**********
I'm SO proud of you… you read it without dying! Now read this one!
**********
Part TWO
Dark purple light pulsed in blackness, fluctuating like a heart beating.
A shadow formed in the very center of the dark light, arms stretched out to the sides, fingers splayed. The shadow's eyes, red and venomous, looked outward, seeing a small, double rectangle of light.
"Come...
come...
come...
Come and follow my darkness..."
A high, shrieking laughter rose, and the pinpoint of light was suddenly rubbed out, becoming black, then dark violet...
A door slammed shut...
***
Katie bolted up in a cold sweat, a searing pain in her forehead. She stumbled to the mirror through the darkness.
On her forehead, two symbols burned: One of Fondue, the other of Spork.
They cast her face in an eerie light as they glowed, shining like the night sky.
Katie breathed heavily as she watched the symbols, hearing her heart pounding fiercely in her chest.
She touched the glass with her finger-tips, faintly hearing something...
... it was a door, slamming shut.
"Something's coming..."
***
That weird bellbottoms guy was in the middle of pouring himself a glass of vodka from Hammie's secret horde when Katie came downstairs and asked him the question. The nature of the question surprised him so badly that he spilled some of the alcohol onto the counter. Still holding the bottle, he turned and stared down into Katie's face. She looked back up at him, smiling innocently.
"What... what was that?"
Katie repeated her request, this time more slowly.
"Oh. Is that all?" He downed the entire shot. "Is there a reason you need this... help?"
"Have you ANY idea how hard it is to get past that part without someone else?! I need some kind of... partner... to help me with this personal matter." Katie's eyes danced wickedly.
"Yeah... sure... I guess so..." That weird bellbottoms guy was starting to fidget uncomfortably. "But I've never done that kind of thing before."
Katie waved a hand.
"That's cool. I'll tell you what to do."
"You know how to?"
"Well... I've seen Arthur and Rick do it millions of times, so we'll just imitate what they did!" She looked up at him.
"Will you do it?"
"Sure. Anything for a pretty lady like yourself!" he grinned at the presently 20-year-old.
"Oh, man, thanks! I really owe you one!"
She grabbed his wrist and ran the both of them upstairs to her room, closing the door and clicking on a soft lamp.
Katie flopped herself onto the carpet beside the bed while that weird bellbottoms guy shrugged out of his jacket and tugged off his boots.
Katie craned her neck up to look at the blonde, smiling seductively. He smiled back, turning pink.
"Come on, that weird bellbottoms guy," she murmured. "We need to do this... NOW..."
***
Hammie and Emilee walked up the stairs, laughing and talking about how GP had beat up Kronk after the Skirted Wonder had stolen one of that George W. Bush Wannabe Hamster's fried prawns.
As they walked past Katie's room, they both stopped, hearing a strange noise coming from behind their younger sister's door...
Curiosity catching them, they leaned close to the keyhole and stood silent listening...
... to what sounded like that weird bellbottoms guy, moaning his head off.
The two clapped their hands over their mouths to keep from screaming. What the fuzzy was that weird bellbottoms guy doing alone in Katie's bedroom, moaning deeply...
... unless he wasn't alone! Dear God! What was going on?!
As they listened again, they could hear Katie's voice as well:
"Come ON, That weird bellbottoms guy!! You've got to hit it HARDER!"
"But..."
"DO IT!!! Oooh, ooh, right there... no, no, you have to get it in the hole..."
"OK, here goes..."
"YEEE-HAW!! Oh, praise the LORD!!! Oh, WEIRD BELLBOTTOMS GUY!!"
Hammie fell backwards, almost taking Emilee with him, and blacked out for a few seconds.
When he came to, his fur was spotted with red, and more was trickling from his nose.
Emilee, wide-eyed and white, helped up the black-haired ginny pig, and they both put their ears to the hole in the door.
"GlOOOORiAAA!! AAAlelUUUJA!!"
"Hold on Katie, stop rolling around!!"
"Hey, let's try something new..."
"OK..."
"WOAH!! YEE-HAW!!! That was FUN!! Do it again, do it again!!"
The two jerked away as if Mistress 4 and a half was staring out at them from the keyhole.
After exchanging looks of pure horror (both still able to hear Katie' yells of pleasure and that weird
bellbottoms guy's sudden, maniacal laughter), Hammie the hamster and Emilee jumped to their feet and made crazed dashes for the living room.
Arthur and Marvin looked up when Hammie the hamster and Emilee came bursting in, breathing hard and clutching their sides. The two "women" caught a look at Hammie's speckled shirt.
"Hammie... just how did you get blood all over yourself?"
"That weird bellbottoms guy... Katie... bedroom... wild... sex..." Emilee choked, steadying Hammie the hamster.
"WHAT?!"
Arthur launched herself at the two sibligs, grabbing both of their necks and giving them a few good shakes.
"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT THAT STUPID, IMMATURE MAN IS FUCKING MY DAUGHTER!"
"That's not what she said, but that about sums it up, yeah."
Hammie began to get all swirly-eyed, so Arthur let her children go and barreled upstairs, Marvin close on her heels, and then Emilee and Hammie, who both felt like they had been brained by both the Tokyo and New York telephone books.
***
"JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU..." Arthur bellowed as "she" broke down "her" daughter's door, then stopped dead in her tracks.
Katie was lying on her belly over the carpet. She was holding a game controller in her hands, and she was kicking her feet through the air in joy, staring raptly at the T.V. screen, where Kirby was standing on a floating black-and-white checker platform.
That weird bellbottoms guy was without his fringe jacket and 5-inch platforms, wearing his sweater instead, and he also had a game controller in his hands...
... and both erupted into shrieks when Kirby bounced into a ball shape and into a black hole on the screen.
Both froze, mid-fist raising and feet-swinging, when the four women broke in. That weird bellbottoms guy set down the controller with a guilty blush on his face.
Katie pulled onto her knees, grinning luxuriously, in total bliss.
Arthur, Marvin, Hammie, and Emilee were all confuzzled.
"What... what... what the HELL were you two doing?"
"Uh... " That weird bellbottoms guy turned red as an over-cooked crab. "Ya see... I ... we..."
"We were playing 'Kirby's Dream Course'," Katie said matter-of-factly, turning around so that the T.V. gave her a sort of an aura in the dark, small room.
"Wha... " Arthur gaped.
"You know, video games!!" Katie grinned again.
"Ya see, I always get stuck on this one level, so I asked that weird bellbottoms guy here to help me. His reflexes and timing are much better than mine."
She turned and grinned at her "partner".
"I do believe that you're the best I've seen at this game."
It looked as if all the blood vessels in That weird bellbottoms guy's face were going to burst. He looked at an invisible speck on the carpet and mumbled something incoherent.
"Are you all right, weird bellbottoms guy?" Marvin asked, looking at him quizzically.
"Yes! Oh course! Fine as Kine!"
He gave a high-pitched laugh (yes, higher than one of Katie's screams, amazingly enough...), nervous laugh. Then he noticed Hammie, peering into the room from around Marvin's waist and under his "mother's" arm.
"Hey, Hammie," he asked, "Why do you have blood all over ya?"
"Nothing..."
"She thought you two were having wild sex after listening at the door!" Emilee cried over her brother's head.
Hammie whirled on her.
"You were the one who told Arthur, and you were listening, too!"
Arthur reached back and grabbed both "her" daughters' ears.
"You sick little pervs, I can't believe you! If KRONK wasn't bad enough..."
Her voice faded down the hall as she marched the two downstairs. Marvin smiled at them, then closed the door.
"Who knew?" Katie mused. "And I thought those two had morals... "
She glanced over at that weird bellbottoms guy, then shifted so that her body was lined with his,
front-to-front.
"Are you okay? You look like an over-cooked crab with a really nasty sunburn and your face is going to peel off any second. Why are you blushing so much? It's not like we DID have wild sex."
The hippie couldn't stop turning red, and soon looked like a tomato with bellbottoms. He mumbled something Katie didn't catch - - whether "I'm tired" or the Arabic word for "Fart knocker". He grabbed for his trench coat, but Katie stopped him with a hand on the bellbottomed knee.
"Why, weird bellbottoms guy... indestructible peace machine... I think that this comedy of errors is turning you onto me, am I right?"
"N-NO!" That weird bellbottoms guy choked, eyes bulging, face suddenly bleaching to that of paper.
"I-I-I-I-I-I-I'd n-nev-ver..."
"Never what?" she murmured, eyes half-closing.
She leaned close, hands on either side of his crossed knees, warm breath tickling his throat.
Oh, God, he thought. She's going to kiss me!! Oh God Oh God Oh God...
His thoughts were suddenly tied in 147 different knots as he gazed into her beautiful blue eyes, becoming lost into their depths that held such power that he had only seen a fraction of since he had been here. He made a small noise of surprise as she slid closer, hands now on either side of his hips, noses brushing, warm breath over his mouth...
Suddenly, there was a furious storm of knocks in the door. Before Katie could pull away, Sailor Asparagus burst in, a ball of gold in one fist, a glowing sword in the other, and a black Wombat at her heels.
"WHAT THE HELLL... GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!!" Asparagus bellowed.
"Moo... " the Wombat said, jumping onto the bed, but no one took notice of it, despite it's large, green eyes glowing evilly.
Many things happened at once.
Asparagus raised his sword and fist at that weird bellbottoms guy.
That weird bellbottoms guy made several small, gurgling noises at the back of his throat.
The Wombat "Moo…" 'd.
Asparagus threw her attacks at that weird bellbottoms guy.
Katie slid her body in front of that weird bellbottoms guy's...
***
When that weird bellbottoms guy opened his eyes and breathed about five minutes later, he noticed two things:
#1: He was alive.
#2: Katie was sitting between his legs, pressed hard into his front, his arms circled tightly around her chest, and she was shivering; from fear or the after affects of (apparently) absorbing Asparagus' energy into her body, That weird bellbottoms guy couldn't tell.
Asparagus looked confused, rubbing the back of her head.
"Well, she didn't have to go and do THAT." she said, sighing.
That weird bellbottoms guy looked down, then up, then back.
"What do you mean? WHAT HAPPENED?!"
"Huh? Oh, that's right, I forgot, you're not from around here. Well, it's like this. Right now, a tremendous amount of my Asparagus Planet energy is running in KatieO's veins, and let's just say her body isn't really equipped to take that kind of experience."
"AND?!"
"And what? It's no big deal, she just needs a lot of sleep, so, OUT!!"
That weird bellbottoms guy jumped, and Asparagus came over and picked Katie. The bellbottoms guy retrieved his platforms and fringed jacket, then clicked off the T.V. and game. They had beaten the final level, that weird bellbottoms guy thought with a smile.
Just as he was about to leave, Archibald called to that weird bellbottoms guy.
"Yes?"
She glared at him. "Don't try anything with her, ya hear me?"
That weird bellbottoms guy held up his hands in retreat, then backed out. In the hallway, that weird bellbottoms guy leaned against the wall, remembering what had happened, fantasizing what MIGHT have happened.
Feeling a tingle run through him, that weird bellbottoms guy did a fidgety two-step, then headed
downstairs, mumbling, "I need a cold shower... "
***
Th-thmp...
Th-thmp...
Th-thmp...
The darkness was like a cloak, though it brought no warmth, nor held any.
It's cold, isn't it...?
{Yes, it's very cold...}
You are cold, aren't you...?
{... Yes, I am. Who are you...?}
I am a friend. My name... is Audrey. What is yours?
{... Katie. Audrey is a strange name.}
So is Katie.
{I've never heard it before.}
You've heard it now.
{Where are you?}
Here.
{Where's here?}
Here is here. You are you, I am me, it is the same.
{I'm confused.}
That's all right. Would it help if you could see?
{Yes, I think it might.}
In an instant, two lights appeared: a small square of light behind, and a circular purple haze.
Katie looked all around. She was floating in darkness, with only the white light and the purple light. Looking at herself, she saw a long white dress covering her sixteen-year-old body; her original form.
Now that you know your choices, where will you go?
Katie was startled at the sudden question.
{What do you mean?}
You have two paths in your life right now. You can go back...
An image filled Katie's mind: Arthur, Rick Moranis, Emilee, Hammie, and the others were all together, the Hobbit Baby Of Death in the very center. No one even noticed her.
... or, you can go forward...
Katie was standing between her friends and family, smiling. It was like it had been before the Hobbit Baby Of Death had been born.
Katie was torn, though she favoured the last image more than she did the first.
Ah, I see you are undecided. Well, let's try this.
Katie's body and mind went rigid as a strange sensation ran through her head. It felt like something was shuffling through her thoughts and memories.
Ah-hah...
Her body relaxed, and the sensation left, but it left something; it felt strange and alien, like a
completely different consciousness, something that frightened Katie and excited her at the same time.
So, your torn between the need to be the youngest and most paid attention to, or to be considered mature and grown-up.
{That's why I always change my body; to be what I can't.}
But there's something else, isn't there?
Katie clenched her hands as the sensation returned, but it was gone an instant later.
. . .
{What? What's wrong?}
. . . So there's another involved. . . him. . .
{Him? Who's him?}
As if in reply, another, third image formed. It was that weird bellbottoms guy, and Katie felt her face grow warm.
There was what seemed like several minutes of silence.
Do you want that weird bellbottoms guy?
Katie choked, eyes wide.
{Wha... what are you talking about? I don't...}
You do want that weird bellbottoms guy. That much is obvious, from your reaction.
She looked down into nothingness, nodding.
I thought so. The only way you can have him is to go forward. That weird bellbottoms guy doesn't want a little girl; he wants a young woman.
{You mean, if I go towards YOU, in the purple, I can be...}
Yes, but you have to choose one.
Katie looked back at the white, then forward to the purple.
{All right...}
She reached her hand foreward, and it was gripped by another...
The white disappeared, and a door slammed shut...
**********
Audrey's from Little Shop of Horrors… except, well, not really. We just stole her name 'cause we're unoriginal like dat.
I'm SO proud of you… you read it without dying! Now read this one!
**********
Part TWO
Dark purple light pulsed in blackness, fluctuating like a heart beating.
A shadow formed in the very center of the dark light, arms stretched out to the sides, fingers splayed. The shadow's eyes, red and venomous, looked outward, seeing a small, double rectangle of light.
"Come...
come...
come...
Come and follow my darkness..."
A high, shrieking laughter rose, and the pinpoint of light was suddenly rubbed out, becoming black, then dark violet...
A door slammed shut...
***
Katie bolted up in a cold sweat, a searing pain in her forehead. She stumbled to the mirror through the darkness.
On her forehead, two symbols burned: One of Fondue, the other of Spork.
They cast her face in an eerie light as they glowed, shining like the night sky.
Katie breathed heavily as she watched the symbols, hearing her heart pounding fiercely in her chest.
She touched the glass with her finger-tips, faintly hearing something...
... it was a door, slamming shut.
"Something's coming..."
***
That weird bellbottoms guy was in the middle of pouring himself a glass of vodka from Hammie's secret horde when Katie came downstairs and asked him the question. The nature of the question surprised him so badly that he spilled some of the alcohol onto the counter. Still holding the bottle, he turned and stared down into Katie's face. She looked back up at him, smiling innocently.
"What... what was that?"
Katie repeated her request, this time more slowly.
"Oh. Is that all?" He downed the entire shot. "Is there a reason you need this... help?"
"Have you ANY idea how hard it is to get past that part without someone else?! I need some kind of... partner... to help me with this personal matter." Katie's eyes danced wickedly.
"Yeah... sure... I guess so..." That weird bellbottoms guy was starting to fidget uncomfortably. "But I've never done that kind of thing before."
Katie waved a hand.
"That's cool. I'll tell you what to do."
"You know how to?"
"Well... I've seen Arthur and Rick do it millions of times, so we'll just imitate what they did!" She looked up at him.
"Will you do it?"
"Sure. Anything for a pretty lady like yourself!" he grinned at the presently 20-year-old.
"Oh, man, thanks! I really owe you one!"
She grabbed his wrist and ran the both of them upstairs to her room, closing the door and clicking on a soft lamp.
Katie flopped herself onto the carpet beside the bed while that weird bellbottoms guy shrugged out of his jacket and tugged off his boots.
Katie craned her neck up to look at the blonde, smiling seductively. He smiled back, turning pink.
"Come on, that weird bellbottoms guy," she murmured. "We need to do this... NOW..."
***
Hammie and Emilee walked up the stairs, laughing and talking about how GP had beat up Kronk after the Skirted Wonder had stolen one of that George W. Bush Wannabe Hamster's fried prawns.
As they walked past Katie's room, they both stopped, hearing a strange noise coming from behind their younger sister's door...
Curiosity catching them, they leaned close to the keyhole and stood silent listening...
... to what sounded like that weird bellbottoms guy, moaning his head off.
The two clapped their hands over their mouths to keep from screaming. What the fuzzy was that weird bellbottoms guy doing alone in Katie's bedroom, moaning deeply...
... unless he wasn't alone! Dear God! What was going on?!
As they listened again, they could hear Katie's voice as well:
"Come ON, That weird bellbottoms guy!! You've got to hit it HARDER!"
"But..."
"DO IT!!! Oooh, ooh, right there... no, no, you have to get it in the hole..."
"OK, here goes..."
"YEEE-HAW!! Oh, praise the LORD!!! Oh, WEIRD BELLBOTTOMS GUY!!"
Hammie fell backwards, almost taking Emilee with him, and blacked out for a few seconds.
When he came to, his fur was spotted with red, and more was trickling from his nose.
Emilee, wide-eyed and white, helped up the black-haired ginny pig, and they both put their ears to the hole in the door.
"GlOOOORiAAA!! AAAlelUUUJA!!"
"Hold on Katie, stop rolling around!!"
"Hey, let's try something new..."
"OK..."
"WOAH!! YEE-HAW!!! That was FUN!! Do it again, do it again!!"
The two jerked away as if Mistress 4 and a half was staring out at them from the keyhole.
After exchanging looks of pure horror (both still able to hear Katie' yells of pleasure and that weird
bellbottoms guy's sudden, maniacal laughter), Hammie the hamster and Emilee jumped to their feet and made crazed dashes for the living room.
Arthur and Marvin looked up when Hammie the hamster and Emilee came bursting in, breathing hard and clutching their sides. The two "women" caught a look at Hammie's speckled shirt.
"Hammie... just how did you get blood all over yourself?"
"That weird bellbottoms guy... Katie... bedroom... wild... sex..." Emilee choked, steadying Hammie the hamster.
"WHAT?!"
Arthur launched herself at the two sibligs, grabbing both of their necks and giving them a few good shakes.
"DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT THAT STUPID, IMMATURE MAN IS FUCKING MY DAUGHTER!"
"That's not what she said, but that about sums it up, yeah."
Hammie began to get all swirly-eyed, so Arthur let her children go and barreled upstairs, Marvin close on her heels, and then Emilee and Hammie, who both felt like they had been brained by both the Tokyo and New York telephone books.
***
"JUST WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU..." Arthur bellowed as "she" broke down "her" daughter's door, then stopped dead in her tracks.
Katie was lying on her belly over the carpet. She was holding a game controller in her hands, and she was kicking her feet through the air in joy, staring raptly at the T.V. screen, where Kirby was standing on a floating black-and-white checker platform.
That weird bellbottoms guy was without his fringe jacket and 5-inch platforms, wearing his sweater instead, and he also had a game controller in his hands...
... and both erupted into shrieks when Kirby bounced into a ball shape and into a black hole on the screen.
Both froze, mid-fist raising and feet-swinging, when the four women broke in. That weird bellbottoms guy set down the controller with a guilty blush on his face.
Katie pulled onto her knees, grinning luxuriously, in total bliss.
Arthur, Marvin, Hammie, and Emilee were all confuzzled.
"What... what... what the HELL were you two doing?"
"Uh... " That weird bellbottoms guy turned red as an over-cooked crab. "Ya see... I ... we..."
"We were playing 'Kirby's Dream Course'," Katie said matter-of-factly, turning around so that the T.V. gave her a sort of an aura in the dark, small room.
"Wha... " Arthur gaped.
"You know, video games!!" Katie grinned again.
"Ya see, I always get stuck on this one level, so I asked that weird bellbottoms guy here to help me. His reflexes and timing are much better than mine."
She turned and grinned at her "partner".
"I do believe that you're the best I've seen at this game."
It looked as if all the blood vessels in That weird bellbottoms guy's face were going to burst. He looked at an invisible speck on the carpet and mumbled something incoherent.
"Are you all right, weird bellbottoms guy?" Marvin asked, looking at him quizzically.
"Yes! Oh course! Fine as Kine!"
He gave a high-pitched laugh (yes, higher than one of Katie's screams, amazingly enough...), nervous laugh. Then he noticed Hammie, peering into the room from around Marvin's waist and under his "mother's" arm.
"Hey, Hammie," he asked, "Why do you have blood all over ya?"
"Nothing..."
"She thought you two were having wild sex after listening at the door!" Emilee cried over her brother's head.
Hammie whirled on her.
"You were the one who told Arthur, and you were listening, too!"
Arthur reached back and grabbed both "her" daughters' ears.
"You sick little pervs, I can't believe you! If KRONK wasn't bad enough..."
Her voice faded down the hall as she marched the two downstairs. Marvin smiled at them, then closed the door.
"Who knew?" Katie mused. "And I thought those two had morals... "
She glanced over at that weird bellbottoms guy, then shifted so that her body was lined with his,
front-to-front.
"Are you okay? You look like an over-cooked crab with a really nasty sunburn and your face is going to peel off any second. Why are you blushing so much? It's not like we DID have wild sex."
The hippie couldn't stop turning red, and soon looked like a tomato with bellbottoms. He mumbled something Katie didn't catch - - whether "I'm tired" or the Arabic word for "Fart knocker". He grabbed for his trench coat, but Katie stopped him with a hand on the bellbottomed knee.
"Why, weird bellbottoms guy... indestructible peace machine... I think that this comedy of errors is turning you onto me, am I right?"
"N-NO!" That weird bellbottoms guy choked, eyes bulging, face suddenly bleaching to that of paper.
"I-I-I-I-I-I-I'd n-nev-ver..."
"Never what?" she murmured, eyes half-closing.
She leaned close, hands on either side of his crossed knees, warm breath tickling his throat.
Oh, God, he thought. She's going to kiss me!! Oh God Oh God Oh God...
His thoughts were suddenly tied in 147 different knots as he gazed into her beautiful blue eyes, becoming lost into their depths that held such power that he had only seen a fraction of since he had been here. He made a small noise of surprise as she slid closer, hands now on either side of his hips, noses brushing, warm breath over his mouth...
Suddenly, there was a furious storm of knocks in the door. Before Katie could pull away, Sailor Asparagus burst in, a ball of gold in one fist, a glowing sword in the other, and a black Wombat at her heels.
"WHAT THE HELLL... GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!!" Asparagus bellowed.
"Moo... " the Wombat said, jumping onto the bed, but no one took notice of it, despite it's large, green eyes glowing evilly.
Many things happened at once.
Asparagus raised his sword and fist at that weird bellbottoms guy.
That weird bellbottoms guy made several small, gurgling noises at the back of his throat.
The Wombat "Moo…" 'd.
Asparagus threw her attacks at that weird bellbottoms guy.
Katie slid her body in front of that weird bellbottoms guy's...
***
When that weird bellbottoms guy opened his eyes and breathed about five minutes later, he noticed two things:
#1: He was alive.
#2: Katie was sitting between his legs, pressed hard into his front, his arms circled tightly around her chest, and she was shivering; from fear or the after affects of (apparently) absorbing Asparagus' energy into her body, That weird bellbottoms guy couldn't tell.
Asparagus looked confused, rubbing the back of her head.
"Well, she didn't have to go and do THAT." she said, sighing.
That weird bellbottoms guy looked down, then up, then back.
"What do you mean? WHAT HAPPENED?!"
"Huh? Oh, that's right, I forgot, you're not from around here. Well, it's like this. Right now, a tremendous amount of my Asparagus Planet energy is running in KatieO's veins, and let's just say her body isn't really equipped to take that kind of experience."
"AND?!"
"And what? It's no big deal, she just needs a lot of sleep, so, OUT!!"
That weird bellbottoms guy jumped, and Asparagus came over and picked Katie. The bellbottoms guy retrieved his platforms and fringed jacket, then clicked off the T.V. and game. They had beaten the final level, that weird bellbottoms guy thought with a smile.
Just as he was about to leave, Archibald called to that weird bellbottoms guy.
"Yes?"
She glared at him. "Don't try anything with her, ya hear me?"
That weird bellbottoms guy held up his hands in retreat, then backed out. In the hallway, that weird bellbottoms guy leaned against the wall, remembering what had happened, fantasizing what MIGHT have happened.
Feeling a tingle run through him, that weird bellbottoms guy did a fidgety two-step, then headed
downstairs, mumbling, "I need a cold shower... "
***
Th-thmp...
Th-thmp...
Th-thmp...
The darkness was like a cloak, though it brought no warmth, nor held any.
It's cold, isn't it...?
{Yes, it's very cold...}
You are cold, aren't you...?
{... Yes, I am. Who are you...?}
I am a friend. My name... is Audrey. What is yours?
{... Katie. Audrey is a strange name.}
So is Katie.
{I've never heard it before.}
You've heard it now.
{Where are you?}
Here.
{Where's here?}
Here is here. You are you, I am me, it is the same.
{I'm confused.}
That's all right. Would it help if you could see?
{Yes, I think it might.}
In an instant, two lights appeared: a small square of light behind, and a circular purple haze.
Katie looked all around. She was floating in darkness, with only the white light and the purple light. Looking at herself, she saw a long white dress covering her sixteen-year-old body; her original form.
Now that you know your choices, where will you go?
Katie was startled at the sudden question.
{What do you mean?}
You have two paths in your life right now. You can go back...
An image filled Katie's mind: Arthur, Rick Moranis, Emilee, Hammie, and the others were all together, the Hobbit Baby Of Death in the very center. No one even noticed her.
... or, you can go forward...
Katie was standing between her friends and family, smiling. It was like it had been before the Hobbit Baby Of Death had been born.
Katie was torn, though she favoured the last image more than she did the first.
Ah, I see you are undecided. Well, let's try this.
Katie's body and mind went rigid as a strange sensation ran through her head. It felt like something was shuffling through her thoughts and memories.
Ah-hah...
Her body relaxed, and the sensation left, but it left something; it felt strange and alien, like a
completely different consciousness, something that frightened Katie and excited her at the same time.
So, your torn between the need to be the youngest and most paid attention to, or to be considered mature and grown-up.
{That's why I always change my body; to be what I can't.}
But there's something else, isn't there?
Katie clenched her hands as the sensation returned, but it was gone an instant later.
. . .
{What? What's wrong?}
. . . So there's another involved. . . him. . .
{Him? Who's him?}
As if in reply, another, third image formed. It was that weird bellbottoms guy, and Katie felt her face grow warm.
There was what seemed like several minutes of silence.
Do you want that weird bellbottoms guy?
Katie choked, eyes wide.
{Wha... what are you talking about? I don't...}
You do want that weird bellbottoms guy. That much is obvious, from your reaction.
She looked down into nothingness, nodding.
I thought so. The only way you can have him is to go forward. That weird bellbottoms guy doesn't want a little girl; he wants a young woman.
{You mean, if I go towards YOU, in the purple, I can be...}
Yes, but you have to choose one.
Katie looked back at the white, then forward to the purple.
{All right...}
She reached her hand foreward, and it was gripped by another...
The white disappeared, and a door slammed shut...
**********
Audrey's from Little Shop of Horrors… except, well, not really. We just stole her name 'cause we're unoriginal like dat.