"A Lost Curmudgeon" by Akira Odani

 – Should I call him? Is he asking for help?

George despaired while we hoped.

Akira Odani lives in the ancient city of St. Augustine, Florida. He belongs to Taste Life Twice Writers and the Florida Writers Association. Born in Tokyo, he had written extensively for the Japanese media. Still, more recently, his interest has turned to writing in English and subjects related to his experiences interacting with the two cultures. Some of his work has appeared in the pages of FWA anthologies, The Weekly Avocet, PSPP, Twists and Turns, Lost & Found, and Sooner or Later. He stays active, meditating, swimming, and playing pickleball.

Author’s Talk

Akira Odani

I knew intellectually that I would die sooner or later. I was aware that I could not avoid its fate. 

As a child, I witnessed my grandmother’s death decades ago. My uncle died too young in an accident. Change is the only constant. But the concept remained remote and distasteful until my friend brought it into my focus. George had been a good friend and encouraged me to write, read widely, and think through issues facing us. But he was also a curmudgeon, bitter and generally full of complaints about what was happening around him and the world. George left this world suddenly on his terms. He was eighty years old.  

He was a loner. I don’t think he was ever married; at least, he never talked about it. He had no children. As far as I know, he didn’t have a steady lady friend. He lived alone and enjoyed sipping Scotch with an expensive cigar on his lips, sitting out on the balcony of his condo, overlooking the expansive marshland.  

Death, to me, is a finality—the end of it all. Gone! Kaput! The Stoic philosopher George ironically gave me the last hopeful message that it is not so. He said he would be there when I cross the river. I wish to see him again there and complain to him that he left too soon. I wanted to tell him much, much more while he was alive.—Akira Odani