re ie OS eNTetae use Nero a ee tre reper ya c} laine SS ee Len hd eee St Mo Thespian iy erate re) eg eee ce) Retake ad a eee os eo ere ri) eee) STOR Ce rite Cea ed ace eas aa Vermont Ree foe Meee erty ete Pea Teen ee ec shel me Porn Rete er en cy rete Rirkus Lehielus, saralreview See ce nea er ST es ee ein ce eee ee ee Cee era CO eee am I Cech To ae cay er Ea eS een ETH Pee s'iscot! I are devastatingly captured bya artist in Ree nes Sas 90000 Hil Sona) (ea i c \ i ( : i7 y c 1 1 To en Sr mae Petes un oe ae ALISON BECHDEL EMC ile rnin Pe gA nc ease oy Dione eRe at rs Peer i ee ae oo Ee y cy TA TRE a ily le, pick fr went: ae eter cen Ree teenie ena) erase eta Rene oct AE ean Cee ee See at Tat dust asd Rae ann Se cmt Perch tried Cee a Dead Cte ay oe tn Cent a) esa mag feces eee ers redeA FAMILY TRAGIC OMIC ALISON BECHDELFOR MOM, CHRISTIAAL AND JOHN. WE DIP HAVE A LOT OF FUN, IN SPITE OF EVERYTHING. COPYRIGHT © 2006 BY ALISON BECHDEL ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FOR INFORMATION ABOUT PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE SELECTIONS FROM THIS BOOK, WRITE TO PERMISSIONS, HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY, 215 PARK AVENUE SOUTH, New YORK, NEW YORK 10003. VISIT OUR WEB SITE: WWW.LHOUGHTONMIFFLINBOOKS.COM LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION PATA BECHDEL, ALISON, DATE. FUN HOMe : A FAMILY TRAGICOMIC / ALISON BECHPEL. PM, XSGN-13: 978-0-618-47794—4 XSBNH10; 6-18-47 794-2 1. BECHPEL, ALISON, DATE.—COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. 2. CARTOONISTS—UNITED STATES—COMIC BOOKS, STRIPS, ETC. 3. GRAPHIC NOVELS. =. TLE. PNG727.83757Z46 2006. TAHS'IT3S—CC22 2005030304 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA @wries 8765432CONTENTS 4. OLD FATHER, OLD ARTIFICER 1 2. A HAPPY DEATH 25 3. THAT OLD CATASTROPHE 55 4. IN THE SHADOW OF YOUNG GIRLS IN FLOWER 87 5. THE CANARY—-COLORED CARAVAN OF DEATH 121 6. THE IDEAL HUSBAND 151 7. THE ANTIHERO’S JOURNEY 187! (| Z ‘ Se | aia ee OLD FATHER, OLD ARTIFICERWtLIKE MANY FATHERS, MINE Cc MY FULL WEIGHT OULD AS HE LAUNCHED ME, OCCASIONALLY BE PREVAILED ON FOR = WOULD FALL ON THE PIVOT POINT LANE.” HIS FEET AND MY STOMACH. IT WAS A DISCOMFORT WELL. WORTH THE RARE PHYSICAL CONTACT, AND CERTAINLY WORTH THE MOMENT OF PERFECT BALANCE WHEN I SOARED ABOVE HIM. 4 INTHE CIRCUS, ACROBATICS WHERE ONE PERSON LIESCONSIPERING THE FATE OF ICARUS AFTER HE FLOUTEDR SO CLOSE TO THE SUN HIS WINGS MELTED, PERHAPS. BUT BEFORE HE DID SO, HE MANAGED TO HIS GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT, ARGUABLY, GET QUITE A LOT DONE. WAS HIS MONOMANIACAL RESTORATION —~ OF OUR OLD HOUSE. THIS RUG IS FILTHY.WHEN OTHER CHILDREN CALLED OUR IN FACT, WE WERE UNUSUAL, THOUGH I HOUSE A MANSION, I WOULD DEMUR. I WOULDN'T APPRECIATE. Wo RESENTED THE IMPLICATION THAT MY UNUSUAL UNTIL MUGa LATER. BUT We FAMILY WAS RICH, OR UNUSUAL IN ANY WAY, WERE NOT RICH. TER. BUT WE SHES Bs OTe THE GILT CORNICES, THE MARBLE FIREPLACE, THE CRYSTAL IERS, THE. SHELVES OF CALF-BOUND BOOKS--THESE WERE NOT SO MUCH BOUGHT AS PRODUCED FROM THIN AIR BY MY FATHER'S REMARKABLE LEGERDEMAIN. a |MY FATHER COULD SPIN GARBAGE... + INTO GOLD. Cees Gy St He COULD TRANGFIGURE A ROOM WITH INJURE AN ENTIRE, FINISHED THE SMALLEST Ss PERIOD In INTERIOR FROM AI Pair. CHIP. = a«AND WHO ANSWERED NOT To THE LAWS OF SOCIETY, BUT TO THOSE OF HIS CRAFT. LIBIDINAL. is‘OUR GOTHIC REVIVAL HOUSE HAD BEEN BUILT DURING THE SMALL PENNSYLVANIA TOWN'S ONE BRIEF MOMENT OF WEALT IM THE. or TH, FRO! LUMBER INDUSTRY, IN 1867. BUT LOCAL FORTUNES HAD DECLINED THE SHUTTERS AND ScROLL WOR W WERE Sees FROM THAT POINT, AND WHEN GONE. THE 'S HAD Bet MY PARENTS BOUGHT THE PLACE IN 1962, SHEATHED WITH SCABROUS SHINGLES,THE BARE LIGHTBULBS REVEALED DINGY ALL THAT WAS LEFT OF THE HOUSE'S WARTIME WALLPAPER AND WOODWORK LUMBER-ERA GLORY WERE THE PAINTED PASTEL GREEN. EXUBERANT FRONT PORCH SUPPORTS. [R 4 een!HE WOULD CULTIVATE THE BARREN YARD... 0 INTO A LUSH, FLOWERING LANDSCAPE. rE F V i WN ae HE WOULD MANIPULATE FLAGSTONES THAT WEIGHED HALF A TON...wlTS OUT OF THE ORDINARY. BUT IN THE MOVIE WHEN JIMMY COMES HOME ONE NIGHT AND STARTS YELLING AT EVERYONE... b] TOMMY, STOP THAT! JANIE, HAVEN'T YOU D THAT SILLY TUNE YET? DAEDALUS, TOO, WAS INDIFFERENT T¢ THE HUMAN COST OF HIS PROJECTS. HE BLITHELY BETRAYED THE KING, FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN THE QUEEN ASKED HIMTO BUILD HER A COW DISGUISE SO SHE COULD SEDUCE THE WHITE BULL.INDEED, THE ALE MAN MONE TER: «44ND FROM WHICH, AS STRAY YOUTHS AND MAIDENS DISCOVERED TO THEIR PERIL... THEN THERE ARE THOSE eo Ne OR JUST DISAPPOINTED BY THE DESIGN WAS DAEDALUS REALLY STRICKE:! FAILURE? GRIEF WHEN ICARUS FELL INTO Te. SEAP 42SOMETIMES, WHEN THINGS WERE GOING AND OF COURSE, MY BROTHERS AND I WELL, I THINK MY FATHER ACTUALLY WERE FREE LABOR. DAD CONSIDERED US ENJOYED HAVING A FAMILY. EXTENSIONS OF HIS OWN BODY, LIKE. PRECISION ROBOT ARMS. Cac eyWE EACH RESISTED IN OUR OWN WAYS, BUT IN THE END WE WERE EQUALLY POWERLESS BEFORE MY FATHER'S CURATORIAL ONSLAUGHT. MY BROTHERS AND T COULDN'T COMPETE WITH THE ASTRAL LAMPS AND GIRANDOLES AND HEPPLEWHITE SUITE CHAIRS. THEY WERE PERFECT. I GREW TO RESENT THE WAY MY FATHER = MY OWN DECIDED PREFERENCE FOR THE UNADORNED AND PURELY FUNCTIONAL EMERGED EARLY.TWAS SPARTAN TO MY FATHER'S ATHENIAN. MODE!IF ANYTHING, THEY OBSCURED FUNCTION. THEY WERE EMBELLISHMENTS IN THE [crvesues ST MY FATHER BEGAN TO SEEM MORALLY f| SUSPECT TO ME LONG Berore I KNEW THAT HE ACTUALLY HAD A DARK SECRET. HIS SKILLFUL ARTIFICE NOT TO MAKE THINGS, BI WHAT THEY WERE NOT.ITS TEMPTING TO SUGGEST, a THAT OUR HOUSE WAS NOT A REAL HOME i IN RETRO: SPECT, THAT OUR FAMILY WAS A SHAM, uceume THE SIMULACRUM OF ONE, A HTTSTILL, SOMETHING VITAL WAS MISSING. AN ELASTICITY, A MARGIN FOR ERROR. How DID THIS THE TABLE? MOST PEOPLE, T IMAGINE, LEARN TO ACCEPT THAT THEY'RE NOT PERFECT. BUT I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! BUT AN IDLE REMARK ABOUT MY FATHER'S TIE OVER BREAKFAST COULD SEND HIM INTO A TAILSPIN. 48MY MOTHER ESTABLISHED A RULE, IF WE COULDN'T CRITICIZE MY FATHER, SHOWING AFFECTION FOR HIM WAS AN EVEN DICIER VENTURE. EXPRESSIVE FAMILY, TO SAY = LEAST. BUT ONCE I WAS UNACCOUNTABLY MOVED TO: KISS MY FATHER GOOD NIGHT. aoe HAVING LITTLE PRACTICE WITH THE GES-__ ...AS IF HE WERE A BISHOP OR AN. TURE, ALL I MANAGED WAS TO GRAB HIS ELEGANT LADY, BEFORE RUSHING FROM. HAND AND Bi KNUCKLES LIGHTLY... THE ROOM IN EMBARRASSMENT.‘ Ae ii fees |] | Pa It Ati > | II 4 Ci a i) } : FON FI =| MIRRORS, DISTRACTING BRONZES, MULTIPLE DOORWAYS. VISITORS OFTEN GOT LOST UPSTAIRS-MY MOTHER, MY BROTHERS, AND IT KNEW OUR WAT AROUND WELL ENOUGH, BUT IT WAS IMPOSSIBLE TO TELL IF THE MINOTAUR LAY BEYOND THE NEXT CORNER. ENED BY THE FACT THAT SOME ENCOUN- DESCENT AS HIS TANTRUMS TERS COULD BE QUITE PLEASANT. 3 WONT YOU BE MY PONY GIRLP MARRY ME, 1. FAR ACROSS THE SEA. a“ 24ALTHOUGH I’M GOOD AT ENUMERATING I EXPECT THIS IS PARTLY BECAUSE HE'S MY FATHER'S FLAWS, T'S HARD FORME =—- DEAD, AND PARTLY BECAUSE THE BAR IS TO SUSTAIN MUCH ANGER AT HIM. LOWER FOR FATHERS THAN FOR MOTHERS. MY MOTHER MUST RINSING ME OFF wi THE SUDPEN, UNBEARABLE COLD OF ITS WAS HE A GOOD FATHER? I WANT TO SAY, ABSENCE. STUCK AROUND.” BUT OF “AT LEAST HE.T'S TRUE THAT HE DIDN'T KILL HIMSELF BUT HIS ABSENCE RESONATED RETRO- UNTIL I WAS. ¥ TWENTY. ACTIVELY, ECHOING BACK THROUGH ALL THE TIME I KNEW HIM, HE REALLY WAS THERE ALL THOSE YEARS, A FLESH-AND-BLOOD PRESENCE STEAMING OFF THE WALLPAPER, DIGGING UP THE DOGWOODS, POLISHING THE FINIALS...WtA HAPPy DEATHWtFATHER SE Hi RG SE Ls S Exe (an ne My Wis, Sone op THERE'S NO PROOF, ACTUALLY, THAT MY NO ONE KNEW IT WASN'T AN ACCIDENT. IMSELF. a AL, THE COPY OF CAMUS! 4 HAPPY DEATH THAT HE'D BEEN READING AND LEAVING FACT THAT MY MOTHER HAD ASKED HIM = AROUND THE HOUSE IN WHAT MIGHT BE FOR A DIVORCE TWO WEEKS BEFORE. CONSTRUED AS A DELIBERATE MANNER. aN 2K LIS 27CAMUS' FIRST NOVEL, IT'S ABOUT A BUT DAD WAS ALWAYS READING SOME- CONSUMPTIVE HERO WHO DOES NoT THING, SHOULD WE HAVE BEEN SUSPICIOUS DIE A PARTICULARLY HAPPY DEATH. MY WHEN He STARTED PLOWING THROUGH FATHER HAD HIGHLIGHTED ONE LINE. PROUST THE YEAR BEFORE? tnGiin while Tis imagination and vanity had given her too much importance, bis pride had Ph too Hitile, He discovered dhe cruel paradox by which] wealways deccivt ourselves twice about the people we love ~ first to their advamlage, then to their dis- qtvontage- "Today be nderslood that Martie Bad paca denier sai hin | oat she had been wwhatshe WAS THAT A SIGN OF DESPERATION? IT’S SAID, AFTER ALL, THAT PEOPLE REACH MIDDLE AGE THE DAY THEY REALIZE THEYRE NEVER GOING TO READ REMEMBRANCE OF THINS PAST. DAD ALSO LEFT A MARGINAL NOTATION IN ANOTHER BOOK. PEOPLE CONTEMPLATING SUICIDE GET EXCITED ABOUT SReuINS RUFOUS-SIDED TOWHEES? MAYBE HE DIDN'T NOTICE THE TRUCK BUT THESE ARE JUST QUIBBLES. T COMING BECAUSE HE WAS PREOCCUPIED DON'T BELIEVE IT WAS AN ACCIDENT. WITH THE DIVORCE. PEOPLE OFTEN HAVE. ACCIDENTS WHEN THEY'RE DISTRAUGHT. ee a 2780 WHILE YOU ort, Away mn Yak Lethe Call hone ar EGE EL DG elle eS 28IWE-HOUR DRIVE HOME FROM COLLEGE AND EVERYONE LSE HAD GONE TO BED, MOM AND I DISCUSSED IT, THINK IT WAS SOMETHING HE IT'S POSSIBLE THAT ALWAYS MEANT WE CHOSE TO BELIEVE TODS. THIS BECAUSE IT WAS LESS PA/NFUL.. IF HE'D INTENDED To DIE, THERE WAS A CERTAIN CONSOLATION IN THE FACT THAT HE SUCCEEDED WITH SUCH APLOMB, HIS HEADSTONE IS AN OBELISK, A HE HAD AN OBELISK COLLECTION, IN. STRIKING ANACHRONISM AMONG THE FACT, AND HIS PRIZE SPECIMEN WAS ONE UNGAINLY GRANITE SLABS IN THE NEW IN KNEE-HIGH JADE THAT PROPPED END OF THE CEMETERY. OPEN THE DOOR TO HIS LIBRARY. 29gHIS ULTIMATE OBELISK IS NOT CARVED MOM COULDN'T CONVINCE THE MONUMENT FROM FLESHY, TRANSLUCENT MARBLE MAKER TO DO IT. LIKE THE TOMBSTONES IN THE OLD PART IT WON'T LAST. IN TEN, TWENTY YEARS YOU'LL HAVE. LICHEN, EROSION. TRUST Me, YOU WANT GRANITE. THIS NARROW COMPASS. SUGGESTS A PROVINCIAL— ISM ON MY FATHER’S PART THAT IS BOTH MISLEADING URATE,OF HIS RELATIVES DISPLAYED ILAR RELUCTANCE TO STRAY. INTEREST IN THE DECORATIVE ARTS, REMAINED IN THIS PROVINCIAL HAMLET. COME OUT TO CAMPY YOU DON'T HAFTA SHOOT NOTHIN’. WE'LL JUST SIT AROUND THE STOVE AND WHY MY CULTURED MOTHER, WHO HAD STUDIED ACTING IN NEW YORK CITY, WOULD LIVE THERE CHEEK BY JOWL WITH HIS FAMILY IS MORE PUZZLING STILL. HELEN? I’M JUST SHOWING OFF YOUR HOUSE To SOME FRIEND: IDEAS ABOUT DRAGGING A. ANY TRAILER INTO THE BACKYARD. AFTER YOU GRADUATE FROM HIGH SCHOOL, DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN. 34MY PARENTS HAD IN FACT GOTTEN AS FAR THEY LIVED IN WEST GERI FOR AS EUROPE, WHERE MY FATHER WAS ALMOST A YEAR DURING DAD'S SERVICE, STATIONED IN THE ARMY. MOM FLEW IN SOME DEGREE OF EXPATRIATE THERE TO MARRY HIM, SPLENDOR . S28 = iS BUT THEN, THE STORY GOES, MY GRANDFATHER HAD A HEART ATTACK AND DAD HAD TO GO HOME AND RUN THE FAMILY BUSINESS. \ | | E i BECHDEL? YOU. | y ta IST GOT A MESSAGE i eh FROM TOURS Stee CALL. is ie a a | raccuwer AG I | f IL 1 A Lig LAL EZTHE CHANGE IN PLANS WAS A CRUEL FOR 4 SHORT TIME WE ALL LIVED WITH MY BLOW. I WAS BORN SOON AFTER THEY GRANDMOTHER AND AILING GRANDFATHER GoT Back. AT THE FUNERAL HOME. URS] DAP STARTED TEACHING HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH. FUNERAL DIRECTING PROVIDED ONLY A PART-TIME INCOME IN OUR THINLY POPULATED REGION. 33BY THE TIME WE MOVED TO THE oie IT WAS SOME! kere DURING THO: REVIVAL HOUSE AND JOHN WAS BO EARLY YEARS THAT agree EoNrUSING PEARED FROM we US WITH THE ‘ADDANS AMID PARENTS! WORIZON. bk | LONG BEFORE I COULD READ, Sy x Wols PUZZLE OVER BOOK OF ADI DAMS CARTOONS. THE CAPTIONS. S ELUDED Me, aS +) THE one REVERSAL OF SUBURBAN CONFORMITY. HERE WERE THE FAMILIAR DARK, LOFTY CEILINGS, PEELING WALLPAPER, AND MENACING pinion FURNI: SSI oF MY on Home. 34A WORRIED GIRL HAD A STRING RUNNING MOUTH TO A TRAP DOOR. WEARING 4 BLACK THE LAMP VELVET DRESS MY FATHER HAD WRESTLED EXTES HES | Me into, c aPreaR To Ike MY LAMP. | BE IN MOURNING, IN FACT, THE GIRL LOOKED JUST LIKE Me. THE RESEMBLANCE IN MY FIRST GRADE SCHOOL PHOTO IS EERIE. MY MOTHER, WITH HER LUXURIANT BLACK AND ON WARM SUMMER NIGHTS, IT WAS HAIR AND PALE SKIN, BORE AMORE THAN NoT UNUSUAL FOR A BAT TO SWOOP PASSING LIKENESS TO MORTICIA. THROUGH OUR LIVING ROOM, BUT WHAT GAVE THE COMPARISON REAL «AND THE CAVALIER ATTITUDE WHICH, WEIGHT WAS THE FAMILY BUSINESS... INEVITABLY, WE CAME To TAKE TOWARD IT. te = 35THE "FUN HOME," AS WE CALLED IT, WAS MY GRANDMOTHER LIVED IN THE FRONT. UPON MAIN ET. THE BUSINESS WAS IN THE BACK. eit I REMEMBER SEEING MY GRANDFATHER LAID OUT THERE WHEN I WAS THREE. PEOPLE WERE AMUSED BY WHAT SEEMED TO ME A REASONABLE ENOUGH REQUEST. ———_— FREE HAND WITH THE INTERIOR THe ROOMS WERE HUNG WITH DARK VELVET 36MY BROTHERS AND I HAD LOTS OF CHORES AT THE FUN HOME, BUT ALSO MANT INTERESTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PLAY. = COMING IN Sy” TAKE ME A. FOR A LANDING! — — — c Reorse HAD THE FoLD- [= = / et | [qING CHAIRTROLLEY. [age | THe NESTING j Ae pe FLOWER STANDS. Nes F Fr Ty | \ by : Y THE SUCTION-CUP FLAGS FOR STICKING To Ly 2 CARS IN THE PROCESSION. AND THE CRUSHABLE CAPSULES FILLED THESE WERE FOR REVIVING PEOPLE WHEN SALTS. THEY FAINTED FROM SHOCK OR GRIEF, ? WHICH, DISAPPOINTINGLY, NEVER SEEMED ZIM TELLING BAD S\N Se . * YOU WASTED ONE. 1 ier a 37THOUGH THERE WERE NEVER ANY DEAD: PEOPLE IN THE SHOWROOM, IT HAD THE OTHERWORLDLY AMBIENCE OF A FLOOR OF THE GARAGE. MAUSOLEUM. a A Sei OF CASKETS. CAME IN, WE'D LIFT THEM WITH A WINCH TO THE SHOWROOM ON THE SECOND 7 IT WAS USUALLY AFTER SCHOOL, IN A f] MELANCHOLY, FADING LIGHT, THAT WE: FOUND OURSELVES UP THERE UNWRAPPING MORE VELVET DRAPES MUFFLED ANY SOUNDS, FROM OUTSIDE AND HEIGHTENED THE SENSATION (| THAT TIME WAS AT A STANDSTILL.LIKE A MEDIUM CHANNELING LOST SOULS, iT WASN'T THE SORT OF PLACE YOU WANTED THE FILAMENT OF A SPACE HEATER TO BE ALONE IN. VIBRATED TUNELESSLY TO OUR FOOTFALLS. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT WAS NOT PARTICULARLY SCARY TO SPEND THE NIGHT = WITH MY GRANDMOTHER. IN THE FUNERAL HOME PROPER, EVEN WHEN WE HAD A DEAD PERSON. TO QUIET US DOWN, GRAMMY WOULD LET US SWEEP WITH THE BEAM OF HER FLASHLIGHT IN SEARCH OF BUGS. 39AFTER THIS, WE WOULD BEG HER TO TELL USA STORY. THE STORY, L SHOULD SAY, BECAUSE THERE WAS ONE TALE THAT STILLBORN TWINS, THE TIME MY AUNT HAD WORMS--PALED BEFORE IT. "HE WAS LITTILER THAN YOU, JOHN, NO MORE THAN THREE. (T WAS SPRINGTIME." WUNST UPON A TIME, WHEN YOUR DARBY WAS A LITTLE “THE FIELDS WAS JUST PLOWED, AND BRUCE LIT OUT ACROST ONE. IT WAS THAT WET, PRETTY SOON HE COULDN'T LIFT HIS LITTLE LEGS OUT OF THE MUD!"“BUT JUST THEN, ALONG COMES MORT DEHAAS WITH THE MAIL, AND HE SEES BRUCE A WAY "HE GAVE HIM A YANK, AND HE WAS THAT STUCK, HIS OVERSHOES COME OFFI" WELL, I DON'T KNOW, DEARS. BUT MORT. COMMENCED TO WALK QUT ACROST THE MUDDY FigLD To WHERE. BRUCE WAS. 44"HE BRUNG YOUR DADDY INTO THE KITCHEN IN HIS STOCKING FEET, AND I UNDRESSED HIM RIGHT THERE." Sonel a ins AND HERE THE STORY REACHED ITS BIZARRE, GRIMMSIAN CLIMAX, BY DAY, IT WAS DIFFICULT TO IMAGINE. 3 NAKED, OR, TRUSSED UP IN THE OVEN. URE DONE, DO THE VACUUMING.THOUGH THE WAY GRAMMY HELPED HIM DAP WORKED BACK IN THE INNER Ne HIS SURGICAL GOWN IN BACK WAS SANCTUM, THE EMBALMING ROOM. EVOCATIVE. PRIOR DO iT, OR I'LL GIVE i YOU SOMETHING TO [77 WHINE ABOUT, / THIS 'D OF BACTERICIDAL SMELLEN SOAP Sa =e , AND EMBALMING FLUID. IT WAS DOM- ‘ i INATED BY A, PORCELAIN ENAMEL PREP DIDN'T NORMALLY SEE THE TABLE AND A CURIOUS WALL CHART. BODIES BEFORE THEY WERE = : DRESSED AND IN A CASKET. = lS : at a= gnegs. 2 43THE MAN ON THE PREP TABLE WAS BEARDED AND FLESHY, JARRINGLY UNLIKE DAD'S USUAL TRAFFIC OF DESSICATED OLD PEOPLE. THE STRANGE PILE OF HIS GENITALS WAS THERE WAS SOME PRACTICAL SHOCKING, BUT WHAT REALLY GOT MY WITH MY FATHER DURING WHICH © STUDIOUSLY BETRAYED NO EMOTION. ——; TT a j (HAND Me THose SCISSORS OVER BY J IT FELT LIKE A TEST. MAYBE THIS WAS. OR MAYBE HE FELT THAT HE'D BECOME SAME OFFHANDED WAY HIS OWN TOO INURED To DEATH, AND WAS HOPING NOTORIOUSLY COLD FATHER HAD TO ELICIT FROM ME AN EXPRESSION OF SHOWN HIM HIS FIRST CADAVER. THE NATURAL HORROR HE WAS NO . LONGER CAPABLE OF.