THE ANATOMY
OF A FLASHSHOT
William
Blake's rendition of Lucifer
Here's
one of my latest stories taken apart so you can see all the working parts. If
you like your frogs whole, then spin on. I understand.
RETIRED
AT LAST
By Nicholas(1)
Milton(2)
He
had worked a long time, but now he was done, to pursue other interests, such as
fiddle playing(3).
The
three young men who pushed open his door were carrying knives. "Give us your
money, fool!"
He
handed them five hundred in cash.
"You're
holdin' out on us, old man! That fiddle looks like it's made of gold(4).
We'll take that."
"No,
you won't." He still had a little of the old pepper so he burned them to
ash with a snap of his fingers. He played a jaunty tune to accompany their souls
as they promenaded down to Hell(5).
Nicholas
Milton lives at 616(6) Old Scratch Avenue(7),
New Orleans, Louisiana(8). He is a data consultant for a
major corporation(9).
NOTES
(1)The
author's name had to be Nicholas for one of the Devil's nicknames is Old
Nick.
(2)
Milton for a last name for it was poet John
Milton who gave us the heroic Lucifer in Paradise
Lost.
(3)
The Devil is known, in American folklore especially, for his contests of skill.
From "The Devil and
Daniel Webster" to Charlie
Daniels Band. If you beat him you get your wish.
(4)
The Devil's fiddle is made of gold to symbolize greed. It is also attractive to
home invaders I would suspect.
(5)
The plot of this story isn't particularly new. Lovecraft used it in "The
Terrible Old Man". The final line was needed to tie it altogether: the
reveal, the fiddle, and add just a dash of black humor to the mix.
(6)
I had originally made it 666
but that seemed just too obvious.
616 is an alternate "Number of the Beast" and if added together
equals 13.
(7)
Old Scratch is another
nickname of the Devil. People used to fear that saying his real name would summon
him so they came up with these alternate names.
(8)
I made Milton's home in New Orleans because of the rich traditions in that area
around the Devil as well as the Cajun-style music that uses fiddles. Charlie Daniels
chose Georgia but what can you do?
(9)
Of course he works for a major corporation. What could be more evil?
