This week out of class we had to read chapter six of Scott Mccloud's understanding comics and write a 900 word narrative using the prompt we received in class on wednesday. This is what I came up with for “The night before the wedding a hypochondriac hostage negotiator wakes up in a strange house”.
Arnold Hostettler was a top notch hostage negotiator for the NYPD. A super genius who could read people and situations in a second and understand everything about them. From what their inseam was, too why their parents were disappointed in them. Arnold's one drawback was that he was incredibly hypochondriac, and therefore an extreme germaphobe. He was so incredibly scared of germs that he once walked 10 blocks around Manhattan to get too Chummy Bagel (the only bagel shop he’s ever been to) because he saw a man sneeze in front of him on the sidewalk. After quitting out of Harvard Law because he was disgusted with the sleazy and corrupt world of lawyers. Arnold decided to join the NYPD and use his gift for the good of the city. As a hostage negotiator Arnold was able to talk hundreds of bad guys into releasing their hostages safely. Arnold never lost a single hostage except for one. For years this lost soul haunted Arnolds dreams and he just didn’t have the strength to forgive himself. Arnold was married to the job and his loneliness and guilt lead him to a place of despair, until he met Jane Rogers. Jane worked as a manager at Chummy Bagel and through Arnold's regular visits they became familiar with each other until one day Jane asked him out on a date. Their relationship blossomed and Arnold began to feel better about himself and life. He was a new man after his depression. Jane and Arnold decided that they should get married, and after months of planning and waiting Arnold went to bed alone in his tiny brooklyn apartment the night before the wedding.
When Arnold wakes up he realizes right away that the horribly stained ceiling tiles above his head aren’t the lovely eggshell plaster ceiling he is used to seeing in the morning, and on top of that it isn’t even the morning It’s only 11:45! The second clue that something wasn’t right was that he is tied to a chair instead of wrapped up in the cozy blankets on his bed. Taking stock of the situation Arnold surmises that he has been kidnapped. As Arnold is looking for a way to escape his bonds a man in a balaclava walks in.
The man begins to talk, but Arnold interrupts him, identifying him by name Arnold asks that the man release him. Taken completely by surprise the man asks Arnold how he identified him so quickly. Arnold states that he is clearly John Turner who had five hostages in the quickie clean laundromat on the corner of Nuebry and State Street. Having talked on the phone with him for several hours Arnold had memorized his voice and everything he could about Mr. Turner. In the end Arnold had successfully negotiated him out of the laundromat where he was arrested and sent to Rikers for eight years. Arnold realized now that John Turner must have been released earlier this year and this was clearly some sort of attempt at revenge. Accesing his vast memory Arnold remembers that John Turner has mother named Mary-ann Turner who lives alone in Manhattan, and of all days today is her birthday! Clearly Mr. Turner has forgotten this so Arnold reminds him. Overcome with guilt about forgetting his own mother's birthday John runs out quickly go buy a present and visit her. In his rush he doesn’t notice that a knife falls out of his pocket.
Now left alone in the room Arnold attempts to get to the knife, but there is one problem. It's In a puddle of standing water! Arnold knows that coming in contact with standing water is a sure way to catch all sorts of diseases. Try as he might he just can't bring himself to touch that hell water. Instead he starts to rub his bonds against the chair and starts to create friction. After four hours of rubbing he builds up enough heat to start a small fire and his bindings burn apart. Now he is out of the chair and he quickly takes of his jacket and uses it to open the door handle only to find a steam vent shooting out right on the other side. Arnold can’t possibly walk through that! Who knows what awful airborne illnesses might be in that steam. Instead he goes back into the room and examines the windows. He’s about three stories up, and there is a dumpster full of old dirty mattresses right below him, but that's simply not an option. Who knows what has happened on those mattresses. Arnold manages to climb out the window and perilously gets over to the fire escape twenty windows away. Successfully climbing down it without actually touching it Arnold escapes free into the night.
Arnold hails a cab only to realize that John Turner took his wallet to buy his mother a present. So Arnold begins the long walk to his marriage venue. Arriving five minutes late Arnold sprints into the chapel completely out of breath, just as everyone is starting to worry. After everything settles down and Arnold explains what happens he and Jane are married and drive off to their honeymoon upstate. Meanwhile John Turner and his Mother share a lovely breakfast at their local dinner catching up after these eight years. Then we flash to the prison where we see a man sitting in a cell, “who is this mystery prisoner?”
