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Some Branches Of The Poe-tree
These are The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar which occured shortly after the
Fall of the House of Usher, which was found to be, in reality, A Descent Into the
Malestrom. Attending a Masque of the Red Death, the dead man's Tell Tale Heart
suddenly exploded, although The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Feather
had promised much hope in for the avoidance of The Premature Burial in The Oblong
Box. The dead man's two heirs, Ligeia and Morella, deposited into the coffin The
Gold Bug and Hop-Frog that had meant so much to their benefactor, who had
left to them, as an inheritance, The Oval Portrait, and The Purloined Letter which
may have contained an alternate solution to the mystery of The Murders in the
Rue Morgue, which the dead man had followed so closely through daily
newspaper reports. We returned to the dead man's home where we sipped heartily,
repeatedly, and plentifully from The Cask of the Amontillado that the dead man
had been keeping for a future celebration. Meanwhile, The Black Cat, being
excited by all the unexpected company, began to behave like The Imp of the
Perverse. Meanwhile, we all agreed that the sudden Loss of Breath must have
been some indicator of the sudden approach of the dead man's fate, a time when
you should Never Bet the Devil Your Head. Later, we were all captivated to hear
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, about The Light-House that had
attracted Pym's curiosity. The Journal of Julius Rodman (which we also read
as we continued to get drunk like a couple of sots in a cheap honky tonk on the
wrong side of town) provided some invaluable insights into the dead man's
final days among the living.
Starward
