After Rasputin stopped riding up and down the canyon, people began missing him.
But nobody knew what happened, either. Rumors circulated that maybe he'd been hit by a car. Some people said he was a mental patient, too. But, just like everyone made up their own names for him, they made up their own stories, too. It was all speculation.
And I don't know for sure what actually did happen to him, but after a couple years of not being around, Rasputin eventually showed up again. Now, when he rides, he usually wears something that looks like a Speedo. Nothing else. And he's cut his hair and shaved off his beard, too, but it's still Rasputin.
Yeah, he's a strange guy, but we've gotten used to him and missed him for those years we didn't see him on his bike.
I guess most people are like that; we get used to certain anchors to reality, as strange as they may sometimes be... and when that anchor is gone it just doesn't seem normal. And now, on the days we drive past him, both my kids will talk about the weird guy riding the bike. They make up stories, too.
This is day sixteen of bedfam. I've always liked the number sixteen. It's not like I'm into numbers or anything. Well... okay, I actually am, but not to the point of being a mental patient about it. In my next release, in the path of falling objects, there's a character who counts everything... all the time... to the point it actually snaps his fragile sanity.
Sometimes, I wonder where I get these ideas.
BEDFAM 16
--A.S.
