<br><br><center>*This is the place of places and and it is here.* ― Gertrude Stein</center> <br><br><center>![dcf8c4069cf7e1f18120d831f7c45544.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmYazU2sQwR9R1gzWZpsQUGN8LUvsUGKfXcc22FzTmYsHM/dcf8c4069cf7e1f18120d831f7c45544.jpg)</center> <br><br>It was sad. We never reconciled. It was both of us really—our stubbornness. Mother demanded I take my place in the family which meant managing the family business and living on the estate. But I was determined to make it on my own and I did—made millions in Internet marketing before the credit crisis and the economic downturn that followed. <br><br>I wasn't expecting the registered letter I received from Thomas Gunn her solicitor and now the executor of her estate. Mother had died, and already her remains had been disposed of, and now I was being summoned to attend the reading of the will. It both shocked and saddened me to see how far we had drifted apart. <br><br>So, here we both were—interred in our separate limbos—she, possibly at peace, and I pondering whether to rebuild the ancient ruins and restore places long devastated. As for the legacy of our relationship—well, that boat sailed and burned, and yet, I hope she’s found her own Valhalla. She chose to be cremated and it sickened me, but I had no say in the matter. It was Mother’s final wish—as was her hand-written will leaving the run-down estate to me, on condition I agreed, ‘to reside therein a fortnight.’ <br><br>“What the hell is a fortnight?” I asked Thomas Gunn her executor. “A two week period, Jonas—literally, fourteen nights.” “That’s a fine expression—a fortnight,” I blustered, “I’d like to see you spend fourteen bloody nights in a dilapidated ruin.” <br><br>“I’d hardly call The Ashes a ruin, Jonas—the estate’s valued at over three million.” “I ought to bulldoze the entire thing, or sell it off to the highest bidder.” Gunn tried to be patient—but I could see his eyes had gone hard and his jaw muscles were flexing. <br><br>“The estate has been in your family for two hundred years,” he sighed. "I wouldn’t act too hastily. If you need cash, you can take back a mortgage against the equity. The house is fully paid off.” I glowered at him. “You don’t get it do you? It’s not about money—the place is cursed. It turns everyone to ashes.” He gave me a tired shrug. “Well Jonas, death levels everything. We are born unequal; we die equal.” <br><br>My jaw dropped. His remark took me totally off guard and disarmed me. I wasn’t expecting even a hint of rebuff from him. He coloured slightly and muttered, “It’s Seneca—my motto you might say—a plumb line to keep things in perspective. A reminder of mortality, I suppose.” “Ah yes, memento mori—but nevertheless, well said, Mr. Gunn.” He gave me a kindly smile and clapped me on the back in a fatherly way. <br><br>“Whatever you decide, Jonas, just let me know. I’ll be glad to assist." He looked at me compassionately as if to forgive my youth. "You can begin your residency whenever you choose, but remember—it must be a continuous, uninterrupted two-week stay, and when completed, the property is yours to administer as you see fit.” I hated pondering the fate of Mother’s ashes and mused about the problem for a week. <br><br>In the end, I decided to have the undertakers inter the urn in a portion of a low field stone wall overlooking the path leading down to the pond. I instructed them to affix a bronze plaque with the inscription: *Alexandra Lennox* *Died May 23, 2019. Age: Eighty Years* *May she be given beauty for ashes.* <br><br>I know—it went against all my hurt feelings and bitter sense of entitlement, but as Mother said, I’d always end up doing the right thing—whatever that meant. The fact was, I hadn’t decided what to do with the property, but until I did, her remains would rest on her beloved estate with a view overlooking the pond. Lucky her. <br><br><center>© 2019, John J Geddes. All rights reserved</center> <br><br><center>[Photo]( https://images.app.goo.gl/EfB1JipyeRCdQunT6 )</center> <br><br>
post_id | 80,561,276 |
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author | johnjgeddes |
permlink | covenant-with-earth |
category | writing |
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beerbloke | 0 | 4,164,985,833 | 12.5% | ||
thecryptofiend | 0 | 28,819,508,620 | 25% | ||
eric-boucher | 0 | 9,304,840,337 | 2.4% | ||
anwenbaumeister | 0 | 228,486,003 | 4.8% | ||
mammasitta | 0 | 1,547,588,991 | 0.24% | ||
matt-a | 0 | 49,497,433,752 | 1% | ||
blueorgy | 0 | 10,815,803,688 | 3.6% | ||
alex2016 | 0 | 146,173,809 | 100% | ||
hanshotfirst | 0 | 1,237,996,281,219 | 25% | ||
lordvader | 0 | 275,490,613,518 | 100% | ||
awgbibb | 0 | 332,579,901,159 | 30% | ||
protegeaa | 0 | 353,643,148,606 | 80% | ||
sweetsssj | 0 | 19,478,521,954,821 | 50% | ||
alaqrab | 0 | 2,825,374,843 | 2.4% | ||
holoz0r | 0 | 1,700,797,143 | 0.48% | ||
jrhughes | 0 | 4,606,462,415 | 20% | ||
tfeldman | 0 | 7,089,501,117 | 10% | ||
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lk666 | 0 | 1,575,348,063 | 2.4% | ||
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johnjgeddes | 0 | 23,297,773,090 | 100% | ||
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theregularguy | 0 | 151,469,741,411 | 100% | ||
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brahma | 0 | 268,169,149,678 | 100% | ||
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iansart | 0 | 3,054,864,222 | 2.88% | ||
bhmcintosh | 0 | 52,756,678 | 25% | ||
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teacherspet | 0 | 18,621,846,557 | 100% | ||
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arthur.grafo | 0 | 32,241,773,831 | 100% | ||
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punchline | 0 | 223,092,609,496 | 100% | ||
sourcecloud | 0 | 414,422,018 | 100% | ||
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bitcoinportugal | 0 | 367,884,924 | 50% | ||
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oghie | 0 | 655,656,183 | 50% | ||
madefrance | 0 | 1,036,874,289 | 2.4% | ||
blervin | 0 | 2,174,329,952 | 1.68% | ||
ivan-g | 0 | 615,462,254 | 2.4% | ||
zipporah | 0 | 1,523,097,448 | 0.96% | ||
cryptofuwealth | 0 | 70,135,306 | 11% | ||
positiveninja | 0 | 757,442,758 | 2.4% | ||
juli1 | 0 | 187,948,695 | 74% | ||
qberry | 0 | 2,392,798,280 | 2.4% | ||
thevote | 0 | 102,813,728,036 | 3.3% | ||
freckledsocks | 0 | 329,480,105 | 100% | ||
therising | 0 | 2,153,299,661,903 | 4.8% | ||
garrettwallace | 0 | 711,703,516 | 6% | ||
mariusfebruary | 0 | 169,684,223,739 | 1.44% | ||
outtheshellvlog | 0 | 629,404,008 | 2.4% | ||
indigoocean | 0 | 4,130,423,515 | 2.4% | ||
musicvoter | 0 | 5,123,318,908 | 1% | ||
musicvoter2 | 0 | 7,934,423,670 | 1% | ||
evanpetzer | 0 | 434,881,781 | 30% | ||
schroders | 0 | 1,804,806,606 | 1.44% | ||
sagesigma | 0 | 261,185,489 | 1% | ||
longer | 0 | 585,305,437 | 50% | ||
blewitt | 0 | 6,097,447,995 | 0.33% | ||
kafupraise | 0 | 87,882,055 | 34% | ||
ilovecryptopl | 0 | 718,613,371 | 3.84% | ||
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ocdb | 0 | 16,768,234,947,660 | 10% | ||
lillywilton | 0 | 632,437,737 | 20% | ||
gpcx86 | 0 | 29,318,084 | 1% | ||
jk6276 | 0 | 31,513,162 | 0.96% | ||
yaelg | 0 | 2,520,858,822 | 5% | ||
kylealex | 0 | 4,581,481,620 | 10% | ||
qrater | 0 | 2,445,337 | 25% | ||
hanshotfirst-sm | 0 | 7,340,161,282 | 100% | ||
h-p-oliver | 0 | 147,603,491 | 100% | ||
the.success.club | 0 | 1,315,460,757 | 2.4% | ||
chickenmeat | 0 | 844,631,042 | 2.4% | ||
macoolette | 0 | 18,208,082,585 | 2.4% | ||
dw-mcaliley | 0 | 143,481,637 | 100% | ||
adalger | 0 | 1,523,923,647 | 0.72% | ||
q-ichi | 0 | 3,012,687,862 | 100% | ||
travisung | 0 | 13,167,754,923 | 2.4% | ||
hairgistix | 0 | 2,283,850,822 | 2.4% | ||
goodcontentbot | 0 | 57,261,274 | 50% | ||
herculean | 0 | 40,341,636 | 50% | ||
pulleyhead | 0 | 1,249,495,511 | 4.8% | ||
chrisluke | 0 | 153,305,313 | 26% | ||
sumotori | 0 | 567,772,964 | 75% | ||
earnlogy | 0 | 133,650,107 | 100% | ||
brendanweinhold | 0 | 146,466,296 | 100% | ||
begood2me | 0 | 737,273,372 | 2.4% | ||
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thetechspot | 0 | 133,610,130 | 26% | ||
poppie-schultz | 0 | 84,329,182 | 10% | ||
fernandovrech | 0 | 650,023,318 | 100% | ||
ericetchen | 0 | 2,413,175,671 | 2.88% | ||
bhojpuri | 0 | 479,557,522 | 100% | ||
bilpcoinrecords | 0 | 1,043,718,342 | 2% |
To listen to the audio version of this article click on the play image. [![](https://s18.postimg.org/51o0kpijd/play200x46.png)](http://ec2-52-72-169-104.compute-1.amazonaws.com/johnjgeddes__covenant-with-earth.mp3) Brought to you by [@tts](https://steemit.com/tts/@tts/introduction). If you find it useful please consider upvoting this reply.
post_id | 80,561,647 |
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thanks
post_id | 80,561,695 |
---|---|
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I know you are only being polite - but they never read ANY of the replies. They do not even visit their own account to see what is posted there (they are supposed to, as they tell you on their site that if you do not want them to post this comment of theirs, just write STOP and they will). Since they never read anything, it does not work. Which is why this is the only account on Steemit that I keep flagging/downvoting whenever they post in my posts.
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As the author, aren't you responsible for your characters? Shouldn't you advise him not to stay there or else he will be ensnared... Since it has been in the family for so many years, I guess he will not meet a ghostly girl and fall in love... Be fun to see which way it twists and turns :)
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Did anyone ever tell you, Arthur, that you rub the gilt off the gingerbread? Ha ha...you think you know me and all my limitations...Actually, my wife said something similar today...I always aspired to be a man of mystery and not predictable. I'm such a failure. This writing thing - you never know what you're going to do and you only hope somehow it's new :)
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Yes, I did let my enjoyment of letting my imagination go wild dictate what I wrote. I actually felt , after posting my comment, that I had crossed the line. I would hate it if someone did it to me - so my sincere apologies. I usually use the standard, that if I feel I am being 'clever' it means I am not and I resist the urge. This time it seems I ignored the signals until it was too late. My only excuse is that I had just come out of a root canal without a narcotic injection and was not listening to my own inner voice. Now I am looking forward to seeing how you handled the story. btw - as to your aspirations, it is very much how I see myself. I only want to be predictable in how I respond to ethical/moral situations. If I remain true to myself, then I cannot avoid becoming predictable to those who know me well.
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