This is my first attempt to write anything as entertaining as I have read on this site. Likely not my last, unless it turns out I suck at it. In a bad way. English is by far not my first language, so feedback on that as well as the content is appreciated.
This story is based on a dream I had. It's up to you to guess which parts of it are based on my actual life, and which are twists of my sick mind. I had to fill in some parts that went missing, as well.
Thanks to Lisa for providing "inspiration."
Thanks to Kyuss for the company and support.
Thanks to friends and family who will hopefully never read this cause that would be way too awkward.
Also,
DISCLAIMER: Walt Disney Productions is a good production house, with safe working methods. Their show is also a very good one, worth seeing if you're a fan. So let's all be grown-ups and leave our lawyers out of this.
It's not like I'm making money off this anyhow.
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Most people hate double shifts. But I guess they don't like their job as much as I do. Maarten is my name. Don't laugh, it's Belgian. At work, where we talk English most of the time, it's Martin. I'm a roadie. I build stages and sets for performers.
The thing I like most about my work, is that they don't judge you on your looks. You don't have to look good for anyone. I always thought that, if I'd get a job, I'd have to get rid of the mohawk and the tee-shirts scolding half the society. But no one even mentioned them. I was welcomed in a tight group of friends, most of them looking way more "radical" than me. Despite my young age of 20, and not being as broad and strong as most of the others, I'm a hard and motivated worker. In my opinion, there's nothing more beautiful to see a band like R.E.M. or U2 jump on the stage you built, and the whole construction comes to life, with stunning light effects and music that inspires the 10,000 people watching your work.
We talk English because we're always working with a multi-national crew, in this case a mixture of Russians, Americans, and Belgians. We were building the set of Disney on Ice, which is basically a 3 story tower with some ramps and stairs on it, all made to look like ancient ruins in the middle of a jungle, with foam decorations covering it up. Yes, on ice.
It's a pretty "macho" job I suppose, with heavy lifting and potentially dangerous situations. So you can imagine our surprise when a couple of girls from the cast hopped on the ice to give us a hand. They were hired in the first place to skate and look good doing it, so they were subject of a lot of ogling.
I was doing my second shift, I had worked 18 hours already with 4 hours sleep, and there was still much work to be done. It must have been around midnight by then We were working on the fourth pillar supporting the tower. My job was to provide resistance by pulling it towards me with a rope while they were cranking it up, so it wouldn't tip the other side once it stood. It's a relatively boring job, so I took advantage of the time staring at the girls at work. They looked so fragile, climbing on the rigging with surprising skill. One of them suddenly looked back at me. She was my size, which isn't too big, with long, brown hair in a ponytail, and big black eyes looking back at me, contrasting with her white skin. God she was pretty. Where did I know her from? Despite her beautiful face, she gave me a cold look. I was too fascinated to look away, even though I realised how rude I was being. After a few seconds she turned back to her work, and yelled something in Russian to her male colleague. My mind drifted off about how it would be to hold a girl again after so long.
I don't know how long I stood there daydreaming before I heard three or four guys shouting "Incoming!!" I felt the tension of the rope loosen, and looked up in horror, to see the aluminium pillar come my way, with a broken steel cable lashing from it. The ice was too slippery to jump away, so I had to step out of its way just enough for it to crash right in front of me. Luckily, no one else was near when it happened.
I was about to start breathing again, when I heard something between two heartbeats. Before I had a chance to look up, the thick steel cable slammed into me. Its own elasticity had it sling out with enormous force, and I was right in its way. It wrapped around my shoulder and catapulted me over the ice like a dummy. I slid over the ice, and gently bonked my head against the side. My colleagues were with me within seconds. I tried to get up, to show I was okay, but a sharp pain in my shoulder had me down again before I could get to sitting position. The ice numbed the pain somewhat, and I was almost disappointed when they lifted me up and put me on a stretcher. As they carried me over the ice, I could see a trace of blood where I had passed. "Shit," I mumbled to myself, and it all went black.
When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a dimly lit room, with a couple faces I didn't know closely above mine. "Dat zou de pijn moeten verzachten, jongen." That should ease the pain. I tried to move, but something held me back. I looked at my shoulder and saw it wrapped tightly in bandages. The two men backed off, and I recognised the room as the local first aid base.
"Ah, good, you're awake," one of the men said, obviously not one of the working crew. You could tell by the suit and volume underneath. He seemed Russian, though. "Don't try to get up, get some rest first. The pressure of the cable put a lot of stress on your blood vessel, so it made quite a mess when the ragged end cut you. You lost quite some blood, so you could be feeling a little weak the next few hours. The medicine could make you a bit light in the head, also." He chuckled. I failed to see the humour. "It all seemed worse than it was, I'm sure." He smiled at the other guy, apparently a doctor. The other guy nodded obediently. The man in the suit grinned widely, and urged the doctor to leave the room, following soon after. Probably to discuss the cheapest and fastest way to get me back to work.
My neck was stiff. They put me on my back. Beh. I'm used to sleeping on my stomach. I was about to turn over, when I noticed I wasn't alone in the room. I needed a few seconds to realise,.. it was her! Her beautiful dark eyes looked down on me, with a slight frown, making me feel like an idiot.
"That will teach you to stare," she said shortly. Her English was flawless, but had a slight, incredibly cute Russian accent to it. I just mumbled in Dutch about the reason why I stared in the first place, trying to hide how embarrassed I really was. "This yours?," she asked me, and held my backpack up. I nodded. She held it out in front of her and read a few of the lines I had written on it. She smiled, I don't think she understood. Dropping my pack on the floor, she heard my paint cans rattle. She looked at me with surprise, and asked, "You do graffiti?" She seemed genuinely interested, and I said "just stencils" before I knew it. I gritted my teeth. Moron. I'll get myself arrested trying to impress a girl. She smiled.
"On buildings?"
"Oh, look at the clock," I thought. "Time to piss off." I was about to ask her if she didn't have any work to do, but she beat me to it.
"Sorry, it's none of my business." Wow, she could read me like a book. She nodded towards my shoulder. "Does it hurt much?" I couldn't come up with any answer that would shield me from any remarks, so decided to just be honest.
"Some, not if I stay still. The painkillers are kicking in."
"Let me have a look. I took med school." As she moved around the bed to the other side, I was amazed by how pretty she was, her jeans and black tee shirt tightly around her thin body. I felt my groin tingle, and inwardly commanded myself to behave. She kicked off her steel-tipped shoes and sat beside me, helping me sit upright. Damn that hurt. The scent of blood made me worry. I looked to see her reaction, but she didn't seem to be checking on my shoulder. Instead, she traced something over my other shoulder blade with her fingernail. I don't think she noticed I shivered lightly at her touch.