Inspiration

Elias Lindgren

 F block

Mr. Dilworth

9/10/2014

Inspiration

Dr. Berube was a broken man. He had toiled for a lifetime, he had given his work everything he had, devoted his entire existence to his studies. And now he had been proven wrong. An arrogant, 20-something upstart by the name of Perez had thrown away his entire life’s work with a single paper. The mathematics were perfect, the logic was sound, the whole thing was brilliant, and no one, not even Berube, could deny it. And it made him mad. The mathematician had always been a quiet, docile person, but now he hated this Perez with everything that he was. The man had ruined his life, stomped on his dreams, thrown away every accomplishment of Berube’s life without a second thought. And now, Berube was meeting his nemesis in person.

            The older man refused to meet his rival’s gaze, instead focusing intently on the dark, pudgy hand he shook. “It’s a great pleasure to finally meet you, Dr. Berube,” Perez said. “You’ve always been a great inspiration to me in my work.

            Berube saw red. An inspiration? I inspired you to destroy everything I ever worked for? He realized that while his right hand was shaking Perez’s, his left was tightly clenched around the small Swiss Army knife he kept in his pocket.

            A middle-aged mathematics professor strolled around the convention hall, looking around for anyone he might recognize. Suddenly, he recognized his good friend James Berube and the Arturo Perez, the budding genius, introducing themselves to each other. He turned and began to approach them.

            Suddenly, he saw a blur of motion between the two men. A loud exclamation of surprise, cut brutally short, and then Perez lay on the ground in a pool of blood, still wide-eyed with shock, as Berube gaped in horror at what he had done.