Each unto their own [R]

In the city of the night play the secrets of the human soul. Sorrows that haunt the mind, and prickle the flesh. Places where fear is a ruler and where God is a forgotten hero. Sin is a virtue upon these cold streets that echo with images of wicked sin. A city that would shame the streets of Babble.

~~

Deep into a long and narrow street sets a small store which is simply known as “The Galloway”. Two gas pumps in the front of the store. A single street light hung from the corner of the store illuminates the outside world which stairs back with wonder. The street was calm with the night’s air and the smell of the dawn’s perfume was as think as the shadows. The owner of the place was a dear old man who was lonely and ignored by the people around. His name was Jake.

In the back of the small store sat a pin ball machine that blinked with an assortment of multi- colored lights. The sounds of laser guns and laughing men blurred out the game. Upon a small screen was printed the words “insert coin”.

A chime from a bell above rang with an oncoming customer. A boy that was no higher than the doorknob entered into the small store. The owner looked to him with a smile of joy in his voice for having a guest.
“Hello young man. May I help you with something?”

The boy looked at the old man with widened eyes that reflected his desire.
“I just wish to play the pin ball game, sir”, the boy answered the man with a cheery smile. The man replied with many years of addiction to nicotine in his voice.

“Have fun”, with a laugh.
The boy headed into the direction of the flickering lights. The sound from the game gave him a quickened pace. The isle he wandered down held foods of many types. From chips to bread and candies that tease the thought, but the child knew that his fate was sealed, he had to play the game. As he got closer to the machine, it got bigger with the strobe of colors reflecting upon his young face. It stood above him like a god and the boy gave praise with a sigh of awe. The face of the game was of a skeletal man holding a gun to shoot in front of him. It’s eyes were red with anger and it’s mouth wide with vengeance. Above it the name was written “The Killer”.

The boy fished into his deepened pockets for a second or two and with his satisfaction he appeared with a shining quarter. A voice suddenly echoed from the game.

“Insert coin, and play The Killer”. The boy stepped back with fear starting to rise. The voice had scared him. The machine echoed again and with an inhuman force, the boy placed the coin into the vacant slot.

“Thank you” was heard in the voice of a politician when the coin fed the hungry game. The lights then flashed with a violent rage and subdued the innocent boy. The game spoke again in rhythm in it’s mechanical voice.
“Prepare to meet your maker”. At that moment a single shiny steel ball was placed in front of a firing pin.

The boy, with his had placed firmly upon the pin, pulled back with an unnatural strength and let the pin mash the unexpecting ball. The Game has begun.

The ball rang with uncanny speed. The points were counted as the obstacles were struck. The boy’s fingers raced the ball with the hitting of the bumper buttons. The excitement was pure with each sound. The boy was intrinsically in heaven of the mind.

In the distance the ring of the door’s bell was heard, but not by the boy. Jake was back in a little room when he heard the bell. He slowly walked to the front of the counter to take eye of his customer.

The boy’s heart beat faster and faster as the points swam in his head. The ball sped to reach the master score. The world was no more to him and life was but a forgotten liability.

“May I help you”, Jake asked the man in the leather jacket. He was in his later twenties and seemed to have seen the bottom of a liquor bottle many times. He was unshaven and held a cigarette in one hand.

“A pack of Camels”, the man said with a hint of hatred in his voice. Jake took a new pack of Camels from under the counter and placed them on the counter top. The man took a five dollar bill from his jacket and passed it to Jake. Jake typed a few numbers on his cash register, and with a ring the drawer opened.

A violent array of colored lights played about the boys eyes. His pupils dilated beyond compare and his fingers moved with the will of their own. The bumpers beat the ball with hard swipes in efforts to stop the ball from going down into the void of endless ruin.

Suddenly, without warning, the man in the leather jacket pulled out gun. A small black revolver. The man placed the gun to Jake’s resending head. Jake’s heart beat with this new- found fear. His eyes could not move from the barrel of the gun. With the smile of the devil the man screamed.
“Give me all the money of die, old man!”

The boy heard none of this. The game was all to him, he would not lose. Something changed in the game, a piece in the center of the game moved. And in it’s place a little scene began to develop. It was of two men next to a table and one of the men was holding a gun to the other one. The boy was confused by this. But the man with the gun held a bumper on it. He began to smile with an ungodly grin. This must be the next stage, he thought, and with new goal he aimed for it.

The man waved his gun at Jake and yelled again with a building rage. Jake quickly grabbed the money and gave it to the man. The man grabbed the money and the pack of smokes.

The boy raced at his goal and in it lost the ball down into the abyss. The boy shouted with the beats disappointment.

The man suddenly jumped around to see the boy playing his pinball game. The man’s eyes opened wide with a shock. He thought he as alone with the old stupid man. It would be hard to shoot him in front of the boy. The man shouted at the game- deafened boy.

“Boy, come here”. There was no reply from the child. The man pulled the gun in the direction of the boy and threatened to shoot if he did not reply. Jake shouted with a strong disapproval, and the man took hold of the trigger.

The Game gave the boy another ball and with the skill of a novice he pulled back on the pin and let fly of the ball. The ball shot out and over the obstacles and headed to the pit when the boy hit the bumper and sent the ball zooming to the center and it hit the obstacle of the man and the gun, which to his disbelief had changed to face to the bottom of the machine. The ball hit and suddenly stopped. A hole opened under the ball and the ball disappeared. The machine then started to make some strange and bizarre sounds. It started to jump up and down and the man stared at this with puzzlement. Then the game stopped. The eyes on the skeleton’s face began to glow and a sound of a ball rattled throughout the game. Then the man’s eyes opened beyond compare as he realized what was to come, and then dropped his gun.

The ball exploded from the gun on the skeleton and ripped at the man. He had been shot. The boy turned around to see the commotion and saw the man dead on the ground. The game board spook of endless points, but the boy had forgotten his game and stared at the dead man. Both Jake and the boy were in shock, and could not believe what had just happened. The pinball machine boosted it’s name “The Killer”.

~~

The night ended with the dead. The streets had told another tale of the unknown and gave fear it’s face. At times the world will stand up and take arms against the evils of the city and play a new game of the night.