I’ve been trying to shift the word of the day from a nightly post to an early morning post, but, wanted to wait until I’d gotten ahead enough with my story supply and could start on a Monday, to do that. I think that the having the Word of the Day first thing in the morning is a great way to start the day, something to get you out of bed in the morning, and make getting out of bed a little less painful. I’ve been wrong before.
Today’s Word:
febrile
As in:
Dateline: San Francisco. Just when you thought the saga of the baby found in the secret graveyard laboratory of Doctor Horrible couldn’t get any strange, the story has taken a new, even more bizarre twist.
The child, now being referred to as “Truman,” has been adopted by a group of documentary filmmakers.
The group had formed when Chase Klein, a documentarian who gained acclaim with his nature film “The Egrets Regret,” was diagnosed with a form of brain cancer. He realized that the process of undergoing treatments for his disease was a good subject for a film, and contacted fellow documentary filmmaker Erin Copperfield to help him.
After a few months, Erin herself was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. At times, this made it difficult for her to hold a camera or other equipment, so she contacted her cousin to move in with the duo and help with the project, which now included documenting her own deterioration.
News about their project spread, and soon, they had been joined by every documentarian with a deadly or debilitating disease in the country. The project now includes a gentleman with Huntington’s Disease, a lady with MS, several people with various cancers, a delighted hypochondriac and an ignoramus stricken with the heartbreak of chronic halitosis.
This group, now living in a large communal living complex, heard about the orphan discovered under strange circumstances, and decided that there could be no better place to raise the child than amongst the sick and dying.
While there was resistance to the idea, arguing that there were plenty of healthy couples looking to adopt a child, the group invited the other prospective parents to join them in their community, to make sure little “Truman” would not be abandoned should all the members of the community become unable to care for him as he got older.
“Mr. and Mrs. Poole are technically the adoptive parents, as they had already been registered as foster parents. They were very enthusiastic about their dream of having a child, and they also saw the advantages our community offered.” noted Copperfield. “We already look out for each other, and it’s a very creative and supportive environment, despite all the ills.”
“The nurturing environment will be more than enough to erase all traces of Truman’s horrible beginnings. Even better, should he ever feel remotely febrile, he has a wealth of people with experience in caring for the sick at his doorstep.”
The child will also be given the benefit of having every minute of his life documented, and is surrounded by his very own village of idiots.
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Probably I’m the only one who remembers “The Egret’s Regret” from the first season of Family Ties. It was the documentary for which Mr. Keaton won a Murray award. Yes, I actually have thought about that fictional film since 1982. Yes, I am that sad.
febrile / FEE – brill / feverish.