Thursday 6 May 2010

Fairground Attraction

Husband and wife duellists whetting their custom weapons. As usual neither has any Seconds, no one to rein them in and make them see sense. No feud-fatigued child savant to bang their infantile heads together. Ding ding, seconds out, round on one another. Roll up, roll up.

His tongue rolls the acidic spitball around the crevices and cavities of his mouth. Shaping and casting the verbal stilettos. Honing the precise dimensions of the intended words. Filing and grinding against his teeth. Ready to launch and thrust. The palate sheath withdraws, the acuity primed to cut

To the quick, yet not to the core. As in any quarrel, the aim is to wound but not fell. To pin down without impaling. To notch the unimpeachable point of an argument, not to clinch a lifetime of detestation. Delicate balance and distribution of point and edge. He fixes on aiming for that ridiculous kiss curl that mocks him from between her eyes. If he could snag that particular quintain, she would perforce have to tug her forelock and concede. Of course there is so much petrochemical gunk lining her head already, a single loose spark emitted from his cold metal barb...

And she too is firing up her arsenal. Liquid accelerant lapping around her quivering mouth, working up the necessary flammability. To go incendiary on his hind quarters. Arse! This was going to be a big time blow up. Lardy! Quarter neither asked for nor given. And so it begins. Cocktease!/ Cockfeather!

He lashes her to the revolving wheel in his mind's eye. Echoes of historical Inquisitions. When stilled, it facilitates his aim, training his trajectory along sharp lines for honed blades. But when that gash of a mouth of hers has built up sufficient steam, spinning wildly so she becomes nothing but a blur, a whirl of perpetual motion, he is charged with a far more hazardous plunge. She becomes a girandole of complete unreason. Snuffing out all further susceptibility. The pommels of his verbal daggers flapping with cartoon reverberations, having missed their mark. Dabbing uselessly in the air, like the snapped limb of an animal

She has her fire started now. Eternal conflagrations billow from the everlasting brimstone of her forge. Freshly quarried by her blistering tongue, seeking to spit-roast him for quarry. Her fierce heat singes his eyebrows. He hefts another knife to slice through the air at her heart. Cockroach!/ Coward! / Vermin! / Dung beetle!

His salivary salvo is unleashed. Whore! Meets hers head on. Limp dick! His words condense in her heat, vaporised with a tutting hiss of steam. His cutting edge tempered. Temper, temper, you're showing your hand. You got nothing Mr Limp wrist. That quenches him. Brittle now. Well you'd know, you wrote the book on temperamental. With the emphasis on the 'mental'. Temper, a double-edged word. Fit for an outburst, an unhinging of passion such as this. But also a mollifying, a soothing. A middle way.

Blunted, forced back by the heat, he must acknowledge the middle way to be her way for today. From knife thrower to sword-swallower. Forcing him to eat his own words. Falling on his own sword. Maybe not, a final parry possible; Make-up sex? he tentatively proffers.

She glares him down in flames.

Passion's big top blown for another evening.




This story appears in my first Amazon Kindle collection



Click on this for a troubling video of a knife throwing mother...

22 comments:

Carrie Clevenger said...

OMG, this is stunning work. I have never NEVER read something about carnival couples like this. Wow. I feel my vocabulary expand every time I read you. Bravo!

Marisa Birns said...

Incendiary and passionate piece of story that hits the target of my admiration!


That video of knife throwing mother is horrifying. And the nun! There's a nun in the audience watching!

You are, as always, a masterful user of words, imagery, description.

Excellent!

Anne Tyler Lord said...

OMG! I just watched that video - I thought the second child was going to be a gonner! What a perfect form of entertainment for mothers and children - watching another mother almost kill her children with knives. I still had to chuckle, it is all too much with that announcer - sooo 50s - everything is fine, funny and fabulous.

Now on to your story - I am once again in awe of your writing. I think this one is up at the top of the list for amazing details, imagery and (of course) vocabulary.

Excellent, Excellent!

Laura Eno said...

Your verbal barrage is outstanding! I couldn't bring myself to watch the video though... :)

Cathy Olliffe-Webster said...

OMG... that video!!!! Hilarious! Stupid! Hilarious!
And your story.. juxtaposing knife-throwing with the hurling of insults...
Laura, watch the video... you'll just laugh your head off! Well, not literally...
Thanks for the giggle, Marc.

Anonymous said...

"He fixes on aiming for that ridiculous kiss curl that mocks him from between her eyes."

Love this. Incendiary indeed!

Jen said...

I won't ever see carnival tricks in quite the same way again.

Laura Eno said...

Ok, at Cathy's urging I just watched the video...now where did my head roll off to?

Deanna Schrayer said...

Oh my gosh Marc, this is INTENSE! Your work is always outstanding, but this has to be a favorite. Incredible work!

I agree with your verbiage of the video - it is disturbing. Unlike Cathy and Laura, I couldn't bring myself to laugh...

John Wiswell said...

These two eccentrics are more suitable to your writing style than any I've seen you come up with yet. Fun work.

Linda said...

Intense. I think this is your best. Definitely unique, disturbing, yet erotic at the same time (not the vid, the writing). peace...

Joanie Rich said...

Makes you wonder what the lion-taming pair is like, lol! :) I too won't look at them the same way again. There is so much passion and tension running through here - and I totally agree with everyone that your vocabulary is superb! This is almost like poetry.

Anonymous said...

Thw wordplay is magnificent. And the battle between them.

Simply excellent writing. Always a treat to read, and this one packs a special punch.

Eric J. Krause said...

Excellent from start to finish! Great use of knife throwing in the argument.

Virginia Moffatt said...

My God, this puts most "domestics" into perspective. What a way to run a relationship. And sorry I can't bear the thought of that video either...

Thom Gabrukiewicz said...

Intense, passionate, crude, loud.

Great.

My wish is that you'd come over and try Three Word Wednesday sometime. You're a brilliant writer, someone who knows how to weave words into pictures.

Tony Noland said...

What a harsh and passionate couple! It's a wonder they're both still alive after an act like that!

Donald Conrad said...

I stopped reading this one silently to go back and read it aloud. It was more fun that way and thank yuh.

Karen from Mentor said...

In no particular order:

This was magnificent. Dare I say pointed?

I have that red dress.

Wonderful example of why you should never say words you wouldn't wish to eat.

Lou Freshwater said...

My god, man, you are one intensely sensual writer. This one is red, it just washes over me.

Genevieve Jack said...

I missed this one last week. ( We had a tragedy in our family- long story) I'm glad I scrolled down and read this one today. There is something equally sexy and terrifying about the circus which makes it a perfect metaphor for love. You captured the danger, the sensuality, the humanity of a relationship. Really, really good.

Carolyn Burns Bass said...

Wow. Circus people are a breed apart. I should know, my father was a sword swallower. Great take on the duality of marriage and performance.