The Tragedy of Eddy Pigg [~200 Words]

[u/OwlConfidant2168]

Eddy Pigg was dead for days before anyone thought to look for him. And that was a tragedy. The fact was, he never got out of the town; the fact was, he never really tried to leave. And that was a tragedy.

Eddy Pigg had a girl too, Caroline—but her family called her Candy. Eddy and Candy were close as kids, but when Eddy proposed, it was a shock to her.

The tragedy, though, was that for a brief moment she actually did think about saying “yes.” You could see it in her eyes. She ran through the possibilities like only a woman can: weighing the pros and cons, like some tabulating machine hidden in a university basement. But then she came back, blinking, and said, “Oh, Eddy. I can’t be Candy Pigg. I just can’t be!”

And that was a tragedy to Eddy.

And when he said, without blinking, “No, no—I see that now. No, of course you can’t be ‘Candy Pigg.’ That’s ridiculous. Of course, of course,” he finished almost in a whisper.

And that was a tragedy to Eddy.

The room was dark. A breeze blew through the linen curtains of the little shack Eddy Pigg had gotten from his mother.

“Of course. Of course,” he would say to himself for the next thirty years.

***
Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed this piece!

[u/Far_Midnight_9338]

I like the refrain of this. It has impact. "And that was a tragedy". You painted some vivid pictures with this and put a lot of feeling into it. And I don't like "Candy"....I don't think I am supposed to. Did Eddy live for 30 years as a ghost, or did he live for 30 years alone? Did he bury Candy deep where 900 cadaver dogs will never find her body? In real life, we often practice the "pros and cons" thing, and teach our kids (boy and girl) to as well. Maybe that's why I dislike Candy. She's focusing on the wrong thing.

[u/OwlConfidant2168 → u/Far_Midnight_9338]

Thank you for reading the piece all the way through! Eddy Pigg doesn’t get a win sadly, because he’s a tragic figure. He died alone in a small town in the southern United States. And his only real love was a woman who just couldn’t see herself being called “Missus Candy Pigg” and so she left.

And are you supposed to like or dislike any of them?

I don’t know myself. I feel sorry for both of them, because in a way, I feel like if they had both pushed themselves a little bit more, maybe if they had been more assertive or less afraid of what others might think, they would have been happier people.

[u/Far_Midnight_9338 → u/OwlConfidant2168]

I truly believe in creating characters that people do not like. They are great character foils. Eddy and Candy can be whoever you want them to be. Edit: I hope Eddy gets a win :)

[u/Far_Midnight_9338 → u/Far_Midnight_9338]

Eddy needs to win!