Sunday Story- Palliate

Palliate- to ease symptoms of a disease or ailment (without curing it)

Ex: “The only way to palliate the irreversible damage done by the tertiary stage of syphilis was to pour out a liter of Bushmills on the rocks and take it straight to the dome. Well, that and the heroin. What would anyone else have done? Can you really blame me?” The parents in the audience sat in stunned disbelief. They grabbed their playbills from under their chairs and scanned them up and down furiously. Couples turned to one another and murmured.

The director clamped down on the choreographer’s shoulder backstage. In a furious shout-whisper he demanded answers. “Is he fucking freestyling up there!? What in the shit does this have to do with To Kill a Mockingbird!? Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just pull the plug on this whole thing right now!” “All I can think of is that he’s somehow trying to work the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment into the script. It’s not actually that farfetched, if you think about it. I mean they both happened in Alabama in the 1930’s. Although I’ve never heard anyone assume that Tom Robinson was given syphilis by the government. Let’s just…just give him a shot. We’ll see how it plays out” “Alright, fine! But just know it’s your ass on the line if this goes off the rails.” They both turned their attention back to the stage, waiting with bated breath for the next line of improvised dialogue.

“Atticus! I’m drunk as a skunk! I appreciate you defending me and all but why not come have a drink with your boy. I just picked up this new Eric B. and Rakim record and it’s seriously gonna blow your balls off. Atticus! Don’t be shy, I’m not contagious!” The director burst through the stage curtain and tackled the young thespian. They both struggled for control of the microphone, grappling and rolling around on the courthouse floor while the audience watched on, dumbfounded.