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Anonymous A started this discussion 15 years ago#12,364
A hush fell over the auditorium. I was next and the pit of my stomach was on fire. I remember thinking how foolish I was to sign up for a school talent show but decided to go through with it. I thought of it as overcoming something, of facing my fears. At that very moment, when the act prior to me ended and the applause of the crowd had subsided, I felt more fear than I ever had during my entire life. No guts no glory right?
Mrs. McQueen, the oldest Drama teacher known to man and sponsor of the school talent show for the last 35 years called my name. I closed my eyes and drew a very deep breath in through my nose and exhaled from my mouth. This was it. This was go time. My fear was just on the other side of the curtain and I was ready to come face to face with it and prevail. I thought of my great uncle whom I had never met. He had died decades before I was born, nearly cut in half while charging a large group of Vietnamese soldiers. How had Uncle Harvey felt before he made his last ditch effort to add to the body count that Lyndon Johnson had so desired? If he could do it facing certain death then I should be able to do this with no trouble at all.
I stepped from behind the curtain with my case in hand. What was a good magician without his props? On the stage was a table and a microphone mounted on a stand, Mrs. McQueen came forward and adjusted the height so it would not be too tall. She must have sensed my nervousness because she gave me a smile and said,
“You’re going to do just fine dear.â€
I smiled back at her and placed my case onto the small table near the microphone. I could feel my nerves starting to begin their fire dance in my stomach. I forced myself to think of Uncle Harvey, running and shooting and being fired upon by the enemy soldiers. The thought of that seemed to calm my nerves. I tilted the microphone up a little and spoke.
“Today I’d like to do a few magic tricks for you all. Enjoy.â€
I started off with a few simple tricks. The magical rings that separated and then reconnected, I reproduced a card that I had a classmate pick from the deck and seal in an envelope, and I ripped up a newspaper and had it magically reconstruct itself. With every trick my confidence grew and as I moved from one trick to the next the audience began to applaud more and more. I felt that the time was right to give the crowd what they wanted to see, something amazing, something that they would never forget. I positioned the table to center stage and approached the microphone.
“And now for my next trick, I need a volunteer. Not just any volunteer. I need a special volunteer.â€
I smiled and turned to Mrs. McQueen.
“Mrs. McQueen, would you please give me the honor of having you as a volunteer?â€
Mrs. McQueen smiled and walked over to my side.
“Absolutely, I would love to be your special volunteer,†she said into the microphone.
I instructed her to lie down on the table and I covered her from the neck down with a cloth.
“This next trick is a variation of the famous Indian rope trick. In the original version a magician will make a rope come from a coiled position in a basket and make it stand straight up, several feet into the air. I will not be doing that tonight. No, what I will be doing is much more exciting and will be sure to amaze each and every one of you!â€
The crowd let out applause as I made my way over to Mrs. McQueen. She smiled at me. I could tell by the look in her eyes she was as excited as the crowd to see my version of the Indian rope trick. I smiled back at her for the same reason.
I reached into my bag and grabbed the most important tool for successfully executing the trick: a stainless steel butcher’s knife. I lifted the sheet above my head to obscure the view of the audience. A good magician never lets the audience in on how a trick is done. Mrs. McQueen was taken off guard when I plunged the blade of the knife into her soft belly. The sound was nearly identical to cutting the rind off of a watermelon. I likely made the cut a little too high and nicked a rib. I quickly made an adjustment and ran the blade a little lower. Mrs. McQueen let out a shriek of pure pain. The crowd hushed and I heard movement from under the cloth.
“Don’t worry ladies and gentlemen; what you are seeing is magic! Don’t give up on us now, isn’t that right Mrs. McQueen?â€
I twisted the blade of the knife fast and pushed the blade in a little deeper. As if on cue Mrs. McQueen let out another scream. The crowd responded, first with laughter then applause. They felt as if they were being let in on a bit of the secret. I continued my work of cutting and tearing and Mrs. McQueen continued to be the most special of volunteers. She would let out a scream here and a wincing moan there. She did better than I thought she would. Eventually she grew weaker and stopped making any noise.
Shortly after Mrs. McQueen quieted down I was ready to perform the greatest magic trick the entire school would ever see. I poked my head from behind the cloth and smiled to the crowd.
“So everyone, are you ready?†I asked.
The crowd responded with a cheer. They were ready. They were on edge. The feeling in the room became electric. It was as if we were all feeding from that energy and it was being recycled and growing with every passing second. I stuck my head back underneath the cloth and beheld at the wonder that was displayed before me. Mrs. McQueen was prepped and ready. I took a second to dredge my hands through her blood and run them down my face. The crowd wanted to be impressed and I was out to impress them. I was facing my fears. I was facing my fears with war paint.
I popped my head from beneath the cloth with a smile. There were some laughs and some gasps. The audience didn’t know what to do.
“Fear not my friends. I give you the greatest magic trick you will ever see!â€
And with that I grabbed ahold of the small intestine of Mrs. McQueen, well actually the handle of the telescopic wire I had been running through all twenty some odd feet of her guts while hidden from the view of the audience while underneath the cloth. A good magician never lets his audience know how the trick is done. Otherwise it would not be magic and most magic tricks are what they appear to be but it is the set up that makes it seem so unbelievable. I hoisted the first few feet of the wire into the air. The cloth draped itself over the wire and did the trick of concealing what was beneath it for the first four or five feet. The audience was quiet, not because they were shocked but because they were in awe. It wasn’t until the intestine began to be exposed that the first sounds of concern came from the audience.
“Please ladies and gentleman, do not lose faith in me, this is magic. I assure you everything is fine,†I said.
And everything was going fine. The intestines made a beautiful straight red line. A living rope of wet elastic flesh stretched around a wire that I made dance with a subtle flick of the wrist. One did not need to be a magician or even like magic to appreciate this trick. The scene was surreal. Blood was running down the intestine and dripping onto my already blood painted face. Slowly but surely the entire length of Mrs. McQueen’s insides were standing straight up in the air.
The weight of the wire was more than I had thought it would be and I could feel my arm and wrist begin to tire so I started the length of intestine on a gradual descent back to the table. From the perspective of the audience it must have been glorious as the red line disappeared back into Mrs. McQueen’s body and the cloth resumed its previous place.
I reached into my bag and prepared my next prop for the grand finish.
“And now my friends prepare for even more amazement!†I announced.
I reached into my bag and produced my father’s .45. I aimed the pistol at the first row and squeezed the trigger. The Colt announced to the world that it was not a simple prop but a reality. I was staring my fear in its face and I was destroying it. The first shot was true and bore a hole into the head of a girl in the front row, I remembered her from geometry class, I remembered her laughing at me, talking to her little slut friends, probably speculating as to the size of my dick. The next shot landed into the chest of another girl, Madeline was her name, I once asked her for her phone number but she told me that she had a boyfriend, Justin. Ironically Justin was sitting beside her and his face was in disbelief. I decided that his face would look better if I put a bullet into it and I did. His left cheek ripped back and formed a flap. Now he could literally talk out of the side of his face if he so desired but I didn’t desire for him to talk. He had taken Madeline from me I was sure of it. He had listened to my thoughts, I never knew how but I knew he did. And now he could hear me, his face told the story. He knew he had seconds to live and in seconds he was liberated from this earth by a second bullet. Face your fears. That was my new mantra. Face your fears. Squeeze the trigger. People were running around in a panic. Some were falling down because they were tripping over others; some were falling down because I was facing my fears. Now I had become the face of all their fears.
Eventually the Colt was empty. I had an extra clip in my back pocket. But this one was not for the others. This one had but one bullet. I slowly slid the clip into the pistol and chambered the round. It was time for me to face my fears for real. Everything up to this point had been practice, motivation for my final act. By this time the audience had already cleared out and I was left alone, with exception of Mrs. McQueen, the girl from Geometry class, Madeline, Justin, and some other party people who had decided to get in the way of the rounds I fired. I took a deep breath, cocked the weapon, and pressed it hard against my temple. I thought of my heroic Uncle Harvey. Uncle Harvey who had spent his last moments on Earth killing gooks while being killed by gooks, something about that made me smile and I felt completely relaxed at the thought of what was to come. Face your fears. I closed my eyes and squeezed the trigger.
Anonymous B replied with this 15 years ago, 9 minutes later, 34 minutes after the original post[^][v]#222,311
> I reached into my bag and produced my father’s .45. I aimed the pistol at the first row and squeezed the trigger.
Black Gallagher ain't no punk bitch.
sluggy joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 3 minutes later, 37 minutes after the original post[^][v]#222,312
Not bad. I recommend submitting it to any school sponsored writing contests. I'm sure the school administrators would be delighted.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 7 minutes later, 45 minutes after the original post[^][v]#222,314
@previous (sluggy)
I'm not in school anymore but I give my permission to anyone who reads this to submit it to any school sponsored writing contests.
Nickalollyoff !Aw0s40dyqw joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 3 hours later, 3 hours after the original post[^][v]#222,335
Anonymous E joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 8 hours later, 12 hours after the original post[^][v]#222,386
Meowth !RKehomzmKo joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 8 hours later, 23 hours after the original post[^][v]#222,725
@222,437 (Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ)
I really enjoyed it. Definitely worth however much time I spent reading it. Do you have more stories like this?
Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 5 minutes later, 23 hours after the original post[^][v]#222,734
@previous (Meowth !RKehomzmKo)
Not really written. The first line was in my head all day yesterday. I didn't know what it meant but the story sort of exploded in my head and I typed it all out. I'm going to start writing more and sharing them. People seem to enjoy this one.
Meowth !RKehomzmKo replied with this 15 years ago, 1 minute later, 23 hours after the original post[^][v]#222,735
@previous (Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ)
It was pretty unexpected. You did a great job with detail and building up the suspense.
Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 2 minutes later, 23 hours after the original post[^][v]#222,740
@previous (Meowth !RKehomzmKo)
Thanks bud. I liked the idea of someone just being completely fucking crazy but someone reading it not realizing it until towards the end.
Meowth !RKehomzmKo replied with this 15 years ago, 1 minute later, 23 hours after the original post[^][v]#222,742
Meowth !RKehomzmKo replied with this 15 years ago, 19 hours later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,172
This story is still in my head. It's nice.
Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,175
@previous (Meowth !RKehomzmKo)
Thanks again man. I am glad it lasted with you. You made it worth it. If it has that effect on one person then it is worth it. I will write more now for sure. I am on my way to a good drunk to tonight wouldn't likely be the best of nights but I will write more.
Meowth !RKehomzmKo replied with this 15 years ago, 13 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,192
@previous (Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ)
Whoop! I'm pretty excited. I may send this story around with credit to you if that's alright.
Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 4 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,198
@previous (Meowth !RKehomzmKo)
Sure man. Send it around all you want.
Anonymous K joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 5 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,206
@223,175 (Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ) > Face your fears. I closed my eyes and squeezed the tri-
possible edit? It's a style choice really, but I think it ends it with a punch.
Otherwise I really liked the pacing. At first I felt the story was going to be corny, but you quickly caught my attention and then held it to the end as when you focused on the details during the slaughter of Mrs. McQueen. Possibly you could lose the reference to Lyndon Johnson specifically, it felt out of place and slowed down the story a tad, but nothing major. Overall, very well written. Have you tried submitting this to any journals for publication? I have a 2008 version of Writer's Market, and most details don't change for major places.
I'm thinking Harper's? New Yorker? I know, the Yale Review:
The Yale Review
Yale University
P.O. Box 208243, New Haven CT, 06520-8243
They pay 4-500 bucks, maybe even more these days!
(Edited 45 seconds later.)
Meowth !RKehomzmKo replied with this 15 years ago, 9 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,217
Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 4 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,227
@223,206 (K)
Thanks for the criticism. I wrote the story over the course of a night. I was chatting with someone on msn and writing a paragraph at a time. I just posted it without editing or rewriting anything. Perhaps the LBJ reference was one that was a little too obscure. I was thinking about the Gulf of Tonkin. Initially I thought to mention Gen Westmoreland or however his name is spelled. Sometimes entire stories present themselves to me in my head. I just happened to type out this one. I haven't given much thought to publishing it. If you want to put your name on it and give it a try feel free. We are all just antennas, it is a matter of tuning in to the right frequency to get these ideas.
[^_^] !IOdbnXsKDk replied with this 15 years ago, 31 seconds later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,228
@222,750 (Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ)
Insert my rant from that other page
[Here]
Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,236
@previous ([^_^] !IOdbnXsKDk)
Lol it's all good bud.
Anonymous L joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 19 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,263
Well OP, you didn't grab me in the first three sentences so I quit reading.
Learn to be less boring if you wanna write professionally. This is the internet age for Christ's sake.
[^_^] !IOdbnXsKDk replied with this 15 years ago, 5 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,268
@223,236 (Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ)
Lol I was super high and it made sense at the time, until I realized what i was typing halfway through and made myself 'wat'
Meowth !RKehomzmKo replied with this 15 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,269
@previous ([^_^] !IOdbnXsKDk)
Lol. I was super high reading this shit, but it was so worth it. It probably took me like five times longer than it should have to read, but yeah. Lol.
[^_^] !IOdbnXsKDk replied with this 15 years ago, 1 minute later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,272
@previous (Meowth !RKehomzmKo)
I was sober when i read it but i still liked it, that's what impressed me!
Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 22 seconds later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,275
@223,263 (L)
Dicks! Anon L was sucking furiously. He had already ingested a gallon of cum but that was nothing compared to what came next...
Meowth !RKehomzmKo replied with this 15 years ago, 54 seconds later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,276
@223,272 ([^_^] !IOdbnXsKDk)
It impressed me that my high ass was able to pay attention throughout it all.
[^_^] !IOdbnXsKDk replied with this 15 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,281
@previous (Meowth !RKehomzmKo)
Lol that is impressive
Meowth !RKehomzmKo replied with this 15 years ago, 2 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,286
@previous ([^_^] !IOdbnXsKDk)
I was like whoaaaaaaaaa. Rofl.
hamfist !!snnYcROO9 joined in and replied with this 15 years ago, 3 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,291
Suck my dick
Leo Vegas !gNoGoD5HzQ (OP) replied with this 15 years ago, 8 minutes later, 1 day after the original post[^][v]#223,298