Microstory 273: Perspective Forty-Eight

This is an experimental Perspectives microstory. The introduction can be found in Microstory 225. More to follow.

I’m very suspicious of my brother and this new job that he has. He has been working to be a writer for pretty much his whole life. He doesn’t read as much you think a guy like that would. He claims to gather most of his inspiration from television and movies. I just think he’s lazy. He’s had a number of random jobs here and there throughout the years. My God, one time he was a welder. But he’s always thinking that he’s on his way to publishing the next great American novel. He never gave us any indication that he was interested in a career. Then all of the sudden he’s working for one of the largest technology companies in the world. He says that he’s a literary editor for the material they print and post online, but he talks about it with this weird level of deception. It’s like he’s trying to keep something about his job from us. He does say that the company holds contracts with the defense department, which is true, but I still think he should be able to say something about his work. Maybe this is just me being me. We’ve always had a rivalry between each other; one that I clearly take more seriously than he does. I’m younger than him, but I started writing stories much earlier, and so I kind of felt like he was stealing my thunder. Our parents didn’t give him more attention, of course, but that’s because they don’t really care. It just seemed to me like he only got into it because I was doing it, and because he’s not good at anything else. My fiancée says that I need to focus on myself. I’m the one who actually has stuff published. Sure, they’re self-published, and they’re not exactly selling like hotcakes, but I make enough money to only have to work part time. I’m going to have to start working harder, and taking on more hours, though. We’re trying to have a baby. She’s been supporting our relationship for years now, and it’s time I feel like I’m actually contributing. And it’s also time I stop worrying so much about my brother’s business.