The Event Horizon:

We were in a catacomb hall at a friend’s farewell party when Cindy entered the hall, followed by a “crazy man” dressed in regular office clothes but in dark shades carrying a large stack of papers. Those who were morosely sad were stunned and took notice of this odd man.

Sarah the wife of Jim (departed soul) made us sit; then turning towards the audience:

“Dear Friends,” Jim’s wife said in subdued tone, “I would like to invite Bob, to say a few words’.

Standing near the back door, all the way back in the brightly lit room, Dobkin’s was standing next to Swanson. Both of them were colleagues of Jim. The second row seat was empty, a placeholder for the previously departed best friend Widlar. Next to that chair was Sporck with a foot long mustache and a smokeless pipe perched in his bushy mouth. Sanders sat on the next chair. His broad shoulders were perfect size to hold a majestic silver haired head. Sanders suit was a perfectly designed suite that fit him snugly like a well-designed wrap. He wore cowboy hat that he lowered once Bob walked up to the podium.

Jokes began. Widlar listened to those jokes but his friends could not hear his hearty laughter. Widlar was omnipresent. Bob began with an ominous note on how he wished he could have followed Jim to beyond the cliff and was despondent he did not. He remembered how he once sent a box of seamoss to…