Group Exercise 01 - Mild Adult Content

Fuzzytrooper

Scene: The year is 2020. Following a short period of prosperity the Irish government is now bankrupt, largely through the actions of Minister for Finance Bertie Haughey. The general population is not happy. Thousands of protesters gather outside of government buildings. A number of disgruntled citizens storm the Dáil. The ministers flee to safety. However a number of protesters and Gardaí are injured. In the confusion most of the violent protesters slip out into the crowd so there are very few arrests.

Guidelines: Post your submissions in this thread. As with last time there is no word limit. However the suggestion is that you only spend 30 minutes on you piece. It would be good if everyone taking part could submit by end of Friday and we can then get some feedback going. If you can't take part or I've added you incorrectly (there were a number of maybes:P) then let me know and I'll remove you from the list. If I haven't added you and you wish to participate give me a shout and I'll add you.

Roles:
- MrE: Bertie Haughey
- PlentyOhToole: Mary O'Sullivan - One of the protesters that storms the Dáil
- Echo Beach: Mr.Fluffykins. A middle aged cat and the official Dáil mouse catcher.
- Fuzzytrooper: Little Timmy. A child of one of the protesters.
- Xaracatz: Garda Anthony Byrne. Riot officer on duty outside the Dáil.
- Rubecula: Pablo Garcia. A foreign exchange student that unexpectedly comes across the protest when on their way back home from Trinity college

Rubecula

Pablo Garcia wondered how it had happened.

Yesterday he had accepted his friend's invitation to witness a GAA game for the first time, and had accepted. He was meant to meet the fellow students outside the government buildings. "And to keep an eye out for the crowd of fans.". Somehow he had gotten muddled up.

What had started out as a bit of a nice day, had deteriorated rapidly. Someone had thrown a bottle, empty of course, they were not that far gone. Then he was pushed in the back.....

Two minutes later he was being pushed up against a riot shield, with the Gardai screaming at him. "a fháil ar ais (Get back)" Pablo had responded with a phrase in his own language out of panic ..."O que você está dizendo? O que está acontecendo? Onde estão os fãs?"

Someone shouted "Sceimhlitheoireachta Eachtracha." And still not knowing what was going on he felt a sharp pain in the side of his head, huge hands grabbing him and roughly handcuffing him before being hurled into the back of a piss stained and smelly van. He had woken up in a small cell a few moments ago. Still not knowing why and wishing he was at home in Lisbon.

Mr E

Bertie Haughey had just cried for the first time in 14 years, for the first time since his mother died in 2006. He was sitting in a cubicle in the Dáil jacks. Soothing classical music from the speakers was at odds with how he felt inside. He was scrolling through twitter on his phone and getting more agitated the more he read. Things were really going to shit outside and it was all his fault.

A loud knock on the door made him jump. He could see high heels under the door and he immediately knew who it was.

"Jesus Annie, you can't be in here!"
"Don't worry about that, Bertie. Everyone is gone. The other TDs are all holed away in the bar upstairs until this boils over. The gardai have the entrance blocked, so nobody is getting in or out."
"This is all my fault. After those asshole Luas drivers held out for 4 years, 4-FECK-ING-YEARS," he banged the syllables out on the wall of the cubicle, "we had to pay them ourselves."
"We had to take over from Transdev, there was no other way. Having to pay the drivers a 250k salary was a kick in the tits, though. It would have been cheaper to make a deal in 2016. They've bankrupted the feckin' country."
"I bankrupted the feckin' country, Annie."
"I'm your junior minister, I have to accept some of the blame."

Bertie slid the lock back and the door opened. He was sitting fully clothed on the toilet seat lid.

"There is no more we can do about it today, Bertie. I'm going to have to do something to take your mind off it."

With a cheeky grin, Annie entered the cubicle, locked the door and knelt down. She had a way of making him forget the bad stuff, if only temporarily. As "Behold and see if there be any sorrow" from Handel's Messiah played over the speakers, he sat back and let Annie do her thing. Or his thing! He smiled at his own joke. The general election was rapidly approaching and then it would be some other poor bastard's problem.

He closed his eyes and moaned. He just had to get through one day at a time until then.

Fuzzytrooper

Me da is nuts! Bringing me with my gimpy leg to a f'ing riot! I kept getting shoved all over the place, those gits! Gary was there too but I don't know what happened to him. Right at the start he got pulled off to the side. Da kept a hold of me so I didn't get too lost but it made me look like a little kid. I'm nearly 11!

Everyone was shouting about something or other Feck this guy, feck that guy. They were really wound up. Da was shouting too. He's never this angry, well, except after the pub. I hate when he goes there. The Gardaí were there too – I mean at the front of the riot, but I see them other times too. They bring Da back from the pub sometimes. Other times we have to pick him up at the station. I don't like them, locking him up like that. Ma says it's for his own good but I think she's happier when he's not around.

This was meant to be our day off in town together. We were supposed to go to McDonalds and the cinema. Now I just want to go home. F'ing riot!

echo beach

MR FLUFFYKINS.
I usually have a fairly quiet life here in Leinster House. There are plenty of mice because those untidy TDs are always dropping food and the workers in the canteen make sure I get my milk every day. For a long time I did my job, didn’t bother anybody and they didn’t bother me but it was a different story last Wednesday.

I was in my usual spot near the door, listening to that windbag Bertie Haughey making a speech. For once there was a fair crowd in the chamber, most of them trying to shout him down. Even with the noise inside, I could hear a commotion outside. There was a lot of chanting and shouting and the next thing the door fell in and about a dozen people rushed through it. The place filled with smoke and nobody but me could see a thing. There were shouts and bangs, women screaming and men screaming louder.

I know a little side exit and made my way there. It was already open and outside, gasping for air, were all the top boys (and girls of course). Once they got their breath they turned on Haughey saying it was all his fault. He said it didn’t matter whose fault it was if they didn’t get away they would all be lynched. The best tactic was to split up and most of them could try to slip away into the crowd. Apart from the Taoiseach and a few others nobody would recognise the rest of them. Two guards appeared. I could see they were hurt. There was blood everywhere but the boyos who weren’t able to hide didn’t care.

“Help, help” they shouted, “Get us to safety.”

“Help yourselves,” said one guard. “You wouldn’t restore our pay but you want us to protect you. You can think again. I’m off.”

Xaracatz

It went like clockwork. It always did. A beautifully choreographed ballroom scene, guided by an elite chosen team, on a dancefloor full of puppets.

Garda Byrne smiled behind his protective headgear as a member of the crowd filmed a young man, pushed against a wall, shouting out in his native tongue.

It was a rite of passage for those in the know. Every once in a while the public gets restless and requires an outlet for its feeling of powerlessness. It was before his time in the squad, but he remembered well the riot in late 2016 where the government of the time suggested a H2o charge in replacement of the water tax. The people got angry, they stormed the Dáil, and eventually the H2o charge was abolished, giving the great unwashed their feeling of victory.

What Joe Public didn’t know was that this was all just smoke and mirrors, created to divert attention from the actual matters behind the scene. The Water Charges Campaign had been one of their greatest successes, dragging out for over three years, with just a sound bite here, and a contentious comment there being enough to stoke the fires of opinion. They could have begun burning the homeless on the street, and all that was required was a mention of the cost of water to draw attention away.

He saw a red-faced man approach, shouting his inane nonsense and dragging a limping kid behind him. A perfect photo opportunity for outrage. Garda Byrne put his hand on his pepper spray and walked towards the man, thinking about a week in the Seychelles courtesy of his bonus for this day’s work.

Fuzzytrooper

Great job to everyone involved. Really enjoyed reading these. I'll try to pop up some feedback later.

echo beach

Well done to all for some interesting takes on this one. A great mix of approaches. It was notable now many of us were influenced by current events.

Fuzzytrooper

echo beach wrote: »

Well done to all for some interesting takes on this one. A great mix of approaches. It was notable now many of us were influenced by current events.

Not sure if I should say well done or sorry to you ☺ An interesting take on the life of Mr.Fluffykins