A dying man is visited by a boy in a mask, a character from a novel that he never completed.
Riddled with regret the nameless narrator, a dying, bedridden businessman, is visited by a boy in a mask, a character he recognises from a novel that he never completed. He asks his nurse, Mila, to dig out the manuscript so that he can read and complete it. He begins to tell the story of David, a boy who glues the mask of his hero, Commander Chance, to his own face. As the tale unfolds so does the story of the businessman’s life with which he is deeply discontent. He hasn’t spoken to his son, Paul, for years and blames him for the death of his wife, the boy’s mother. Then there are the postcards from his soul-searching addict daughter who blames him for everything that’s gone wrong in her life. He tries to focus on completing the novel but, as he discovers, it’s not the only unfinished business.
Manuscript complete.