The story I’m writing is based on the idea of a cult meeting as being more of boring party type affair. It follows a silent protagonist as he observes a meeting of the cult. This is what I have so far, though I’m struggling with where to take the story after this.
The story begins with the protagonist driving in his car past crudely drawn houses and buildings. He eventually arrives at a building and goes inside. He goes into a locker room, finds his locker, and takes out a bed sheet. He drapes it over himself like a cheap ghost costume. He enters into a room full of figures dressed like ghosts. He sits down at one of many seats arranged in a circle. A few more figures file in, then a group of 4 figures file in. Each of these 4 figures is wearing a floral sheet.
One of the 4 figures raises his hand and calls “Attention”. All the people in the room stand attention then move to the chairs. They stand at the chairs until the 4 figures are seated, then they all sit down. The first figure in floral stands and begins giving what seems to be a recited oath, “We pledge our lives to the guild, and devote all we have to its preservation and continuation until our cause has been fulfilled. We accept that our cause is sacred and pledge to keep our vow of silence when outside of the ‘Gathering’. No other shall know of our work, especially our wives, as we work from the shadows of society. For society has ostracized us! But time will prove that we are far superior to all those who disdain us, and ridicule our work. They cannot understand our work, for it is beyond their limited comprehension.” –moment of silence- “But we will show them!”
He sits down and another in floral attire stands. “I hereby call to order the 5th gathering of the Guild for the Advancement of Fashionable Burka for Men.” Then he sits down. Now a third member in floral stands. “We will begin the Gathering with an announcement by member Willhelm. A random figure in the circle stands and says, “There’s cheese, crackers, and various liquids in the hallway for after.” He immediately sits down after speaking.
The third member in floral, who is still standing, says “Thank you, Willhelm. On to our next order of business. It has come to our attention that...” He is interrupted by heated words between 2 of the members. He turns to them yelling “What is going on!”. The two members shut up fast, but on of the members is wearing a little girl’s sheet over his head. The floral member, noticing this, asks “Why are you wearing a sheet that looks like that?” The member stands and states, “My sheet got lost in the wash. I looked for it everywhere, but I couldn’t find it. I had to steal my little sister’s sheets.” He sits down, looking timid and about to cry. The floral member goes over to him and puts his hand on his shoulder saying, “Do not worry, for we will not sleep nor rest until you have been reunited with your sheet!” He turns to the rest of the members and says, “Brothers! Our fellow member is lost. He is without his pride, and requires our assistance. Who will join me on this quest to find our brother’s lost pride?” He beckons to the assembled. Several members stand with cheers. The floral member runs out of the room, followed by the man in the girl’s sheet and the member who volunteered to go.
The rest of the member watch silently, including the protagonist. After a few seconds of this, one of the floral members stands and says, “And with that, we will go to recess.” All of the members file out of the room, heading for the hallway.
Out in the hallway, the members all stand around the snack table in awkward silence. Many of the members are fingering Styrofoam cups with coffee or other liquid. Finally, one of the members turns to Willhelm and says, “So you put all of this together?” Willhelm replies with, “Yah, yah I did”. The other member replies with “Ah, well good job then”. The room returns to silence until they hear cheers from far away which are getting closer. All the members who left come flooding down the hall. They stop and the member who was formerly in the girl’s sheet steps forward. “We found it,” he cries. “I am whole again.” He kneels on the floor with arms outstretched as he looks upwards. The other member each congratulate him as the floral members stand off to the side. The one floral member who went to find the sheet wipes a tear from his eye., then calls the meeting back to order. All of the members file back into the room, returning to their seats. The third floral figure stands once again and clears his throat, “Back to business”.
“We are still a relatively new organization, and while we share the strongest bond men can attain, we still know very little about each other. So, in order to break the residual ice between us and incite more unity, it has been brought up that we should begin having a kind of karaoke night, which we will call “Burka Idol”. Now, you won’t be forced to sing, but just know that the whole point is for us all to make fools of ourselves, so don’t worry about your skills and just take off with it.” A member of the circle stands and says, “That has to be the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard. Whoever came up with it is stupid as hell, and should probably be shot for the betterment of all mankind.” No one speaks for a bit, and everyone is still. Finally, the doors open and two men in sheets appear in the doorway. They go over to the member who spoke up and grab him by the arms, dragging him away as he protests. A few moments of silence later, the members hear a scream from far off down the hall. The scream is cut off quickly. The floral member says, “Are there any objections?” No one answers, so he states, “Good”.
