Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Gary's tension

Gary’s tension took on a new form. Yeah, he was always tense during interviews, but this was something different. He felt it deep in his gut, a sliding sensation, like a knot of worms languidly uncoiling themselves, and becoming a single, purposeful shape. The feeling grew, expanding upwards through his chest, squirming against his heart, and crushing air from lungs. Gary sat ramrod straight, sweating from his temples as he felt the first tentative brushes at the back of his throat.  Panic gripped him as he felt the delicate probing at his sinuses, and the first interview question was asked.

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1 comment:

Edgar Arthurs said...

This 100 word story sets up the scene for what’s going to be a very interesting interview. It’s really an experiment on focussing on some very visceral feelings. The discomfort that you’ve normally experienced during times of stress, for example that unsettled feeling in your stomach, shortness of breath muscle tension, elevated heart rate, etc is given some new - albeit more alien life. Perhaps the worst part, at least for my picture of Gary is him trying very hard to keep it together and focus on the task at hand, whilst on the inside things are getting all crawly and weird.

This begs the question what happens next? Will he pack up and run screaming from the room? Is something green and drippy going to start waving out of his nostril? Will there be a scream, a ripping noise and the consequent drenching of the interviewers in a potent and heady mix of Gary and ichor? Will he get that job?

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