Harold and Maude
Page 10
He took the note in his hand and sat down. He read it again. The tears welled in his eyes. This time he could no longer fight them back. He did not even try. She was gone. It was over.
The note dropped from his hand. Falling listlessly back on the couch, he began to cry. She was gone. It was over. He was alone.
The tears ran down his cheeks. His sobbing grew louder and unrestrained. Crying hopelessly, like a lost child, he buried his face in the cushions.
THE MINI-HEARSE sped along the sea-cliff road, recklessly spinning around corners and sliding dangerously close to the edge.
Harold sat at the wheel, driving like a man possessed. The tears were still wet on his face. His hands firmly gripped the wheel. He turned off on a dirt road that led to a high bluff and raced along it till he reached the top.
From far down the coast one could see the car go over. It flew off the cliff, did a gliding half turn, then crashed on the rocks and burst into flames.
The fire subsided, and the smoke and steam gradually disappeared. The waves, brought in on the rising tide, washed in and around the wreckage.
Harold looked down at it from the edge of the cliff. The sun sparkled in the broken glass. A piece of burned curtain drifted back and forth on the swell; overhead, the gulls glided carelessly on the wind.
Harold rubbed his nose and put Sweeney’s keys in his pocket. He stretched, took a deep breath, and wiped his tearstained face with both hands. Swinging his banjo from around his back, he strummed a few chords. He took a final look at the remains of his car and turned away.
As he walked down the hill, he began to pluck out Maude’s song. He played it through once, remembering in snatches how she had sung the words:
“But the cuck-cuck-cuckoo,
’Spite his rote note yoo-hoo,
The cuck-cuck-cuckoo …”
He smiled. He began it again. It was getting better and better, he thought, and he knew he’d have it right before he came to the end of the road.
The Colin Higgins Foundation is the recipient of all royalties for this novel. Screenwriter/director/producer Colin Higgins established the foundation in 1985 after being diagnosed with HIV. He dedicated his foundation to the eradication of AIDS, to helping those with HIV, and to the betterment of the lives and options for the LGBT community. Since his death in 1988, the foundation has given out more than three million dollars to over 340 individuals and groups, including start-up funds for GLSEN (the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) and the Trevor Project, the first national suicide prevention hotline for at-risk LGBT youth. Other grants include over a decade of scholarships at Stanford, UCLA, and the American Film Institute, as well as helping fund the documentary Celebrating Laughter: The Life and Films of Colin Higgins. In addition, the foundation hands out the annual Colin Higgins Youth Courage Awards to outstanding LGBT teenagers who, in spite of intolerance and bigotry, have helped transform their communities for the betterment of all. For more information visit www.colinhiggins.org.