The old man smiles and he has perfect mauve teeth, with hints of yellow and grey…I’ve never seen anything like it before.  His face has these massively deep crevices…hundreds of deep wrinkles that are hypnotic and it’s hard not to get lost in following them…and they all seem to lead to his dark eyes.  There is no doubt that he is very old…the story he’s telling comes from the turn of the 20th century…the math seems unimportant, and I just listen.  One brother he tells me, a trapper from around here, was having a bad season and the winter had killed his wife…his older brother though had been very successful trapping and had five thousand dollars and a very plump wife…this last part causes me to laugh.  The old guy laughs with me and without missing a beat adds – the young lad killed them…spent the money on whiskey and ate them both. My laughter turns nervous and fades quickly…and I think about clicking my heels together three times…if only it was that easy.  The old man tells me that he was the first man ever hung in Alberta, not like the history books say – they got it wrong he insists…I concur with him because I don’t know any different, generally agree that history books tend to get things wrong…lol, and I am little speechless.

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Lawrence Lewis

“My major allegiance has been to storytelling, not to history.”  – Russell Banks

About Lawrence Lewis

I do a number of things professionally...but most of all and the true purpose of what I do through "my work" is to provide for my family, be a good husband and great father, and try to make a difference as a world citizen...I guess it's not much more complicated than that 🙂