Nobody Withstands the Machine

WESTLEY [Strapped to a table]: Where am I?

THE ALBINO [In raspy voice]: The Pit of Despair. Don’t even think [he coughs, gags, clears his throat; speaks normally] Don’t even think about trying to escape. The chains are far too thick. And don’t dream of being rescued, either. The only way in is secret, and only the Prince, the County, and I know how to get in and out.

WESTLEY: Then I’m here ‘til I die?

THE ALBINO: ‘Til they kill you, yeah.

WESTLEY [Noting the Albino washing his shoulder wound]: Then why bother curing me?

THE ALBINO: The Prince and the Count always insist on everyone being healthy before they’re broken.

WESTLEY: So there’s to be torture? [The Albino nods] I can cope with torture [The Albino shakes his head vigorously] You don’t believe me?

THE ALBINO: You survived the Fire Swamp, so you must be very brave. But nobody withstands The Machine.

The Machine. Though the concept of the suction pump is centuries old, as Count Rugen says, I can feel it sucking my life away. And though that’s a bit dramatic, it is kinda how I feel editing Doleful Creatures. But I’ve got to get there. I’ll get out of the Pit of Despair, albino or no albino. I’ll find that wheelbarrow. I’ll find that holocaust cloak. And I may have to find my own Fezzik and Inigo. But find them I will.

Because the story is there. It wants to come out. It’s salvageable, though I’ve got to wash a lot of krep off it.

Finding Inigo and Fezzik will be essential. I can see the story, I can hear it struggling in the krep, but I’m having a hard time extracting it.

But I know I can do this. I’m promised in my partrirchal blessing if I put my mind to it, I can accomplish difficult things, and will see the fruits of my labor come forward. That gives me hope.