TERRI KAY

In Suffer the Fool, David Maloney was a man who wanted to die, but not by his own hand. Getting his friend to help him, he soon learned that even the best-laid plans can fail.

Suffer the Fool by Robert A. Gallinger begins as follows:

CHAPTER ONE


   Like a Nero captivated by the horrific flames that ravished the ancient city of Rome, he stood calmly with his arms crossed and his feet spread as he watched the West Virginia farmhouse disintegrate, awed at the destructive power of fire.
   In the early morning shadows, the new inferno razed the main building, and then raced for the barn and outhouses.
   Screaming, the farm animals sprang for the open fields, terrified at the smoke and fire.
   He was glad that he had at least spared them, but why not? He had no grudge for any of them like he had for some people, especially one named Special Agent Jay Hackett. When the time was right, he definitely would not spare him.
   The air was suffocating now, and he saw an early morning gloom hide the land as speckled clusters of blazing light hissed and crackled over the skeletal remains of the once friendly farmhouse.
   Its antique timbers, pitted and dry, had surrendered noisily to the raging flames, and then had vanished hastily into the whirling clouds of smoke.
   Inside, two disfigured seniors lay dead, gutted like the house. They were buried beneath smoldering ashes and mangled debris, their innocent lives forfeited forever by a total stranger whose pent-up anger had erupted unexpectedly in the middle of the night.
   He coughed to clear his throat, and then pulled a large bandana from his back pocket to blow his nose.
   Although his dark eyes were red now and glazed, he stared intently like an artist surveying a bizarre masterpiece that was boldly speckled in black and red and gold.
   The smoke and flames reminded him of a tidal wave in slow motion, engulfing everything in its wake with ugly soot and smelly ash that clung sticky and wet, something like newly applied glue to wallpaper.
   As its creator, it gave him a sense of infinite power like he was for the moment a god, a king or more.
   With a new job in progress, he felt elated and proud, sometimes sexually excited; but not so much as before when he'd been several years younger.
   Back then, his mind had been filled with somewhat different targets and goals, but the thrill of fire remained the same regardless.
   His neck suddenly felt hot and clammy, something like it had on those hot summer days when he'd worked the dusty fields in his youth. __________________________________________________________________________________________
Suffer the Fool by Robert A. Gallinger (Writer Club Press ©2001) All rights reserved.