Glass
shattered against a pillar. It was the last thing any of the patrons expected
to hear that night.
~~
It
must have been the disco music. Rufus assumed no one would ever bother his
merry band of outcasts behind the two-foot thick, twelve-foot high stone walls
he constructed. Grey to the outside wall, inside the tavern each brick was
painted a different fluorescent color, a select few around the five-foot mark
signed by legends and fallen fellows that graced the establishment. Spotlights attached
to the walls angled out to hit the dancefloor. Those that wished to linger in
the shadows until their moment to shine called them could linger on the
sidelines or even watch from above along the inner balcony circling the room.
Feeling
ambitious, Rufus mixed up his priorities. He couldn’t have – but should have – predicted
the newly installed stereo system would literally blow the roof off, its
craftsmanship always leaving much to be desired in comparison to the walls it
rested on. Everyone from the slender, hairless, twinkling fairies to the
beautiful, dark-skinned divas with newfound womanhood hollered and cheered.
With the new breeze, their chief complaint about the stiff, smelly air was
eliminated. It had been so long since their last threat, no one thought twice
about the accidental renovation.
By
the time Lamont with the sharp nose caught his first whiff of wet dog, it was
too late. Whispers of “Queeeeer” and “Mineeeee” slowly caused each dancer to
stop as they looked up to the full moon shining down upon them. Lamont and
Rufus climbed ladders to the balcony and peered over the wall. The Climbers had
found them. Savage, quadruped beasts with grey and purple fur, their legs
sticking out at 90 degree angles and toes that pierced the ground. “The Party
Police are here, ya’ll!” Lamont called down.
The Climbers came from the Stompers.
The Stompers came first. Decades ago when outcasts of society were ignorant
enough to hide in ditches and holes and shallow caves, the Stompers would
pounce and crush oddities without trial. Their maliciousness was swift and
bloody. They were lucky Rufus was smart and strong enough to build Stonewall
for them to congregate at all.
With
the music still blurring, most of the crowd got on the ground and covered their
heads as they prepared for impending doom. They danced a fierce last dance on
the floor. That’s when the glass shattered and the people’s curiosity got the
best of them. “Dammit, I missed. I meant to hit the…” Shirley, six foot five in
burgundy heels and a dress that barely reached her knee, started to trail off
before regaining her focus. “Listen, ya’ll, I’ve been through too much to just
lie down and die. I just started really living, and I ain’t laying down on this
nasty floor so one of ya’ll can take a peek up my skirt cause it ain’t ya
business.” She reached her long, black fingers with burgundy tips for another beer
bottle and smashed it against the wall behind her. “So ya’ll best get up there
with Lamont and Rufus and start launching whatever ya’ll can at those trying to
steal our joy.” Surprised her speech actually worked, Shirley dodged twinks and
bears alike as they rushed for the ladders.
“Don’t all
come up at once; grab and pass up some ammo for us. Ain’t but so much up here,”
Rufus called down to the swelling mass. Like a well-oiled Cadillac, those
behind the stone wall assembled into a firing crew. As the Climbers began their
ascent, chairs and tables smacked them in their round, stout faces. Those
knocked off or still on the ground were assault with glittering fairydust; any
lucky enough to reach the top were scratched and shoved by the bears and otters
dodging swipes themselves. However, this only stunned and angered the Climbers
before they would try again.
Lamont
looked down at Shirley, still on the ground organizing the troops. “It’s not
working, lady! You got any better ideas?”
Rufus
froze mid throw when he heard the music stop. Afraid they had already been
breached, he turned around to see her carrying the stereo over to the ladder.
“What you doing with my new equipment, gurl?!”
“We’re
gonna have to tear it down and rebuild if we wanna survive. Make it so they
don’t want it no mo’. You see? Better than letting them have the satisfaction.”
Shirley’s brown eyes shot up to meet Rufus’.
He shook
his head as he reached in his pocket for his key ring. As pieces of the stereo
were passed up the ladders, he found a hole in the wall and stuck the wrong key
in. He was hoping he’d guess incorrectly again, but the second try was the
charm. “Alright ya’ll. Start pushing these bricks over the side,” Rufus called
out, but his command was met with bewilderment. “Did I stutta? I said, push!”
As a demonstration, he showed his true might and pushed one of the great stones
off the wall himself. It fell with great speed, crushing two Climbers below it.
The other monsters let out a hiss in disgust.
The fight
lasted all night, but by the time the last record was thrown and the names
honored on the wall remained protected by another two rows of bricks, the
Climbers fled into the sunrise, no longer interested in claiming what wasn’t
theirs.
Rufus held
a grudge against Shirley for helping destroy his tavern, but her legend lived
on as the woman who saved the alternatives that night.
Word
~~
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