Defenestration

A Slave Of Property

By Victor Schwartzman

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Harriet wasted her invaluable time on earth at a job.  The only reason she stuck with the job was because it enabled her to buy possessions to help her recover from the job.  The circular nature of her life worried her, so one evening she pushed all of her possessions into a big pile in the living room and set it on fire.

She moved away from the big city and built a hut in the woods. Water came from a nearby stream, food from her garden, clothes from the plants around her.

Word got out about the wonderfully strange woman who lived in the woods without possessions. Soon people began to visit, also worried about wasting their lives on material objects. Harriet advised them to burn it all. No one followed her advice but everyone felt better even thinking about it.

Harriet became a tourist attraction.

Thousands visited her. To encourage them to follow her path she started a gift shop, Natural Harriet's, where she sold collectables.

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Victor says: “I have been writing since I was able to, and at 59 I'm finally sending my stuff out, having recovered from the many literary rejections of my teenaged years (I kept every single one, Freud could tell me why if he'd just get that damned cigar out of his mouth). Frankly, that someone other than myself will have the opportunity to read my stuff is both amazing and a little embarrassing. Normal bio stuff would add that I am married, have two kids, and work as a Human Rights Officer, but I'm not normal, so why should my bio be, and is a bio bee like a honey bee?”

Readers disturbed enough to like Victor's stuff should check out http://weaklyherald.tripod.com. The site features ten early chapters of a graphic novel about a community newspaper. Readers can download the chapters for free ‘cause no one has said they'll pay for them.