GrUeberfest 2005: The Consequence of Falling (769 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: uberbook
Rating: 1.8 on 29 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Snark << snarkk.at.gmail.com (View user info) at 2005-10-26 18:00:10 EDT
THE CONSEQUENCE OF FALLING
His first shot is a winner and he knows it.
The woman with the baby is framed perfectly in his lens. Her weathered face is horrified and sharp. The deep creases in her winter-paled skin stand out in a kind of darkly poignant contrast to the smoke filled sky. The line she makes with her outstretched arm and finger extends from the corner of the picture to the midpoint, a study in geometric beauty.
She's clutching her child to her with her free hand. It's swaddled in brightly colored clothing and wrapped in a patchwork blanket. It's holding her just as tight, it's face pressed deep into her bosom, as if it knows there's a terrible thing happening behind it.
He squeezes off one shot, then another, then holds the button down and lets the camera drink its fill before turning it in the direction of the outstretched hand before him.
The fire has progressed with terrifying speed since the last time he looked. It has moved from the 12th floor to the 14th and where there was only smoke, he can now see the occasional flame. It shoots out of the concrete encased windows in puffs, bright red against the smoke darkened sky, like the breath of a hyperventilating dragon.
There are people standing on balconies, and hanging dangerously far out of smoking windows. They're waving frantically at the firefighters below. They're holding up their pets, and their children, and screaming things that can't be heard over the din of sirens and the yells of the crowd forming behind him.
He focuses and shoots, then shifts, zooms, squats and shoots some more, doing his best to work the disaster, to fill his camera with souls.
He's first on the scene and set up perfectly between blaze and crowd. He has pockets bulging with film and more professional enthusiasm than a fresh Grad. He has skill, guts, and a plastic id card hanging from his leather jacket, that gives him the right to get closer than one should without becoming involved.
The crowd yells and flinches - all tears and grimaces - and he turns back to the blaze in time to realize he's missed the first jumper. There's something smoldering on the ground between rescue vehicles. It's too big to be a pet and too broken to identify. It's burnt and bleeding and most certainly dead, and he denies himself the shot. He's here for the drama, not the death. He's about the story, not the obituary. He doesn't like it there, it's not his bag. It's too close to consequence for comfort and far less exciting. It's something for the darkest places on the internet, rather than newsprint.
It's for places with names like 'Ogrish' and 'Gruesome' and 'Ubersite' - not 'The Post'.
No, that kind of image is for cheap thrills and sick kicks. It's not journalism. It's not professional distance.
He pulls his face from the camera, blinks the smoke induced dryness out of his eyes, then swaps out used film for a fresh trap and gets back to the task-at-hand.
The dragon has moved again. It has skipped the 15th floor and it's sending its breath out of the 16th and 17th. It's shattering windows and sending ash and fine bits of glass down to pepper his hair. It's getting worse which means the story is getting bigger, so he puts everything that he is into finding the next shot on the faces of the people caught between..
There's a man in a blue cotton bathrobe climbing over the railing of his balcony. Smoke billows out of his patio door and his hair is smoldering. He's huge and round. He probably weighs close to 400lbs and the building is old. The railing gives way as he gets his last leg over it and he goes over then down. He falls slowly, flipping soundlessly end over end, before crashing into a ladder a couple of floors below. The ladder gives way and they both tumble in pieces to the pavement below, followed diligently by the flickering shutter of the unwavering lens.
He's not sure about those shots. It happened too fast. He thinks he might have messed up the focus, so he adjusts and pans back up to the balcony beside and tells himself that it is ok. There will be more jumpers, more opportunities.
There's a man standing in a white suit. He's not waving or screaming. He's tall and thin and his hair is long and red. He's holding something up to his face, and it's hard to tell what it is, so Keith plays with the focus and it clears up just as the man pulls it away.
His face is broad, pale and hairless. His lips are thin and pink. He smiles and waves, and if he didn't know better, Keith could almost believe the man was smiling at him. His finger shudders strangely on the button beneath it, but he doesn't take the shot, and then the man's grin spreads wider over thin teeth and he turns to point to the balcony beside him; The broken balcony that the fat man has just fallen from.
The camera pans. The world blurs and slides, then springs back into view and there's a fireman stepping out towards the gap in the railing.
He has a rope attached to a harness on his waist and his gloved hand is wrapped around the wrist of a woman equal in size to the dead man below. She's screaming and crying and her back is on fire. She moves to jump, the firefighter grabs hold, and they both go over. They fall a short distance and then the rope goes tight, and he's got her somehow. He's got her by the hands and they're dangling 150 ft above unforgiving pavement, and the camera is clicking with joy because the story just got better, and it might become great... if the hero can just hold on... but he can't.
She's too heavy, and the fall was too great. The firefighter's shoulders have popped out of joint and she doesn't realize it. She smiles gratefully up at him, happy to be alive, before his fingers lose their strength and she drops to her death.
The camera follows almost all the way down, then pans back to the man in the suit.
Flames flicker out of the opening behind him. They lick at his suit but he is oblivious. He's holding that thing back up to his face again and this time the focus is clear enough to make it out. It's white and square and there's a hole in the middle. It looks to Keith like a camera but it's wet and gleaming like fresh bone. The stranger waves again and, and this time there's no doubt he's waving at him. His finger presses the shutter button, the world blinks, and he's not standing on the hood of his car anymore.
He's somewhere high and he's looking down at the upraised faces of a couple hundred onlookers. He's staring wide eyed at pale blotches and bright red vehicles, and the back of his neck is beginning to blister from the dragon's breath.
He's starting to burn. He doesn't understand what's happened but he can't deny where he is. The balcony beside him is empty and the rail is broken.
The camera falls from limp hands. It hits the railing then tumbles through space, turning serenely, before the ground below turns it into a million pieces. He watches them scatter then notices something bright roll away. Somehow, despite the distance, he can make out the pristine lens roll across the street until it is crushed under the spinning tire of his car, as it slowly drives away.
His hair ignites. The back of his jacket crisps and feeds heat to the skin beneath.
There's no where to run, no help in sight, and no place to go but down.
User Reviews
Submitted by Stabkill (user info) at 2008-09-15 15:02:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
No Comment
Submitted by Anansie (user info) at 2005-10-30 22:55:16 EST (#)
Ranking: 2
Werd.
Submitted by ruthless (user info) at 2005-10-28 11:59:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Awesome.
Submitted by Brdn_Nkd (user info) at 2005-10-28 11:35:29 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by AshK (user info) at 2005-10-27 10:16:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Christ Snark, I wish you would put some effort in and write something decent for once.
This rocked. The car driving away made the story. I love the "oh shit" moments.
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-10-27 10:04:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-10-27 07:38:57 (#)
Ranking: 2
I may be a little thick, but...what was the wet thing that the dude in the suit was holding?
It was magic! Muhahahahahahahahaha. This is my standard answer to any optical questions my customers ask. I wring my hands together as I say it.
Submitted by wookie (user info) at 2005-10-27 08:42:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Berty (user info) at 2005-10-27 07:55:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I didn't think much of the ending but this story is inspired.
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-10-27 07:38:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I may be a little thick, but...what was the wet thing that the dude in the suit was holding?
Submitted by Bigmike (user info) at 2005-10-27 02:33:20 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice.
Submitted by crx (user info) at 2005-10-26 23:47:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by LadyPlural (user info) at 2005-10-26 23:27:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
How do you manage to shit pure awesome on such a regular basis?
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2005-10-26 23:26:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Outstanding.
I love the 'roving eye' fluidity that the story has. The pacing was perfect for the scene that's being described.
Like thecaes, I was thinking "where's the horror" in the back of my mind, even though I didn't really care all that much because I was so engrossed in the tale. But then, of course, the ending delivered. Quite well, too.
Submitted by pen_name (user info) at 2005-10-26 23:18:34 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
bloo!
Submitted by pen_name (user info) at 2005-10-26 23:18:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
blah
Submitted by OneCheapGeek (user info) at 2005-10-26 22:31:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Wowzers
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2005-10-26 22:09:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This was a really good take on the title
Submitted by pen_name (user info) at 2005-10-26 21:53:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
haha, I saw it coming as soon as the man in white was introduced. Still loved it, though.
good pace and great imagery.
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-10-26 21:38:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Saxon (user info) at 2005-10-26 20:29:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice work.
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-10-26 20:20:18 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Benny (user info) at 2005-10-26 19:24:42 (#)
Ranking: 2
Very awesome. So was it the demon (or whatever he was) driving off in the photographer's car?
============
Thanks Benny,
Yep, that was him (or it) driving away.
Submitted by Benny (user info) at 2005-10-26 19:24:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Very awesome. So was it the demon (or whatever he was) driving off in the photographer's car?
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-10-26 19:04:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
After much internal whining, I have decided to post my story as it is. It's 'done' but not as resolved as I want it to be. But I am not going to have time to give it a decent ending -- to do that I'd probably have to double its length and I just can't manage the time right now.
Also, I noticed that I somehow managed to turn this stand alone horror post into something that could be turned into a series, to which I say FUCK YOU JACK MCCALLUM! FUCK YOU RIGHT IN YOUR GOAT EAR!!
Submitted by Saffron (user info) at 2005-10-26 19:04:06 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
The leisurely pacing of this makes it even creepier. Very nice.
Submitted by Snark (user info) at 2005-10-26 18:43:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Fire Trucks are cool
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-10-26 18:35:59 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ooooohh! I liked it quite a bit, but at first I was wondering, 'where's the horror?' But you pulled off a very interesting and clever twist at the end. I pictured the guy who played Max Headroom (if anyone knows who that is) as the man in the suit (Christopher Lloyd came to mind also). You went for a subtle creep-factor on this one, and it worked really well for me.
Submitted by runswithscissors (user info) at 2005-10-26 18:28:48 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Nice twist.....
I have often wondered about photo journalists, what they might be thinking (or not thinking)
as they snap photos of fires and explosions, people bleeding and dying.....
Submitted by shitfuck (user info) at 2005-10-26 18:19:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
When I fall down people laugh at me so I pull out my gun and waste them.
Submitted by Jack_McCallum (user info) at 2005-10-26 18:11:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Fucking great. Loved it.