Final

Sam Leidholt

Literary Visions of Florence

C. Villa

April 29, 2013

4 pics 1 word

     After about three long, painful months of suffering, the deed was finally done. The police had no idea who the perpetrators were since the Italian Police Departments are such a fiasco anyway. Less than a week stood between them and their return to America, where they could be protected by the government against the “outrageous” claims from the Italians, if they were ever to come. And now, as the sun set over the beautiful Tuscan countryside, they looked onward from Piazzale Michelangelo into the dusk.

     Following a week of orientations, being led like lost dogs throughout the city on countless tours, late nights, early mornings, and new friendships, all 27 students were ready for the semester of classes to start. Still adjusting to Italian culture, insecurity and timidity mixed with jet lag and typical first-day-of-class nervousness to produce the four quiet, respectful students Cristina had in her literature class this semester. All four from the University of Minnesota, Florence was indeed a change of a city. The change, however, didn’t stand a chance against the quick adaptability and courage of the small group.

     The fantastic four accompanied by their fearless leader departed on a unique, one-of-a-kind adventure to discover Florence. First, they maneuvered their way through the beautiful, romantic vision of the city they had been greeted with and still believed in. As is true with almost every other aspect of life, sadly, with every sunrise comes a sunset. After expanding on what the group already knew about the romantic vision of Italy and Florence specifically, Cristina introduced them to an entirely new side they had yet to consider. The class took an unnerving interest in this vision of Florence. Murder, cannibalism, violence, and crime consumed the second half of the semester. In the back of Cristina’s mind, a very threatening thought formed. Afraid to even admit it, she was fearful that she had unveiled a monster and dreaded what the future might hold.

     As the semester unfolded, so did the four students in class. As each week passed, the four became more comfortable with one another and more comfortable with Cristina. A favorite of all four, the class often consisted mostly of discussion about different aspects of life, all very easily related to the book being discussed that week. As the semester progressed, the discussions made it easier for everyone to quickly appreciate the bright side of anything or anyone they were initially greeted with, but it also made them curious about the dark side.

     Erin, the only girl in the class, was easily the most studious of the four. She would often spend her Friday nights alone with her cat and her books while others were off making memories. But hey, who’s to judge? She was a very intelligent individual and brought a good deal of analytic thought to the table. Scarily, she was also the student who became most obsessed with the dark vision of Florence and even read more than was assigned simply for pleasure. That in itself is an unequivocal dark act.

     Andrew was the wisest of the group. A well-studied art student, his passion for expression and individuality beamed in class discussions. He was always the student to have read works from the authors used as examples in discussion. Andrew was usually quickest to bring a different point of view to discussion – a point of view with a more open and accepting twist on the story line than was currently being discussed.

     Sam was typically the social loafer of the group. Often times, he would ask Erin what the homework assignments were minutes before they were due. Somehow, he always managed to have somewhat of an idea of the main points of the discussion at hand, probably attributable to his unparalleled intelligence and matchless charm. Always quick to echo the points of others, Sam was occasionally able to throw a little bit of a spin into the discussion, but usually just brought up an entirely new topic that was completely off subject.

     Jack was…well, let’s say unique. Fascinated with the sound of his own voice and overly absorbed with his sense of humor (to which his audience almost always just gave him the pity laugh), Jack was able to contribute clever one liners to the discussion every now and then; nonetheless, he generally never added anything of value. That being said, he was the mastermind who instigated the idea of bettering the class by the removal of one select student.

     In their downtime between classes, all 27 students would typically just hang out in the computer lab of the school recalling stories of last weekend or making plans for next weekend. Since Erin had all her Friday nights planned already, she normally just played “4 pics 1 word” on her iPod touch. After they left the school one day, Jack surprised Sam with the feelings of anger and annoyance he had developed toward Erin.

     “If she asks me for help with that damned game one more time,” Jack gritted through his teeth. “Plus, she’s always just making us look bad in class because she basically memorizes every single book!”

     Sticking in his socially loafing ways and not wanting to verbalize thoughts of his own, Sam didn’t disagree with Jack. Nevertheless, he spent his walk home that night thinking about what Jack had said. “Maybe he’s right…” Sam thought to himself as he put the key in his door. “Maybe class would be better without her… We wouldn’t all look so unprepared all the time. We wouldn’t have to play her stupid game for her. I wonder…” As his thoughts trailed off, the idea had been planted. Sam was the type of person to become infatuated with different thoughts that came into his mind until he acted on them: this was no different.

     Three weeks and countless secret meetings later, the day had come. Andrew, Jack, and Sam had their plan in place. They knew what they were going to do, how they were going to do it, and even had backups and alternatives in place just in case. They met with enough time before class to go over everything one last time, although they all had everything committed to memory by now.

     As they shuffled into the classroom before class that day, Cristina and Erin expected it to be just like any other day. The three perpetrators were ready to carry out their plan. Just before she was going to start class, Cristina was interrupted by Andrew who asked if he could speak with her in the library regarding some issues he was having with his final paper. As they left, Sam asked Erin if she was still stuck on that pic she asked him about earlier on her game. Excited that she was finally going to get to move on to a different picture, Erin reached for her purse and frantically dug for her iPod. Completely unaware of her surroundings, she was suddenly approached from behind and her mouth covered with a rag that was sopping wet with the chemical mixture. She tried screaming, but Jack had too much force and too much of an advantage on her. Sam sprinted for the door to make sure it was shut. As they planned, Andrew had snuck away to pull the fire alarm just in time. Sam and Jack smiled at each other.

“It’s working!” Jack exclaimed. As Erin’s body went limp, Jack did as he was instructed injecting the two vials into her arm. Meanwhile, Sam was busy making sure all the students and teachers had cleared out of the building. Once he saw it was clear, he ran to the bathroom where they hid the supplies in the broken stall. Quickly, the entire room and parts of the other rooms had a layer of the powder they had been given. “It’ll start anything on fire with no trace of ever having been there once it’s burned,” they were told. Sam lit the match and dropped it in the classroom just as Jack sprinted out. They stayed near the doorway for a while watching the room become engulfed. After breathing in enough smoke to give themselves a terrible cough and blood shot eyes, they knew it was their time to head for the rest of the group.

“There they are!” yelled the director of the school as they finally exited the building. “Where’s the third?!” he exclaimed almost immediately after.

“We did all that we could! The door just wouldn’t budge!” hacked up a teary-eyed Jack. He went on to explain the story they had agreed upon: right after Andrew and Cristina left the room, Erin went to use the restroom and Sam and Jack stayed in the classroom to talk about the homework. When the fire alarm went off, they immediately left the room only to see the door to the bathroom was still closed. They did everything in their power to get the door down. Erin was unable to get to the door because the hand dryer had started on fire and quickly consumed the doorframe and sheetrock surrounding it. Before they knew it, the fire had escaped the bathroom and was into the computer lab and the side classrooms. If they wouldn’t have left when they did, they wouldn’t have made it out either.

Finally, after all the questions, the investigation, and updates from the police saying they were absolutely clueless as to why the hand dryer caught fire or how it spread so quickly, Andrew, Jack, and Sam knew they would be able to avoid it for one more week – just long enough to make it home to safety.

“A little ironic, isn’t it?” Sam finally broke the silence, but quietly enough so none of the surrounding tourists would hear what he had to say. “When we first got here, our plane landed just after sunrise. We could appreciate the true beauty of the city and everything surrounding it because of how bright it was. Now we’re watching the sunset, making it harder to see how pretty everything here is. Maybe Florence really does change the people who come to visit it.”

“Shut up, Sam. Who wants another drink?” asked Jack, reaching for the bottle.