Step Right Up (827 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: one-part_stories red_right_hand
Rating: 2 on 24 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Stagger Lee (View user info) at 2006-09-25 10:37:43 EDT
It is hard to define my surroundings by any but the most obvious feature; the room in which I am incarcerated is completely dark. I have mapped its dimensions as precisely as I can: it is about seven paces wide and four paces long. There is one door, and there is no handle on my side of the door, but there is a lock. There is a bucket in the corner, which I have not had to use since my imprisonment. There is an iron bar in the back right hand corner. There is also a pair of leather gloves.
I have no memory of how I came to be here. This is frustrating, because memory and conjecture are all I have to keep me sustained throughout this ordeal. Memories of a life before the cell. Conjecture involving the items in the cell, and the reasons for my incarceration. The bucket seems obvious, but the purpose of the other items eludes me.
To say that I have no memory is false, however, because there are fragments. I snatch at them and for the most part they slip, laughing, through my mental fingers, dancing away and dissipating like smoke in the wind.
I remember the man who came to visit me (yesterday?) at my home. A salesman, of sorts, in his dark suit and hat, a wide-brimmed fedora that cast deep shadows over his lined faced and prevented me from looking him in the eye. He was jocular and friendly.
"Greetings!" he proclaimed, upon his arrival on my doorstep. "Have I the pleasure of addressing Mr Ellis?"
I allowed that this was the case.
"Well, sir, you have the great, nay, the immeasurable, good fortune to have been selected for consumer feedback in our latest survey!" His voice rang with charisma and charm, not to mention an undeniably confident streak. He sounded certain, somehow. As if he were a man whose place and purpose in the world were both assured and important.
I said nothing; I waited for him to continue. And continue he did, barely breaking his verbal stride.
"Sir, I assure you that participation in this survey brings great rewards, both financial and... shall we say... insubstantial. More of a personal gain, yes?" While he spoke, his hands moved, performing gestures that were endearing and reassuring. He possessed eloquence in his movements.
"So, what's involved in this survey?"
"Thank you for asking, my good man. All that is required is a simple trip and a minor time commitment to answer one question, and one question only."
"Just one question? That's all? What's the catch?"
He spread his arms wide. "But sir! That is all. The question is of a somewhat difficult nature, you see. It's been formulated by the Business Ethics section of the university. They want to see how people react to the situation posed by the question."
I paused. "And the compensation will consist of what, exactly?
He waved a hand above his head in a gesture of complete and utterly unswerving dismissal. "Negotiable, sir! Completely! Something can be arranged, I believe you should talk to the faculty upon your arrival. Just agree to come down to the campus at five o'clock on Friday. I'm certain the terms can be made to satisfy you, sir."
I sighed, thinking that the man enthusiasm, at least, was unquestionable. "Alright," I said, with slight, but not overwhelming, reluctance. "I'll do it. Friday at five?"
"Indeed, my good man!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands together and bowing his head to me. "I look forward to your presence. Good day, sir."
He turned and made his jaunty way down my garden path and back onto the street.
That was Wednesday. I have no memory of awakening on Thursday. As far as I know, nothing has happened to me since sleeping on Wednesday evening. Nothing, apart from my inexplicable confinement to a darkened room, which I can find no way out of.
It is the silence, perhaps more so than the darkness, which is beginning to get to me. The silence drives tiny, niggling nails of panic into my mind. My breathing and footfalls seem unnaturally loud, and I begin to become irrationally afraid that someone, or something, is going to hear me and come for me.
The darkness has its own ration of panic, nonetheless. At times it seems as though someone is pressing down on the back of my skull; such is the pressure I feel. When I doze, uncomfortably, I awaken with the certainty that someone is present with me in the cell, perhaps standing just behind me, breathing shallowly and wielding something vicious in one hand. On these occasions I start, and flail my arms about in the blackness, almost unwilling to reach out for fear of actually finding something.
I realise that the thing I am most afraid of is that nothing will happen. I will continue to exist in this state, physically changeless yet degrading mentally until I am reduced to a drooling, helpless mess. At that point, I will welcome death.
Then it happens. After an immeasurable stretch of time, I hear voices and footfalls on the ceiling above me. At first, I am terrified, as the steps ring out around me like the peals of a great bell tolling in the distance. I force myself to be calm, to listen.
"Shit. What a dump." A muffled voice, but I am reasonably sure of the words.
"Yeah, say it twice," a second voice replies.
"Where'd he say the stuff was?"
"Basement, wasn't it? Find a goddamn light."
More footsteps, booming above my head. I hear what I think is a door opening.
"Are those the stairs?"
"I think so. He said it was in a small room at the end."
"Is there a light?"
"Probably, alright? Fucking relax, I'm looking for it."
Illumination suddenly floods in through the cracks around the edges of the door. Following on the heels of my light deprivation, it is blinding. I cry out, low and pitiful. Blinking my eyes rapidly, I develop some sort of tolerance to the glare, and I begin to think.
I do not know what the intent of these strangers could be. They could be here for anything.
My half-blind gaze flicks to the gloves in the corner of the room, then to the iron bar. Footsteps begin to ring out, gradually getting closer; presumably coming down the stairs towards me.
I make my decision. I scramble across the seemingly harsh-lit room and fumble for the gloves, pulling them on. In my haste, I get the fingers all wrong in the second glove, and I curse. I force myself to breathe deeply and move in a more relaxed manner.
Then I pick the iron bar up from the other corner and wait. I do not wait long. With my heart pounding in my ears, I stand close, but not too close, to the door as the lock clicks and the handle begins to turn. I shift my grip on the bar, my hands in the gloves already sweating and unsure, and I prepare to come out swinging.
User Reviews
Submitted by Fey (user info) at 2007-05-24 09:01:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
My kneejerk response to the mention of pandas:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFE6ZxwE-d0
Submitted by ruthless (user info) at 2006-10-27 12:45:42 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Yay for stuff.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-09-27 02:52:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
What the hell were you searching to get Cat Head Theatre?
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2006-09-26 23:37:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I think I've discovered ghola dear's nightmare: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3lQdLTBXNU
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2006-09-26 23:36:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
City, I should say.
The Nation's Capital had one great big boner for pandas.
The pandas at the National Zoo had tried for years to have kids, but could never manage to bring them to term, or keep them alive once born. This one made it. People went all ape tats over it.
In other news: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbK1eCt97ag
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-09-26 23:32:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Your whole town had panda fever? How little happened that year?
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2006-09-26 23:30:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This town had Panda Fever last year when the new cub was born.
People went all Crazy Go Nuts about the little carnivore.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-09-26 23:28:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2006-09-26 23:15:26 (#)
Ranking: 2
Ingrate.
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One of my favourite words.
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Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2006-09-26 23:14:05 (#)
Ranking: 2
no one read Vesper either.
that's okay. i gave up and posted about pandas.
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Someday... I will post about pandas. And it will be glorious.
Submitted by Orgasmatron (user info) at 2006-09-26 23:15:26 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Ingrate.
Submitted by ghola (user info) at 2006-09-26 23:14:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
no one read Vesper either.
that's okay. i gave up and posted about pandas.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-09-26 21:44:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Yeah, I meant to write "thanks" under that last review...
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-09-26 21:44:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by r0fl (user info) at 2006-09-25 23:03:47 (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-09-25 22:46:45 (#)
Ranking: 0
I should've known better than to try posting something with Ubermadness running.
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I noticed.
Submitted by r0fl (user info) at 2006-09-25 23:03:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-09-25 22:46:45 (#)
Ranking: 0
I should've known better than to try posting something with Ubermadness running.
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I noticed.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-09-25 22:46:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I should've known better than to try posting something with Ubermadness running.
Submitted by consuelo212 (user info) at 2006-09-25 20:30:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-09-25 18:55:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Submitted by MyTeeOne (user info) at 2006-09-25 17:13:09 (#)
Ranking: 2
This is, I hope, the start of a series.
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No, sorry. At least, not at the moment.
Cheers everyone.
Submitted by yhywstudios (user info) at 2006-09-25 17:43:50 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by kaos-king (user info) at 2006-09-25 17:40:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Method (user info) at 2006-09-25 17:24:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by MyTeeOne (user info) at 2006-09-25 17:13:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
This is, I hope, the start of a series.
Submitted by nya_nyo (user info) at 2006-09-25 11:28:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
more please
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2006-09-25 11:19:51 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by Axolotl (user info) at 2006-09-25 10:50:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by The_Yellow_Dart (user info) at 2006-09-25 10:45:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment