Please write an introduction that contextualizes the "Anders did not remember" moments provided in Bullet in the Brain. Then. create a scene where you see your life (in a series of scenes) pass before your own eyes. Please provide at least three specific scenes from your life that you consider memorable and worth writing about.
It is often shown to us when a person is dying that their life flashes before their eyes. What is shown is normally a person’s milestones. A sunny day where a person hears their name, they walk across the stage and receive a diploma for their achievements then raising their fist with that piece of blank paper to show their parents who sit in the audience that they “did it!” A wedding day when a man is at the alter looking up the isle watching as his bride is escorted by her father to him. The lump that appears in his throat as he is about to say “as long as we both shall live…” Not Anders. As the bullet passes through Anders’s brain the scene that passes before him is the time in his life where he did not speak his mind as he did a few seconds ago. At that time the situation was not as dangerous as it was a few seconds ago. No, at that time he may have gotten ragged on about making a comment about the phrase “they is” but he would not have gotten a bullet in his brain.
Scene 1
In a cab with my husband, his aunt and uncle. The back of the driver’s head is all that I see. Looking out the window there is green blurs and then there are brown blurs. The drivers head bobs while we are on this road. Some parts smooth and some parts bumpy. We are approaching the boarder and the driver asks for papers. Out of the window it looks as though they are coming for us. The men with the green uniforms and half masks. Eyes are all that I see on these AK carrying militants. “Do you all have your papers…” the driver repeats.
Scene 2
I hear voices but see darkness. My husband, my uncle, and my aunt. We are moving. I guess if I open my eyes I can see what is going on. I realize that I am laying down in the backseat of the van. What happened and how did we get here? I look out the window and see total darkness. The vehicle is in motion and we are moving into darkness. I finally say “Where are we?” My husband answers back that we took a wrong turn somewhere and he had to take the bridge to get back to wherever we were in New Orleans. I realized that all of the darkness that I saw was water. Swamp to be exact. Out like a light I go because the swamp is not where I want to be.
Scene 3
It’s the holiday. At Mommy’s house for Christmas dinner is my husband, my daughter and brother, my sisters (2), mother, and father waiting at the table in the living room. Arriving late with the string beans like she does every year is my auntie along with her granddaughters. They are always so happy. I am glad she has finally shown because I did not want to leave without seeing her. The arguments begin. Arguments about nothing between my siblings go around the black card table. Who’s dumb, who is not dumb and who is tougher and so on. We are all adults and the adolescent issues are still around. The scowl on my mother’s face that seems to come every holiday. She is tired. They ask me for the final answer and I cannot take sides because I see all of them the same way. I have learned new ways. I have learned that there are more important things in life. Will they ever know?