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Show •32 is that you and I aren't so dumb either. We could do anything we wanted also. Do you ever ask yourself what it would be like to do something else?" "Such as what?" "I don't know. It's your life: raise alligators, prospect for oil in South America, be an artist like Adam wanted to be. Anything." "I have a family; I can't just think of myself." "Don't talk like a victim of circumstances," I said. "That was our father's trick; he wanted people to feel sorry for him. If you don't think of yourself, who will?" He explained it to me patiently, as if he was talking to a child. Maybe he was. "When the time comes I want to be able to say that I made something of myself and provided for my family." "Time?" I said. "What time is that?" He looked embarrassed. "You know what I mean." "You mean when you die? Look at him, Morgan, he's got it all planned. Fading away on the family bed with a couple of grateful children and grandchildren hanging around, and his old wife by his side. You can see the sun going down behind the Rocky Mountains outside the picture window. Jacob Skinner passing final judgment on himself. A real Protestant finish." "Stop teasing him," Morgan said. "Leave him alone." |