Tuesday, August 18, 2009

"Spurgeon and the Rookie"

This was in response to a challenge to present a "Great Line" you had written. I took a very different tack on this one. In the story below you will find 25 very famous movie lines. All but three of them are from the Top 100 Movie Lines of All Time List. Great Lines, right? I did change one word for one of the lines to make it fit the location. The rest are word for word copied, AFAIK.

My challenge to YOU is to find the 25 lines and correctly identify the movies they come from. I suppose you could use the Top 100 list if you need help. Any takers?

(And, of course, I'm interested in what you think about the story - though it suffers from forcing 25 movie lines into it.)

Best of Luck!




"Come on, Joe. I'm supposed to be driving."

"You talking to me? 'Cause I never let a rookie drive. Now get in or I'm leaving your #$%@ a$$ behind."

Officer Ryan Segal got reluctantly into the passenger side of the squad car. His partner, Detective Carter, was in court today and he'd been assigned to work with the department's official doubter, Officer Spurgeon. The rest of the guys touted Spurgeon's praises, but as far as Segal was concerned, Spurgeon was nothing more than a big pain in the arse. Segal was contemplating calling Spurgeon on the driving thing when a call came over the radio.

"2319! 2319! Corner of Franklin and Washington."

"What's a..." Segal began, but was cutoff as Spurgeon floored the accelerator. Horns blasted and pedestrians made rude gestures as the squad car roared away from the curb. Segal held on for dear life and tried again.

"What's a 2319?"

"Little girl's cat is stuck in a tree."

"Oh come on. Tell me the truth."

"You can't handle the truth."

"Try me."

Spurgeon swerved the car, barely missing a parked ambulance.

"Jeez, you almost hit that paramedic! I knew I shoulda been driving. I should report you."

Spurgeon glared at him. "Go ahead. Make my day."

Segal reached for the radio. Spurgeon chose that moment to swerve again, turning into a narrow alley with reducing their speed. Trash cans and other less recognizable items were strewn across their path.

"Fasten your seatbelts," Spurgeon said. "It's going to be a bumpy night."

They bounced over several items. Segal banged his head against the top of the car. His face hit the window as they screamed out of the far end of the alley and hung a hard left, clipping a street sweeper in the process.

"I really think you should let me drive," Segal said.

"What we've got here is a failure to communicate, " Spurgeon replied. "Let's try this again. I. Don't. Let. Rookies. Drive."

They rounded another corner, this time narrowly missing a businessman crossing the street. The man's briefcase was torn from his hand, and papers scattered across the windshield before being blown away.

"But you keep hitting things!"

"Well, nobody's perfect."

Spurgeon slammed the brakes as they reached their destination. Segal stumbled out of the car, as much to get away from Spurgeon and his maniacal driving as to answer the call. It took a moment for him to orient himself. By that time, Spurgeon had approached the individual waiting for them at the front of the building.. Segal hurried over as Spurgeon shook the man's hand.

"Who's this, Spurgeon?" the man asked.

"The Rookie. Segal, say 'hello' to my little friend."

The man _was_ short. Segal thought it was rude of Spurgeon to point it out, but The man didn't seem to care.

"Name's Tork," he said. They shook hands.

"What's going on, Tork. Call said you know something."
This guy had his own code number?

"I see dead people," Tork said.

Segal raised an eyebrow. "Dead people? Like ghosts?"

"Naw, nothing like that. I'm psychic. I get impressions – see things before they happen."

Spurgeon rolled his eyes. "Psychic. Right. Way to spread it on thick for the Rookie. Tork's an informant. He's very well connected and his info's usually good."

Tork looked at Segal and winked.

"You made the call, Tork," Spurgeon continued. "What's the scoop."

"At sunset, at the farthest point of Navy Pier, some bad mojo is going down. If you aren't there, people are going to die."

Spurgeon checked his watch. "Sunset's in about fifteen minutes. We better hustle. Thanks. Tork." Spurgeon paused. "If you're wrong, I'll be back."

Ten minutes later they were exiting the car at Navy Pier. Segal was shaking form the wild ride, but Spurgeon wasn't about to wait up. They sprinted to the east end of the pier by the lake. The area was completely deserted.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Segal said. "Where is everybody? I thought he said people were going to die."

"They're here. Somewhere. We just have to find them. Tork said people were going to die if we weren't here. We are. We'll split up. You stay here, I'll check out the Grand Ballroom."

"But what if..." Spurgeon was already heading up the steps to the Ballroom doors.

Segal sighed. Alone again. He pulled his weapon, just in case, and made his way around the south side of the Ballroom toward the Beer Garden. He was rewarded with the sound of voices. He approached the area cautiously.

"Hello gorgeous," a male voice said. "Here's Johnny!"

"You! Why did it have to be you?"

"Look, Baby, it's not gonna hurt. Much. Just stand still right there against the wall."

"Nobody puts Baby in a corner."

There was the sound of a struggle.

"Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!"

Segal peeked around the corner. In the shadows of the Beer Garden he could see two people struggling. The man succeeded in slamming the woman against the wall. He held her there with one arm across her neck while he reached for something in his pocket.

"Carlisle will kill you," Baby said. Her eyes were wide as Johnny pressed something onto her forward."

"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn."

Segal couldn't wait any longer. He stepped out in the open and pointed the gun. "Hey, you! Get your damn hands off her!"

There was a flash of light, so bright Segal had to cover his eyes. When he could see again the man was standing back looking up at the woman who floated in the air. Her arms were outstretched, her head tilted back with light streaming from her mouth and eyes.

"What did you do?" Segal shouted. "Get her down from there."

"I don't think so," Johnny screamed back. "I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" He turned and pointed something at Segal. Segal reacted instinctively and pulled the trigger.

A shimmering barrier flashed into existence around Johnny. Segal could see where the bullet struck as ripples were flung outward around the semicircular shield. Johnny laughed.

"Prepare to be fried, copper. Take him out, Baby."

The floating figure rotated an extended a hand in his direction.
Flame gathered in the palm then lanced out at him. Segal dodged forward just in time to avoid the blast, but the flames were still close enough to singe his hair.

"Damn," he muttered. "I'll have what she's having."

Segal took refuge behind a trash can and yelled, "Hey! Come on, Baby. Snap out of it!"

"She's mine, copper. With her power at my command nothing can stop me. I'm king of the world!"

Segal fired again at Johnny. The shield was still in place. He barely managed to dodge another fire bolt. This wasn't good. Where was Spurgeon?

As if in response to his thought a gruff voice called out over the mayhem.

"Gentleman, you can't fight in here! This is the BEER room!"

Three things happened at once. The lights coming from Baby vanished, she fell to the ground, and Johnny's shield winked out of existence. Segal fired. Johnny spun around, falling backward.

Segal rushed to the man, wary a gun. Johnny was on his back, blood coming from a shoulder wound. He reached toward an amulet, just inches from his outstretched fingers. "My precious.... " he managed, and then closed his eyes.

Segal checked the man's pulse. It was still strong. He was going to make. Strange there was no gun, though.

"Nice shot, rookie," Spurgeon said as he walked up. "Thought you'd need some back up, but you managed it all on your own."

"Is that a compliment?"

"I give credit where it's due." Spurgeon replied. "Here's looking at you, kid."

1 comment:

Christina said...

I took the challenge...didn't do very well. I'll let you know my guesses later and I'd like to know all of the answers!