SAD BAD AND GLAD.

Riccardo took a step forward and Smuggler started to raise the crowbar. To him Riccardo seemed to be moving extremely quickly, almost before the crowbar had even seemed to move. Smuggler attempted to move faster, using all his strength. [Although he tries at times to link with it, the user of a metronome isn’t controlled by its speed. The metronome sets the desired time for the music and ‘crotchet equals ten’ is very slow – ten ticks per minute.]


Riccardo poked Smuggler hard in his left eye and, while he was in shock, took the crowbar easily from him with his left hand. Smuggler’s left hand still had a long way to go to attempt to console his left eye. Next thing, Smuggler felt a pain from his groin. Not at two clicks on the metronome yet. That crowbar certainly packed a punch! Riccardo had swung it in an upward motion with all the power he could muster but the metronome speed had helped a lot. Smuggler began the very slow descent that would eventually finish up with him on his knees. The other two men in black had not had time to react yet. If time continued to pass slowly, they would see their ‘main man’ gradually dropping to his knees. Riccardo noticed two lots of flashing red and blue lights coming through the school gates and quietly said, “Metronome off.” He glanced down and read the slightly curved message on Smuggler’s back. ‘SAD BAD AND GLAD’. He’d read stronger statements in his time. He suspected that this one was missing a comma after the first word. Time returned to its normal pace.