Three people riff on legacy and ambition. One imagines descendants in a future township. Another jokes about earning a tissue box. A third asks whether it's really about personal drive or caring for your kids.
I'll be around a long time. A thousand years from now, a whole township of my offspring will be biting sour apples in gumwood shade.
That's really— I earned the tissue box. Thank you, sir.
God, are you, are you thinking about yourself or are you thinking about your kids?
I think I was jealous of this. I think I wish someone loved me like that. And to know that it existed in the world felt very aspirational. Like, I couldn't wait to be the grandmother and the great-grandmother because there was never anyone that talked to me that way. And in a world where everything had been shattered when I was 19, I really wanted reassurance. So here comes Ray Bradbury in his turtleneck with his cat, you know. And I, you know, and like, the thing is, it was like I would look at this picture too, because it's the exact same picture that was on my copy. And I had had an autographed picture of Ray Bradbury, this exact one, hanging in my bedroom my whole life. In 4th and 5th grade, that's where I was introduced to Bradbury. And so this face felt very safe. And to read that felt very safe. And safety is, like, the nicest thing you can give anyone.
