Yer everyday western

A calm span of sand and dirt in a desert canyon is disturbed by a teenage boy running frantically. He stops at the river and pants as he looks down the path he’d come by. Blood pours from one eye and he pulls a gun out from its holster. He waits. Moments later the sheriff shows up. He ducks behind a tree and pulls out his own gun.

Sheriff
Shoulder that gun fella. You got the draw on me but I’m a quicker shot. Plus, yer missin’ an eye. You ain’t got a chanc’a comin’ near me in yer state. Come on now. Lemme gatcha over to miss lori’s for some help.

Boy
An then what’ll happen sheriff? You gonna let me get on my way? Clean?

The Sheriff nods.

Boy cont…
I bet you will.

Sheriff
Tell you what boy, put that there putter down an I’ll bring you in fer sum help. Keep it up and I’ll shoot’chya. Fair deal?

The boy nods and slowly lowers the gun to the ground. As soon as the gun is pointed down, the sheriff plants a bullet right in the urchin’s temple. He crumples to the road in a cloud of dirt. The echo of the shot rings off the walls of the canyon. The sheriff grabs the boy’s gun from his hand.

Sheriff
Right shame.

He tucks the gun in his pants and searches the boy’s body for the bag of bank money he had stolen. The Sheriff weighs it using his left hand as a scale and tucks it in his pants. Then he unpins his badge, tosses it in the river and leaves.

Provocation: Cannibalism is okay

Introduction to Provocation: A crazy idea is taken seriously and used as the basis for a scene or story.

–Provocation: Cannibalism is a perfectly normal practice, like vegetarianism. What cannibalism needs is a farm bill to subsidize farmers of organically fed people for practicing cannibals.–

The Senate has just began session. Cameras surround the perimeter. Joseph, a reporter for CNN, stands anticipating next to his camera. The excited tension in his breath fogs the lens and he doesn’t notice.

SPEAKER
The Senator from Massachusetts has the floor.

MA SENATOR

Thank you Speaker. Distinguished colleagues of the Senate and friends, today we bring before you a truly historic bill. With your yay vote this day, you become aligned with the right part of history in confirming the strength of our constitution and the effectiveness of our laws. We are a government of the people, by the people and the people have spoken. [Applause] The People-farm Subsidy is not just a support system for an industry that is experiencing enormous pressure from world-wide competition. It is an affirmation that the United States of America will protect the basic human right to choose no matter what our neighbors think. [applause] We are a country governed by one principle before any other - we will do whatever we can as government officials to please the people and make them feel good so that we don’t lose our jobs, even if it goes against our personal beliefs of what right and wrong are. [laughter] Just wanted to see if you were still with me.

The truth is that people-farming had been going on for years on a black market in the United States and abroad. Until the recent Supreme Court ruling in favor of legalizing cannibalism, people-farming on the black market created dangerous conditions for those taking part in it and for consumers, without any scrutiny on the quality of service or product. Those with an eye toward taking advantage of an unwatched system exploited their consumers by delivering badly taken care of, unhealthy product often laced with dangerous drugs. One in ten consumers either died or had life-long complications as a result of this unsafe environment for cannibalism.

Look, I don’t personally agree with it. As a Catholic, its against my belief system. But I could not in good conscience exercise my own personal beliefs on the whole of the United States and watch those who choose to take part suffer as a result.

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Fearing change

Jon was a poor man in a rich city. But he didn’t blame them. Life holds a different secret for each of us and the actions we take decide whether we ever find out what it is. Jon made the wrong decisions. He screwed himself and now he thinks he missed the only chance he had. He wanders around with no reason to care. Jon stares at the couples in the park and wonders why it can’t be him. Sometimes he walks right through a couple holding hands just to feel what its like. He doesn’t spit on them or curse them out. He just wants to be a part of it.

But he will never be a part of it. He won’t even take the first step to get there. He can’t let himself take that risk. Something in his heart has shut his brain off and he can’t see himself as anything other than what he is. Everyday he does the same thing. Everyday he expects different results. He tells people that he’s trying. He doesn’t really care, though.

Jon should just hide away in some cardboard box, kill himself and be done with it. Who’d miss him after all? He sees the way people look at him. They know he’s a waste of skin. But what he doesn’t see is that he is just the same as a lot of those people he watches sitting in the park in suits with a 12-inch Subway on their lap. They do the same thing everyday, wish they could be a little more free and want anything other than what they are. Jon can’t let himself see it or expect anything more out of life though. If he did, that would change everything and he’d take a risk that he isn’t used to taking.

Jon is a homeless man with the world waiting on him. All he needs to do is choose to take that first step. Anything must be better than what he is. He won’t do it. Yesterday he asked a student sitting outside for fifty cents. The kid gave him a dollar instead and asked him to put it to good use. Jon said thank you and left. He didn’t realize how lucky he just was. He found the one person who might have actually seen him for the person that he is. And he didn’t think anything of it. Jon used the dollar to buy a coffee. He sat at that Starbucks with his coffee for six hours. Finally they kicked him out. He didn’t blame them. He’s just a guy who’s given up on life. He’s wasting his own skin. He should just get it over with.

Wordplay: Solo

INTRODUCTION TO WORDPLAY:
Wordplay is a writing exercise where a word is picked at random and used to write a scene.

–Wordplay word: SOLO–

Monologue of an Everyday Working Stiff who is Slightly Odd

This morning I woke up and the first thing I thought of was espresso. The very next thing I thought of was that I must have a pretty sad life if the first thing I think about when I wake up is a shot of espresso. I continued to lie on my bed, wrapped in several layers of sheets that somehow always manage to tangle up at the bottom of the bed during the night and quickly fell back asleep. I dropped right in the middle of some crazy dream that I can’t remember. The second alarm went off and I woke with a start. The first thing I thought of when I woke up was how I had thought of espresso when the first alarm went off. Man, my life is sad.

I used my mind power to get my legs off the bed. They couldn’t make it all the way this morning and sort of half swung off the edge of the bed. I was okay with it. I drifted back to sleep with my legs hanging off the bed but guilt kept me from enjoying another hour of sleep. It made my hands wipe the crinklies from my eyes. Yes, I call them crinklies. It reminds me of childhood. I focused on my breathing for a minute or so while staring at the ceiling. I had done a terrible job painting it. There’s streaks and cracking and other signs of a guy who just stopped caring. There’s also one line where the beam is clearly visible through the dry wall. The management company tells me it’s just the building settling but I’m sure the place is gonna cave in on me at some point. I wouldn’t mind too much, as long as I got out alive. I’d be set with the insurance money. I looked at the clock and jumped up to take a shower.

The shower was hot. I like it when its hot. So I took my time massaging my scalp. I always try to recreate the way the girls in the hair salon wash my hair but I never even come close. They have some secret method of destressing your head muscles. Some kind of tantric magic or something. They know all the right spots. I often wish I could sit down in my shower. There’s just not enough space though. It’s one of those 4 foot-wide stand-up showers where you barely have enough room to turn around. If I sat down I would likely fall asleep anyway so it’s probably best that I don’t have the space. Instead I sort of bend over and try to touch my toes. It makes me feel good. While I’m down there I let the water fall over my hair and across my face. I can’t put my face directly in front of the shower head because of the high pressure. It hurts. But when I use my head as an intermediary it works great.

But back to my morning.

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Aleria: Lost in the night

A Canyon in the Land of Ice and Water - Night

A small group of soldiers are huddled around a meager fire. A constant wind tugs at the flames as the bard holds their attention with a story.

Bard

You see appearances can be deceiving. You wouldn’t think it, but this land, which has caused us to lose our way, is more dangerous than the ice-encased city of Vorago. Here it appears empty of life and, in a way, it is. But half-living things crawl just under the surface, around the corners, inside the holes, in the ground and behind the bushes. Even under the rocks you sit on! Their lives, once normal, were destroyed when the tempest came through over one hundred years ago and forced them into submission as baseless slaves. Now, the scourge has left in search of new conquests, but a new evil has been let loose in these half-living slaves who have no master to control them anymore. They lost hope long ago and there is nothing left for them but the instinct to survive. They are savage by no fault of their own. Yet savage they are, nonetheless.

The wind picks up the fire embers and scatters them away. A dark silence embraces the group and they tense as one who is the prey sensing a stalker close by. Raj alone seems unmoved by the omen as he stands to look around.

Raj
(pacing contemplatively) Everyone of us will die.

Issak, the leader, gets the fire going again.

Issak
I know you’re afraid Raj. But If you show weakness they’ll come and you’ll get your wish. You have to pull it together.

Raj
I don’t mean like that. I know we’ll get out of this. What I mean is we’re all going to die eventually. No matter what we do or how right we are, we’ll die just like those things eventually will. We can hope to leave here unharmed but we can be sure that death will come at some point.

Matt
Eghm. Issak, his attitude is bringing my morale down. I might hesitate in battle. So I think Raj should be hog tied or else we might follow his lead.

The men erupt in laughter.

Issak
You know, I think you’re right though. Tie him up. And Raj, if you fight them I will kill you.

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Human Foliage

Black and blonde
And dense and sparse
And short and long
And coarse from wear.

I know it isn’t clear,
But I’m talking about hair.
And not head hair
But hair that grows everywhere.

On your fingers.
And your knees,
And your ears,
And your toes.

Shave it off where you like.
Down in front and in your nose.
And then, if you’re pretty,
Go find a painter and pose.

Because you can make some good money that way without being called a slut.
Afterall, it’s art.

Advantage - Me

Strip club bathroom - Night

A small, fat middle-aged man slumps on the back wall of a dirty bathroom while Kathy waits across the room to provide the services he’s already paid for. But he makes a phone call instead. Then he has Kathy lay her head on his chest and rub his feet with cold water from a dirty faucet. That’s all he wants.

Kyle V.O.: You know, It’s interesting how appearences can deceive. Not only appearences, but personalities. She came from my past - my long forgotten past - and she took hold of my thoughts with a word and a glance. I know she’s a boring waste of my time, and yet, something about her draws me to ask a question; an innocent question that I know she can’t ignore. I’m depending on her not to ignore it. Her conscience won’t let her ignore this question. Let her answer and let her open her heart to me once again. She was always easy that way. And I need someone easy right now.

Cheryl’s bedroom - Morning
A young red-head puts her clothes on while she talks on the phone.

Kyle, I got your message from last night. Can we meet tonight after work? You…the message you left really means a lot. Call me. 752-482-6829. [pause] oh, it’s cheryl. bye.

….to be continued.

A simple man’s great loss

He wakes up and reaches for her but his hands only find cold sheets. Why are they cold? There’s a breeze. He opens his eyes to look towards the window but all he sees is a dim white light. Something is covering his eyes. He reaches for it and touches soft, marred skin. A thick puss has crystallized in the corners of his eyes. He pushes the thickness aside and mistakenly brushes his cornea. He doesn’t feel a thing. A sickness starts low in his stomach as he presses with more force into his destroyed eyeballs. A scream is stifled as it attempts to escape and his stomach pain grows deeper. He scrambles to the edge of the bed and slips off. His immediate panic and loss of context only exacerbate the sickness and push it into his lungs. Struggling for breath, the blinded man slowly picks himself up to stand next to the bed. Something else has happened. It’s why the window is open. His breathing is shallow and measured as he moves hands across the bed once more. There’s no one there. He listens for her but his wheezing drowns out the silence in the room. She’s not here and she isn’t coming back. Unconsciously, he touches his ruined eyes. She’s made sure he’ll never find her. His lungs lock up in shock with the realization. He tries to pull the air in through his mouth. He vomits.

Hours later, the middle-aged man sits in a rocking chair that is too small for his bulk. The mixture of anger and sorrow is almost too hard to bear. So he sits and thinks about nothing. Just stares at the room that was hers for those twelve short years. He took her off the streets when she was just eight and gave her the care that only a real lover could give…showed her what was best for her…she fought for awhile but once he taught her how to make love she stopped fighting…until today.

He jumps up and throws the chair smashing against the wall. It’s his own fault for trusting her. She said she’d make a home-cooked meal and then give him the best sex he’d ever have. She wore him down with promises until he let her go into town for the day. With all her promises, of course she’d come back. He doesn’t remember anything after the drinks.