Monday, March 31, 2008

Tickle the Panther

The party took him all the way to Vancouver. Into an abandoned Sushi and saki place, once called “the Squirm.” Now left barren and empty, with a few dusty chairs in the corner. Sam was ready to join the club. He did his research. Found the group that would suit his tastes, and after much self motivational speeches to his own face in the mirror, Sam bought himself a plane ticket to Vancouver. Two suitcase were his companion. One was filled his regular street clothes and toiletries. The other, just barely fit his costume.

The costume was a different story. The costume was very important to his involvement with the group referred to by itself as Paddington Underground. The thing he found in his research was that Paddington Underground forbade two of the same members. And if you know anything about Paddington Underground, you will know that that means no two persons can wear the furs of the same species. Paddington Underground also forbade fake, Halloween-esque costumes. The group demanded authentic furs, and the furs were not to be purchased. Part of initiation is proof that you were the one who slaughtered the animal you were about to possess in the groups ritual. Proof most often came in the form of camcorder footage of the murderous hunt.

Sam saved his money, and was able to pay local gang members to help him break into the zoo, where he first offered the lone panther five pounds of ground beef, drenched in sedatives. The panther’s hunger was by luck alone satiated by the beef, so he left Sam alone. But the chemicals began to take effect rapidly and the panther fell into a slumber. That is when Sam approached the animal. The kill was sensual. He felt the furs, and allowed himself time to become intoxicated by the animal’s naturally occurring, pheromone saturated perfume. Then he had the animal carried out by his gang member friends. Alone, in Sam’s own basement did he drug the animal some more, to induce the animal’s death. The objective was to not spoil the animal’s fur. The fur was to be preserved.

When Sam first arrived at the festival in “The Squirm,” all eyes were on him. And very soon all hands would be on him, for the panther perfume was also preserved, etched into the fiber of each pore. The hooves of a most gorgeous doe were the first to caress his left leg, slowly sliding up to where the tickle began to loosen him up and make him feel like a true member of the club.

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