The Labors of Hercules Beal

by Gary D. Schmidt

Here’s the first rule: Bad things happen that you can’t fix. Here’s the second rule: You have to live with the first rule. Here’s the third rule: The first two rules stink.

I guess he knows that there’s a lot of bad stuff ahead, and he wants to say that even though there is a lot of bad stuff ahead, he’s going to set up something that lasts, something that says he was there and that he’s going to stand like a hunk of granite. Something that says that he is going to last—or at least try to. 226