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Man of a Thousand Echoes

8/11/2016

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During family holidays, once the average blood alcohol level blew twice the legal limit, the living room was turned into a stage for a talent show.

Aunt Jennie did her hula dance; hips crashing over her Jordache jeans. Uncle Mark tried to do his magic card trick with a pinochle deck, before his wife, Aunt Lucy, snickered and he told us all to go fuck ourselves. The small cousins sang "Jingle Bells," while my cousin Stan and I did a breakdance out front. Grandma recited a Eugene Field poem, then cried, declaring, "Everyone dies, especially the sons of bitches."

But then there was my Uncle Peter. The one everyone was waiting for. A pill-popping drunk and unemployed roustabout by day, and superstar family entertainer by night. Everyone would roar with laughter at his impressions of Jackie Gleason, Walter Brennan, Johnny Carson, Little Richard, Mister Furley and others.

This time, though, fresh in the psychic wake of Grandma's declaration, Uncle Peter calmly took one last swig of
Rhinelander, stood in our makeshift spotlight and stared into the bare light bulb. Even though this was an uncharacteristically slow start, the family smiled with hope. Nobody was funnier than our Uncle Peter. You could feel everyone trying to will him to perform. You could feel everyone desperately needing to laugh.

"For my first and last impression of the night, I give you Rich Little..."

Some stopped smiling. Some continued, confused, still hoping.

​After an awkward silence, Uncle Peter said, deadpan, in his own voice, "I don't know what to say unless I'm someone else." 
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    Ron Gibson

    Ron Gibson, Jr. has previously appeared in Noble / Gas Quarterly, The Airgonaut, Pidgeonholes, Maudlin House, The Vignette Review, Cease Cows, Spelk Fiction, etc. & forthcoming at Whiskeypaper, Cheap Pop and Jellyfish Review. He can be reached on twitter @sirabsurd.

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  • Fall
    • Tayler Karinen
    • Benjamin Lindsey
    • Patrick Harrington
    • Rich Ives
    • Kelly Kotewa
    • Craig Rodgers
    • Laura Fletcher
    • Jen McConnell
    • Remi Skytterstad
  • Past Issues
    • YEAR ONE >
      • Issue 1: October >
        • Dalton Day
        • Camila Maldonado
        • Elizabeth Burton
        • Daniel Kay
        • Shelby Bevins-Sullivan
        • Ryan Havers
      • Issue 2: November >
        • Rob Sturma
        • Candi V. Auchterlonie
        • Christopher Mulrooney
        • William James
        • Andrew Rhys Young
        • Michael Cormack
        • Kayla Pongrac
      • Issue 3: December >
        • Ann Huang
        • Peter Vanderberg
        • John Sweet
        • Daniel von der Embse
        • Rebecca Dutsar
        • Sarah Kersey
        • Geramee Hensley
      • Issue 4: January >
        • Stacey Balkun
        • Nolan Liebert
        • Charles Bane Jr.
        • Carly Gordon
        • Yoni Hammer-Kossoy
        • Bryan Harvey
        • Jonathan May
      • Issue 5: February >
        • Meggie Royer
        • I. S. Jones
        • John O'Connor
        • Daniel von der Embse
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        • Lauren Frament
        • Jordan Jamison
        • Steve Meagher
        • Lauren Milici
        • Emily Alexander
        • Vaishnavi Nathan
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        • Kayla Wheeler
        • Larry Thacker
        • Jeremy Radin
        • Penn Javden
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        • John Grabski
        • Brennan Bestwick
        • Niles M. Reddick
        • Rich Boucher
        • Steven Dunn
        • Scherezade Siobhan
        • Joseph Lisowski
        • James Fitzgerald
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        • Clair Dunlap
        • Kristen Arnett
        • Meggie Royer
        • Shannon Austin
        • Matthew Moffett
        • Jacqueline Kharouf
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        • Alexander Dang
        • Kathy Fish
        • Tiffany McDaniel
        • Leonor Morrow
        • Amy Silverberg
        • Alex Tedesco
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        • Louis Jenkins
        • Rebecca Harrison
        • Yuan Changming
        • Cathy Ulrich
        • Toti O'Brien
        • Erin Slaughter
      • Issue 12: September >
        • Anis Mojgani
        • Levi Andrew Noe
        • Davon Loeb
        • Paul Beckman
        • Lydia Havens
        • William Butler
        • Robert A. Kaufman
    • YEAR TWO >
      • Issue 13: October >
        • R. G. Evans
        • John Pistelli
        • Hannah Brown
        • Carl Boon
        • Christine Nichols
        • Joshua Robert Long
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        • Rushda Rafeek
        • John Grabski
        • Naima Woods
        • Peter Burzynski
        • Kathleen Radigan
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        • Darren C. Demaree
        • Prerna Bakshi
      • Issue 16: January >
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        • Lena Ziegler
        • Charles Freeland
        • GJ Hart
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        • Kara McMullen
        • Abigail Marshall
        • Carol Park
        • Rob Hill
      • Issue 18: March >
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        • Nazifa Islam
        • Matthew Moffett
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        • Olivia Grayson
        • Kristin Roedell
        • Roisin Kelly
      • Issue 20: May >
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        • Hannah Jane Pearson
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        • Mitchell Grabois
      • Issue 21: June >
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        • Wade Bentley
        • Jen Howard
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        • Zebulon Huset
        • Vivian Hua
        • Stelth Ulvang
        • Henry Goldkamp
      • Issue 23: August >
        • Ron Gibson
        • Colleen Rich
        • Jefferson Navicky
        • Mehrnoosh Torbatnejad
        • Simon Perchik
      • Issue 24: September >
        • Sally J. Johnson
        • Lewis Mundt
        • April Vázquez
        • Emma Hutson
    • YEAR THREE >
      • Issue 25: October >
        • Peter Weltner
        • Nicholas Morris
        • Ola Faleti
        • Phoebe Nicholson
      • Issue 26: November >
        • Effy Fritz
        • Maxwell Radwin
        • David Atkinson
        • Eddy Jordan
      • Issue 27: December >
        • Jon Bennett
        • Stephanie Valente
        • Leigh Cheak
      • Issue 28: January >
        • Adrienne Novy
        • John Grabski
        • Fay Sachpatzidis
        • Paulie Lipman
        • Sarah David
      • Issue 29: February >
        • Ron Gibson Jr.
        • Amanda Kabak
        • Travis Naught
        • Allen Forrest
        • Susan Monaghan
      • Issue 30: March >
        • Hannah Larrabee
        • ​Lino Anunciacion
        • Karese Burrows
        • Reneé Bibby
        • Liz Howard
        • Kalani Pickhart
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        • Nina Murray
        • Daniel Blokh
        • Benjamin Harnett
        • Wheeler Light
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        • Terry Ann Wright
        • Craig Loomis
        • Thaddeus Rutkowski
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        • Ailish Woollett
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        • Alex Ivey
        • Hazem Fahmy
        • Jennifer Moore
      • Issue 34: July >
        • Christine No
        • Sarah Destin
        • Claire Hopple
        • Maura Lee Bee
      • Issue 35: August >
        • Luisana Cortez
        • Aza Pace
        • Carrie Chappell
        • Adam Lock
      • Issue 36: September >
        • Jill Mceldowney
        • Leon Kortenkamp
        • Sarah Jones
        • Darren Demaree
    • YEAR FOUR >
      • Issue 37: October >
        • Hannah Stone
        • William Doreski
        • Sarah Wetzel
        • C. T. Salazar
      • Issue 38: November >
        • Kristen Ploetz
        • Stephanie Rael
        • Brittany Frederick
        • Jay Sheets
        • Andy Cashmore
      • Issue 39: December >
        • Taylor Mali
        • Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
        • John Williams
        • Iskandar Haggarty
        • Donald Hubbard
        • Kenneth Otani
        • Alex Miller
      • SPRING >
        • Simon Perchik
        • Lino Anunciacion
        • Colleen Rich
        • Donia Mounsef
        • Nitzan Meltzer Watman
        • Ann Hillesland
        • DJ Swykert
      • SUMMER >
        • Cynthia X. Hua
        • Heidi Seaborn
        • Daniel Nester
        • Ginnah Howard
        • Jonathan Bracker
      • FALL >
        • William James
        • Laura Bentley
        • Ally Ang
        • Kurt Luchs
        • Joanna Hoffman
      • Winter >
        • Danny Caine
        • Emma Wang
        • Maria McLeod
        • Darren Demaree
        • Susan J. Mitchell
      • SPRING >
        • Sandra Kolankiewicz
        • Michael O'Neill
        • Lino Anunciacion
        • Katherine Fallon
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  • Harpoon Books