“This may sound like gibberish to you,
but I think I’m in a tragedy.”
--Stranger than Fiction
When he reads that the bus comes to squash the boy,
the hero is ready to face his fate, confront the bus.
He knew he had to die.
He knew his story.
But then some sentimental alien
toys with him, plays deus ex machina
on his ass and heart,
plunges him into comedy.
And they all know he needed to die
for the fiction to work.
They all know saving the boy
and dying in his stead
is the only way to make great art—
his knowing choice to give his life,
his love, his world
to save the innocent.
He rejects the instinct to stay on the curb.
He steps out, pushes the child to safety,
stands in front of the bus,
willing to die a hero’s death.
The audience and author can’t bear it,
insist on a tired happy-ever-after ending
Refuse to fight it. Rewrite. Revise.
They flee greatness in the end.
