Actor v. Advocate

It's early morning when the Actor wakes to the crack of a pistol, the sharp splintering of glass above him and glass showering his face. The Actor jumps to his feet. A stout man in black gown, wig, and white bow tie stands fifteen paces from the trunk of the oak. The man raises his pistol and cocks his pistol and fires again. This man is the Advocate. The Actor falls. The framed photograph, knocked from its center by the first bullet, bucks wildly from the second bullet and falls, landing at the base of the oak, propped by a root of the oak, beside two rotting pears lying adjacent to the Actor's face.

Stop, says the Actor. The Advocate advances. Do you know who I am? asks the Actor. I do, says the Advocate. The Actor frowns, shaking glass from his hair.

The Advocate picks up the framed photograph and nods and shows the Actor. The Actor's wife is shot between the eyes and the face of his mistress is missing, a smoking bullet hole. The Advocate drops the framed photograph in the Actor's lap. The Actor tosses the frame aside and stands.

The issue here, says the Actor, standing over the Advocate, is transgression of unspoken rules. You can't just come here and start shooting pistols at random. We're here for a duel. The Actor jabs the Advocate on the chest with his knuckle. And what's more that's my pistol with the red ribbon, he adds. The Advocate looks down and flips the pistol and holds the pistol by the barrel and carefully removes the red ribbon. The Actor takes the ribbon. The Advocate raises the pistol and then brings the butt down on the Actor's nose. The Actor falls.

The Advocate walks to the rosewood table and picks up the other pistol. He throws the other pistol at the Actor's feet then takes his place on the field. The Actor stands and takes the pistol and takes his place fifteen places away.

I should let you know, says the Actor, holding his bloody head back, pinching his bloody nose shut, that I've shot two men and a woman dead on this field.

Ball sack, says the Advocate.

They raise their guns. Their guns go off.