"Tom B. First," the old man muttered. His eyes fidgeting about the room taking in the cot and the night stand provided. "Tom B. First." The old man had spied a cockroach crawling across his nightstand. He muttered in very hushed tones now for fear he would scare the cockroach away. The insect had found some sticky residue spilled from the oatmeal bowl earlier that day and was obviously taken with his find. The old man watched the bug for a full ten minutes atop the glob of oatmeal, all the while inching his way across the room. "Tom B. First!" the old man screamed as loud as he could as his right hand grabbed for the cockroach atop the miniature mound of spilled oatmeal. The old man had been successful as the bug was in his clenched fist, but not so tight as to squish the insect. "Tom B. First!" the old man squealed as he swooped his hand to his mouth and ate the cockroach. "Tom B. First," he snickered.
Then the old man jumped to hear the clanging of a billy club pounding on the locked door to his room. "Quiet down in there, Freak!" echoed loudly from outside the door.
"Tom B. First!" the old man screeched in shock, falling backwards first onto his bed and then sliding off the sheets onto the floor. The old man laid there for a long time trembling. He actually took the sheet that had slid down beside him and pulled it over his head. "Tom B. First," he repeated softly under the sheet over and over. Finally, the old man pulled the sheet off of his head and attemped to stand up. He could not. The old man was stuck. He had sat there sitting in a churled position with his knees close to his chest. This was not the problem though. As the old man looked down his right side he could not see where he should be sitting. His posterior had sunk through the floor and was now wedged into the floorboards. This particular part of his body was partially phased/partially solidified into the floor. The old man's face wrinkled up as if to concentrate. "Tom B. First," he muttered defiantly. His heart was racing at a frantic pace. It was obvious this situation was causing the old man discomfort. He braced his outstretched hands on both sides of his torso and up behind himself on the bed. "Tom B. First," he concentrated solely on pulling his posterior up and out of the floor. It was several more minutes before he was successful in his endeavor.
Upon finishing his task the old man laid flat on his bed. It was thirty-six seconds exactly that the old man heard the keys in the door. "Tom B. First?" he said excitedly.
"We've caught your vanishing act on camera, old man!" Vic grunted.
"Tom B. First." the old man mumbled.
"Now that we know what you can do..." Vic's companion smirked. "...we know what to do with you!" The two men took the old man out of the room.
"You're just going to love what comes next!" Vic giggled as they escorted the old man down the hall.
"Tom B. First," the old man muttered quite indifferently.
[ 12-28-2001: Message edited by: Tom B. First ]
[ 12-28-2001: Message edited by: Tom B. First ]
