The stage was set for the final act of the evening.I missed the entire show so it was important to me to witness atleast the final section.Any other show i would not even have bothered to get out of my place being this late but this one was special.It was the Survivor.Of the world corporation studios.The last act is always special and is not at all related to the previous acts.For this part of the show.a very active participation is required from its employees,obviously without their consent.For this special segment,the tickets alone are worth a small fortune.Not that i had that much money but it has been my desire to be a witness to this atleast once and lucky for me that i came into some quick cash which i used to purchase the last available ticket for the christmas show.Yes, tonight is december 24th,the night before christmas and for that same reason,the rush was enormous as something special was planned tonight,something that was going to capture the attention of the entire media.I joined the flowing crowd moving towards the theatre.Along with many others, i was handed the standard leaf about the show.
THE SURVIVOR
This is a show which you have never seen before and never will see again.
The rules are simple,stay alive and survive.
IF you die,then bad luck
IF you survive, then you will be the richest person alive.
IF you want to participate,you are welcome to try.
We are not responsible for your well being in this show.
You think you can do it?
Come Watch, then answer.
There is always a survivor.
ps: noone has survived ever in the show's history
Ok,not so encouraging flier but still the show garners such a huge reaction from the public.There has been only 2 voluntary competitors and both of them didnot even last the first 10 minutes.Hopefully this time it would be different.
I hurried to my seat at the back of the theatre.It was always better to get the last seat.You can watch the show and can close your eyes if you feel it is too much for you.And obviously its the cheaper seat :D .Anyway i made way to my seat and found that whatever i heard was true.There on my seat was written the label " Reserved for John Wayne Robinson ".It was as well organised as i have heard.I hurried into my seat and got ready for it to begin.There was just 2 min left and the entire theatre was packed.The music began, the drum rolls sending chills down my spine.Tonight was going to be very special,you can fell it in the air inside.I felt the guy sitting to my left tense.I noticed that like him i was also clenching my fists,tensed but eager.Poof and it was darkness.The announcement began.
"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,tonight we promised to be special and it is.Today there is not going to be a survivor.Today we have someone who is according to us is one among the scum of the society.He is not a gangster or a crook but among the people who know him he is hated by all.Today on this Christman eve,we decided to give him what he deserves.And to all you people,tonight maybe your lucky night.The prize for the survivor may be yours.We will not tell you who the person is but you have got a chance to guess who it is after the show is done.The person guessing correctly will the awarded the Survivor prize.So hold on to your seats and let the show begin"
I could feel the anticipation in the air.This was much much different from the usual.Today someone is deliberatly going to be killed.And there is the prize for guessing who it is.What an oppurtunity.A win here today will turn my life around.I prayed that it was someone i can recognise,selfish and heartless,yes but in this current world of loneliness,i think i could be heartless too.While i was wrestling with my supposedly dead moral self the show began.
A pure white room.White chair and a white table.On it sat a little fat man wearing white.His face was not shown.His entire head was covered with a metal jacket with only 3 small holes.Two for his eyes and one for his mouth.On both sides of the jacket were two burners directed at it.It was lightly lit so that they heat up the metal slowly.I gasped at the sight.It was such a terrible thing,to be slowly roasted alive.He was strapped onto the chair and i believe he was gagged as no screams could be heard.Screams that would have come from a man whose head is being slowly boiled.He was struggling against the straps and nearly broke one on his legs but then again he was either too tired to actually break it or gave up.After the struggles were over,the door to the room openend.There walked in a masked lady.The announcement came "He didnot use his hands to help people.So she is going to misuse his hands,misuse them so much that he will be lucky if he got a hand left. "
The second section began with this.The lady sat down on the table before him.She slowly took out a small penknife and flicked it open.A really small knife.She then started playing with his hands making scars on them drawing blood.Against the stark white background,the sight of blood was a little unsettling.She continued playing will suddenly she stiffend.With a shout she started to saw off his thumb.He began thrashing around with pain but to no avail.Slowly she sawed off his thumb and put it in a container she had taken out from her coat pocket.Then she started with his other fingers.This gruesome scene continued for over an hour.Finally she had sawn off all his fingers.She stood up and raised the container with 10 bloody fingers and walked away.He had stopped thrashing long back and sometime during this the burners were turned off.He was very still.I thought he was dead but then the burners came on.After a while he started moving again and started to struggle but very weakly.The announcement "Dear viewers,the show is not over yet.There is still some more left.He strayed out of his path too often,tread the dark paths where no one dares to go.For this he will have his punishment".
After this announcement 2 guys came into the room.The untied him from his chair and made him lie down on the bloody floor.Of the white room,it was difficult to find a part not splattered by his blood.The guys who came in slowly put him down and Guy 1 lifted his legs up a little bit and the Guy 2 put the chair under them elevating his legs.By then he was too weak to struggle.There was just a painful moan coming from the metal clad face.The 2 guys then went out and returned with 2 sledge hammers and stood on both sides of his legs.The countdown started "3...2..1.now".At the sound of now,the guys bought down the hammers on his knees.A sickening crack was heard and a painful wailing sound was heard from him.The guys didnot stop there.The methodically continued to swing their hammers at his legs for over 30 min.I watched in horror as his legs were reduced to something not even resembling legs but just a platter of blood,flesh and bones.The guys left him like this and went out.The announcement "Dear vieweres,don't be alarmed.This person deserves every one of these blows.Now for the grand finale.Please do not leave yet.After this you have to guess who this person is for the grand survivor prize."
Although sickened by what i saw,i still stayed for the sum offered was much much more than anything i can ever imagine and if i guess correctly i would never have to work my entire life and live like a king.So swallowing the rising bile from my stomach,i waited for the final section.The same 2 guys from part 2 came in and lifted the man up.They put him on the table with his head hanging down.Thw woman from part 1 came in and then deposited the container with all his fingers on his torso.They all then stood back and started chanting in an eerie emotionless voice. "The time is now,let him be gone."There was a grinding noise from somewhere above.Slowly a panel in ceiling slid back to reveal a metal plank studded with glass pieces directly above the table on which the man was lying.The chant grew in volume and speed and it reached a feverish pitch when suddenly the plank came down crushing him and the table.Then there was silence.The woman and the guys bowed to us and went out.The announcement "Dear viewers, now that is the end of today's show.Please wait for a few minutes.We will show the face of today's star to you all now.You can have only one guess and the person guessing correctly will be the winner of out survivor prize."
I waited,hardly daring to breathe.All sorts of thoughts were running through my head.What if i won?What will i say?What will i do first?What if i know who that is and someone else says it first?What if it is someone i am close to?Will i be able to tell it to get the prize?My whole head was spinning with these thoughts when the announcement came again. "Dear viewers, here is the face of today's star.Please type in if you know this person into the PDA device on the armrest of your seat.You got 5 minutes.Good Luck"
The face came into view,or rather what was left of the face.Being trapped in a metal jacket and being roasted with 2 burners had made the face more hideous than anything i have ever imagined.There was utter silence in the crowd at the sight of the face,there were retching sounds,gasps,cries of anguish.Many i felt could not even look at the face.It was difficult to believe that this was once been a human face.There are no words to describe how horrible it was.I looked at it again and then at once feelings on joy and sadness filled my heart.I knew who that was but i cannot say it and claim the prize.It would be an inhuman thing to do that.I asked the guy sitting to my left whether he knew who that was.He said no.I whispered to him the name of the person and asked him to claim the prize.With that i slowly got out of my seat and went out.It was midnight and a small snowfall was in progress.Although not wearing my coat,i felt no cold nor the biting cold wind.It was Christmas, the festival of joy ,the day when the saviour of man was born over 2000 years ago.Wishing the world a HAPPY CHRISTMAS and with one last look at the theatre, i went back to where i belong.
The Times.December25,2008
Yesterday night was a day of surprises for all those who gathered for the special edition of The Survivor.It was sort of a torture punishment and death for one individual whom the company claimed to be unfit to live.To make matters more interesting, the person who guesses the identity of the victim would be given the survivor special prize.At midnight yesterday this prize was won by one Mr.Robert Morrison,a postman who correctly guessed the name of the victim to be one Mr.John Wayne Robinson a former employee of the World corporation conducting the Survivor show.Mr.Robinson has been missing for a week now after he was fired from the company.The reasons for his firing is still unclear but authorities confirmed that an internal source from the company hinted that Robinson's apparent fight with the company head and his subsequent threats to company security authorities has got something to do with his being let off.The company chairman is supposed to tell the exact reasons at the press conference to be organised tomorrow.Mr.Morrison on his statement made clear that he did not know Robinson but the name was given to him by a guy sitting next to him for the show but an investigation of the booking details confirmed the fact that there was no one for that seat which Morrison was referring to.The payment of the prize to Morrison is currently on hold and will be released only after his story is verified.
And to all our readers,Wish you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS!
