliding from her lap, clatters beneath her. Beside Marley, Leslie—the next to perform—rises on wobbly legs, then spews a technicolor spiral, painting Chirpie’s open-doored cage, and spattering Marley’s left shoe and cuff. THE SERGEANT-AT-ARMS seethes. “Excessive Shockery!” He jerks Marley from his chair, avoiding his still-sticky fingers, and escorts him to the exit. MARLEY SWALLOWS BACK rising feathers and their coppery effluvia.