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Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Subtle Linger, Corridor

"Each week, 3WW will post three (or more) random words. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write something using all of those words. It can be a few lines, a story, a poem, anything. I'll also attempt to write something using the same three words.

Leave a comment if you participate. Many fun and interesting people might visit your blog.

This week's words are:
Corridor
Linger
Subtle"



I have to see him. If only for a second or two. Just long enough to look into his eyes and see if he recognizes me after all these years. I'm hoping he will, but I'm guessing he won't.

It's too long ago, and he's become this hugely important public figure now. People pay to hear him speak. People soak up his words like old sponges tossed in a corner for years until they become cracked and brittle and there's no telling if water will help them or simply make them break apart. He's far better at the breaking apart than he is at the helping.

How did he get to be so influential and important? Why do people believe that he holds some magic key to the kingdom of life and how it should be lived? If they could only see the man I knew from the past, they'd laugh at how foolishly they pin their hopes and dreams on someone who couldn't be bothered to comb the toast crumbs out of his beard before he met with the loan officer at the bank so he could beg for money to keep his own dream afloat.

Why does no one ever wonder where he got the means to become this bigger than life persona? Isn't this the day and age of public exposure and the politics of personal destruction? Well, when does he get his due? When do people find out that their hero is nothing but a con man hellbent on taking their money and using it for his own extravagant purposes.

I want to see him exposed for the fraud he is. I want him to pay for all the mean-spirited, hateful things he said to me, and how he ground those ugly words into my head like pieces of glass being mashed with a mortar and pestle. I want him to suffer loss like I have; I want him to know abandonment and despair. I want to see him crushed and see if he has what it takes to pull himself up by the bootstraps and move on. I want to see people turn away from him in disgust as though he's something the dog killed in the woods and dragged home and put on the living room rug like a trophy.

I read somewhere that being shot in the stomach is the worst way to die. It's painful and takes a long time to finally bleed the life out of you. I'd like to be able to give that kind of pain to him. See how he absorbs it and deals with the consequences of it. He's never had to deal with consequences before. It's time he learned.

That's why I'm standing here; why I decided to linger in the corridor outside his tv studio dressing room. What I want to do is, using subtle moves and keeping my body shielded from his view until the last possible minute, wait until I can be positioned right in front of him, and then lift my face and look right into his eyes. I'll say, "Hiya Cowboy. Remember me? How's tricks?" Then I'll wait for his response... if he can manage to make one.

He really has cleaned up nicely. No one would suspect that my reference to "tricks" signifies his time as a pimp pushing sex and drugs and whatever those who want to escape and feel good for 5 minutes will pay for.

Wait... I think he's coming out... yes, the door is open and he's moving into the corridor. Now if I can just push through... there, I'm right behind him. I'll pat him on the shoulder... yes, he's turning to face me. And I say, "Remember me, Cowboy? How's tricks?"

His eyes; he looks startled. I smile, and he recoils. And then I pull the trigger...

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow! Very nicely done. I think we all have those urges--and all have people if not famous, famous in their own heads, or just people we would like to kill but don't have the nerve to even do it on paper, in fiction

Captured the feelings wonderfully

Anonymous said...

Very suspenseful and a shocking ending. I enjoyed the build up and the raw emotion spilling out.

Rose

xo

paisley said...

that was excellent.. i am so glad she sot him and didn't go thru all of that just to see the look on his face... excellently done...

you have some awesome web designs here and the playground....

Yasmees said...

Great job! Different kind of story from you! Didn't expect that ending at all. You just keep surprising me!

alisonwonderland said...

oh, i didn't expect that ending!

Anonymous said...

What an ending. You pulled it off very well...

Clare said...

Great writing!! I'm also glad you included the ending instead of leaving it unresolved. Wow. I really enjoyed reading this -- it totally kept me interested!
:)

Ther said...

I can only echo what pia said, WOW. This is good. A story like a strong water current that brings you from one part of the river to the strong waterfall. you had me believing this guy really deserve this and i'm kind of pulling the trigger along with her.

Ma T said...

Thank you all for such nice comments. Actually I have Bone to thank and recognize. He comes up with these great words every Wednesday, and I now can't wait to see what mental image forms when I see what the words of the week are.

Many of you participate in his meme and are quite talented yourselves. Part of the fun of this meme is seeing what you guys contribute. :)

TC said...

The ending was quite the surprise for me! Nicely done.

If they could only see the man I knew from the past, they'd laugh at how foolishly they pin their hopes and dreams on someone who couldn't be bothered to comb the toast crumbs out of his beard before he met with the loan officer at the bank so he could beg for money to keep his own dream afloat.

That part came alive for me... so sad and yet also somewhat arrogant. Honest to a fault at the very least.

Paul said...

I thought the moment she saw him, she'd fall under his charms again. So glad she didn't.

Bone said...

Wow, how very Lee Harvey Oswaldish. I mean, assuming he did it.

Dewey said...

Nice! I love the surprise ending.

Cyberoutlaw said...

A man who doesn't bother to comb the toast crumbs from his beard before asking for a loan deserves to be shot, LOL! Excellent tale! Humorous in spots, and with a twist ending. Very well-written!