Clean

I never really expected to amount to much in life...

I was an aspiring writer who was too lazy to write. An aspiring sketch artist who never really had the talent to merit continued work. An aspiring musician who grew to hate playing music. All of these things were products of my youth, and their excitement burned itself out by the time I was 25.

I spent the latter part of my 20's playing video games, and working in an office. I didn't hate the job. Didn't love it either. But it paid the bills. And the games kept me blissfully sedated and mostly unaware of how much I despised everything.

Everything about me was pretty average and unexciting. Until everything changed.

For now, I'll tell you how I came to be standing outside this bank in the rain, about to do something very illegal... about to finally make a name for myself.


I rolled into my 30's without much fanfare. Life continued as it always does. Work, home, video games, feed the dog, sleep, repeat. The monotony of it never got to me. In fact I loved it. But at some point I started wondering about my legacy... What would I be leaving behind in this world? I call myself an agnostic, for the simple fact that it implies to people that I don't give enough of a shit about their views on god to even argue about it with them (Doesn't stop most of you... But you cant blame a guy for trying.), but if we're being straight up honest, I really don't believe in anything, or even entertain the possibility that I should.

So to me... when you die, you die. That's just how it is... Boom, game over folks.

And my game over was looking more and more like it would be quite uneventful.

Things got worse when I lost my job. Economy was rough... Unemployment only goes so far. My family was having it just as rough as I was. I didn't know what to do. Didn't know who to turn to. But that's when I discovered my special gift... and everything changed from that point on.

All the bills were overdue... I was going to lose my house if I didn't get things straight. Nobody was hiring people of my particular skills. So like many who are backed into a corner by the system, I started looking for other ways to pay the bills. Ways outside of the system... Outside of the law.

It started small... a gas station here or there... A jewelry store... I pulled off an armored car once. The thrill of it was getting to me. And so I decided to go bigger and bigger. Push my limits. See what I could really do. The jobs became higher profile, and I started to get a reputation around town as someone who could get things done.

The thing was, nobody could understand how I was doing it. I was never very subtle about anything... I didn't worry about alarms or police. Locks would open without me even touching them... Police in pursuit would suddenly crash their cars, or fall to the ground choking. It was like I was untouchable. Invincible. Nobody could figure out how I was pulling it off.

I was becoming a legend. A god.


I got wind of a job from a jewel fence I'd been working with... Aside from my type of smaller potatoes dealings, he handled some pretty high profile activity in town... Score of a lifetime he called it. "Right up your alley" he said. All I had to do, was get into the most heavily fortified vault in town, and retrieve a disc from a safe deposit box number 3127 for a very wealthy client. The reward was left to my discretion, so I jokingly threw out a number. "5 Mil. up front." I said "And another 5 on delivery." My fence didn't laugh. Didn't even blink. He just said "Let me make some calls." and an hour later the job was mine, and my bank account looked a whole lot different.

So here I am. Standing in the rain. 3 PM was the appointed hour. It is 2:59.

As the minute hand rolls over I begin walking. I stop at the door to shake the rain from my coat. Stepping inside I remove it and hang it on the coat rack by the door. I will not be retrieving it later. I am not concerned with leaving evidence. When I'm finished here, it will matter little.

I glance at the private security officers roaming the main room. They are armed and wary. I walk to the counter and a smiling woman in red asks me if she can help. I tell her that I am here to retrieve an item from a safe deposit (which has been set up for me by my fence). She calls to another employee, takes my info, and we begin walking.

Suddenly everything goes to shit.

Some punk kid has pulled a gun at one of the tellers. The next few seconds involve a lot of screaming. A gun goes off. I'm not sure who it belonged to. My escort drops to the floor and I run for the stairs. I know that he sees me go. The guards will be right behind me. Of all the fucked up luck.

I reach the deposit room floor but find that I'm barred by a key card door. There are sounds of people coming up the stairs behind me. Security has been alerted. It's now or never.

I turn back to the door and concentrate on the space between the door and the wall. I close my eyes and squeeze my fists tightly as the door starts to pop, crack, and finally collapse in upon itself from the built up pressure. Score one more for "special gifts".

I make a mad dash down the right hall toward the number 3 section, where I will find my safe deposit box. Unfortunately, because of the incident downstairs and the building wide alarm that I am noticing for the first time, I find the vault door locked. It is a thick steel door... I could pop it with my abilities, given enough time and concentration... small spaces are tough to visualize... especially when I'm being hurried. But larger spaces... Like the room behind. Those are much easier.

I step a safe distance from the door, but just as I'm about to start concentrating one of the guards rounds the corner and a shot is fired. These guys are playing for keeps...

He is a terrible shot, but his buddy behind him might be better... I don't have time for this...

They both level their weapons at me, and instinctively I pulled my hands up to shield my face... There is a 'whoosh' sound... and suddenly... Wash cloths.

The corridor is filled, side to side, top to bottom with a ten foot thick wall of tightly packed wash cloths.

I hear the muffled sound of their guns on the other side. But the bullets are useless against my power. And now I have time to deal with this door.

I kneel down and focus all of my energies within... I visualize the other side of that door, and start filling the room with as many wash cloths as I can possibly imagine. Seconds pass and I can hear the hinges on the door start to creak and buckle. I concentrate now on the spaces between the already tightly packed wash cloths. I will more wash cloths into those spaces. More and more until every centimeter of possible space has been filled. Then I pushed a little more.

The door buckles and topples outward. I grin, and with a thought the flood of wash cloths pouring from the room disappears.

I glance back at my protective wall just to make sure I didn't dismiss it as well, but find it to be perfectly sound. The gunshots have stopped... the guards must be standing on the other side trying to understand what just happened.

Entering the deposit room I immediately find the box I need and fill the spaces around it's door with wash cloths. The hinges pop and I see my prize. But, strangely... It's not a disc. It's a disk. A 3.5 inch floppy to be exact... Old if the label is any indication. I bring it closer to my face to read the fading ink label.

"Big Burl and his Big Burly Band?"... What is this shit?

Whatever. Pocketing the disk, I decided it was time to make my grand exit.

With a thought I dismiss my wash cloth wall. The stunned guards try to reach for their guns, but they immediately find that each of them has a wash cloth lodged in their throat. It's really hard to breath with a wash cloth in your throat. Several of their friend's meet the same unfortunate fate as I make my way to the roof exit.

Looking over the edge of the building I see that the police have arrived and are canvasing the exits. They think there is no escape for anyone inside. They neglect a small alley between the bank and the apartment building next door because there is no exit there, or in the back. I step to the edge of the roof and concentrate my power into the alley... a small row of stacked wash cloths begins to form at street level... it rises and rises up 6 stories until it reaches the roof.

After crossing my wash cloth bridge, I dismiss it and look back toward the building. Time to finish this.

This was the biggest undertaking I had ever attempted. But I had to know if it could be done. It was time that everyone knew what I was capable of. I closed my eyes, clenched my fists and began to channel my energies. From side to side, top to bottom... I tried to visualize every inch of the building I'd just left. Everything. I was going to fill everything.

My hands were shaking and I could feel that my nose was bleeding... At first I questioned if my ability was even working on this scale... But then I heard people yelling to get out... I heard screaming...windows popping... Foundations cracking... It was working.

It took longer than usual... But eventually I managed to compromise the structure of the entire building, and it toppled outward. Spilling into the streets as rubble and multicolored wash cloths. I would not be dismissing this mountain of fabric. It was going to stay right here as a testament to my power. From now on... Nothing could stop me. Nothing could stand in my way. I am a god.

It started so simple all those years ago... All I wanted was to find a clean wash cloth and I discovered I could conjure them at will. At first I thought it was the stupidest super power I'd ever heard of. But slowly I came around... Slowly I realized that it's not about 'what' you can do... It's about 'how' you use it.


In all the panic and confusion it was nothing for me to exit the building next door playing the part of the panicked bystander. I slipped away from the police barricades and news reporters. Down the next street to freedom. Smiling all the way.

"You did very well." came a woman's voice from the back of a car. It was the woman in red from the bank.

"You've passed my employers little test with ease. You even survived the wrench he threw in your plan."

The other robber. It had all been set up.

"Oh don't look so worried..." she said. "The deal is still on. The remainder of your funds have been deposited, plus a 10% bonus for the extra... inconvenience." she nodded toward the mountain of wash cloths. "I'll take the disk now, please."

I hand her the disk, and she hands me a card.

"Call us in two days time. There will be more work for you."

"What's on that disk anyway?" I ask.

"Personal matter from my employers past. It is best you do not inquire." She places the disk inside a black case and sets it aside. "Wont you be needing a code name or something? Isn't that how this works? Perhaps 'Wash Cloth Man'? Cloth King?"

I didn't like either of those.

"No."

I looked back toward the remnants of the building. The monument to my power.

"From this day forth, you can call me... Fabric Forger."



The End?