The Tragedy of a Pinball Wizard

Tragedy Strikes the Jungle

With that realization, Mr. Otis was ripped back to the present. His running slowed to a jog, eventually a walk, and finally a stop. Mr. Otis looked solemnly at Oliver. "I don't want to fight you, Oliver. I know who you are Oliver, and this isn't you. You're not a monster."

"I don't know what to say Mr. Otis." Oliver replied.

"I want to join you on your travels Oliver. I want to play pinball with you." Mr. Otis said.

"You want to play pinball Mr. Otis?"

"More than anything in the world, Oliver." Mr. Otis looked longingly at Oliver, praying he would agree to travel with him.

"Come on, you old bastard. Let's go play some pinball." Oliver chuckled.

"Really? You'll let me join the party?" Mr. Otis could hardly believe his ears.

"Yeah, why not? It could be fun Mr. Otis." Oliver said with a shrug of his shoulders.

Mr. Otis was elated. He could not wait to go to the one and only Wally's Pinball Palace and play pinball with Oliver. This would be the wildest adventure of his life. Except for maybe Vietnam. Vietnam was a pretty wild adventure for Mr. Otis.

"Oh god. Vietnam." Mr. Otis thought to himself as he looked toward the ground. "The trees spoke to us in Vietnamese. The tigers ate my friend." Mr. Otis looked as though he was staring at something a thousand yards in the distance. He could almost hear the screams and tiger snarls from somewhere not too far away, yet he couldn't pinpoint exactly where.

"Why did they eat my friend? Since when do cats eat people?"

-20 years in the past-

"Yo, Sparky! You go guard duty tonight?" a young soldier called out.

"Of course I do. I always get guard duty on the days we do the most hiking. Damn my shit luck." Sparky grumbled without removing the cigarette from his mouth.

"Don't sweat it, Sparky. I got it too." The first man replied.

"Oh, shit! Guard duty with Oak Tree? Hell yeah!" Oak Tree was the nickname given to Henry Otis in the Vietnam war. "I'm not too worried about it anymore! But to hell with it! We'll deal with that later. For now, let's get some grub!"

Sparky and Oak Tree entered the mess hall of the Saigon US military base. The pair were soon called out to by another soldier.

"Hey Spanky! Hey Fuck Free!" It was Broomstick. He was the biggest jerk on the base. He likes to beat up people for fun. He really likes punching. "I love punching people like you two dorks."

"You want to fight Broomstick? Would that make you feel like a man?" Oak Tree inquired.

"Bingo. I feel emasculated by all these rumors floating around me about how I got my nickname." Broomstick responded.

"Those aren't rumors, jackass. You know what you did to that broomstick." Sparky called back. Then he barked and got down to scratch his ears with his foot. Then he started licking himself clean like a cat.

"I told you I didn't do that!" Broomstick whined.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Another solder scolded.

"We sure showed him!" Purred Sparky. The pair of men walked away from the scene with their heads held high. They resumed making their way toward the grub line.

"Nothing can ruin my good mood now Oak Tree." Sighed Sparky. Just then the pair heard a growl. By the time they realized what was happening, it was too late. The first tiger's jaws had already clamped down around Sparky's torso.

Sparky cried out, "help me! Oh god, please help me! Oak Tree, Broomstick, please do something!" Oak Tree, Broomstick, and every other soldier in the hall stared on in horror. This was Sparky. How could this be happening?

Not too long after the first tiger clenched its jaws around Sparky, a second and then a third followed suit. Oak Tree couldn't believe his eyes. His best friend was being eaten by tigers right before his very eyes. Yet, Oak Tree couldn't do anything to stop it. He couldn't move his body.

He wanted nothing more than to jump in to action and rescue his friend from the jaws of death, but his body wouldn't listen. He couldn't stop staring. He couldn't stop hearing Sparky's screams.

"Guys, help me! I'm still very much alive and can totally be saved! I could still make a full recovery! I'm not dead yet!" Still, nobody moved. Nobody said a word. Yet, every eye in the room was fixed on Sparky.

Finally, one soldier broke the deafening silence. "Hey," he stated, "those tigers are eating Sparky!" The screams continued.

The room slowly started to erupt in chants. "The tigers are eating Sparky! The tigers are eating Sparky!" Sparky was in total shock. Not one person would help him from his predicament and now they were cheering the tigers on.

"The tigers are eating Sparky! The tigers are eating Sparky!" The chants grew louder and louder. "THE TIGERS ARE EATING SPARKY!"

The tigers then started to drag Sparky away. They dragged him out of the mess hall and out toward the thick jungle outside. One soldier called out, "Sparky pissed his pants!" The soldiers all burst out laughing. Sparky heard this and was beside himself with grief. This was the last he heard of all his friends as the thick jungle canopy enveloped his body.

Then one soldier stood on a table to address the rest of his brethren. "Attention, my brothers! Let this be a lesson for all of us! A lesson for how to live our lives as if every day were our last! Praise be to our brave lord and savior Sparky! Let us all piss our pants in his memory!"

-Present day-

"Oh, that was a tough memory to relive." Mr. Otis found himself once again back in the present day. Mr. Otis did his best to clear his mind.

"All right, Oliver! I'm ready to go play pinball!" Mr. Otis exclaimed.

"Are you sure you can do this Mr. Otis? You were looking a little rough there for a moment." Oliver inquired.

"Absolutely. I've never been more ready for anything in my entire life." Mr. Otis answered.

"What on Earth is going on out here?" A loud voice boomed. "Why is the apartment building such a disaster? Mr. Otis, you've been slacking! I'm getting complaints left and right from other tenets!" It was Scott Spencer, the tough-as-nails owner of the apartment building.

"I took you off the streets Mr. Otis. I expected more in return than this!" Scott continued.

It was at that moment that Oliver had an epiphany. "I don't want you to exist anymore Mr. Spencer. This is my story and I don't want you to be a part of it anymore." At that exact moment, Scott Spencer ceased to exist. The author agreed with Oliver that his character had overstayed his welcome and never should have been more than a mere passing mention in one single section of Mr. Otis's backstory.

Scott Spencer was no more. "Peace be upon you, Scott Spencer. Let us piss in our pants to commemorate his memory." Mr. Otis proclaimed.