Usual: Characters? NOT MINE. No money is being made. The song is "LA Song" by Beth Hart. Find it and listen, it's wonderful. Written in 20 min with that song on repeat. Just a whim. Set maybe five years in the future, I'm not sure. Onwards.

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Ad Infinitum

Jeanne M.

"Would you like to hear a story?" Her shadow fell across them. "I have a very good one, with pain, heartache, and triumph. There's a heroine, but no villains, not really. Except, yes. Life. Life is the villain of my story." One of the men looked her over, nodded for her to sit. "It's the story of a girl, an orphan. You see, this girl didn't have anyone to depend on except herself. Why do I say girl? Because she was. A girl, a child, an innocent with the eyes of an angel. Well, a child on the outside anyway. She made some really bad mistakes, too. She's never asked for pity, or asked to be forgiven for what she's done, and she makes no excuses. No second guesses about the past. That's what makes her story so beautifully tragic. Ah, I seem have your attention now. Care to buy me a drink?" Another man waved down the barkeep, and she leaned back in her chair. "Ahh..... I love this song. That's what made me think of this story, you know. This is her song. No, she didn't write it. But it's 'her' song in all the ways that count. Let's see now, where to begin......"

She hangs around the boulevard
She's a local girl with local scars.
She got home late, she got home late.
She drank so hard the bottle ached.
And she tried and she tried and she tried and she tried,
But nothing's clear in a bar full a flies.
So she takes and she takes, she takes and she takes.
She understands when she gives it away.

"Once upon a time. How I love that phrase, once upon a time. Quite overused, but still eloquent to be sure. Once upon a time. Well, once, this girl had a family. And I won't lie to you, it wasn't a happy family. Her father barely ever said a word to her, because he had wanted a boy. Her mother despised her because she had fallen behind in social status while she was pregnant with the girl. So this girl threw herself into her own world. Gymnastics became her sole reason for living. The focus, the intensity with which she threw herself into the rhythmic sounds of her feet on the matt worried her coaches sometimes. They never said anything though, because the girl's parents were very powerful people. As she got older, the siren call of gymnastics wasn't enough anymore. The desire for her parent's attention was a dire addiction for her, so she began to experiment with other methods. While their approval mattered most to her, she was so desperate for any acknowledgment of her existence that she would do anything to make them notice her. By the time she was eleven, she was stealing. And damned good at it too. At the age of twelve, she had an alcohol problem. Gymnastics was still her greatest love and achievement, her coaches were using the words 'Olympic contender' to her parents. But nothing ever could or ever will give her the rush, the pure sense of control that stealing does."

She says,
Man, I gotta get outta this town.
Man I gotta get outta this pain.
Man I gotta get outta this town.
Outta this town, and outta LA

"Well, one day there was a case of mistaken identity, and her parents died. Just like that, all she ever knew was turned upside down. All her family- gone. Her inheritance- lost in a stock market crash. Gymnastics- no longer allowed. You see, she was sent to the local juvie hall. They treated her like a career youth offender while she was there, because she had no money. They had never caught her stealing, she was too good. Everyone knew about her 'habit', but they couldn't prove it. So they took it out on her, a broke ward of the state. Just another blight on society. But see, there was something quite special, quite remarkable about this girl. She had a very very special secret that only one other person knew. Thievery and gymnastics weren't her only special ability. This girl, she was different, more different than anyone had ever imagined. The girl had special powers, powers that let her turn thin air into sparkling fireworks. She could create explosive multicolored creations of any shape or size to obey her every whim, even blow things up from the inside. The girl was a mutant, the first of a new generation, although she had no way of knowing that at the time. She had only ever used her powers against another living person once, accidently, and she was terrified that the administrators would find out about her gift and send her to a 'camp' for mutants. Or even worse, to her remaining family in China. So late one night she picked the lock on her room and escaped."

She gotta gun, she gotta gun,
She gotta gun she calls the lucky one.
She left a note, by the phone.
Don't leave a message 'cause this ain't no home.
And she cried and she cried, she cried and she cried.
She cried so long her tears ran dry.
The she laughed and she laughed, she laughed and she laughed.
'Cause she knew she was never coming back.

"She was a very smart girl, you know. Didn't go home, didn't go seeking help from her friends. She knew that's the first place the authorities would look. Instead, she moved into her favorite place- the mall. Now now, don't laugh. The girl was so very tiny and agile that she moved into some old unused storage spaces that had accidentally been closed off during some remodeling and were unaccessible except using the airduct. No one remembered that these spaces even existed except for the girl. They became her base of operations. During the day, she'd entertain mall patrons using her gift, and sometimes they'd throw money into a cup she'd set out. She stole food and clothes from the stores, and evaded the local rental security with ease. She was the mall's resident personality. With a laugh, a smile, and a shimmer of sparkles, she'd be gone before you even realized what she had stolen. Great friends with all the skateboarders, shoplifters, mallrats and rollerbladers. But the mall cops hated her with a passion, and wise to the fact she was a mutant and not the magical gipsy she passed herself off as, they called in the experts. All she ever wanted was a place to live in peace, and she almost died for it. She survived the incident, barely, with some help from some mysterious women. Mutants, like her. People with fantastic gifts. She watched them from the shadows afterwards, as they prepared to leave. Overheard them worrying about her, and saw them depart using a golden glowing portal...... that stayed open. The girl was torn, to follow them and leave the comfort of the mall, or to follow them. She knew that sooner or later the security goons would find people who really could hurt her, so the choice wasn't really a choice at all. She jumped into the swirling doorway."

She said,
Man, I gotta get outta this town.
Man I gotta get outta this pain.
Man I gotta get outta this town.
Outta this town, and outta LA

"And an instant later, she found herself half was across the world. In the desert outback of Australia. With nowhere to turn, and still wary of her rescuers, she moved into the hidden tunnels of Their home. Subsisting on what she could steal without notice, the girl became a packrat, hiding away where none ever saw her. None of them ever suspected she had followed them. After awhile, she noticed something....strange. They began to disappear. She wasn't quite sure what was going on. Then some new tenants moved into her new home, and they weren't too friendly. They took one of the mutants and crucified him. She almost screamed when she saw him. But he was alive, and as she helped him to escape, an unspoken partnership was formed. She didn't know what his special gift entailed, that he could heal from most any wound, and she thought he was going to die. Slowly, she nursed him back to life down in her tunnels. The girl wasn't afraid of her guest in the least. He was violent, she knew that from watching all of the Others whom she 'borrowed' from. But he was so hurt, she knew he wouldn't harm her. Together, they went everywhere. They became inseparable friends. He took her to see Asia, the Orient, they went all over the world and into outer space before winding back up here, in America. And here were the Others, the ones who first helped her, and more. And they wanted her to join them, live with them. They wanted to be her family. It was almost too much to understand."

It's all she loves, it's all she hates,
It's all too much for her to take.
She can't be sure where it ends
Or where the good life begins

"Her gymnastics skills once proved themselves to be a valuable asset, saving both her own life and the lives of others many times. She faced certain death and destruction head on many times. The girl looked down the barrels of guns, plasma rifles, and into the faces of power hungry monsters, and laughed. Through it all, she and her partner worked side by side. He was the father/brother/friend she had never had, and it was so wonderful. Then, he left. He had been wounded very badly in a fight, and he left. He left her alone. She lost her mentor, then a friend. A little girl she had grown quite fond of died of a terrible disease. The girl was hurting inside and feeling betrayed, but never let it show. Then, another threat rose to obliterate her friends, and another person who might have been a friend died to save her. The girl was packed off and sent to a new school, all her new family saying it was best for her. That they were doing it for her own good. Once again, she was adrift, without her family. Again. Again. She had been kidnaped, abused, tortured, bled, and imprisoned for them, and they sent her away."

So she took a train, she took a train,
To a little old town without a name.
She met a man, he took her in,
Then fed her all the same old bullshit again.
'Cause he lied and he lied, he lied and he lied.
He lied like a salesman selling flies.
So she screamed and she screamed, she screamed and she screamed.
It's a different place but the same old thing.

"At first, she wondered if she'd been manipulated all the long, ever since she walked through the portal. If perhaps she had been a part of some plan concocted by the silent man that controlled the shimmering gateway. After a time, she became less bitter. The girl began to trust her new teammates, even becoming friends with some of them. Possibly becoming more than friends with one. She should have know better, to be blunt. Everyone she's ever trusted has let her down. With this new group of 'friends' she simply became a target for an evil man. He knew she had once lived with the Others, and stole her away one night while they were all helpless. He grilled her and tormented her for hours on end, using his technology to steal thoughts and memories from inside her mind. She was beaten and tortured for his agenda. In the name of humanity. The girl was forced to watch as her old family was brought low using the information stolen from the pathways of memory. She wept as her raped her soul for more clues. When she helped them to escape, she was left behind. After the girl finally escaped through the sacrifice of another girl who was more than human but not quite a mutant, rescue finally came. She got to fly home with her old family, and they dropped her on the doorstep of her school. First class service, huh? And they never asked her what went on during her imprisonment. Her new friends didn't either, they just chatted about their own adventures in LA. Her old turf. They didn't know where she'd been, and they didn't care."

It's all I love, It's all I hate,
It's all too much for me to take.
I can be sure where it begins
or if the good life lies within.

"And, after more death, and pain, and torment. She left. They probably haven't even thought to look for her yet, she used to have a habit of wandering off for a bit if she wanted space. So, the girl left. One night she just packed her bag, slipped past the security alarms, and off into the darkness. That's her story for now, she's off to find something. She's not sure what yet, but she know's it's out there. And the girl knows that she doesn't need her 'family' to help her find it. Now, if you gentlemen will excuse me, I must be going. My thanks for the drink." At that, she stood up. Long hair spilling to her waist.

"C'mon storyteller! Surely you have time for another!" Cries rang out from the surrounding tables, where more had gathered to listen to her tale. "One more before you hit the road!"

She threw back her head and laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle. "Sorry m'lads. The only other stories this storyteller knows are either ancient fairytales or forbidden secrets. Perhaps our paths will cross in another life, and I'll have more stories for you then, when my collection has grown." She picked up her pack and hat from the floor, nodding to the bartender. "G'journey to you all."

"Storyteller!" The voice rang out above all others, and the clamor quieted. She turned, to look at the woman who had spoken so boldly. The woman flushed, but pressed on. "If you please, storyteller, you never told us the girl's name."

The storyteller smiled and winked. "You're right. I didn't." With that, Jubilation Lee put the old fedora on her head, tipped it to her audience, and strode out the door, whistling all the way.

So she said,
Man, I gotta get outta this town.
Yeah, now I gotta get back on that train.
Man, I gotta get outta this town.
I'm outta my pain,
So I'm going back to LA
Yeah, going back to LA