The Last in Line
Always trust the XYZ people.
Names mattered when I grew up because people died by the numbers in Europe and when people finally got to the U.S.A. they lined you up alphabetically to take roll for class or to call your name for one thing or another. Europeans could not understand this, over there you just got in line if there was a line. If someone was important because of their name or whatever it was that made them matter to other people they would be let in the line. It was courtesy and humanity that ruled the lines not your number or your alphabetical order. The witch kids could not understand this at all. That’s what they called us, the witch kids. The scary people said it was because the alphabet was different. In the country you came from you might have been an important person over there but over here because you had a XYZ name you went last.
The hushed discussions were always about places and names and who was still alive. When did you see them last? Where did they live now? What name were they using? Is that the best name to have? Imagine that–changing your name so you had a different spot in line. The children thought it was frustrating: ALL the TIME with the NAMES.
When people got here or even moved to town sometimes they asked what was the best name to have. Did it matter in the U.S.A. what your position in line was? The last shall be first and the first shall be last? What did that mean?
It meant to the killers that you killed people in order.
That’s what it meant. So to us, The Last in Line was the hardest toughest spot and we loved each other more than the rest. More time was what we said, we had more time with each other before they threw the food away in front of you. More time before the gateway to the other side, more time before you had to go through the doorway. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. Did that mean when you were in the forest and turned to go another way that the last person was the first to die and the first person was the last to be shot?
Now read the lyrics again to a famous song by a Paduan and see what it says to you.
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