Death and A Moment of Greatness

(I put the video up for the music. WordPress won't allow me to simply upload the music file without prohibitive finger wagging.)
Click it and read as you listen. I tried to time it just right. ;-) 
What if you died today? Perhaps this afternoon… What goes through the mind in that moment, the tire blows, your car careens into the other lane, head on with a bus? You’re gone. The world hiccups and goes on to its destiny.
A writer’s ego is gargantuan. We think our stories and characters are so important that we want as many people as possible to read them, know them. So, naturally, when I thought of my untimely death, I realized my book wouldn’t be finished. Why? According to Murphy’s Law, my book must have been destined to sell twice as much as Harry Potter.
I kept the thought experiment going.
After my funeral, I imagined my friends putting their lives on hold to delve into my laptop and word docs. They sit around drinking coffee and reading deep into twilight, deciphering all my confusing, brilliant, detailed, and scattered notes and thus, being astounded by its greatness, shout in unison. “It would be a crime against humanity not to complete this epic story!” They toast and begin the daunting task. There would be progress and things would look great. Then they find that my notes are lacking in the most important part of the book. “He must’ve never had a chance to jot down his great thoughts on his part.” “Or, the notes were lost in the inferno.” Then they turn to the most creative person in the group. He buries his face in hands. “I can’t do it!” He protests. “A. R. Travis was just too great. It would be blasphemy to assume I could even come close!” They implore, “You must do it. He would want you to!”
He does it. The book is a blockbuster, eclipsing even the Da Vinci Code. Sony buys the movie rights, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson, and Ridley Scott fight for the opportunity to direct it.
At the Academy Awards, the director and screenwriter dedicate their Oscars to me. All the Oscar-winning actors join them on stage, holding back tears. There’s a moment of silence. Then, on the big screen behind them, as the original award winning score by Hans Zimmer plays, there’s an extraordinarily handsome picture of me smiling in the sun on the beach, with a ball cap on, petting my dog.
…and not a dry eye in the house.
To read and watch CREED OF KINGS becomes a rite of passage for a generation and any serious lover of books and movies.
No ego here.