Post by Theodore Bryan Benson on Feb 21, 2023 16:45:23 GMT -5
FEBRUARY 21 2023, ANTARCTICA
The screen flashes from black to a moment of static to black again.
Narrator: You were told this wasn’t the redemption story you wanted, but it was the one you deserved. But what if you actually deserve nothing at all?
The scene brights as water moves against the “beach” of ice, slowly flowing up it as though it were extremely white sand. A man laying in the snow and ice with two men standing above him. The man laying down appears to be unconscious and quite large. Standing above him are two black men wearing sparking white makeup to make them appear to be ghosts, and one of them is wearing a giant grape-cluster costume. Martin Ka’Berryon and his father, or rather their ghosts, stand above the unconscious body of The Big Bifford.
Martin: Looks like you’re finally gonna get your revenge for him killing you many times, dad..
Dad: Screw that! I don’t want him to die on some Antarctic beach after our ship was blown up. I want him to die in a much more painful way, I was thrown out of a hot air balloon, I had a lion statue dropped on me, and I think there were other deaths..
Martin: You’re saying you want him to have a more spectacular death?
Martin’s dad opens his mouth to answer, but then he signals toward Bifford’s corpse. It appears to be moving. Then Bifford’s eyes opened and he sat up. He looked around and saw nothing but snow and ice in 3 directions and the ocean in the other, then he saw the ghosts of his grape-wearing manager and that manager’s dead father. Bifford slowly gets to his feet, but looks like he’s in pain.
Bifford: If you thought I was dead and you were just going to stand there.. why don’t you make yourselves useful?
Martin: We’re ghosts. I’m not even sure you can hear us.
Bifford rolls his eyes and looks around. “I really wish I had gotten that piece of paper with the coordinates that Earl sent us before we abandoned that ship.” He then sighs and begins playing Eeny Meeny Miny Moe to decide which direction to walk in. Martin and his father’s ghosts give each other a worried look and then watch Bifford. Then the big man begins walking forward. The ghosts follow behind him.
Dad: He’s gonna die out here..
Martin: And you’re hoping it’s gonna be some big spectacle?
Martin’s smirks and nods and the two men keep following Bifford, who keeps looking about as though he’s going to see a giant pyramid in the distance. But there is none. Just snow. Ice. More snow. More ice. Bifford walked forward, confident as ever as the scene slowly faded to darkness.
FEBRUARY 21, COLUMBUS OHIO
The camera focuses in on the face of Kenny the Intern. Accused of crimes against humanity and with over 200 charges against his name in killing, butchering, and serving human meat to people - his eyes tell it all. He is stressed out; his eyes red as fire. He was staring forward, watching his lawyer Cornelius Cook finish his closing statement.
Cornelius: And so, we see this has been a systematically racist conspiracy carried out against a man who wears glasses.. those of us who wear facial jewelry to enhance our sight know the sting of injustice well. But you have to ask yourselves, could this man, who has known such oppression really commit these crimes? He couldn’t.
Cornelius acts like he’s going to walk back behind the desk, but pivots to the jury.
Cornelius: You must remember this moment for the rest of your lives. The vote you cast in this trial doesn’t just affect this man.. it affects all of us who wear eyeglasses. It is our turn to stand up and fight against our oppression. So just remember: If a man be wearing glasses; he ain’t serving you dead people’s asses.
He looked at the jury with crazed eyes and repeated the poetic phrase again, turning as he finished the words, “people’s asses,” and heading back to the desk. He looked up and made eye contact with Judge Peeples. “Your honor, the defense rests..”
Cornelius had a seat next to Kenny. Kenny just stared forward, his eyes full of fear. He was sure his boss, the man responsible for his likely conviction, was about to die in Antarctica. He would be alone. In jail. Forever. The scene faded to darkness.