Wednesday, 5 January 2011

Geek

It was all about performance.

A man was sat on a bench in Windsor Park, where the path curves round the willow trees and the duck pond is just out of sight. Mothers hurried as they dragged their staring children past.

The man stared back with bright, sharp eyes atop an expansive, unruly beard. His clothes were ragged, a faded rainbow of dirty greys.

He winked at two young boys, chosen at random, then reached into his coat and theatrically produced a scraggy chicken. Its dead head lolled.

Next, with the children’s undivided fascination, he bit the head clean off.
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7 comments:

  1. Unknown5 January 2011 at 21:20

    Now this I might actually get round to reading all the time. It limbos right under my distraction tolerances.

    I like Geek but I think you missed a trick not making the chicken a duck :)

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  2. John Xero8 January 2011 at 08:02

    *bows*
    I am honoured that my writing is finally short enough for your consideration... ;)

    Seriously though, although it could be any animal, from what I understand it was more common for the animal to be a chicken. Also, as a chicken it implies he went to more effort in preparation rather than just happened to find it in the park...

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  3. Unknown17 March 2011 at 00:17

    I think the presence of ducks definitely muddies the waters. Yes I realise it has been quite some time but I did warn you :)

    Also, it was more common for the person to be a jilted bride. I think the preparation should have extended to costume.

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  4. John Xero17 March 2011 at 07:41

    I think you're obsessed with the ducks, they belong in pancakes, not performance art... ;)

    Not sure about the bride thing...

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  5. Unknown17 March 2011 at 20:56

    I thought there was a thing whereby jilted brides were thrown into 'geeking pits' and had to bite the heads off chickens for the amusement of the public. I have no idea where I got that from and the internet doesn't mention it so I reckon I'm probably wrong :D

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  6. Cogent Ascending2 January 2012 at 15:10

    Such bitter disapointment when I find there are no geek pits for brides either. But a good read nonetheless.

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  7. John Xero2 January 2012 at 16:55

    Of course, if you now google for jilted brides and geeking pits this is now the top search result. I'm expecting a lot of traffic...

    Thanks for the comment, Cogent. =)

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