Sex, violence, melody and Silence
Title: Sex, violence, melody and Silence
Summary: "He once dreamt that he fell from a trapeze bar and there was no net below to save him." Maxwell Carrigan in 50 themes.
Author: Sakura123 (weber_dubois22)
Rating: T
Characters: Maxwell "Max" Carrigan
Chapters: 1/1
Word Count: 1990
Written: 11/8/2010
Completed: 11/21/2010
Disclaimer: Across the Universe and all things related are property of their respective owners. I own nothing save [the] storyline and original characters.
Author's Note: My crack at the "Beta" theme set from "1character" at livejournal, this time focusing on the best character in Across the Universe: Maxwell Carrigan. This took a ridiculous amount of time to finish and not because of any difficulty I had with the prompts. Everything just seemed to want to interrupt me at the wrong time :(. Most of the prompts focus more on Max in Vietnam as I've been watching walkthroughs of "Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)" and it's a "person of interest".
01 - Package: The box bounces off his bed with a twist, Max pulls himself up from the sheets in time to watch it hit the floor; it takes him a moment to recognize the letter lying next to it bears the symbol from the Department of Defense.
02 - Obscure: The words that flow from her mouth are indistinct to his ears, he too focused on admiring her figure in that plaid pencil skirt to pay any mind to the lesson.
03 - Skeleton*:"Bones, starved of flesh, surround your aching heart, full of love," Max's voice is a whisper compared to the explosions going off around him and the corpse of a soldier, killed by mortar fire.
04 - Nurse: Addy visits him every chance she gets - he welcomes the very sight of her mocha skin and gray eyes; she's got a bedside manner that could make a man forget pain better than morphine.
05 - Domino: Lucy ruins all the work he and Julia spent the last three hours creating with one well placed kick to the very start, Max watches with astonishment as the cards come crashing down each other like books slamming shut.
06 - Thaw: "Sadie, your stupid stove is broken," When she asks how he figures that, he raises the half-frozen block of ground turkey and replies, "It's not thawing the rest of this hunk of meat."
07 - Waves: The crowd of yuppies move as one in the biggest wave he's ever seen, they push past him as if he's not there, glare at him as if he were nothing - an never-ending reflection of what waits for him back home.
08 - Burglar: The way Prudence climbs in and out of the apartment windows makes him wonder if she had any experience in cat burglary, its far too tempting not to ask her.
09 - Frame: During one of Lucy's visits to the hospital, he pretends not to notice the golden picture frame sticking out the messenger back hanging on her right arm, knowing any sort of rejection of his old life would break his sister's heart.
10 - Carpet: It was his first time home since Christmas break, Max takes the time to remember the multicolored carpet that used to greet him in foyer and the way it cushioned his feet when he walked across it.
11 - Insect: The mosquitoes were probably the worst thing about Vietnam (besides the weather conditions); he couldn't count how many angry red welts covered his arms, let alone his neck.
12 - Mentor: Max liked to think of himself as a mentor sometimes, even if his sisters thought he couldn't teach a turtle how to sink.
13 - Spirit: Out of the two of them, Max never expected Julia to mature into a virtual clone of their mother; straight-laced, stuffy and no-nonsense about she associated with - the fiery little girl he adored was long gone.
14 - Wax: As far as the military was concerned, he was something to be molded into weapon, someone that would ultimately do their heavy lifting and to his disappointment, he was beginning to agree with them.
15 - Trash: Max ruins every window adjacent to the one he actually wants to hit before he finally knocks the golf ball through the center panel; his dorm buddies let out a loud whoop and he howls at the moon in triumph, ignoring the death threats being lobbied across the way.
16 - Womb: It's an epidemic; Everywhere he's gone this week there's been a pregnant woman somewhere in his line of sight; it scares him, the way look at him, but it's even more unsettling to have to stand in front of a woman pregnant with twins and she's glaring at you like you got her into this mess.
17 - Burn: Lt. Russell like's to burn things; Max prays he's never around when this man gets his hands on a flamethrower.
18 - Flash: It's all over in the blink of an eye, Max doesn't realize what he's done until the sky is illuminated by missiles going off somewhere nearby - he stares down at the body in shock, she couldn't have been any older than his youngest sister.
19 - Anima: His anima (Rose, he likes to call her) appreciates his present desires for autonomy and offers him a gun - a silver magnum revolver with one shot and five chances to change his mind, just in case.
20 - Gamble: The music swells in the background as the dice fly from his hand, his sunglasses slip down the bridge of his nose down to tip as he and Jude learn forward to watch those tiny squares bounce across the table, seconds from deciding his hand.
21 - Statue: Maxwell observes the replica of the famous "Thinking Man" sitting no more than twelve inches off the floor next to apartment doorway and wonders if the plastic man has any qualms over where he's been placed.
22 - Perfume: The smell of Nadya (a Russian immigrant and aspiring dancer he met one hazy night at a bar), dried flowers, cigarettes and inexpensive perfume, lingers even after she's left his bedroom.
23 - Wine: Mrs. and Mrs. Carrigan are giving him the "You could be doing so much more with your life if you only applied yourself" speech again; Max ignores the worried looks he gets from his sisters as he downs a glass of chardonnay in one breathless gulp.
24 - Reflection: The water distorts his sense of self whenever he stares down at his reflection, the water ripples drag empty shells across his face into the high grass; who is he?
25 - Take: He snatches the floppy book from his little sister's hands, knowing what will happen; "Max, give it back!" Lucy screeches as Max evades her grabby fingers that try to reclaim her magazine.
26 - Magic*: Nurse Selma and her magic wand return one last time before he's officially discharged from the hospital - she performs his favorite dance and makes the room spin with little or no effort without making him sick; she leans down and whisperers sweetly, "I'll give you love that'll never go away."
27 - Fragment: Life at the apartment is a little less cohesive without Jude to talk to; Lucy does her best to keep his spirits up, he appreciates her efforts (really, he does), but it's not enough to fill the hole the soft-spoken man left behind.
28 - Cats and dogs: The humidity combined with the relentless rain made for a uncomfortable night be assigned to watch duty, Max would've removed himself far from the disagreement that was about to boil over into a brawl, if it didn't mean comprising his unit (not that it mattered with all the noise Brooks and Bowman were making).
29 - Hum: The noisy air conditioner provides a strange distraction from the chaos going on the television - he hums along with it (praying Lucy isn't in the middle of that protest-turned-riot), drawing the concerned attention of his nurse.
30 - Flinch: He's wired tighter than a rubber band around a toy propeller; when Julia knocks the cans from the store shelf and they fall on the marble floor with a clatter, he flinches, his right hand reaching for the weapon that isn't there.
31 - Rush: The one time I want to be on time, I'm late, Max thinks as he stumbles down the stairs - in his haste, he drops his notebooks into the path of a aimless young man.
32 - Jester: The occupation of joker was one that was subconsciously accepted; If Jude and Lucy were the heart and soul of their tale, he was undoubtedly looked upon as that eccentric funny guy.
33 - Haven: "Hiding in a rat-hole is the very opposite of a good idea, sir," Maxwell hissed to sergeant Sanderson, who shrugged helplessly as he struggled to unjam his pistol; "I'm open to any suggestions that don't get us shot to hell, private Carrigan."
34 - Dusk: Though he preferred to be alone during the evening, he never bothered to chase Prudence away when she came up to visit him on the rooftop.
35 - Chord: Learning to play guitar was not as easy as it sounded; every note he played fell flat or fizzled out just as he was getting the hang of stringing them all together in a discernable melody.
36 - Indulgence: Lucy thinks Max spoils his wife - he'd be inclined to agree with her, but the worst he's done is paint her nails and let her sleep in on weekends.
37 - Freezer: Jude's "Fucking hell," draws his attention away from the funnies section, he's surprised to see the refrigerator's freezer is a literal block of ice, preventing Jude from closing the door; they end up trying to defrost it with a pair of blow dryers that belong to Sadie.
38 - Passage: The subway was his least favorite way of getting around the city, the narrow and suffocating tunnels make him more than a little claustrophobic.
39 - Coast: The moment he saw the tandem bicycle sitting out front, he tried to run in the other direction, but Julia was insistent to the point of tears that he "please, please, please, join her"; so he caved and only pretended not to enjoy himself as they glided through the park.
40 - Keepsake: His dog tags hang idly on a chain on the rung of the office chair in his bedroom, he always promised himself he'd throw them away one day, but he could never bring himself to act on his own word whenever he really bothered to notice them.
41 - Morbid: "I can't decide whether or not your as good as you say you are, or if you just like taking pretty pictures of corpses, Iggy," Max remarked to the photographer who'd taken it upon himself to follow he and his unit around through the village.
42 - Shipwreck*: He asks Lucy one day, out of the blue, "Am I losing my mind, am I losing my mind?" and her only response is to climb into the bed and hold him until he pulls himself together again.
43 - Socks: "Ever since Prudence adopted that goddamn stray cat, every one of my socks have gone missing," Max groused as he rummaged through his dirty laundry for the matching green sock.
44 - Sand: Max is twelve years old when his parents take him to the beach; he spends all day and afternoon building haphazard castles and forts out of the sand until the tide comes in to wash them away.
45 - Coin: It was tarnished on front and missing the recognizable emblem that marked it as quarter, but as far as he was concerned, it a piece of history that he wouldn't soon forget.
46 - Guile: He fools Mr. Kent into excusing him from the class with a convincing tale about needing to visit the nurse's office; it gives him enough time to retrieve the answers for his algebra test from his locker and return without rising suspicion.
47 - Eyelash: The blonde eyelash, presently playing merry havoc with his eyeball, was well worth the price of kissing she who would become his future wife.
48 - Drive: When he arrived in New York, the very last thing he expected to be doing was driving taxis to support his part of the rent; how the hell did he get himself into this?
49 - Net: He once dreamt that he fell from a trapeze bar and there was no net below to save him.
50 - Destination*: "Where are we going?" Lucy asks as he drives the taxi out the city; he turns to her and smiles - "To the places where all the things meet," He replies.
SONG REFERENCES:
(03): "Bones" - (The) Editors
(26): "All I ask" - Nina Simone
(42): "Shipwrecked" - Alexander Shane
Story Title & (50): "Bittersweet Symphony" - The Verve