The Birthmark

The story of a mentally and emotionally challenged young man who becomes a suicidal sociopath. This is not a mystery, but the story has a somewhat mysterious ending. The story will challenge the imagination, and only reader will know, or not know, how the story ends.

A young man is born with a mysterious birthmark. The birthmark haunts his tortured soul 24/7. A day doesn't go by when this young man is not confronted by what, to him, is not only unfair, but is such a grotesque representation of what a human being should look like that he begins to harbor enough resentment, bitterness and hatred to kill those he deems normal, and/or those he considers abnormal. His obsession to kill others is superseded only by his overwhelming desire to kill himself. In fact, suicide soon becomes his reason for being, his raison d'etre. Things are moving along rather nicely. Some interesting and intriguing seques take place until he meets, Olivia, the librarian. Prior to meeting Olivia he spent most of his time living in his tree-house, a secluded domain, in the bowels of which, he spent most his time reading and writing. He'd always been enamored by writers, poets and the books they seemed mysteriously( muse-inspired) able to write. At a young age he'd already fallen in love with the English language, but now, in the world of his imagination, he'd become helplessly smitten, and he wanted nothing more than to become a writer, so long as he lived, of course. Olivia, who never acknowledged his birthmark, touched him in a place he'd previously thought untouchable. The hope she manifested in life, particularly in him and his potential, created an avoidance-approach manner of living that caused even a greater degree of confusion and angst. He wanted to live. He wanted to die. But he knew he couldn't have it both ways. After his last meeting with Olivia he begins to believe in something, and/or just maybe someone greater than himself. His determination to live runs headlong into a mystical confrontation with an evil force greater than himself, and he pays the ultimate price. Before reading this story people should be forewarned that others have read it and laughed so hard and so long that they died.

Richad Ilnicki is a graduate of Youngstown State University and currently manages a health club, Total Fitness, in Tarpon Springs, Florida. He is a former bodybuilder and won the Mr. Youngstown tile in 1968. He is married and has two daughters and two grandchildren. He has published six books of poetry and has self-published two novels, "Hitting Bottom" and "The Bibliophile." One of his books of poetry, "The Hatchet Man" is in the library of Yad Vashem, Jerusalem. The book deals exclusively with The Holocaust. Richard is from Pittsburgh, Pa. and is an avid Steelers, Pirates, Penguins fan. He did some graduate work at Wayne State University while working for Chrysler Corporation. It was during his graduate work at Wayne State University that he began to write poetry and short stories. Richard is certain that none of his books will ever make the New York Times best seller list, but that is not why he writes. He writes because he feels the need to write, for himself and, hopefully, for the joy of others. Vladimir Mayakovsky has always been his favorite poet, that is, until he met Rumi. He has many favorite quotes from writers that thrill him: for example; "When I get a little money, I buy books; and if there is any left, I buy food and clothes." Desiderius Erasmus. Or this one by Franz Kafka, "A book must be an ice-axe to break the seas frozen inside our souls."