Little Plane That Could
By Sharan McQuack, Launchpad's wife.
Inspired by a scan of the Launchpad one page story "Totally Grounded " in "Profession- hero".
One day, Launchpad ran into a short pilot named Harold Reese (1).
"I'm flying a great big plane- a 747- today! You're stuck flying a tiny plane!" teased Harold.
"Fine by me!" Launchpad shrugged.
Harold was a pilot for an airline. He flew planes there and back again.
()()No treasure hunts, no bad guys, no excitement, you might as well be a bus driver- he can KEEP it! Yet he seems to love his job as much as I love mine. Different strokes for different folks! ()() Launchpad thought.
Launchpad knew that something dangerous COULD happen in Harold's job, but that was the aberration, not the norm.
Harold got on his great big plane, Launchpad went over to his teeny tiny plane. Launchpad did not climb into the tiny plane, he put it on.
Soon after Harold's 747 took off, Launchpad was contacted by the air traffic controllers.
"One of Harold's passengers had a routine blood test yesterday. He's got Legionnaire's disease." Air Traffic Guy said.
" He's a carrier .(2) You have to catch up to Harold's plane and pump in this antibiotic spray before the disease spends through out the plane. You know how that disease can spend in confined places! " Air Traffic Guy said, handing Launchpad the spray.
"Good thing I designed this plane to be very, very fast- that's why it's so tiny!" Launchpad replied.
And Launchpad took off in his little plane in pursuit of Harold's 747. It wasn't long before Launchpad's tiny plane was close enough to contact Harold via radio.
"Harold, this is Launchpad. There is an emergency. Please slow your plane down..." began Launchpad.
"Oh no you don't! You're no fooling me! You're trying to out do me!" Harold spat out. " I know that itsy bitsy plane is pretty fast! But you're not beating me in a race!"
"What race? I'm not trying to out do you! There's a medical emergency! You need to slow down so I can catch up to you..." Launchpad tried again.
"I'm not listening! You're not proving you're better than me!" Harold replied.
And Harold shut off his radio so he couldn't hear Launchpad.
"That big ego maniac ain't promoting himself at my expense!" Harold muttered.
That Harold's ego was even bigger than Launchpad's didn't occur to Harold. Or it was somehow OK when HAROLD did it. (3)
Launchpad contacted the air traffic controllers and got them to contact Harold and ask him to slow down. But Harold wouldn't even listen to them, neither.
"Oh no you don't! You're friends with Launchpad! You're not helping him beat me! You can't trick me into making him look better than me!" Harold replied.
Launchpad could hear this.
"Now what do I do? He's so mad at me he's not listening! He won't let me "win"!" Launchpad mused.
Then, Launchpad had an idea. Soon, his teeny little plane stalled out. It coughed, it sputtered, it spewed black smoke. The plane started heading down too fast, making noises like an animal in distress.
Harold swerved to rescue Launchpad's plane. As soon as Harold's plane was next to Launchpad's, Launchpad sprayed the antibiotic spray into Harold's plane.
"What?" Harold asked.
Launchpad's plane then straightened out and flew right. It no longer spewed smoke nor made unusual noise.
"Harold, now are you willing to listen? One of your passengers is a carrier of Legionnaire's disease. I had to catch up with your plane to spray it with antibiotics before the disease could spend through out the plane." Launchpad stated.
"If the only way I could do it was to let YOU be the hero and rescue ME, I didn't have a problem with that. " Launchpad said.
The End.
(1) I named him after Peewee Reese's real name.
(2) I have no idea if Legionnaire's disease has carriers. Details, details.
(3) Ever notice it's not what is done, but who does it? If you like them, you react differently than if you don't.
I'm not supposed to write Archie stories. Don't tell them.
Why do I care?
Sharan McQuack, Launchpad's wife.
Shortly after Archie had given Veroncia a "promise ring" to indict that they were going steady, Mr. Lodge had Archie, Betty, and Ronnie act in a movie being filmed in Riverdale, India. Archie did something brave and "died" in the movie.
"Break off your engagement to my daughter or that will happen for real." Mr. Lodge whispered to Archie in a tone that made clear that Mr. Lodge meant it.
HOWEVER, at the same time, a young Mr. Gotbucks was "hitting" on Ronnie. Mr. Gotbucks dressed fancy in clothes that screamed MONEY, he charmed Ronnie, he talked smooth. BEFORE Archie could do diddly about her father's threat, Ronnie returned Archie's ring.
"I'm sorry, I can't accept this after all." Ronnie said. "I want to go out with Mr. Gotbucks."
"But there is no Mr. Gotbucks." said one Forsythe (otherwise known as Jughead) Jones, taking off a bunch of makeup and a wig. "There was no way I was going to let my best friend make the huge mistake of marrying you. Since I've been working on this film as a man of all work, I borrowed a wig, make up and clothes. I had to show him what a faithless two timer you are."
"Oh, I'M a faithless two timer am I? What about HIM? He's dated me, he's dated Betty, he's dated Cherryl! But it's OK because he's a GUY and I'm a faithless two timer because I'm a woman? Like that's fair?" Veronica asked.
And she stormed off.
Leaving Betty to decide if she still loved Archie after he proposed to Ronnie. Which is Betty's decision and not mine. Maybe Archie and Ronnie deserve each other?