SWITCHBLADE

Suddenly I hear a snap and stop still. So do they.

In silence, they sense my presence but cannot tell where I am.

Time is on my side.

Watching ahead, I reach down and feel for the knife.

My hand closes around that familiar shape.

I grasp it into the attack position taught by Mario and practised so many times at the abattoir, concealing it with a backward wrist movement. It is there ready to strike with but a wrist turn and flick.

Silence is my cloak, my tool.

The blade poised, waits inside its handle for now.

When the time comes, my finger will stroke the release. It will eject in a flash of steel light.

Sloth-slow, I ease myself up - soundless.

In the silence my prey are still... listening; unsure of my presence.

I am close.

Stalking the edges, each movement I make is deliberate and controlled.

I enter their vision and although they know they outnumber me, they sense my confidence, unsure what will happen next.

They know I hold the cards, that there is something I'm not letting on.

I gauge their apprehension, waiting to make my move.

The blade remains hidden, sheathed in my palm.

Can I command this situation I wonder, knowing that if I show a moment of weakness it could all be over for me. They poise, scared cats, waiting, not knowing what will happen next.

I enter the clearing, now exposed, though my right-hand remains hidden inside the jacket.

They notice, curious as to what is concealed there.

Mario was a good teacher. “The trick is,” he said, “don’t rush. If you wait long enough it is like hypnosis, you can manage any number of them.

Wait, when you see the uncertainty in their eyes, then make your move, and when you do, give them both barrels.”

Such good advice.

Eyes widen with the expanding hush. All start with the sudden movement of my right hand. A flash as the knife springs into view.

Those nearest recoil.

"This, Toastmasters, is a flick knife.”

Down the Toastmasters on a Thursday morning, full satisfaction comes when you’re getting 200 decibels of interest.

Come along and give it a go.

Image by <ahref="https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/side-view-man-posing-with-blue-background_26559892.htm#query=mystery%20man&position=36&from_view=keyword&track=ais">Freepik</a>