Funny

Just pulled this from September 2001, I imagine it came out before 9/11. It's a fictional story based on Timothy Mcveih.

"PUZZLE MAN

WHEN A SOLDIER DIES WITH HIS SECRETS

I am not crazy, no matter what people say. I have valid reasons for everything I did, and I am at peace. My complete story will never be told, but when my heart is stopped by Uncle Sam's pherma-ceuticals, my spirit will ascend like a white balloon over the Wabash River and fly up to heaven. God will welcome me into his house, saying, "Well done, my good and faithful servant. You followed your beliefs end acted on them. You have been a steadfast patriot to your cause, and I hereby place you at my right hand."

Life isn't so difficult here, but I do face a few problems. Especially when I try to sleep, because the children always appear in my dreams and ask me to play with them. They have Tonka toys and coloring books and Nerf balls, and they pull me toward the puzzle that lies scattered on the big table in the day care center.

That puzzle bothers them a lot. They want to complete it. They circle around it and ask me for help. "What is it supposed to be?" they ask me. They laugh and push the pieces of the puzzle around on the table and look at me with hopeful eyes. And at that moment in my dreems, I know these children are alive and at play in the fields of eternity.

FICTION BY ASA BABER"