EXTRACT FOR
The Grandfather Clock
(Craig M. Sampson)

I had not talked to Mark in several months but as far as I knew he was fine....in fact, more than fine if you asked me. The dire predictions of his imminent demise from all his so-called medical geniuses proved to be reminiscent of the often quoted phrase from Shakespeare's Macbeth, "all sound and fury, signifying nothing." That is not to say that his initial diagnosis was incorrect...that judgment is far beyond my knowledge or understanding. But when his death sentence was magically lifted...this is the only rational way I can explain it to myself...not a single doctor or other specialist that he had consulted could offer any basis behind it. 

In the end, I viewed it much like how the recent viral pandemic that had converged on most of the world took on constantly changing and often contradicting explanations of how it worked and how it was to be treated as time went on...doctors, from my perspective anyway, ended up eating a lot of crow as their initial evaluations of the viral nightmare proved to be a load of crap. It is not that they simply missed the mark in their approach....people make mistakes and I get that. It is more that they insisted they were infallible in their diagnosis and treatment methods, like some medical papal authorities that should not dare be questioned. To me, it was much like that with Mark.

Mark had become increasingly depressed in the last five years or so over getting older and not having his physical body capable of what it once had possessed when a young and fit man. I suppose all of us go through a similar phase at some point, but it seemed to have hit Mark harder than most. And then he got diagnosed with end-stage cancer at a regular physical with his GP and it was like the last bit of light and spark began to drain from him. But as I said earlier that all changed one day and it had to have been many years since I recalled Mark looking so young and being so energized. I still cannot explain how this all came to pass, but it all seemed to be somehow linked back to the acquisition of this old grandfather clock that he was the benefactor of from a relative that Mark himself had little of any recollection of.

I realize this all sounds quite impossible if not mad on my part, but if you can bear with me I think I can make sense of this whole story. As the executor of his will, it was only by going through Mark's papers and journals that he had begun to keep religiously since his cancer diagnosis that allowed me a clear picture of what apparently happened...and led me to understand how a robust and healthy man like Mark could, within a matter of months be dead. You may wonder if it was eventually the cancer that killed him...that it had not really gone into remission as Mark had been told by the medical brain trust...but an autopsy proved beyond the shadow of a doubt that Mark's body was absolutely free of any evidence of cancer when he died.

Despite his youthful appearance, Mark was, as a matter of fact, just coming up on his 70th birthday....another conundrum that baffled us all. The coroner finally judged his death due to natural causes and heart disease, but in my heart, it is a way more complicated and twisted situation. Let me share with you the last entry in Mark's journal....dated just 48 hours before he died...as a starting point. That along with my long conversations with Mark over the years will allow us to go back to a point in his life when this clock came on the scene and hopefully, you will agree with me that it had a direct bearing on his demise...as bizarre as I know that sounds.