Excerpt from The Network, episode 3 (Alice's narrative)
“But then I realized that they hated me and that was all there was to it. They didn’t hate me because of Uncle Frank or because I was a bad son or because they had an idea of me. They just hated me.” He was holding desperately to the matter-of-fact analytic tone.
“I heard them arguing with each other one night. About my… conception. Each was saying it was the other’s fault. They were sorry I’d even been born,” and there he could not hold out any longer. The racking, gasping sobs returned. I held him tightly and silently for a long time. Eventually his breathing slowed down and I pulled him beside me onto the couch. I cradled his head on my lap, as he seemed to like and spoke to him softly.
“People say crazy, twisted things when they argue. I’ve seen them in evidence. Things they don’t really mean and then try to remove from the evidence.”
He started to protest and I hurried on. “But even if they meant it, they were the losers not you. They lost the joy of knowing their wonderful son and seeing him grow up into a wonderful young man. Their wonderful son, who’s clever and inventive and funny, who’s brave in adversity, who’s so kind and loving when he could be enraged at the world. Their wonderful son, with the Scarecrow’s brain and the Lion’s nerve and the Tin Man’s giant heart.”
A flicker of a smile. “But I haven’t seen the Wizard. Every time I get near the
This episode of The Network is available from www.epublishingonline.co.uk