CORPSEY is chilling in a sailboat on the Mediterranean when he sees a man flailing in the water several feet away.
GREEK MAN: Oh thank god! Help me!
CORPSEY: I’ve read that it can be quite dangerous to help drowning victims. I suppose in their panic, they often pull you down with them. A character defect that I’ve often sensed in myself is cowardice. I reckon I wouldn't risk my life on behalf of a complete stranger (especially one from Greece)...
GREEK MAN: Please, throw me that life preserver that’s sitting next to you!
CORPSEY: You see local news stories on the telly about some unassuming bloke who jumped into traffic to save a kitten. I used to fancy I would be a hero under the right circumstances, yet here I am, the perfect opportunity staring me in the face, not doing anything. I do have a tendency to procrastinate.
CRANER sticks his head up from below.
CRANER: Not helping that drowning man? You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Jack.
CRANER returns below deck.
CORPSEY: I really should, shouldn’t I? In my early 20s I was bright-eyed and enthusiastic. I might have sprung into action in a situation like this. I suppose that’s what happens as we approach death. The boundless idealism of yoof gives way to the bitter cynicism of middle age. Yeats has some very poignant stanzas about this.
GREEK MAN drowns.
CORPSEY (returning to the same spot a year later): That's funny, I remember having some really clever thoughts here in the past, but sadly I can't remember any of the details. If only I could recreate whatever it was that made 2021 Corpsey so fascinating.
