Later on, when the paramedics had revived him, the doctors had released him, the cops had interrogated him, the court system had absolved him, the press had interviewed him, the media had sensationalized him, the bartenders had comped him, the women had loved him, the kids had emulated him, the skeptics had shot their doubt at him, the haters had hated him, his friends had abandoned him and then made money off of knowing him, the zookeepers had learned from him, the theologians had publicly denounced him, the President had mentioned him, the atheists had shunned him, his wife had left him, his dog had ran away from him, his virility had failed him, his looks had been robbed by age from him, his mind had wandered from him and the trailer parks had made a legend of him, he had only one thing to say to anyone who asked:

“It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

They would carve it into the black marble monolith that would mark his hilltop grave overlooking the city he tried to save, a hip spot to this day.