Siren's Song
Chapter One
"Oh, what a delectable little trumpet," Jeannie II thought out loud to herself as she beheld the conch shell with the shiny pink interior. She sat in her lavishly-furnished bottle, admiring her prize.
I know just the place to take it for a test-drive, she thought contentedly to herself.
Dead center in the middle of Main Street and Central Avenue -- the geographic center of Cocoa Beach -- there suddenly appeared a fifteen-foot tall pink marble dais. At the apex of the dais sat a massive golden throne upholstered in red velvet.
On the throne sat none other than Jeannie II, dressed in green regal genie finery.
All around the dais, cars honked, drivers waved their fists and spat curses at Jeannie II for causing a traffic jam.
So this is how the mortals live, Jeannie II thought as she contemplated the scene from her throne. They spend their lives going to and fro from utterly meaningless jobs, getting caught in traffic jams.
How dull.
"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" screamed a police officer standing before the dais. "YOU CAN'T PUT THAT THING HERE! YOU'RE BLOCKING TRAFFIC!"
"Buzz off, flatfoot," Jeannie II shot back dismissively. "Is this any way to treat a GODDESS?"
"I'LL 'GODDESS' YOU!" the officer screamed. Before he could act, Jeannie II blinked. The officer's knees suddenly buckled, giving way under him.
The officer was now on his knees, kneeling before Jeannie II.
"Worship me," commanded Jeannie II.
"Like Hell, I will!" the police officer barked angrily in reply.
Jeannie II smiled, put the broad end of the conch shell to her lips, and blew a single note.
All over town, the men of Cocoa Beach dropped whatever it was they were doing and proceeded en masse towards Jeannie II's pink marble dais in the middle of the intersection of Main Street and Central Avenue.
Lifeguards at the beach left their watchtowers.
At restaurants all over town, chefs and cooks left their kitchens. Waiters dropped loaded serving trays and marched out the door, leaving waitresses scratching their heads.
Firefighters left their fire stations. Executives and male office workers left their desks, much to the puzzlement of their female co-workers.
At NASA, Major Anthony Nelson got up from his desk and walked out of his office. Like the rest of the men of Cocoa Beach, he too was entranced by the siren's song.
Must … go, he thought. Must follow … that song.
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In Dr. Bellows's office, he was in the middle of dictating a letter to his uniformed secretary when he too heard the siren's song.
All at once, he got up from his desk, grabbed his jacket, and proceeded to march out the door.
"Dr. Bellows, are you all right?" the secretary asked. "Where are you going?"
"Must go," the entranced Dr. Bellows said thickly. "Must follow that song."
"WHAT song?" the secretary asked as she chased Dr. Bellows out into the hallway. "Dr. Bellows!" she shouted, trying to get his attention. "DR. BELLOWS!"
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Major Roger Healey was chatting up a pretty female airman at the water cooler when he too heard the song.
Saying nothing, he left the water cooler and marched down the hallway towards the song, deeply entranced.
"Major Healey!" the female airman cried after him, trying to get his attention. "MAJOR HEALEY!"
Jeannie II looked down from her throne at the previously enraged police officer, who was now on his knees bowing deeply before the dais.
Jeannie II blinked and disappeared. She reappeared before the bowing police officer.
Jeannie II squatted before the police officer and held his chin, lifting his face to meet hers. The officer's eyes were wide, his jaw was slack in Jeannie II's grasp.
The police officer was now deeply entranced.
"Now," Jeannie II cooed. "What was that you were saying to me?"
"Your wish ... is my command," the enthralled police officer replied thickly.