journal

Journal Writing

May 22nd, 2024

Bury the Hatchet

They say you should bury the hatchet, but no one ever provides specifics. Where exactly should I bury it, and how deep? Am I going to need a shovel to dig the hole, and then what do I do with that? I mean, this is already sounding like a lot of work. I’ve also heard that you should never dig yourself into a hole. But here I am, potentially digging myself into a literal hole with a shovel, which feels like I’m setting myself up for trouble.

Then, there’s the whole issue of proximity. Imagine the police find a dead body buried somewhere near where I buried the hatchet. I don’t think the police are going to believe me when I say, “I didn’t kill that person. I just buried the hatchet.” Of course not! They’d probably roll their eyes and say, “Sure, buddy, that’s a new one.”

At that point, my only option would be to go on the run, hiding out in the woods like a modern-day fugitive. And what do you need when you’re hiding out in the woods? Firewood. A hatchet would be handy in that situation, but unfortunately, I’d have just buried mine. I can see it now: sitting in the cold, shivering under the stars, cursing my overzealous adherence to idiomatic expressions.

So maybe I should take the advice less literally. Instead of physically burying the hatchet, perhaps I’ll just let bygones be bygones and avoid any unnecessary run-ins with the law. And I’ll keep my hatchet where it belongs—safely stored away, ready for more practical use like splitting firewood or, you know, carving pumpkins.

Ryan Olejnik is an author, computer scientist, music journalist, musician, record producer and photographer. He is currently writing a novella, an anthology of short stories and a volume of poetry. He is a music journalist for Tapevine Magazine and a record producer for Farm Out Music. He has a sci-fidelic rock project known as Starjelly and releases instrumental electronic music as Torchard.

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