sent from: London, UK. destination: Long Beach, California, USA

His foot slipped, and he needed to have his spleen removed. It was Christmas Eve. They operated and removed it, removed the thing that had been bleeding inside of him for days. He didn’t remember the operation, of course, but he would have loved to have sat outside his body, watching as they took the dead, bloody worm-like organ from him. He had been playing the organ, and now they were taking one out of him. He didn’t know if it was like a worm – he hoped they would present it to him in a jar – “tadaaa!” – with a flourish, but they didn’t. It was gone, taken away. He awoke, barely, a mask over his face, on Christmas Day, and registered his family’s presence and presents. He tried to speak but found it impossible. When he woke the next day, Boxing Day, he saw that his parents had given him the game “Gauntlet” for his computer. He wanted it to be special but was disappointed when it wasn’t and didn’t have the heart to tell them. The intense pain was gone but he was very weak. The brass band came back but they didn’t sound any better.

 The story concludes tomorrow with Part V! Be sure to check back.