DANGER MOUSE:
SPINNING FASTER THAN THE PLANE
WRITTEN BY ZARIUS
(A special treat for lrhaboggle, see if you can spot the Taylor Swift song)
Danger Mouse took a look up to try to catch a glimpse of the sky, but it was difficult to make out any clouds.
A shame, he could do with a little imagination kicking in as he formed shapes out of them, it was a child-like pleasure, but one that would grant him great comfort.
The sky was clustered with airplanes taking off and touching down, their great height and sizes dwarfing the stretch of land he nimbly stood on.
He helped his companion with her bags as passengers headed over to board the plane.
"We could have used the Danger Car" he said
His companion, the chirpy chicken Professor Squawkencluck,
"It's a retreat, not official government business. The Mark IV is government property, so it stays behind"
"Quite right Professor, though it wouldn't hurt to at least let me chaperone you"
"Fortunately for me, you also happen to be government property"
"Nobody owns me Professor"
"Your costume is, and you never take it off"
"These are the only outfits I own"
"Not my fault you spend all of your pay on high octane sugar content and food that goes down so fast it's barely in your hands before it's in your mouth"
Danger Mouse took a deep breath, the Professor was trying his last bit of patience and he didn't want their parting to be one brimming with argumentative tension.
"Do you have something against New York Danger Mouse?" Squawk asked
"We were over there for thanksgiving once, Penfold and I, Jeopardy invited us"
"Oh I see, you two haven't settled down yet? She was quite sour after you hoarded all the awards at the Soupies"
"I think back to what I said to her, all she wanted was friends at her table and I thought she meant she had other friends than just Penfold and I and she was trying to make them feel more important than the pair of us. I wasn't considerate of her at all, and I fear it may have informed her later opinions of me, motivating her to want to arrest me at every convenient opportunity"
"You do tend to get frame a lot" said Squawk.
DM watched on as the passengers climbed on board the plane, he took a firm grasp of Squawk's luggage and dragged it over to the staircase, where a bunch of cheerful giraffes representing the flight attendants welcomed him and took the burden off of him.
"Thanks so much for this Danger Mouse, I have to admit it's a wee bit out of step for you to do so much for me on my way out for a couple of days, especially after that whole fiasco with the futuroid camera"
"Yes, well, if I had known what I'd known now, I never would have played so nonchalant" he said, indicating that if he knew that the future would have ended in them exchanging lip service to carry a key that could unshackle the pair of them in a perilous situation, he would have purposely had rubbed it in more.
Squawk blushed slightly.
"Oh my Danger Mouse, you're such a kidder...you were hitting the panic button almost every time the thought of us kissing was brought up"
Danger Mouse couldn't help but chuckle.
"I suppose I did, all the better you do take this vacation Squawk, I think the thought that you still cannot control the future even if you can see it can tax the mind greatly. You always need to feel like you're in control"
"We're almost ready to roll" said one of the attendants.
"Well, I'd best jet off"
Danger Mouse stared intently at her, words formed in his head that he dare not speak out.
This was falling in love in the cruellest way
This was falling for her and she'd be worlds away.
Squawk also stared back at him with gratitude, yet she also hid sentiments from him
She'd be in New York...if only he could be there
But he was to remain in London, the very thought was causing her to break down.
It wasn't fair to know he wouldn't be around.
And this was where the feeling sunk in, neither wanted to miss the other like this.
They had to give each other a reminder of home, of each other.
"One for the road?" one of them asked.
Caught in the heat of the moment, neither knew which one had said it.
Their lips touched a small tender exchange of sensual pleasure that caused Squawk to lift up one leg as the bliss overtook them.
"Last call for all passengers" yelled the attendant.
Neither Danger Mouse nor Squawk had any time left, Squawk relinquished her hold and headed up the staircase and clambered into the plane.
As the hatch closed and the plane sped up the runway and eventually headed off into the sky above, DM could finally take a good view of the sky above him, but the need to imagine still hadn't come to him.
As he walked back through the terminal, he noticed an animated stuffed teddy bear standing in a corner.
"Mr. Snuggles?" said DM, heading over to the corner
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm waiting" he said.
DM knelt down next to him
"Dawn didn't take you with her?" he asked.
"On her dad's orders" he said
"Whatever for?"
"Causing that stir back when she first rejected me, said I was a rough influence, we needed space between us...I don't know what kind of person she'll be when she gets back, it's not fair, I don't want to need her this way, but I do. I'd hate for her t change. Don't you hate that feeling when somebody goes away? Do you fear that they'll become someone altogether different, or they'll forget what made your connection so special?"
"Without question Snuggles, in my profession you often can't afford to maintain a connection for fear they may be hurt, either by your enemies or trying to fend off your enemies for you, you can only think of the moment you share, and hope that moment is enough"
"There you are" cried out an elated, squeaky clean child-like voice,
DM and Snuggles turned around to see Princess Dawn Crumhorn walking through the teeming crowds of people with a chaperone aardvark at hand.
Danger Mouse offered to stand up and greet Dawn, but she pushed him out of the way and hoisted Snuggles up in her arms.
"Did that miserable mouse hurt you?" said Dawn.
"No, no Big Mouse actually used his big gob to help me" said Snuggles.
"You're very welcome" said DM as he picked himself up and began to walk away.
Snuggles whispered something in Dawn's ear, she urged DM to stop in his tracks,
"Mouse, wait...Mr. Snuggles says you sounded different while you were talking to him...like you were spinning faster than all the planes out there"
DM looked back at Dawn; he took another glance at Snuggles, who gave him an assuring thumbs up. A smile began to linger once again on his face. The smile seemed to also prove infectious for Dawn, whose eyes were star struck at the warmth of DM's expression.
"Do you want to stare at the clouds for a pointless couple of hours?" he asked, holding out his hand.
Dawn, with Snuggles nodding approvingly, smiled and clutched his hand tight
Together, all three exited the terminal and headed to the car park, where they had all the freedom they craved to use their imaginations.
To be in that moment was enough to satisfy them.