Originally Written: 2/18/2011

I’m listening to “You Won’t Let Me Go” by Ray Charles. And I’m happy. I can’t stop smiling. I’m looking at the corner of my cubicle, surrounded by the artificial white light of my three desk lamps. And I’m filled with this…anxiety. This happiness that for these few short moments, I know I can’t suppress. It’s something unexplainable now and will be more unexplainable later so I should write it down to the best of my abilities. The softness of the background vocals coo as the idiosyncratic voice of Ray Charles chimes in: “I love you now/I said I love you/Whoa, with all my…heart and soul/So darling, well, if you love me/I know you won’t let me go/Well, you won’t let me go.” An impending storm looms and I’m excited for it. I feel like everything is going to be washed over. And made clean.

The Comic That Never Came to Be - "The Citizen"

PREMISE: Semi-dystopia in an alternate, not-too-distant future. A run-down café. A young reporter sees The Citizen, a superhero who retired long ago (he now goes by Vincent). She approaches him and asks him if he really is The Citizen. After an exchange, she finally chides him into admitting it. Here is the short ensuing conversation.

REPORTER: I knew it was you.

VINCENT: How?

REPORTER: There’s this air about you. I can tell. You were good. You are good. Like that man over there. There’s…not a good air about him. He’s not evil, but he’s – there’s something wrong with him.

VINCENT: In this world, there’s no such thing as a hero or a villain. Divisions do not exist. You talk how some people have this air about them? You can just tell whether they’re good or evil? There’s no air. It’s all just gray smog…that leaves you dirtier when you finally leave this Earth.