All posts by Peter B. and Art Intelli

Story

Strongman – Part 02

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By Peter B. and Art Intelli

Chapter Two: The Pact

The carnival grounds were alive with motion.

Roustabouts shouted as they packed up the rides, wooden crates slammed shut, and performers griped about their costumes and gear. The air was thick with smoke from dying cookfires, the scent of fried food still clinging to the night. The whole place pulsed with the urgency of moving on.

I wove through the chaos, heart pounding. I was afraid I wouldn’t find him in time, that maybe he had already left.

But then I saw him.

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Story

Strongman – Part 01

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By Peter B. and Art Intelli

Chapter One: The Chain

I never knew my parents, they had died when I was very young, and I was raised by my big brother.  I was a terrible brat to him, but he always dealt with me fairly and calmly.  He was everything to me.  Just as our relationship was really starting to click, he was killed in a car crash halfway through my senior year of high school.  Although I somehow managed to graduate, in the three years since then, I have been a total fuck-up.

By the time I reached my early 20s I had already been floating from job to job, barely scraping by, living in one of those run-down SROs with peeling wallpaper and thin walls. The kind of place where you hear everything, but no one talks to you unless they need something. I never had two cents to rub together, just enough to get by. Just enough to stay invisible.

But lately, things had gotten worse. Rent was months overdue, and the landlord had made it clear that tomorrow, if I didn’t pay up, I was out. He didn’t care that I was barely keeping my head above water. In his eyes, I was just another body taking up valuable space.

Continue reading Strongman – Part 01 →