The Fall of the House of Usher
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Long suffering had nearly annihilated all my ordinary powers of mind.
I was an imbecile an idiot.
Okay, thats a little dramatic.
How did he end up there?
If not for that decision, Verna reveals, Roderick might have been a poet.
Freddie would have been a dentist and a pretty good one, too.
When it comes to the Usher kids, Freddie has beenHouse of Ushers slowest burn.
His siblings call him Frauderick for being such a poor imitation of the Usher patriarch.
When he replaced a respected Fortunato board member, the New YorkTimesran with the headline From Ruthless to Toothless.
When Morrie picked himup, he was standing awkwardly and alone at a photo shoot.
She noted, correctly, that he looked like he needed a friend.
But when she confronts Verna to make a run at strike a deal, thats not what Verna wants.
Instead, the Usher familys tormentor is almost wistful.
And together they break my heart, she says.
She doesnt elaborate, but who she could have been is an interesting question.
What are the consequences of being so small?
Just ask Freddie, whom Verna treats more ruthlessly than any of his late siblings.
Its then that Verna springs her trap, freezing Freddie with the paralytic he doesnt realize hes been snorting.
He could have had a heart attack or been hit by a bus.
It seems, for a moment, like she even considered giving him an easy out.
Once the pendulum stops swinging and Freddie is dead, its fair to ask: Were there everanygood Ushers?
But theres a third name neither Roderick nor Dupin suggests: Juno.
If Rodericks new wife has sometimes seemed like a background character, that was by design.
But thats not what she chooses.
Easy, she says.
This time, he did it all to himself.
Any guesses whats in them?
Its enough to make the old man smile … until young Freddies torso slides off his legs.
Submitted for your approval, Freddies nicknames for himself: Fredzo, Usher Ascendent.
I thought you only existed in the movies.
Itll come to you.
