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Kafka meets Hemingway ------------(first draft)
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One day in the morning, when I was at home in my study, someone knocked at the door. As I was in the middle of solving a difficult problem, I said to the door 'Come back later, I am busy right now!'
Outside the man started to shout angrily 'I am the landlord you owe me 2 months rent.' I open the door and see his angry face. Next to him a big dog waiting to bite me on the landlord's order.
'You know what happens if you don't pay. I'll wait only until tonight.'
After he left I rush out of the house to take my only winter coat to the pawnbroker.
The pawnbroker measures me with his eyes and puts some bills on the table saying 'in this cold winter I would sell something else.' Then he laughs. I take the money and flee the pawnbrokers shop still hearing the laughter in my back. Outside it is freezing cold. Without a coat I rush back home where the landlord waited already at the door. 'Ah there you are! Now give me the money!' 'Here is all I got from selling my winter coat.' The landlord looks at my frozen hand holding the money. He pushes my hand back saying 'I don't need it if you spend it on some pleasurable things. Go to the house of joy!' and the landlord blinked with one eye at me.
On the demand of the landlord I went outside, but didn't know where to find the house of joy. It was already dark. Still holding the money in my hand I started to walk without any direction. I met a man in the street making a grim face. I recognized the pawnbroker. He laughed at me saying: 'your coat is sold! Because your size is so small I sold it to a girl!' He laughed And he started singing 'I sold the coat, I sold the coat ....'
I tried to escape him and started running and all of a sudden I lost my way in the city coming to a district I had never seen before. The wind became colder and my fingers were frozen. My body shivered. I turned around to see where I am. There was no street sign and the houses had no numbers. There were no names at the doors of the houses. It was all dark around and only one dim street latern would give a sign that there might be people around. I looked up to the lantern because I heard a birds voice coming from there. It was a black craw which looked down on me. When the bird spotted me it turned its head and as if it wanted to show me something it pointed with its beak in one direction.
When I looked in that direction there was a huge neon sign on the roof of a house with the letters 'House of joy'. From far away I could hear all of a sudden the singing of the pawnbroker. In panic that he could find me I entered the house.
In The dim light of a bar sits a bearded massive man at the counter. He smokes a fat cigar and has a glass whiskey in his hand. Next to him sits a young blonde girl. She is focused on every word the bearded man says in a loud voice. From time to time she pours more Whiskey in his glass.
A slim pale man enters the room. With his deep dark eyes he looks anxiously around.
'Hey who are you' You slim man, you look so pale! No wonder if you go out in this freezing cold without a coat.' He pauses to drink from his Whiskey.'First time here? I have never seen you before. I am in good mood today! The mistress gave me her best girl for tonight! ' The massive man smiled, puffed his cigar and emptied the rest of whiskey in his glass. He was drunk.
'Hey slim man, what's your name?' ' Kafka?' 'Strange name, sounds like kaftan. I call you Mr. K., Ok? Come sit here, Mr. K and I'll invite you for a drink!
When I entered the room an old drunken man sits at the bar. He talks in a loud voice while embracing a girl which sits next to the left side of him. She fixes her eyes on me. Her face looks angry. The old man talks to me and doesn't notice that the girl looks at me. I blush. Somehow I hear that the old man asks me my name and I hear myself saying in a timid voice: 'Kafka.' Somehow I can't hear clearly what the old man is saying thereafter. A swarm of crows enters the room and makes a lot of noise. Mechanically I sit down to the right of the old man. He continues talking while he embraces with his left arm the blonde girl. Now she looks at me showing her index finger. She then pushes the finger in the fist of her other hand, closes her eyes and moans once with a giggle.
I sip the drink which is served. It tastes bitter sweet. After one sip my head gets dizzy. Crows fly around in the room and the girl all of a sudden is disappeared. The old man embraces a huge fish instead.
'Hey Mr. K! Have this drink. This will put you in the mood. And look at all the beautiful girls around.' Then he bows over to me and whispers 'look at the red haired girl over there, she is really nice! You know what I mean, she is really sweet!'
Then he turns back drinks from his glass and gives the blonde girl a kiss on her cheek. She giggles.
The bearded man bends down to my ear and says something. I am so dizzy that I understand only the word red. My glass is empty now and I want to stand up and leave. But one of the crows comes closer. It's feathers are not really black. On a closer look they are reddish black. Astonished I look at the coat it wears. It is the coat I sold to the pawnbroker. The craw sits on my shoulder and seems to tell me something. I want to stand up but the bird is so heavy that I sink back on the bar stool. Then the crow sits on my lap and looks at me. It makes a sign with its beak pointing to the stairs going up.
'Hey, Mr. K.! Your glass is empty! Another one for Mr. K! And call the red girl to sit next to him.' The red girl comes from group of girls sitting around and sits next to Mr. K. She pours more of the liquor into his glass. 'How are you tonight?' She asks with a sweet voice. 'Are you here for the first time? I'll make sure you will enjoy the time with me.' She goes with her hand over Mr. K's chest and then shortly down between his legs. 'Oh I see you are not ready now!'
The bearded man laughed loudly pulled from his pocket a money bill and puts it with an amused grim into the cleavage of her blouse. He blinked with one eye to the girl and said to Mr. K. 'She will give you an extra treatment. Let's go upstairs. I am in the mood now.' He stood up from his chair and pulled the blonde girl with him. 'Let's have some fun my blonde!' 'Hey, Mr. K! Come with us!' The red haired girl stands up and takes her coat. Mr. K. opens his eyes in astonishment and wants to shout 'You bought my coat!' But his throat is clogged. The red haired girl pulls Mr. K. Up the stairs. She opens a door and let him in. Inside there is a bed and a chairs. The dirty white walls are empty, in the wall opposite the door is a small window covered by a red curtain. 'Mr K.? You are so shy! I love shy men. They are so sweet.' Mr. K. anxiously looks around with his wide open dark eyes. The girl starts to take off her blouse and skirt. She smiles. With just her bra and garters on she sits on the chair and pulls out a cigarette to smoke. Mr. K. starts to cough.
'Oh I am sorry, she says. And extinguished the cigarette. 'We Are not here to smoke, aren't we?' She comes closer to Mr. K. and sits so that he can look at the cleavage of her breasts. 'Have a look! Do you like what you see?' Mr. K. shakes his head and mumbles 'I'll better leave!' 'Oh no, I am not finished.' she says and takes off the rest of her underwear. Completely nude she sits on the chair and opens her legs. 'Sweetie, have a look at this!' Mr. K looks away and holds his free hand before his eyes. The red haired girl laughs. 'You have never seen a woman's pussy before, don't you?' she smiles When she sees that Mr. K. doesn't look at her she stands up and comes to Mr. K. She starts to take his clothes off. 'I'll make you feel good.'
He tried to push her away. She touches his pants. 'Oh, you are ready now! I want to see it!' Against Mr.K's resistance she pulls down his trousers. 'You will never forget this night. When the girl starts to touch Mr. K's nude body, he turns away. From outside he hears the voice of the pawnbroker. In a panic he gets the girls coat from the chair to cover his nudity and opens the window to get out. Then he jumps.
The red crow came closer and pointed with its beak to go upstairs. I saw the bearded man walking with the swordfish upstairs. The swordfish was rotten and half of its flesh gone and only the bones visible. I shivered. Then I heard the singing of the pawnbroker outside. I followed the crow into a dim room with a bed and two chairs. The craw started to sing a strange melody and sat on my shoulder. I tried to chase the craw away. The singing of the pawnbroker became louder. Downstairs I heard the craws singing 'The pawnbroker is back.' I tried to open the door to get out. It was locked. Only the craw flew around my head. I looked down on me and realized that I was all naked. So I took my coat and went to the small window of the room to open it. When I opened it Hemingway stood outside and smiled at me. 'Did you enjoy it?' I pushed him aside and saw that the swordfish was only bones now. With the money of the pawnbroker still in my hand I ran out in the winter night. It was snowing now. I didn't know which direction I was running.
One day in the morning, when I was at home in my study, someone knocked at the door. As I was in the middle of solving a difficult problem, I said to the door 'Come back later, I am busy right now!'
Outside the man started to shout angrily 'I am the landlord you owe me 2 months rent.' I open the door and see his angry face. Next to him a big dog waiting to bite me on the landlord's order.
'You know what happens if you don't pay. I'll wait only until tonight.'
After he left I rush out of the house to take my only winter coat to the pawnbroker.
The pawnbroker measures me with his eyes and puts some bills on the table saying 'in this cold winter I would sell something else.' Then he laughs. I take the money and flee the pawnbrokers shop still hearing the laughter in my back. Outside it is freezing cold. Without a coat I rush back home where the landlord waited already at the door. 'Ah there you are! Now give me the money!' 'Here is all I got from selling my winter coat.' The landlord looks at my frozen hand holding the money. He pushes my hand back saying 'I don't need it if you spend it on some pleasurable things. Go to the house of joy!' and the landlord blinked with one eye at me.
On the demand of the landlord I went outside, but didn't know where to find the house of joy. It was already dark. Still holding the money in my hand I started to walk without any direction. I met a man in the street making a grim face. I recognized the pawnbroker. He laughed at me saying: 'your coat is sold! Because your size is so small I sold it to a girl!' He laughed And he started singing 'I sold the coat, I sold the coat ....'
I tried to escape him and started running and all of a sudden I lost my way in the city coming to a district I had never seen before. The wind became colder and my fingers were frozen. My body shivered. I turned around to see where I am. There was no street sign and the houses had no numbers. There were no names at the doors of the houses. It was all dark around and only one dim street latern would give a sign that there might be people around. I looked up to the lantern because I heard a birds voice coming from there. It was a black craw which looked down on me. When the bird spotted me it turned its head and as if it wanted to show me something it pointed with its beak in one direction.
When I looked in that direction there was a huge neon sign on the roof of a house with the letters 'House of joy'. From far away I could hear all of a sudden the singing of the pawnbroker. In panic that he could find me I entered the house.
In The dim light of a bar sits a bearded massive man at the counter. He smokes a fat cigar and has a glass whiskey in his hand. Next to him sits a young blonde girl. She is focused on every word the bearded man says in a loud voice. From time to time she pours more Whiskey in his glass.
A slim pale man enters the room. With his deep dark eyes he looks anxiously around.
'Hey who are you' You slim man, you look so pale! No wonder if you go out in this freezing cold without a coat.' He pauses to drink from his Whiskey.'First time here? I have never seen you before. I am in good mood today! The mistress gave me her best girl for tonight! ' The massive man smiled, puffed his cigar and emptied the rest of whiskey in his glass. He was drunk.
'Hey slim man, what's your name?' ' Kafka?' 'Strange name, sounds like kaftan. I call you Mr. K., Ok? Come sit here, Mr. K and I'll invite you for a drink!
When I entered the room an old drunken man sits at the bar. He talks in a loud voice while embracing a girl which sits next to the left side of him. She fixes her eyes on me. Her face looks angry. The old man talks to me and doesn't notice that the girl looks at me. I blush. Somehow I hear that the old man asks me my name and I hear myself saying in a timid voice: 'Kafka.' Somehow I can't hear clearly what the old man is saying thereafter. A swarm of crows enters the room and makes a lot of noise. Mechanically I sit down to the right of the old man. He continues talking while he embraces with his left arm the blonde girl. Now she looks at me showing her index finger. She then pushes the finger in the fist of her other hand, closes her eyes and moans once with a giggle.
I sip the drink which is served. It tastes bitter sweet. After one sip my head gets dizzy. Crows fly around in the room and the girl all of a sudden is disappeared. The old man embraces a huge fish instead.
'Hey Mr. K! Have this drink. This will put you in the mood. And look at all the beautiful girls around.' Then he bows over to me and whispers 'look at the red haired girl over there, she is really nice! You know what I mean, she is really sweet!'
Then he turns back drinks from his glass and gives the blonde girl a kiss on her cheek. She giggles.
The bearded man bends down to my ear and says something. I am so dizzy that I understand only the word red. My glass is empty now and I want to stand up and leave. But one of the crows comes closer. It's feathers are not really black. On a closer look they are reddish black. Astonished I look at the coat it wears. It is the coat I sold to the pawnbroker. The craw sits on my shoulder and seems to tell me something. I want to stand up but the bird is so heavy that I sink back on the bar stool. Then the crow sits on my lap and looks at me. It makes a sign with its beak pointing to the stairs going up.
'Hey, Mr. K.! Your glass is empty! Another one for Mr. K! And call the red girl to sit next to him.' The red girl comes from group of girls sitting around and sits next to Mr. K. She pours more of the liquor into his glass. 'How are you tonight?' She asks with a sweet voice. 'Are you here for the first time? I'll make sure you will enjoy the time with me.' She goes with her hand over Mr. K's chest and then shortly down between his legs. 'Oh I see you are not ready now!'
The bearded man laughed loudly pulled from his pocket a money bill and puts it with an amused grim into the cleavage of her blouse. He blinked with one eye to the girl and said to Mr. K. 'She will give you an extra treatment. Let's go upstairs. I am in the mood now.' He stood up from his chair and pulled the blonde girl with him. 'Let's have some fun my blonde!' 'Hey, Mr. K! Come with us!' The red haired girl stands up and takes her coat. Mr. K. opens his eyes in astonishment and wants to shout 'You bought my coat!' But his throat is clogged. The red haired girl pulls Mr. K. Up the stairs. She opens a door and let him in. Inside there is a bed and a chairs. The dirty white walls are empty, in the wall opposite the door is a small window covered by a red curtain. 'Mr K.? You are so shy! I love shy men. They are so sweet.' Mr. K. anxiously looks around with his wide open dark eyes. The girl starts to take off her blouse and skirt. She smiles. With just her bra and garters on she sits on the chair and pulls out a cigarette to smoke. Mr. K. starts to cough.
'Oh I am sorry, she says. And extinguished the cigarette. 'We Are not here to smoke, aren't we?' She comes closer to Mr. K. and sits so that he can look at the cleavage of her breasts. 'Have a look! Do you like what you see?' Mr. K. shakes his head and mumbles 'I'll better leave!' 'Oh no, I am not finished.' she says and takes off the rest of her underwear. Completely nude she sits on the chair and opens her legs. 'Sweetie, have a look at this!' Mr. K looks away and holds his free hand before his eyes. The red haired girl laughs. 'You have never seen a woman's pussy before, don't you?' she smiles When she sees that Mr. K. doesn't look at her she stands up and comes to Mr. K. She starts to take his clothes off. 'I'll make you feel good.'
He tried to push her away. She touches his pants. 'Oh, you are ready now! I want to see it!' Against Mr.K's resistance she pulls down his trousers. 'You will never forget this night. When the girl starts to touch Mr. K's nude body, he turns away. From outside he hears the voice of the pawnbroker. In a panic he gets the girls coat from the chair to cover his nudity and opens the window to get out. Then he jumps.
The red crow came closer and pointed with its beak to go upstairs. I saw the bearded man walking with the swordfish upstairs. The swordfish was rotten and half of its flesh gone and only the bones visible. I shivered. Then I heard the singing of the pawnbroker outside. I followed the crow into a dim room with a bed and two chairs. The craw started to sing a strange melody and sat on my shoulder. I tried to chase the craw away. The singing of the pawnbroker became louder. Downstairs I heard the craws singing 'The pawnbroker is back.' I tried to open the door to get out. It was locked. Only the craw flew around my head. I looked down on me and realized that I was all naked. So I took my coat and went to the small window of the room to open it. When I opened it Hemingway stood outside and smiled at me. 'Did you enjoy it?' I pushed him aside and saw that the swordfish was only bones now. With the money of the pawnbroker still in my hand I ran out in the winter night. It was snowing now. I didn't know which direction I was running.
Published 13th May 2020
Author's Note
This is a draft. Please comment. Negative critique also welcome.
My self critique on this is that I should probably write a dialogue which mirrors the different philosophical minds of those two men.
My self critique on this is that I should probably write a dialogue which mirrors the different philosophical minds of those two men.
All writing remains the property of the author. Don't use it for any purpose without their permission.
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