Sunday, October 16, 2011

Midnight in Bangkok

He staggers through the teeming crowd, drunk but thankful to be out in the open. The Cage aux Folles had been a mistake. He had been repulsed by the clichéd floorshow, a can-can performed by look-alike dancers. Boy, girl, it was impossible to tell, but the hungry-eyed tourists ate them up. The real action was at the dimly-lit tables, in the curtained recesses, upstairs. Now, out on the street, hawkers, whores, everyone is selling something. He pauses to look through a brightly illuminated window; inside, a macabre line of fowl, and through a gap, a pair of knowing black eyes.

Image from Ursula’s Weekly Wanders. For other writing inspired by this image, visit Magpie Tales.
Posted by Ron Thompson at 12:30 PM
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12 comments:

  1. MartinOctober 16, 2011 at 1:03 PM

    See how much he would have missed, if he'd stayed in. I like it.

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  2. HelenOctober 16, 2011 at 1:11 PM

    I am a huge fan of the musical "Chess" and the song "One Night In Bangkok" .. your Magpie has captured the essence of that amazing piece of music!!

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  3. christopherOctober 16, 2011 at 2:27 PM

    I did not see Yaowarat when I passed through Bangkok on the way to Dacca, East Pakistan. (Dhaka, Bangladesh) That was a long time ago.

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  4. Tess KincaidOctober 16, 2011 at 4:13 PM

    Evocative write...I could smell the air...

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  5. Jenne' R. Andrews October 17, 2011 at 1:12 AM

    Very evocative, indeed-- nice use of the present tense in this piece to convey immediacy-- thanks for visiting me. In re your comment on my blog of course the sound pattern varies in triangulate which I am using as the advjective and would be pronounced -lut-- and the same holds true of profligate-- gut--. Are you familiar with my work? I'd love to follow yours. xxxj

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  6. Brian MillerOctober 17, 2011 at 2:05 PM

    nice...you capture many of the textures of what makes the place...

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  7. Susie ClevengerOctober 17, 2011 at 11:06 PM

    amazing what you created from this photo prompt..I love it..

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  8. Tumblewords:October 17, 2011 at 11:10 PM

    I feel THERE. Wonderful work.

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  9. MargaretOctober 17, 2011 at 11:34 PM

    Ha. The ducks seem to be doing their own version of the "can can".

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  10. Isabel DoyleOctober 18, 2011 at 5:58 AM

    Moulin a la Canard I think!

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  11. IntelliblogOctober 18, 2011 at 4:44 PM

    Excellent take on the image and the superposition of the night club with the restaurant is very appropriate!

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  12. Arnab MajumdarOctober 19, 2011 at 1:51 AM

    "The hungry eyed tourists ate them up" I love the allegory there...

    Cheers,
    Arnab Majumdar on SribbleFest.com

    ReplyDelete

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