punch and judy i

..and so judy finally rose up her fist..
..wrapped her wooden claws around punch.s neck..
..tightened her grip and would not let loose..
..punch jerked about trying to free himself..
..at first thinking it all in good fun..
..but too many moments passing without a hint of friendly jest..
..and the death terror came upon him..
..like fire loosed inside..
..and he was sore afraid..
..his jerking about became more restless. more urgent..
..and ever more fearing..
..judy.s expression painted on by the puppeteer never changed..
..her.s was a frozen look of surprise..
..punch.s face was made of a sneaking arrogance and bridled anger..
..growing steadily away from this and into frenzy..
..and they writhed about still with judy.s tight grip around punch.s wooden throat..
..(judy felt punch.s pulse speeding steadily under his hands)..
..they wrestled about but judy.s grip never let up..
..punch.s cow tongue stuck out of his wooden face..
..he gagged for breath..
..he stared into judy.s surprised wild eyes begging for air..
..judy did not waiver her intent..
..punch.s glass eyes bulged out ever begging for pardon from that which was intended..
..and still further they stuck out from wooden sockets..
..and further the tongue from the back of his empty throat..
..judy with her mouth in the shape of a small "o" only held her grip and said nothing..
..(they both excreted salt tears from their wooden brows)..
..punch.s eyes watered and became fully red with the blood stopped at the neck..
..judy.s eyes were painted on..
.. they were empty and unmoving..
..punch.s body jerked harder and more violently..
..ever more desperate to fill his breathing sacks..
..judy heldfast even tighter the throat shut..
..the windpipe nearly crushed under her carved fists..
..punch.s eyes moved away from judy.s and towards the ceiling of the theatre..
..he was losing himself..
..judy kept tight her hold..
..punch.s jerks and spasms weren.t of his own will anylonger..
..but of a drifting body fighting a battle already lost..
..one last eager and thick spasm of the whole self..
..even and hard..
..and with one last earnest and wanting gag..
..punch.s tongue lapped out for air that wasn.t coming..
..and then he collapsed with only judy.s hands around his neck..
..to keep his body from hitting the stage full on dead weight..
..judy slowly loosened her hands from punch.s neck..
..(her joints were stiff and hurt she had held so tightly)..
..she looked punch over oddly as if she felt sorry..
..or atleast wanted to appear that way in case punch was still looking back at her..
..but punch.s eyes were empty..
..staring up at nothing..
..cow tongue hanging out of one side of a gaping speechless hole in the face..
..judy shook her head and knelt them both down to the ground..
..grabbing up his old friends wooden upper body into herself..
..and rocked him..
..back and forth..
.."it.s all over punch.. all over"..
..caressed punch.s jester.s hat over his bulged and dead eyes..
..and rocked them..
..back and forth..
.."the pain.s over.. it.s all over"..
..back and forth cuddling punch.s dead face into his chest..
..back and forth..
..and the old red and patched curtain slowly dropped on the scene..