The Open Road

My father died today, or was it yesterday, I can't be sure I got a call from a nurse in a hospital in San Pedro, California I didn't even know he was living there She told me he died of a heart attack I haven't talked to my father in many years He said he couldn't maintain a relationship with someone who lived the way that I did As they were going through his personal effects They found a scrap of paper with my name and phone number on it It said, son The feeling was mutual Although I guess I was okay with talking with him on the phone I had to fly to California to deal with the stuff that he had He didn't own a house, and I sold his car But as I was looking through I found that he had owned a boat that I never knew about I walked down the dock where this boat was supposed to be I was alone, smoking a cigarette, just thinking about things I didn't feel depressed per se, but I wasn't happy either My dad's boat was moored at the end of the dock It was called the Open Road And as I approached it, I saw There was a seal right in front of it, blocking my way Not looking too friendly And this seal started yelling at me, in the way that seals yell And it started charging me and coming at me It's been a long time since I've been in a fight, and I was afraid I tossed my cigarette in the water, and I backed up quickly I didn't know what else to do, so I shined my cell phone flashlight at it It didn't seem to care at all It gave an eerie glow to its face, and it attacked me It came towards me and tried to ram my shins with its head, and so I kicked it I kicked it, and kicked it, and kicked it, and kicked it Until it stopped struggling The seal laid there, lifeless, with a smile on its face And so I rolled its body into the water And I climbed aboard my dad's ship And I cut the rope connecting the ship to the dock And I floated away