((Scene: Larry and the Judge))
Larry: *Walks into the mall one Saturday afternoon, happily clutching a five dollar bill he fully intends to get a new pair of socks and a slice of pizza from the food court with. He walks straight towards a low-price clothing store, only stopping once to introduce himself to a disinterested duo of attractive young women out on a shopping trip.*
Judge: *the Judge is in a department store near the food court, looking around for something to give his wife in celebration of something which he has honestly forgotten. Foiled by disinterest in the wares, he exits the store - and stops in the middle of the food court*
Judge: *Raises his eyebrows as a wave of intense malcontent washes over him, sweeping up the length of his body and into his skull, filling his brain like a bad stench. He can taste bile in his throat - the smell and taste and feel of hate*
Larry: *Once he purchases a simple pair of white socks, he makes his way out of the store and to the food court, already daydreaming hungrily about a wide and greasy slice of pepperoni pizza he'd buy with the change in his pocket. However, as he rounds a bend and approaches the food court, he stops. Larry frowns, unsure of why he even chose to stop, but before he can advance again, a dark feeling of dread takes ahold of him. He looks around rapidly, wondering why he suddenly feels as if some awful danger is about to strike.*
Judge: *Looks around, his beard whipping back and forth beneath his head - and then he is sure he feels the source of this foulness, and his eyes are bugging out of his head with the intensity of his glare as he begins to move through the crowd, not knowing what he is looking for but knowing that he will know when he has found it*
Larry: *His skin practically crawls with apprehension, yet he sees nothing out of the ordinary in his surroundings. However, the abnormal fear continues to gnaw at him. His breathing speeds up, and suddenly he feels like a cornered rabbit, and yet the source is still unapparent. He shakes his head, thinking maybe it's the hunger that's making him feel strange, and forces himself to start moving again. Tensely, he walks towards the pizza stand.*
Judge: *pushes his way through the crowd - he's caught the scent now, in a literal sense, putting his nose to the air and letting out a SNIFF that can be heard throughout the entire food court*
Larry: *Without realizing it, he had quickened his pace until he is nearly running. He looks at the line in front of the pizza stand, and in that second decides to abandon the plan, not wanting to stand there waiting, out in the open. Sweat starts to trickle down his brow. He feels as if something horrifying is close by, but he can't figure out where. He turns and speed-walks away from the food court, back in the direction he came from.
Judge: *It's on the move! He sniffs at the air again - that brackish foulness mixed with the stink of over-oiled pizza, and looks around, catching the barest whiff, the slightest glimpse of his tormentor. When he walks after it he is not running, but his walk is quick and purposeful and people actively move out of his way*
Larry: *His knees shake as he walks with the urge to just run, but without knowing where the object of his terror is, he's not sure if he'd be running right into it. He feels as if he's close to hyperventilating, and for a second he thinks he sees a menacing black shape out of the corner of his eye, but when he spins around to look his view is blocked by a group of teenagers passing by. More than unnerved, Larry quickly moves in the other direction, weaving between stands that sell cell phone bling and skin care products, trying unsuccessfully to shake off his adrenaline. He hopes that if the source of his fear is even real, that his maneuvering will lose whatever it is.*
Judge: *His pace quickens - he's not even sure why he's giving chase, just that he has to, that there's no choice in it for him. The teenagers smell like cigarette smoke and nerd sweat but he barely notices . It is not until he passes a skin care cart that an unapologetic woman leaps out, pushing upon him the boundless benefits of clearing up the acne on his head. It is several minutes of flabbergasted stuttering and interruption before he can even point out that he does not have any acne*
Larry: *As he makes distance from the food court, he senses the pressure starting to ebb, and he manages to breathe a little more slowly. However, the feeling that he's being stalked hasn't gone away, and for a moment he recalls in startling clarity something he saw on TV, of a lone deer grazing unsuspectingly while a hungry mountain lion stalked it. In renewed desperation, he ducks into the closest shop, which happens to be a small toy store.*
Judge: *The Judge ultimately ends up fleeing the stand, his head smelling of alcohol and menthol, rubbing a handkerchief vigorously on his skull in an attempt to mop off the topical cream. His eyes have eased up a bit... but as he runs from the stall, he sees the toy store, and his nostrils flare wide. Whatever it is, it's in there, and he plans to find out what this menace is... and, if need be, to destroy it*
Larry: *As Larry rushes down one of the aisles, he has a distinct feeling that he's being followed. Seized by sudden panic, he sweeps an arm against a display of rubber balls, knocking them loose so they tumble onto the floor and bounce dramatically in every direction. Larry flees towards the back of the store while the clerk yells for him to stop.*
Judge: *the Judge is inside the toystore in a matter of moments, his hurry carrying him down the asle that Larry fled down - and tripping on the balls before he sees them, reaching out and pulling down a shelf full of sinister stuffed animals, which are immediately followed by the rest of the shelves on the case, dumping dozens of different kinds of toys on top of a suddenly embarrassed old man*
Larry: Larry hears the crash of the shelf as he reaches the back of the store, jumping in fright. He looks around rapidly, spotting a small tricycle. Without hesitation, he climbs onto it, his knees forced to jut out sideways to accommodate to the fact that the tricycle was built for legs about half the length of his own. With some effort, he manages to force the tricycle to lurch into movement though not actually moving any faster than he did while walking, and steers it down a different aisle back towards the front of the door while the clerk ineffectively shouts threats.*
Judge: *his fist rises from the pile of toys, gavel clenched firmly in hand, the pile falling aside wit a clatter. When he staggers to his feet he promptly falls again, and then crawls out of the aisle. That stink is still there - the clerk is still shouting, but he has trouble finding his footing*
Larry: *Larry drives the little tricycle as fast as he can, steering out of the store and back into the main hall, nearly plowing right into an elderly lady but managing to steer around her at the last second. He does, however, in the process of avoiding her, nail a businessman in the back of the legs, causing him to tumble dramatically with arms flailing, and his briefcase to crack open and send papers fluttering everywhere. Larry ditches the wreckage of the fragile tricycle and takes off in a sprint.*
Judge: *fights his way to his feet, pulling down several other shelves in the process, grumbling every time he nearly loses his footing. He staggers out of the toy store, taking a moment to rest against the doorway, panting as he looks around - and he sees a flash of something in the distance as it disappears into the crowd. Groaning but determined he lurches off after it, no longer quite as sure why he's giving chase*
Larry: *His heart beats faster and he feels as if a deadly predator is right behind him. And then, he trips! He falls flat on the floor, and for a moment fears the danger will descend upon him in that one moment of helplessness. With a cry of fright, he rolls back to his feet and ducks into the nearest store...... a plush, pink store, filled with lingerie of many colors and fabrics. For a second, Larry is stunned, but the fear of the chase hits him again before he can sink fully into the daze, and while several women watch with confused expressions, he literally dives behind a rack of skimpy silk pajamas and hides there on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest, waiting and hoping the unknown predator will pass by without seeing him.*
Judge: *finally staggers over to the lingerie outlet, about to step in without even looking up, and then stops, as if he's hit a physical barrier. He takes a couple of steps back, then looks up at the sign of the store - then his eyes nearly bug out of his head. He looks in the display window - all-too-feminine mannequins, the hyper-realistic ones with eternally erect nipples and blank, staring eyes, wearing lingerie meant for women considerably smaller than their models. Taking another step back, he looks into the store proper and sees it filled with nothing but confused women. He...he can't go in there. The pressure in his head is terrible, but the smell is overwhelmed by the heavy perfume that permeates the store. He stands on the threshold for another moment before slumping his shoulders, turning, and walking away - the chase abandoned*
Larry: *The sting of raw terror gradually begins to fade, but Larry does not move. He waits there, and waits, and the women in the store forget he's hiding there, except when one tries to take some red silk pajamas off the rack, but then sees him behind the clothing, screams, and runs away. Hours later, the store begins to close its doors for the evening, and Larry finally leaves his hiding spot and exits back into the mall while the store manager can only stare in bewilderment.*
Judge: *the Judge is in a department store near the food court, looking around for something to give his wife in celebration of something which he has honestly forgotten. Foiled by disinterest in the wares, he exits the store - and stops in the middle of the food court*
Judge: *Raises his eyebrows as a wave of intense malcontent washes over him, sweeping up the length of his body and into his skull, filling his brain like a bad stench. He can taste bile in his throat - the smell and taste and feel of hate*
Larry: *Once he purchases a simple pair of white socks, he makes his way out of the store and to the food court, already daydreaming hungrily about a wide and greasy slice of pepperoni pizza he'd buy with the change in his pocket. However, as he rounds a bend and approaches the food court, he stops. Larry frowns, unsure of why he even chose to stop, but before he can advance again, a dark feeling of dread takes ahold of him. He looks around rapidly, wondering why he suddenly feels as if some awful danger is about to strike.*
Judge: *Looks around, his beard whipping back and forth beneath his head - and then he is sure he feels the source of this foulness, and his eyes are bugging out of his head with the intensity of his glare as he begins to move through the crowd, not knowing what he is looking for but knowing that he will know when he has found it*
Larry: *His skin practically crawls with apprehension, yet he sees nothing out of the ordinary in his surroundings. However, the abnormal fear continues to gnaw at him. His breathing speeds up, and suddenly he feels like a cornered rabbit, and yet the source is still unapparent. He shakes his head, thinking maybe it's the hunger that's making him feel strange, and forces himself to start moving again. Tensely, he walks towards the pizza stand.*
Judge: *pushes his way through the crowd - he's caught the scent now, in a literal sense, putting his nose to the air and letting out a SNIFF that can be heard throughout the entire food court*
Larry: *Without realizing it, he had quickened his pace until he is nearly running. He looks at the line in front of the pizza stand, and in that second decides to abandon the plan, not wanting to stand there waiting, out in the open. Sweat starts to trickle down his brow. He feels as if something horrifying is close by, but he can't figure out where. He turns and speed-walks away from the food court, back in the direction he came from.
Judge: *It's on the move! He sniffs at the air again - that brackish foulness mixed with the stink of over-oiled pizza, and looks around, catching the barest whiff, the slightest glimpse of his tormentor. When he walks after it he is not running, but his walk is quick and purposeful and people actively move out of his way*
Larry: *His knees shake as he walks with the urge to just run, but without knowing where the object of his terror is, he's not sure if he'd be running right into it. He feels as if he's close to hyperventilating, and for a second he thinks he sees a menacing black shape out of the corner of his eye, but when he spins around to look his view is blocked by a group of teenagers passing by. More than unnerved, Larry quickly moves in the other direction, weaving between stands that sell cell phone bling and skin care products, trying unsuccessfully to shake off his adrenaline. He hopes that if the source of his fear is even real, that his maneuvering will lose whatever it is.*
Judge: *His pace quickens - he's not even sure why he's giving chase, just that he has to, that there's no choice in it for him. The teenagers smell like cigarette smoke and nerd sweat but he barely notices . It is not until he passes a skin care cart that an unapologetic woman leaps out, pushing upon him the boundless benefits of clearing up the acne on his head. It is several minutes of flabbergasted stuttering and interruption before he can even point out that he does not have any acne*
Larry: *As he makes distance from the food court, he senses the pressure starting to ebb, and he manages to breathe a little more slowly. However, the feeling that he's being stalked hasn't gone away, and for a moment he recalls in startling clarity something he saw on TV, of a lone deer grazing unsuspectingly while a hungry mountain lion stalked it. In renewed desperation, he ducks into the closest shop, which happens to be a small toy store.*
Judge: *The Judge ultimately ends up fleeing the stand, his head smelling of alcohol and menthol, rubbing a handkerchief vigorously on his skull in an attempt to mop off the topical cream. His eyes have eased up a bit... but as he runs from the stall, he sees the toy store, and his nostrils flare wide. Whatever it is, it's in there, and he plans to find out what this menace is... and, if need be, to destroy it*
Larry: *As Larry rushes down one of the aisles, he has a distinct feeling that he's being followed. Seized by sudden panic, he sweeps an arm against a display of rubber balls, knocking them loose so they tumble onto the floor and bounce dramatically in every direction. Larry flees towards the back of the store while the clerk yells for him to stop.*
Judge: *the Judge is inside the toystore in a matter of moments, his hurry carrying him down the asle that Larry fled down - and tripping on the balls before he sees them, reaching out and pulling down a shelf full of sinister stuffed animals, which are immediately followed by the rest of the shelves on the case, dumping dozens of different kinds of toys on top of a suddenly embarrassed old man*
Larry: Larry hears the crash of the shelf as he reaches the back of the store, jumping in fright. He looks around rapidly, spotting a small tricycle. Without hesitation, he climbs onto it, his knees forced to jut out sideways to accommodate to the fact that the tricycle was built for legs about half the length of his own. With some effort, he manages to force the tricycle to lurch into movement though not actually moving any faster than he did while walking, and steers it down a different aisle back towards the front of the door while the clerk ineffectively shouts threats.*
Judge: *his fist rises from the pile of toys, gavel clenched firmly in hand, the pile falling aside wit a clatter. When he staggers to his feet he promptly falls again, and then crawls out of the aisle. That stink is still there - the clerk is still shouting, but he has trouble finding his footing*
Larry: *Larry drives the little tricycle as fast as he can, steering out of the store and back into the main hall, nearly plowing right into an elderly lady but managing to steer around her at the last second. He does, however, in the process of avoiding her, nail a businessman in the back of the legs, causing him to tumble dramatically with arms flailing, and his briefcase to crack open and send papers fluttering everywhere. Larry ditches the wreckage of the fragile tricycle and takes off in a sprint.*
Judge: *fights his way to his feet, pulling down several other shelves in the process, grumbling every time he nearly loses his footing. He staggers out of the toy store, taking a moment to rest against the doorway, panting as he looks around - and he sees a flash of something in the distance as it disappears into the crowd. Groaning but determined he lurches off after it, no longer quite as sure why he's giving chase*
Larry: *His heart beats faster and he feels as if a deadly predator is right behind him. And then, he trips! He falls flat on the floor, and for a moment fears the danger will descend upon him in that one moment of helplessness. With a cry of fright, he rolls back to his feet and ducks into the nearest store...... a plush, pink store, filled with lingerie of many colors and fabrics. For a second, Larry is stunned, but the fear of the chase hits him again before he can sink fully into the daze, and while several women watch with confused expressions, he literally dives behind a rack of skimpy silk pajamas and hides there on the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest, waiting and hoping the unknown predator will pass by without seeing him.*
Judge: *finally staggers over to the lingerie outlet, about to step in without even looking up, and then stops, as if he's hit a physical barrier. He takes a couple of steps back, then looks up at the sign of the store - then his eyes nearly bug out of his head. He looks in the display window - all-too-feminine mannequins, the hyper-realistic ones with eternally erect nipples and blank, staring eyes, wearing lingerie meant for women considerably smaller than their models. Taking another step back, he looks into the store proper and sees it filled with nothing but confused women. He...he can't go in there. The pressure in his head is terrible, but the smell is overwhelmed by the heavy perfume that permeates the store. He stands on the threshold for another moment before slumping his shoulders, turning, and walking away - the chase abandoned*
Larry: *The sting of raw terror gradually begins to fade, but Larry does not move. He waits there, and waits, and the women in the store forget he's hiding there, except when one tries to take some red silk pajamas off the rack, but then sees him behind the clothing, screams, and runs away. Hours later, the store begins to close its doors for the evening, and Larry finally leaves his hiding spot and exits back into the mall while the store manager can only stare in bewilderment.*