Jason Fraley

Casual Terrorism in Ten Easy Steps

[          ]

  1. It is not difficult to locate [          ].  My recommendation: a museum, specifically an annex dedicated to landscape portraiture.  But how to exit safely, undetected?  That is a question of living. And camera backpacks with compartments designed for suspiciously long lenses.

  2. (Bonus credit for [          ] gilded in gold leaf. Over time, it may chip and flake, revealing rust-colored base metal.  In other words, an alibi.)

  3. Make sure to purchase a table saw months before your caper, before authorities lock down every home improvement store within a 50 miles radius and comb through receipts.  Maybe I should list this as step #1. Jumping straight to robbery disconcerts some.  But after a few ill-fitting porch rails, a porous flowerbed, [          ] becomes more alluring.

  4. Invest in a high-quality table saw.  You want a clean cut.  Do not make my mistake. I fell asleep atop my [          ]. The jagged edges sank into the soft tissue between my shoulder blades.

  5. Consider a trial run with [          ].  For example, spray paint a gust of wind on the side of an art deco skyscraper.  Then use [          ]. Likely, nothing will happen immediately. Be patient.  Wait for nightfall.  Most likely, a terracotta angel will crash onto the pavement, startle a street sweeper driver.  Your first casualty count will include several pigeons. 

  6. I am not the first to discover [          ].  Many use it for good.  Here are newspaper clippings on surprisingly clean gravediggers, miracle-working surgeons, and an astronomer whose office is the formaldehyde of deep night.

  7. Your objective should be finesse, a cult-like following. Too much attention threatens our secret [          ].  My closest study draws diagrams with ruler-straight edges, protractor guided angles. When looking through her latest papers, I grew concerned with the seventh iteration of an airplane inside         [          ].

  8. An airplane mid-flight introduces countless uncontrollable variables. Would [          ] just crash the plane, transporting it into a cornfield or ocean? From the ground, [          ] would capture 99% sky, cloud, and a spray of starlings. Open your garage to a thunderstorm.  Open your mouth to a feathered tongue. I reminded her of the cult-like goal, asked for an eighth, more precise iteration.

  9. Inside this packing envelope is an airplane ticket. Stow your [          ] in checked baggage where it is less likely to be confiscated. I have also included a copy of her eighth iteration. Remember: resist the urge to pop the bubble wrap inside the terminal.

  10. See the hot air balloon hovering near the right wing just after takeoff, how [          ] collapses the field of vision when attached to a camera lens. What I have not tested is whether [          ] captures the person or just their reflected surprise.

Jason Fraley is a native West Virginian who lives, works, and periodically writes in Columbus, OH. Current and prior publications include Salamander Magazine, Barrow Street, Pithead Chapel, Quarter After Eight, Mid-American Review, and Okay Donkey.