The Twilight Bathos

The Twilight Bathos    

                                                                                                          by Sami Khalil

Although staring at the victims with brooding eyes, he felt a bit chipper at the thought of exacting this consummate revenge. “Let them ride into death,” he mumbled.

The purview of evil ascertained his wicked intentions. As he let out angry invectives, he drew on the analogy of rhetorical scaffolding. You can’t disarm your worst critics or evil-doers by pleasing them, you must use contentious means, so he thought.

With a bold face, he had no time for musings at this massacre so to speak. His vivid memory drew him away to a “jungle massacre” in a pavilion when he was a mere child. As he survived the cult, he fled away and ended up in France to learn the art of fine cooking.

Graduated, he went back to the States, got a lead chef job at a fancy hotel in San Francisco, Ca. Few years passed and, at the height of his oeuvre, where no parallels could be drawn between him and others, his final banquet at the hotel ended in a disaster.

Hearing he was about to be discharged from his duties (they expressed that lucidly), to save money and bring in new blood with less pay, the greedy owner left him with an inevitable uncertainty, vexing with distress as if someone held the sacrificial knife, plunging it into his heart. In their greed, they (Owner had silent partners) promoted his despair. His state of being contrasted sharply with the hopeful for how dare they do that to him, with all the critical acclaim he possessed? It was more than a job. It was a career, a livelihood with no dull moments. Although laborious with occasional longueurs, other times motes of joy were experienced.

To exact revenge, he laced the banquet’s punches with cyanide-filled Kool Aid, attended by people of virtue and discretion. His desire was to utterly scupper the business and destroy it with a bad reputation. 

Chef Francois, as he was called, fled the ballroom and was nowhere to be found. He went back to France and hid his identity from the public. The hotel shut down its doors because of lawsuits. The owner was outraged becoming estranged from his “gold digger” young wife. A while passed, it was reported in the San Francisco Chronicles that the FBI had gathered all the information, issuing a warrant for his arrest.

He was a surviving member of the “Jim Jones Cult”, who survived while over 900 members perished in the sad massacre that took place long time ago. If Jones could use the poison, so can he. Were not the apocalyptic feelings fed to him by a paranoid leader?!

 

Reviews

[Patricia Wedel]

dear Sami... when will our Country learn to not get our Food and Drugs from other
Countries, especially Countries that have a different Philosophy. Perhaps from this horrible
Virus will come a realization that we have so many Resources that could be channelled into
livelihoods in our own Country, and thereby be safer. We have tried to Save people in other Countries
that only destroy our way of thinking and helping others to help themselves. Perhaps God and the Angels will guide us on a Path of Restoration. Perhaps Heaven could be on this Earth with a New Birth. truly, Pat x

[Sami Khalil]

Whoa! So true and well said. May your prayers come true. Thank you so much Patricia for sharing your thoughts. Be blessed and be safe...

[Pax]

oh... as Lydia mention, I can't help but think about it as well as I was near the end of this story. but you are the making of a great writer my brother, it shows how you do your own research and made it your own story. and I believe stories comes from real facts, and how the writer chooses it, reflects on it, twist it here and there... you did well, brother, and I see you write more and more convincing stories, I salute yah!!!

[Sami Khalil]

Hi dear brother Pax. I was elated to see you visit after a while. I hope life is treating you well with all these things going on in the world. I thank you as ever. All you have said is true, part and parcel of story making...Be safe...

[Lydia Shutter]

The quest for fame and notoriety will never end. When you mentioned Kool-Aid here, I thought of the Jim Jones massacre.....and how many innocent followers were murdered by drinking that Kool-Aid. You truly are great at writing mysteries and detective stories, Sami. Always a pleasure to read you. Lydi**

[Sami Khalil]

Hi dear Lydia. You are the great poet, art lover and soul that brightens our days with romance, love and creativity. I thank you though for believing in me and I take that as an inspiration to write more with more diversity. Thank you so much and be safe...

[barleygirl]

I will never forget the Jim-Jones massacre, despite how many massacres there are to recall. Every so often I can't resist reading something about this and the intrigue never ends for me, it's so unfathomable why people followed him (since I'm not a "follower" myself, it's beyond my comprehension how people can be so willing to follow). That all being said, your story speaks of something different to me. I felt a chef who was overly taken with his fame . . . which could be analogous to JJ's craving for power . . . and concepts/opinions like fame & power are always transitory. I'm reading this to be a statement about how, with our constant plague of mass killings, it would seem that some people want to "BE SOMEBODY" even if it means being known as a mass murderer -- better than to be unknown & seemingly insignificant. I feel our hero-worship mentality plays into this . . . as if it's not a worthy endeavor to just be a good human being . . . these people need to be SOMEBODY. You've done an amazing job combining themes here . . . what kind of mind can make the leap between Jonestown & being a chef? That's what we love about your writing! (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Sami Khalil]

Hi Margie. You are amazing in work and comprehension. All you say is true and it had been tested and attested in history. In this story, I also tried to show that people that were sheep eaten by the wolf in sheep's clothing, that is an organization or a cult, can move on to a certain degree but still feel the effects of brainwashing. Our famous chef here, although moved on and made a name, he was like his leader full of it, pride, power, low self esteem,depression....and so forth. So he concocted this banquet's massacre based on what Jim did at Jonestown. Also, he thought by them firing him, he will prevail in destroying the hotel like Jim did with the socialistic colony. Thank you so much for taking the time and effort. Be safe and secure....See you soon....

[barleygirl]

Yes, the lingering effects of brainwashing . . . that's a good point, too!

[barleygirl]

Forgot to mention, great art, too!

[Sami Khalil]

Gracie Mille.....

[Sami Khalil]

"His state of being contrasted sharply with the hopeful for how dare they do that to him, with all the critical acclaim he possessed? It was more than a job."