Prologue

Charlie's parents met in Paris. His father was attending an international convention to discuss advances in artificial limb development, and gave an impressive lecture on prosthetic joints. His mother was a prostitute. The two married a week later and six months after that, Charlie was born. When he learned of the timing of his birth, Charlie spent an entire year rejecting his father and would not acknowledge him in any way, shape or form. It never occurred to Charlie that he was born premature.

For her entire residence in America, Charlie's mother refused to learn English. His father, consumed with his work, never learned a word of French. Any communication between the two was through their son. After she killed herself, Charlie's father never bothered to ask his son what the suicide note she left had said. The note read - "He never makes any sense..."

Here's a picture I took of the first draft of "Prologue". It was written 10 years ago and I only recently found it in a notebook stuffed in a junk drawer. I didn't change it too much, just a few words here and there.