the man who laughs (knives_and_lint) wrote in parabolical, @ 2009-01-08 23:47:00 |
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Entry tags: | the joker |
Who: The Joker, and one unfortunate family.
What: Finishing the day with a bang.
Where: Oh, here and there.
When: Dusk
Rating: R for violence and death of a child
Status: Narrative ; complete
"Right. Now. I'm missing something. Hmm." The Joker looked at the pair sitting in front of him. One man, one woman, each one sitting straight up in their seats, with their hands folded serenely in their laps. Of course, there were several layers of duct tape holding their hands just so. As well as several more, and not a few staples, holding them straight back against the chairs. Some things you wanted just right. No sloppy slouching for this photogenic scene, no way. But something was missing, and for that reason, the Joker stepped back to examine the work as a whole.
"Oh, that's what I forgot!" Giving himself a sharp tap on the head, the clown swept in and pulled the child away from it's mother's leg. It didn't take much more than a single sharp yank, but to hear that kid scream, you'd think he'd just pulled off the whole arm. "Don't be sad," he scolded the child. "Look! A nice present, just for you!"
Both parents made pitiful whimpering noises that might have been shouts if they didn't have cloths shoved in their mouths and duct tape over their lips. And whimpers were easily ignored. Especially when a four year old was holding a grenade in hands that were hardly big enough to contain it. "This is a special present. You wanna know why?" The child just looked at him, but stopped simpering. Good. The Joker had been ready to cut off its ears and shove them down its throat to make the noise stop. "Because if you let go of it..." The Joker pulled away his own hands, taking the pin with him. "Then Mommy and Daddy are going to be with old Rover."
The child blinked tear-filled eyes, not understanding.
"Spot?" Still no flicker of understanding. "Fido? Fluffy?" Nothing. "Didn't they ever let you have a dog?" The child shook its head. The Joker gave the parents a seething glare. "And they call me cruel." A dark red tongue flicked out from those red-painted lips. "No kid should die without having a dog."
He gave the child a rough pat on the head and barked. The child flinched, pulling back and nearly putting his hands over his face. Another whimper rose from the parents, and the Joker laughed. "Oooh! Don't drop that yet. Not until Mommy and Daddy say it's okay. That's when they sound like this." The clown locked his lips together and made the same pathetic whimpering sounds the parents had been making. "When you hear that, you give that present to Mommy."
In the sudden silence, strained from two individuals fighting the impulse to scream, the Joker began to laugh. He was still laughing as he climbed the stairs and locked the door behind him. Laughing as he exited the house, skipping away. And an hour later, when the firefighters arrived on the scene, the Joker was watching the scene unfold from a rooftop half a mile away. Watching the words "For Blondie" burn trenches into the lawn. And laughing.