Beautiful Strangers

A Story by Abishai100

An Ivy League idealist returns to a foreign land for a wrought political adventure which may create surprise-DNA.

A society vignette inspired by the film The Young Americans. Enjoy (signing off),

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A group of Ivy League students in New England were chatting with one of their house-members, a US citizen named Amlan Satan, half-Sicilian, half-Algerian, about the intrigue of terrorism-storytelling in foreign countries and what 'Centurion' comic books looked like in such places. This discussion made a Christmastime Ivy League house discussion quite the society event.

However, the VP of the co-ed social organization/club at the Ivy League school, Esmerelda, was jealous of Amlan and wanted to 'drive' him to return to Sicily that summer to bring back iPhone photos of various 'beautiful strangers' he'd considered as 'symbolic' of this enduring 'Centurion' aesthetic in foreign lands, so she'd be able to exploit/market them as daily candy!

ESMERELDA: If I can turn Amlan's authentic comics-photo study in Sicily into sci-fi porn, he'll be disgraced!

So, Amlan was indeed fooled into returning to Sicily for this iPhone project. He wandered the streets at night in the fair Italian area looking for 'beautiful strangers' who'd reflect the 'Centurion' aesthetic of terrorism-oriented or empire-oriented comic books, either models or bards of a new era youth imagination in the world of writing/stories.

AMLAN: I believe my eccentricity draws some like Esmerelda to wonder if hoodwinking me will wield special toys!

Amlan himself was an amateur terrorism-comics writer with a special study-interest in blood-diamond politics in Europe, but he's formally studying to be a doctor of neuropsychology. He's a brilliant guy!

Well, as fortune would have it, Amlan Satan did indeed come across some of those 'beautiful strangers' among the Sicilian crowds, people who seemed to be the adult renditions of the kids he played with as a youngster in Algeria/Italy. One such 'beautiful stranger' was the charming Sicilian woman Daniela who was a big fan of anti-fascist Cossack comics from the Urals and told Amlan about her passion for democratic art, so he took her iPhone photo for his 'beautiful strangers' art-album.

Another woman he met was the 'beautiful stranger' Nadia, a swimmer trying to get to the Olympics who was also a fan of terrorism-themed comic book writing and also enjoyed Captain America comic books circulated in Italy in modern times in schools. Nadia wondered if Amlan's special iPhone-photo project was some kind of marketing-scheme to create a Western bias towards traveling wanderers.

Finally, Amlan met a dashing Italian biker named Marc in Sicily who woke every dawn to ride for Pepsi races upcoming in mainland Italy. Amlan considered this 'gladiator' a prime candidate for democracy-comics fanfare, especially since he's a big fan of anti-terrorism comics such as GI Joe.

Amlan gathered these three individuals to form a special diamond-heist club called Beautiful Strangers and distributed rabbit-masks so they'd be in disguise for a special diamond-theft of a local Sicilian crimelord and blood-diamond smuggler named Goldfinger who's been using gems to finance terrorism. This would be the perfect 'real-life' heroism/vigilantism record/folk-tale complement for Amlan Satan's American 'beautiful strangers' album about modern anti-terrorism storytelling.

The Beautiful Strangers were in rabbit-masks, while Amlan was disguised as a Sicilian Robin Hood and marched through the late night streets of Sicily and up to the steps by the mansion of the baron Goldfinger. They knocked on his door claiming to be a theater-group from a Catholic school in British Columbia in desperate need of a night's rest for the next dawn's theater performance, as they're still in costumes/masks. Once inside, they sneaked into Goldfinger's safe-room after having him inebriated with their heavy drinks and code-cracked his box and switched his blood-diamonds for the fakes in their shoes.

GOLDFINGER: I'm not pursuing press/charges for this home-invasion, as I suspect these rascals are media-hounds.

Amlan Satan now remembered his glory days as a child in Sicily when he met the gorgeous Sicilian female storyteller named Rhoda who'd told him about great warriors of old on horseback combating real villains in government. This woman was still alive now, and Amlan sought her out from his memories/photos from childhood.

AMLAN: We've accomplished a miracle with 'beautiful strangers' in Sicily!

RHODA: You've performed some kind of Robin Hood act, Amlan?
AMLAN: We outwitted a terrorism-baron lurking right here in Sicily.
RHODA: You recruited some newfound Sicilian friends, Amlan?
AMLAN: There's nothing wrong with foreign heroism, Rhoda!
RHODA: Are you keeping dry, Amlan?

When Amlan Satan returned to the States, he presented his Ivy League house-members his nifty iPhone photo album of his 'Beautiful Strangers' Sicilian democracy-adventure along with some nice Italian old-world comics clippings, proving to them that 'advent' or invented folklore of modern anti-terrorism rhetoric could complement our new era imagination about wrought politics. The envious house-member Esmerelda looked upon this mosaic with great fury.