COINCIDENCE CITY!

I can tell what people are writing just by listening to the faint sound the pen makes when it scratches against the paper. It's the same with the sound of chalk squeaking off blackboards and so on. It's a talent but I'm not sure it's all that useful. It did get me on telly when I was a little boy though. I was all the rage for a while. I was in advertisements for stationary products and everything. You might remember me.

Things went really well until everyone got a bit fed up seeing me do my thing over and over. The bookings stopped coming in so my agent decided we should add a new element to my routine. That's when my agent announced to the press that I could tell what was written on a piece of paper just from listening to it go through a photocopier. That wasn't true but he announced it and I had to learn how to do it. I tried. I really did. But I couldn't. I cried a lot though. 'Those tears won't earn us a bloody penny', yelled my agent, 'now try again you pathetic little pansy'. My agent was the pushy sort. Very pushy in fact. So pushy that he had pushed to gain custody of me from my parents. And so pushy that he had succeeded. I was at the pushy bastard's mercy. I wasn't a happy child, despite the public adulation.

Anyway, I was booked to appear on some primetime show that everyone used watch but no longer remembers. I was stood there in front of a studio audience as a photocopier was wheeled out. Then the host of the show wrote something on a piece of paper and ran it through the copier. The copier started making noises and I listened. I listened in the vain hope that I would somehow be able to perform the trick. My agent was peering at me, mean eyed, from the wings. The pressure was immense. I was silently praying for divine intervention and some came but not in the way I'd expected. You see, as I was stood there hoping for a miracle, I realised that I'd heard the host's pen scratching against the sheet of paper as he wrote on it before placing it in the copier. I had heard what he had written! 'My wife doesn't understand me', I shouted out as the photocopy appeared out the other side of the machine. That was indeed what he had written and I was patted on the back and got a big round of applause. The show then closed with the host inviting his wife on stage to join us and serving her with divorce papers.

I was booked on many more shows after that and could be found endorsing photocopiers and divorce lawyers in magazines and all that. My agent was delighted but, needles to say, this second wind of fame also abated. That's when my agent started making a second round of untrue claims about my abilities. My agent released a press statement that said I'd developed the ability to tell what words were being projected by an overhead projector just by listening to the transparency being placed on the glass. This was utter bullshit. I hadn't a hope. My agent didn't care though. He had me practising every day. He roared and roared and roared at me and when I wept he roared some more. 'Them sissy tears won't land us any juicy new contracts you weak little fuck', he encouraged.

So, as I'm sure you've guessed, I ended up blindfolded with my back to an overhead projector that was pointed at a screen on some bloody show everyone loved watching but no longer recalls. The host of the show placed a transparency on the overhead projector's glass and a drum rolled. After a moment, the host asked me what words were being projected behind me. I had no idea. No fucking idea at all. But, I did have another idea. I had a really good idea about what I could do and what I did was this: I screwed up my face and began to sob. I began to sob and bawl and make bitter tears roll down my little face. 'What's the matter kid?', asked the concerned host and I answered him. I pointed to my agent who was stood in the wings and I shouted out the words 'that man touched my willy'.

Turned out that my tears earned me more than a penny that day, the result being that I was awarded the entire earnings made over the course of my career. I was also returned to the care of my parents. As for my agent, he became penniless drunk. He ended up on the streets and was eventually beaten to death by vigilantes for being a nonce.

And so we have a happy ending to this strange little tale that I invented and wrote in just over an hour (excluding checking for typos) as a challenge to myself. Amn't I great? There's more to me than just being able to tell what people are writing from the sound of their pens. Oh, and there's one more thing that I think I should add. You're probably wondering what words were written on the transparency the telly host placed in the overhead projector. Well, I'll tell you, ...and this is the best part. The words on the transparency read: 'that man touched my willy'. Seriously. What are the fuckin chances of that eh? Coincidence city!