Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Murdering Rastari, Part I

This is the beginning of a short story draft I've been dabbling with for a while, which I'd forgotten I had in my post editor. I'll probably add to it bit by bit over the next few weeks.

There was nothing in all the world I hated more than Danny Rastari. His very presence could make me angry. I am certain, however, that being angry is a morally bad state of affairs; so this set up an obvious chain of reasoning. Danny Rastari's very existence was morally problematic. I have always prided myself on the serious pursuit of virtue, and, as Rastari was clearly a moral temptation, I engaged in some evaluation of moral risks and drew the only rational conclusion: for the sake of virtue, I would have to kill Danny Rastari. I would need help, though, so I recruited Max Sanders, another of Rastari's many enemies.

Our plan was simple. I would lure Rastari to a high place, and Max and I would push him off. To an extent, it was a beautiful plan: all Max and I would be doing is assisting the order of nature; gravity, not us, would kill Rastari; and therefore we would not be responsible for his death. It did, of course, require some exposure to the source of temptation; but however arduous the cause of virtue, and however much it requires sacrifice, I always say it's worth it. I set out to lure Rastari to the top of the First International Bank building in order to push him off.

It was surprisingly easy; the man is as gullible as can be. I told him that Max and I had found a great place to view the city at night, we took him to the top, and pushed him off. Down he went. It was beautiful, and all the more so given that we knew that the world would be a better place the next day.

We found, however, that it was not so easy to destroy a cause of morally bad states of affairs. By some strange miracle Danny Rastari did not die on hitting the ground, and when Max and I finally reached the ground floor, Rastari's body was nowhere to be found.

To be continued....