Tobias Fulner and the Art of Persuasion

(Disclaimer: this is a farce, and a poorly written one at that. Do you think I can save it in any form? This was written for my self-imposed Tobias Fulner writing challenge. Ladies, I'm waiting for your entries!)

Tobias Fulner was a very young man who believed in the power of the art of persuasion. Every day he would lift his head off of the pillow, stretch, yawn, and persuade himself that the world needed him to get up. And so he did.

Tobias was not a good student in the classical sense of things. He did not like to do homework or yardwork or woodwork or anything he deemed "immoral", a word he used so often it appeared to have less to do with morals than the principle of the thing. His parents deemed him an unruly child and made up their minds to send him to military school.

Little to their knowledge, Tobias, being a believer in the power of the art of persuasion, soon surpassed their wildest dreams and had quickly become an integral part of the Premier's inner circle of military advisors. Unfortunately for his country, Tobias knew nothing of military strategy. All he had was a gift for persuasion and a spunky, lopsided sort of charm.

Therefore, to the chagrin of all the other advisors, the country entered a war in a far corner of the globe. However, this war did not last very long, as Mr. Fulner quickly persuaded the other side to simply give up.

The next day, there was a ticker-tape parade in celebration of the heroic Tobias Fulner. All the children stood outside of their gloomy apartments and cheered for this bemused, funny-looking man who had a way with children and convincing adults to do things.

Later, spurred by the attentions of the local media, Tobias grew interested in the prospect of power, based on things other than persuasion. He had grown tired of continuously having to convince other people to do things. So, he decided one morning as he persuaded himself to get out of bed, he would do his last big job of persuasion. He would persuade the country to replace him as their leader.

So he got in front of the television cameras and the bloggers' screens and made his case. It was quite persuasive, and soon people began to question why he wasn't their leader in the first place. So the whole country mutinied and installed Premier Fulner. Actually, it wasn't a real mutiny per se, as the original premier was persuaded to give up his post too.

Satisfied, Tobias sank into a deep slumber in the cushy bed of the Premier's Palace, which had been built for him by an especially sympathetic crew of architects and construction workers. He woke up automatically the next morning when rays of sunshine tickled his retinas. But, having given up persuasion forever, he could not convince himself to get out of bed.

Days passed, with no signs of Premier Fulner reaching the outside world. Tobias was bedridden. The population became uneasy. They were unused to functioning without a leader for such a long period of time. On the twelfth day of the Premier's self-imposed exile, the people revolted. They installed a new Premier in his place.

The men from the moving company moved Fulner's bed out of the palace, into a small clearing in the nearby woods. Still Tobias would not stir. As it was, Tobias Fulner could not convince himself to do anything anymore. As is usual with these sorts of things, Tobias Fulner died.

At his funeral, no one quite knew what to say. He was buried under a large statue of a charging horse, in a plot he had persuaded the cemetery owner to give to him for free.

Leech

The mist tickled the eyes of passerby, all going to there jobs. The Brisk New York Morning was wet but pleasant, considering the 90 degree weather they had had the last couple of days. Brian hurriedly tried to find a subway station. And everyone knows when you need the subway, it mysteriously disappears. Short on cash, he couldn’t afford a taxi, and reluctantly lifted the back of his overcoat over his head. He had a meeting with Corporate today, and needed to look professional.

He thought about the dangerously low sales that were hitting the Rickney Agency. You see, Brian Whitiker was a Senior Sales Associate at the Rickney Advertising Agency. The corporate “Big Guys” were “concerned” about “sales.” That’s Office code for, “They don’t like you, you’re not good enough, and you’re probably fired.” All the more reason to try to impress them enough to change their single-facetted minds. They only cared about Cash, and if he could get them to think he could help them get “cash,” he knew they would let him stay. At the wages they paid him, what did they have to lose, anyway?

He thought about what he would do if he was fired. He had no family, and no real credentials for another good job. He went to his town college, Fairfield University. Not exactly Harvard, but it taught him what he needed to know.

He thought about the Law and Order episode he watched on TV last night (his mind went astray from serious thoughts). He thought about everything. Brian, was a thinker. As you probably figured out by now, he’s just a normal person living the normal New York City office worker life. Nothing Special. But good enough for Brian. He didn’t have high standards.

Still, he thought about getting fired; he knew it would happen; he always had terrible luck. So he decided to push it out of his mind, since it would only damage his attempt at being impressive to Corporate.

* * *

“Brian Whitiker, Brian Whitiker,” Brian got up from his seat while putting down his paper, and walked to the door that led to the hall, that led o the meeting. The intercom had called him to the meeting. As he walked down the hall, he felt a voice in his mind, “Dead Man Walkin! Dead man Walkin here!” Chills, no, not chills, but ice cold electrical shock ran up and down his body, Suspense, acceptance, and helplessness in a dangerous mix that would ruin anyone’s day.

“Brian, take a seat. As you know, slaes are down,” explained Jack Rickney, President of the company.

“Briliant!” mumbled Brian sarcastically.

“What was that?” Jack asked.

“Oh, nothing, I was just, er, clearing my throat,” said Brian quickly

thought Brian.

To be Continued…