We conclude the weekly version of the Sunday Reruns with the only rerun of a rerun I’ve ever brought back. It’s a high class story by Hugh Cron called The Swans. (The Reruns will return in January as a monthly feature.)
Very little we go through in our lives truly matters in a larger sense. From all evidence, every one of us is smarter than all the insensate stars in the Universe combined, yet we exist only in the briefest snatch of time, just long enough to know that we are, and like prisoners at barred windows, we scream for answers and go away no wiser to why we were.
Still, something does happen. And if it wasn’t worth the time then no one would remember anything, let alone write about it.
Q: No questions. Used all but one up. Oh. all right, I’ll use it. “If you were a Simpson supporting character who would you be?”
But mainly, I hope Hugh expands on the background and personal meaning of The Swans.
***
Thanks as always Leila.
And thanks especially as I know why you chose this.
I love the first question and it is an easy answer…Gil!!!
Any man who had nearly paid off his hot-plate only to have it broken by a naked Homer and Marg (HubbaHubba!!) is just about as unlucky as me!!
Q.2 I think when any of us have had loss or tragedy in their lives they re-evaluate things and I have been doing so. (My dad died after six weeks of being diagnosed with lung cancer. We nursed him at home and that isn’t an easy death…If there is such a thing! A week after his cremation my mum fell and broke her neck and she was in a neck-brace for three months) So when you asked this question, I wondered if the story had taken on any different type of meaning for me. I thought about the night it was based on, by fuck did I think about it and analyse it to hell and back! I remembered the strangeness that I felt but what came across more than anything was simply this – I had to accept what I saw without understanding. Death, tragedy, Kismet, Deja Vu, luck, mystery or whatever, are all the same – You just need to accept them without understanding.
Cheers for that Leila. And also thanks to you Diane and Nik for getting me through those sodding six months.
Hugh
literally stories 
Thank you, Hugh, it is a moving story regardless of circumstance. And thank everyone who has contributed to the weekly version of this feature. I look forward to the monthly edition coming next month, plus a new feature soon to premier.
Leila
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Hi Leila,
Thanks so much for the re-run of a re-run, it is always a blast.
Also, I need to thank you for the time, energy and enthusiasm that you put into this feature!! Not many took it on but it was always a success.
Hugh
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Hugh
Old Gil knew the meaning of life when he said “Oh maaaan, not another Piranha swimming in the tank.” Something deep and wise there. But we keep on regardless.
Leila
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A fitting finale, in title and quality, to the monthly reruns. One of my favorites of yours, Hugh. “I had to accept what I saw without understanding.” So true and yet often so difficult.
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Hi Dave,
Thanks so much.
I think the not-understanding is also a bit like accepting how you feel, at times, there is no reason behind it so all that you can do is accept how you are!
Cheers once more my fine friend.
Hugh
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An excellent choice to complete the year, and in my opinion one of Hugh’s gently stories.
There is an endearing melancholy in the tone that allows me to share the sense of grief between the lines. Where the moment is focused by the family sitting in silence as they stare into the fire, everyone knews the time had to come, as it does for us all. The apparition of the man playing the flute attracting an audience of mute swans was mystical indeed. There is no real explanation other than the accept it was a fitting farewell for Gran, a kind of Swan Song.
I remember reading this and thought how the writing style pulled me into the mystical event and wondered if this is how people perceive the world of ghosts.
It was certainly worth reading more than once.
Thank you for sharing.
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Hi James,
Any words of praise are high praise indeed coming from your fine self!!
All the very best James!!!
Hugh
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‘everybody knows’ correction. Thanks, Hugh
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A Lovely mystical story and in all honesty a departure from a lot of the stuff we see from you, Hugh. That makes it all the more special, I think. There is so much that we don’t understand and I think you are absolutely right. We just have to accept that some things just are. Warm wishes dear friend. x
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Hi Diane,
Yep I don’t normally do cuddly or, well, whatever this is.
In a way, I wish I could, but for whatever reason, even if I start out positive, I always seem to get pulled, more often than not, to the dark side!!
Thanks so much!!!
Hugh
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Off topic thought. Would it be easy to pick old stories at random to rerun without any commentary? As we know all of the LS stories are good and the oldies would be available for newbies without the work that goes into the reruns now?
Thanks for the memories (I’ve seen it performed in an old movie) and hono(u)ring me by running some of mine.
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Thank you Doug
What you suggested did enter my mind–and might have been the case, but people like to be asked questions about their work and have nice things said about them. It’s a hard knock life and Scrooge is more likely to kick the crutch out from under Tiny Tim then do something about whatever is wrong with the little pest, anymore. So, it remains just as personal, but less frequently, and with a new feature along to take up the space which will encourage (we hope) audience participation (more will be said for that in the next two weeks to come).
Thank you and keep rocking. Snowing like hell in the West Sound this morning! Quite a surprise. Weather apps are not always correct. Says “30%”–must already be three inches on the deck.
Leila
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Decked with snow rather than holly? Cold here but no snow- yet. I’d like to be adored, but unlikely, and I’d rather be read than dead.
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