Page 23 - 2016 february issue

Tell Me A Story
IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY NIGHT. . .
by Members of Storymasters Toastmasters
On Thursday, February 3, 2016, the members of
Storymasters gathered for an evening of story-
telling. Each member was given a word or sound to
open their segment of the continuing story. For 90 model, like an extra toe on the back of the heel.
minutes, the members wove a tale of high suspense
and tension-filled terror, wth odd moments of
hilarious happenings. The following story was
captured by Jonathan Burgess, and edited by Joe
Anthony. [editor]
Phyllis stumbled through a dark and
stormy night with only one thought;
to escape the cold, wet hand she could nearly
feel upon the back of her neck, reaching from
the shadows just behind her. It was too dark
to see and too noisy from the pounding rain
to hear the owner of that dreadfully wet hand,
but she could feel it, coming closer and closer
as she struggled forward, or at least away. She
recklessly crashed through thorny bushes
disregarding the shredding of her clothes and
skin-- to slow the pursuing hand’s inescapable
intent.
Suddenly, Phyllis came out onto a road
that was undetectable a moment before, and
her hoping heart leapt at what appeared to be
a car. Salvation! A bright light rushed toward
her. But it was too fast to be a car.
‘Was it a shooting star?’ She wondered as
her fevered mind reeled-- back to reality, and
the need for escape. Running again to the far
side of the road, she discovered a muddy ditch
there, with muck that grabbed at her ankles,
slowing her. The terror returned…the hand at
her neck.
Hurry! Hurry! Phyllis ran the best she could,
up a sand dune, and saw on the other side of the
peninsula a city! Salvation! She hurried down
the hill and saw people on the beach. Salvation!
Dr. Joe was an excellent surgeon but he
found it boring. Restoring people to health was
a good living but he was already really, really
rich. He attended medical school until his dad
croaked, allowing him to inherit the castle and
the half of the island where he now worked at
his favorite hobby: unnecessary surgery. Dr.
Volume 2 Issue 7 - FEBRUARY 2016
Joe wanted to redecorate the human body
using modern technology to 3-d print organs
and parts not available in the basic human
Powdered pig skin could make ears, noses,
or hands with the 3-d printer, or really any
whimsical appendage he chose. Furthermore,
to combat boredom, he had the groundskeeper
assemble a maze and watchtower, so Dr. Joe
could watch his surgical wonders exercise,
delight when his shambling horrors escaped,
or occasionally, the dogs.
On the dark and stormy night in question
Dr. Joe needed a new—playmate (victim)—and
he kidnapped Phyllis to join his menagerie.
When she crashed through the hedge of his
maze (most unexpected!), Joe shot a flare from
this watchtower to summon Dark Willie, the
groundskeeper, to retrieve his plaything. In the
glare, Dr. Joe also noticed a Zodiac boat with its
lights out, at the edge of his Potemkin village
full of manikins, which he built to torment
escapees from the Maze. “What the heck is
going on here?” he asked himself. “Really, what
is the world coming to?”
Jonathan whimpered out loud at the
thought of the wet sand squishing between
his toes as he and his shipmates disembarked
to go clamming, illegally, upon the strange
deserted island. The promise of a stolen meal
is, as a rule, far more delicious than ordinary
food. All the passengers had pails and shovels
23