<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><figcaption class="interactive-caption" style="line-height: 1rem; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h2 class="interactive-headline" style="line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px 0px 3px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><font size="4" style="font-weight: normal;" class="">The Afterlife</font></h2><div class=""><br class=""></div></figcaption><div class="interactive-graphic" style="margin-bottom: 10px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.4375rem;" class="">A man fell out of the tree in our backyard. I ran over<br class="">to help him. “Would you like some tea?” I said. “I think<br class="">I broke my back,” he said. “Perhaps some ice cream would<br class="">be just the thing,” I said. “Lend me your hand,” he said.<br class="">I gave him my hand and tried to pull him up. When he was<br class="">upright, he said, “Where am I?” “You’re in my backyard,” I<br class="">said. “It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before,” he said.<br class="">“It’s just an ordinary yard, a small garden, a few flowers,”<br class="">I said. “Yes, it’s a sorry sight. How can you stand to live<br class="">here?” he said. “Oh, it’s my home,” I said. “Home? That’s<br class="">a curious word,” he said. “Where do you live?” I said. “Live?<br class="">Live? That’s a funny question,” he said. “I don’t live anywhere.”<br class="">“What do you mean?” I said. “I’m a dead man. I just float<br class="">around,” he said. “Well, I’ve never met a dead man. I’m<br class="">pleased to meet you,” I said. “I think you’re supposed to<br class="">scream or something,” he said. “Oh no, I’m really pleased,”<br class="">I said. “It’s really kind of you to drop by.” “I didn’t<br class="">drop by. It was the wind,” he said. “And then the wind stopped<br class="">and I fell into the tree.” “How lucky for me,” I said. “You’ll<br class="">be going with me, of course, when I leave. You’ll never be<br class="">coming back,” he said.</p><div class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>- James Tate</div></div><div class="footer" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: nyt-cheltenham, georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="interactive-credit" style="font-size: 0.75rem; line-height: 0.875rem; font-family: nyt-franklin, arial, helvetica, sans-serif; margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"></div></div></body></html>