A Fortunate Accident
Danny didn’t mean to kill Slim Jim.
At best, he’d only wanted to hurt him. Slightly. Or perhaps maim. But certainly not kill. Just a subtle nudge to send breakfast radio’s loudest talker sprawling down the escalator resulting in a slight maiming. Who knew the maintenance crew hadn’t properly replaced the access hatch and that poor old Jim would pitch head first into the pit of grinding gears and cogs?
They’d been returning from the music library and Jim was complaining (when wasn’t he?) that on the way up to the library he’d had to use ‘the damn stairs’ because the escalator was indisposed. He had to drag himself up one whole flight of stairs. In hindsight, Slim Jim would probably agree that taking the damn stairs on his return trip (no pun intended) would have meant a far better outcome for himself. That outcome being continuing good health; life.
Danny had only wanted Slim Jim to hurt an arm or a leg. Or both. Him being rendered mute would have been the perfect outcome. But to witness him actually eaten by the escalator was not part of his master plan. That thing chowed down on him like minced arse wipe was a meal not to be savoured but devoured.
And to be fair to Danny, there was little he could do. It was all over in a matter of seconds. Well, minutes. By the time he reached the emergency shut off button there would have only been a shoulder and few toes that could have been saved. In a way, it was an act of mercy to let the machinery do its business and save the poor sod from painful rehabilitation and most definitely permanent scarring.
No. Danny’s conscience was clear and the listeners of FUN FM would be the ones who benefited.