The White Dream [Jackson Lee only] (12/31, 11:50)

Jackson is blinded by a white flash, and when his vision returns, he is standing in the center of an outdoor, circular ice rink. Snow continues forever in all directions around the ice rink. The sun is bright in the sky, giving the snow a terrible brilliance. The air feels very warm, yet neither the snow nor the ice Jackson is standing on shows any sign of melting. A light is shining forth from somewhere deep underneath the ice, casting a blue ring of light directly where Jackson is standing.

Some distance in front of Jackson, there are two more rings of light, each red. Dr. Nora Green is standing on the left ring. Her blonde hair, which is normally in a short bob, is in a 50s style updo. She is wearing a blue and red checkered dress and sparkling red slippers. Samson Ackermann is standing on the right ring, and he is dressed like Santa Claus. Neither of them appear to be able to move; their eyes, which are trained on Jackson, remain wide open.

Dr. Green’s wide-open smile is stiff. Samson’s mouth is locked in an “o” shape. Suddenly, a loud, belly laugh escapes from Samson’s “o” mouth. The bellowing laugh echoes throughout the infinite snowscape around Jacskon.

“You’ll have to excuse him,” Dr. Green says through her teeth. “He doesn’t know how to react to tragedy.”

Samson responds dryly, “Which tragedy: The ones in the past, or the one coming up?” Samson bursts out laughing again, but this time he is cut off by Dr. Green before the laugh can go on too long.

“Really, show some sympathy, please,” she chimes. “Some sympathy for the people who love this person, the people who will miss this person after tonight.”

Suddenly, a large crack runs its way down the middle of the ice rink— between Dr. Green and Samson, straight underneath where Jackson is standing, and down toward the other end.

Samson resumes, “But, hey, this kid has a chance to save this person. All you gotta do is say the name.” Samson manages to stifle his laugh, albeit a bit unsuccessfully.

“But be careful,” Dr. Green adds. Both her and Samson stare at Jackson with wide-open eyes. “I’d hate to be the one to tell you what would happen to someone you named who wasn’t the next victim… The person would not die, but… There’s many kinds of tragedies, you know.”

Another crack shoots through the ice; this time, the crack runs from Jackson’s left to Jackson’s right. Jackson is now standing at the intersection of the two jagged cracks.

“So, whatcha gonna do, kid?” Samson asks. “You gonna try to be the hero? All you gotta do is say the right name, and bam! You’ve saved a life. That’s what you do for a living, ain’t it? Or… Are you gonna chicken out, because you’re scared you’ll get it wrong? What’s the responsible thing to do? Time’s running out, son…”

There is a loud knock, followed by an even louder knock.

A large, yellow light is cast from down below on a spot of ice in between Jackson and the pair of Dr. Green and Samson. A dark, somewhat rectangular shape comes into view, from under the ice, and suddenly comes right up and knocks again against the surface of the ice. The knocking is coming from something trying to break through.

“Last call!” Samson decalres. “Last call, gentleman!”

Dr. Green suddenly cries out, “You have to hurry! Say the name! Say it! There’s still time!”

The object under the ice hits the surface again, and the ice highlighted by the yellow light is starting to crack and give way. In this moment—in this unexpected interim—Jackson encounters a pressing urgency, the feeling that it is now or never.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jackson has one opportunity here. All you have to do is say one name. Your post should contain just the name of the person you think will be killed next, and nothing else. If you guess correctly, the person will be saved. If you guess incorrectly, however, the person you chose will face great misfortune in the imminent future. If you post “…” or simply do not post in this thread, it will be assumed that Cameron is not going to try to save the next victim.

This thread will be open until the end of the month. You have until then to post the name of the person you will try to save. The last day you can post a name here is 12/30. You only have one chance.

Samson Ackermann

"Samson Ackermann."

The eyes of the immobile figures Samson and Nora look at one another. Through Samson's "o"-shaped mouth and Nora's gritted teeth, they share a brief moment of quiet laughter.

"You gave it your best shot," Nora says, once her laughter has subsided. Samson continues to laugh.

Then, in an instant, they are gone. No transition, no fade-out. The red spotlight intensifies, and the object under the surface hits the ice again. The ice cracks further. After a few more seconds, the object rushes upward again, and this time it breaks through the ice.

The object that cracked through the ice is a human body, but it appears to be harder than concrete. It is Martha Ackermann, curled up in the fetal position. She is wearing a black dress, black shawl, and bright red stiletto heels. At first, she appears to be frozen like how Samson and Nora just were-- but then Martha breaks through that state and forces her arm to extend out toward Jackson. As she stretches her limb, a pained expression is carved on her face. Her mouth is open, and she is screaming-- and this screaming intensifies in volume, until it blends into the high-pitched whistle of a tea kettle.

Jackson wakes up with a jolt, but the tea kettle-like sound does not completely fade away for about another fifteen seconds.

Jackson finds in his hand a red die, each side of which displays four dots.