Daniel Charms, 31 Plays, #9

The Chest

A man with a thin neck, climbed inside a wooden chest, locked the top and started to suffocate.

- Look, - says the suffocating man with a thin neck, - I am suffocating inside this chest, because I have a thin neck. I would rather asphyxiate than open up the chest. Gradually, I will be dying. I will witness the struggle between life and death. The fight will be unnatural, but with equal chances, but because death naturally prevails, and life, doomed to death, is only hopelessly struggling with the enemy up until the last moment.

Throughout the struggle that is about to happen, life will know the way of its victory: in order to win, life will have to order my arms to lift up the top of the chest. We'll see... who's going to win? Oh... This mothballs stink so badly!... If only I'd live... I'd rather put makhorka than mothballs among the things in this chest... This is it. It started: I can not breath anymore. I am dead, it is clear! I don't have a single chance left. And nothing distinguishing was left in my head. I am suffocating!

What?! What is it?! Something just happened, but I can't really see what is it. I saw something or heard something!

What?! Something happened again! My God! I don't have any air. I think I am dying...

And what is this? Why am I singing? It looks like my neck hurts... But where is the chest? Why do I see everything that is in my room? I can't believe it, but I am lying on the floor! And where is the chest?

The man with a thin neck got off the floor and looked around. There was no chest around. Things that were in the chest, were now lying on the stools and on the bed, but there was no chest around.

The man with a thin neck says: - Life won over death and I will never find out how...