by Geoffrey A. Hamell
(Originally published in "The Eagle Hill Sentinel" Issue 5, August 1987)
It is relaxing to talk to you, Roger.
Your innocence refreshes me.
You gripe to me about your petty problems - the cost of new fishing boats, your ulcer acting up.
If only you knew...
If you knew that the "cousin" you talk to so calmly was one of the living dead, chained in a hidden coffin for more than a century.
If you only knew the crimes I have committed, the suffering I've endured.
If you knew the sort of "errands" Willie runs for me, and the strange type of medicine that Julia practices.
Oh, Roger, if you only knew...
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It's relaxing to talk to you, Barnabas.
You're so charmingly naive.
You spend your time with your musty old books in your musty old house, peacefully buried in a gracious past.
If you only knew...
If you knew that the cousin you talk to so calmly had killed a defenseless man, run him down and just kept on driving - and sent another innocent man to prison for it.
If you knew the things I've done out of selfishness and fear, and the guilt that's haunted me since.
If you knew about Liz's locked room in the cellar, and David's interesting experiments in auto demolition!
Oh, Barnabas, if you only knew...
