"What the fuck-Oh, hi Ms. Wyler!" Cary sheepishly exclaimed.
"You need to wake up, Mr. Ripton. We're taking a restroom break. And get her." She pointed at Cynthia Smith, headbanging in the back of the bus.
The sleep fell from Cary's eyes as he watched Ms. Wyler stalk off the bus. "Bitch..." he muttered towards her back through the safety of a window. He rubbed his arm where she had hit him to wake him up. He flexed it experimentally. "Goddamn that hurts like hell!" he yelled to the nearly empty bus. Baseball season was coming up-he couldn't afford to be crippled from his confirmation trip. "Goddammit..." he muttered again.
"Quite a vocab you have there, wee one," said a slightly bemused female voice. Cary looked up to see Cynthia Smith standing above him. "Here, scoot." She pushed him enough to clear a place next to him.
"Weren't you listening to music back there?" he asked.
"Yeah and no. I can hear through the music. Ms. Man-I'm-A-Cunt must think I'm either deaf and blind like the Heller chick or an idiot. Either way, I take offense."
Cary nodded in assent. He thought Ms. Wyler acted like she had one long stick up her ass sometimes, and he told Cynthia that.
She laughed and told him he seemed old for his age and Cary's head swelled to twice its normal size.
Cynthia's nice, he thought. Oh, but not that nice, you know... dammit, I'm acting like a little kid with a crush... He blushed at the thought because of its verity.
"So..." he started.
"We could just stay here. In the bus," said Cynthia. "I really don't think she'll miss us. So, what you readin' there?"
Cary glanced at the book in his lap. "Oh, that's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." He grinned at the thought of his favorite character, Marvin, the depressed robot. "I'm rereading it, actually. I've read all the sequels, too. I love 'em."
Cynthia grinned along with him. "I might wanna borrow it after you're through. One of my girlfriends told me it was a real hoot."
A real hoot? Cynthia thought. Boy, that was smooth. Wait, why am I trying to be smooth in front of a little kid, anyway? Redness creeped towards her cheeks. Thank god for that makeup.
He offered it to her. "I've read it a thousand times. Actually, it's really one of the only books I've ever been into."
Cynthia reached for it. When grabbing it, their hands brushed and a spark flared between them. "Ouch!" exclaimed Cynthia. She looked at her hands and smiled again.
Cary smiled back. "You know what my mom says? She says that when you shock someone, it's a sign that person is important in your life." He realized what he'd said when Cynthia's smile widened and he blushed redder as he turned away in embarrassment. She reached for his shoulder. He pulled away when she touched it. Her smile faded. She ran a shaky hand through her tu-tone hair.
"You know what?" she asked after an uncomfortable silence.
Cary shrugged in response, his back still towards her.
"I think she's right in this case." She put her hand on Cary's shoulder again. This time, he didn't shrug it away. His face slowly turned and met her lips in midair. Shock flashed in his eyes, followed closely by an overwhelmed ecstasy. Their lips parted. They leaned back in their seats and were quiet.
"So, what were you dreaming about?" asked Cynthia?
"Dreaming about?" breathed Cary, evidently still winded.
"You were moaning and groaning to raise the band." Cynthia chuckled. "Ms. Wyler wasn't too happy."
Cary smiled tiredly. "Then I'll be sure to do it next time I fall asleep too." He turned to face her. She was still looking at the seat ahead of her. Cary sighed. "I can't remember too well. I was... I dunno, I think I was in a... pit of some sort? I dunno. But it was really creepy. All these words I couldn't read on the wall, dead bodies everywhere-but here's the really weird part: the bodies didn't seem to actually be in the... hole. They were all lighted red... dark crimson, sometimes, and others, an almost pink. It was weird. And they were... rippley. Like they were underwater, or behind really old glass or something. And... this guy was telling me stuff. I wasn't really listening-I was... um. I was looking at something else. All that death and I was looking at something else."
"What?" asked Cynthia. Cary turned; she was facing him now, leaned forward on her elbows.
Cary giggled nervously. "I can't remember."
"Boy," Cynthia grinned, "when you lie, you need to loosen up, man. I mean, I would think you're lying if you said the sky was blue!" She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. "Like I'd have to check, or something." Her hand ventured out and found Cary's. He closed his eyes. He was content to lay here, Ms. Wyler be damned. He was with his
(graven image)
idol and that was all that mattered.
"Ellie?" Pie grabbed her sister from behind. "Ellie, are you alright?"
"I'm-fine. Fine, Pie." But she didn't look fine. Pie had heard of being green before, but this was ridiculous. Ellie's face was the color Pie had normally associated with olives, and her eyes were bloodshot.
"Ellie, I think we should go to the restroom. Do you need to upchuck?"
Ellie vomited on Pie's feet. "Eeewwww... Ellie, we should get Dad now. Come on."
Ellie feebly shook her head. "No-o. I'm okay. Just needed to get it out," she said in a weak voice.
Pie grabbed her sister's arm. "We're going to tell Dad right now. Come on, Ellie."
Ellie shook her head, but let herself be led along by her sister. After she vomited again, she said, "Aud told me not to get the shrimp. But Dad told me it was okay."
Pie just nodded absently as she looked through the windows on the street, trying to find the shop her father was in. She passed Soderman's Grille and the Billingsley Clinic before finding Reed Curios (why were all the stores in this town named after their owners? Pie thought madly), a wildly out of place stark "curiosity" shoppe in the midst of almost beautiful flowing buildings that seemed to sell little but weapons and cowboy paraphernalia. Ralph Carver was staring at a gaudy plaster cowboy boot in the front window.
Pie ran in, talking her way to her father. "Dad, Ellie threw up and she's really, really sick, you should get her some medicine or something or maybe even take her to have her stomach pumped, it was those darn shrimps, at least that's what she says, Dad, come on, you've got to help her out!"
Ralph blinked. His daughters were indeed still there. Boy, what a buzz. "Well..." he said. He appraised his daughters again. Were there really three... four... five... no, two of them? Oh wait, yes there were. He turned to the man standing behind him. He had on a cowboy hat (Inside! thought Pie. Inside!) and a plaid flannel shirt with tight dark blue jeans on. And, of course, he was wearing cowboy boots. His tight jaw worked. "You gonna hepp these little girls out, sir?" His nametag said "Dave."
Ralph looked at the two men. "I want some of that."
"Dave" looked at the girls that had just come in. "Sir, Ah appreciate yer patronage, but ye need ta help ur own daughters before buyin' booze."
Ralph blinked again. His vision cleared enough for him to flick off the man in the middle and he passed out.
Audrey Wyler was sitting in a McDonalds with most of the other children. She was paying special attention to Seth and Mary. They seem up to something... she mused.
She slowly became aware of David Carver at her feet. "Is my fam'ly all wight?" he asked.
Audrey chuckled a little nervously. The way he'd said that... "Why wouldn't they be?"
David looked up at her with his huge eyes. "I was pwaying, like you said to. And then I saw Daddy... but he was dead."
Audrey closed her eyes. Oh boy, separation anxiety. "Listen, you're daddy's okay." He kept her in his gaze. "David, how did you know he was dead? Maybe he was just sleeping."
David shook his head. "No... there was blood. A lot, and I couldn't see his face. It was scawy."
Audrey shivered and suddenly felt sorry for a boy kept in an environment such that would foster that kind of image. "Baby, it was just your imagination. You were just thinking about it."
David thought about it. "Maybe, " he said and stalked off to play in the ball pit.
Audrey shivered again. That was just downright creepy, that.
"And you had exactly the same dream?" Mary was asking.
Seth nodded. "It was pretty scary... but I can't think of why right now. The red light was what got me... I dunno why."
Mary nodded. "Me too." She looked around at the other tables. Except for Brad and his mom, the tables were completely empty. There were no locals at the McDonalds. Okay, I can see that, thought Mary, But where were these people?
She spoke her thoughts to Seth. He also nodded in agreement. "I don't like this place. It's way too quiet... and it seems like it's hiding something. Like this one time, I was eating a peach, and I took a bite out of it, right? There was a spider just beyond where my bite ended. It had evidently gotten stuck in there... maybe as an egg. And it was a black widow, too." He wasn't sure if this last part was true, but it seemed to him his story needed some pizzazz to show his point. "That was like this town. Calm and sweet on the outside, deadly and stark and bitter on the inside." He shivered at this true memory.
Mary took his hand. A spark passed between them; if the lights had been off, they would have noticed its distinctive red color, but right now, they both said in unison, "Ouch, you shocked me!" They broke into giggles then, but even to them, they sounded like the laughs of the doomed right before the platform drops out below him and the rope pulls taut.
"You need to wake up, Mr. Ripton. We're taking a restroom break. And get her." She pointed at Cynthia Smith, headbanging in the back of the bus.
The sleep fell from Cary's eyes as he watched Ms. Wyler stalk off the bus. "Bitch..." he muttered towards her back through the safety of a window. He rubbed his arm where she had hit him to wake him up. He flexed it experimentally. "Goddamn that hurts like hell!" he yelled to the nearly empty bus. Baseball season was coming up-he couldn't afford to be crippled from his confirmation trip. "Goddammit..." he muttered again.
"Quite a vocab you have there, wee one," said a slightly bemused female voice. Cary looked up to see Cynthia Smith standing above him. "Here, scoot." She pushed him enough to clear a place next to him.
"Weren't you listening to music back there?" he asked.
"Yeah and no. I can hear through the music. Ms. Man-I'm-A-Cunt must think I'm either deaf and blind like the Heller chick or an idiot. Either way, I take offense."
Cary nodded in assent. He thought Ms. Wyler acted like she had one long stick up her ass sometimes, and he told Cynthia that.
She laughed and told him he seemed old for his age and Cary's head swelled to twice its normal size.
Cynthia's nice, he thought. Oh, but not that nice, you know... dammit, I'm acting like a little kid with a crush... He blushed at the thought because of its verity.
"So..." he started.
"We could just stay here. In the bus," said Cynthia. "I really don't think she'll miss us. So, what you readin' there?"
Cary glanced at the book in his lap. "Oh, that's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." He grinned at the thought of his favorite character, Marvin, the depressed robot. "I'm rereading it, actually. I've read all the sequels, too. I love 'em."
Cynthia grinned along with him. "I might wanna borrow it after you're through. One of my girlfriends told me it was a real hoot."
A real hoot? Cynthia thought. Boy, that was smooth. Wait, why am I trying to be smooth in front of a little kid, anyway? Redness creeped towards her cheeks. Thank god for that makeup.
He offered it to her. "I've read it a thousand times. Actually, it's really one of the only books I've ever been into."
Cynthia reached for it. When grabbing it, their hands brushed and a spark flared between them. "Ouch!" exclaimed Cynthia. She looked at her hands and smiled again.
Cary smiled back. "You know what my mom says? She says that when you shock someone, it's a sign that person is important in your life." He realized what he'd said when Cynthia's smile widened and he blushed redder as he turned away in embarrassment. She reached for his shoulder. He pulled away when she touched it. Her smile faded. She ran a shaky hand through her tu-tone hair.
"You know what?" she asked after an uncomfortable silence.
Cary shrugged in response, his back still towards her.
"I think she's right in this case." She put her hand on Cary's shoulder again. This time, he didn't shrug it away. His face slowly turned and met her lips in midair. Shock flashed in his eyes, followed closely by an overwhelmed ecstasy. Their lips parted. They leaned back in their seats and were quiet.
"So, what were you dreaming about?" asked Cynthia?
"Dreaming about?" breathed Cary, evidently still winded.
"You were moaning and groaning to raise the band." Cynthia chuckled. "Ms. Wyler wasn't too happy."
Cary smiled tiredly. "Then I'll be sure to do it next time I fall asleep too." He turned to face her. She was still looking at the seat ahead of her. Cary sighed. "I can't remember too well. I was... I dunno, I think I was in a... pit of some sort? I dunno. But it was really creepy. All these words I couldn't read on the wall, dead bodies everywhere-but here's the really weird part: the bodies didn't seem to actually be in the... hole. They were all lighted red... dark crimson, sometimes, and others, an almost pink. It was weird. And they were... rippley. Like they were underwater, or behind really old glass or something. And... this guy was telling me stuff. I wasn't really listening-I was... um. I was looking at something else. All that death and I was looking at something else."
"What?" asked Cynthia. Cary turned; she was facing him now, leaned forward on her elbows.
Cary giggled nervously. "I can't remember."
"Boy," Cynthia grinned, "when you lie, you need to loosen up, man. I mean, I would think you're lying if you said the sky was blue!" She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. "Like I'd have to check, or something." Her hand ventured out and found Cary's. He closed his eyes. He was content to lay here, Ms. Wyler be damned. He was with his
(graven image)
idol and that was all that mattered.
"Ellie?" Pie grabbed her sister from behind. "Ellie, are you alright?"
"I'm-fine. Fine, Pie." But she didn't look fine. Pie had heard of being green before, but this was ridiculous. Ellie's face was the color Pie had normally associated with olives, and her eyes were bloodshot.
"Ellie, I think we should go to the restroom. Do you need to upchuck?"
Ellie vomited on Pie's feet. "Eeewwww... Ellie, we should get Dad now. Come on."
Ellie feebly shook her head. "No-o. I'm okay. Just needed to get it out," she said in a weak voice.
Pie grabbed her sister's arm. "We're going to tell Dad right now. Come on, Ellie."
Ellie shook her head, but let herself be led along by her sister. After she vomited again, she said, "Aud told me not to get the shrimp. But Dad told me it was okay."
Pie just nodded absently as she looked through the windows on the street, trying to find the shop her father was in. She passed Soderman's Grille and the Billingsley Clinic before finding Reed Curios (why were all the stores in this town named after their owners? Pie thought madly), a wildly out of place stark "curiosity" shoppe in the midst of almost beautiful flowing buildings that seemed to sell little but weapons and cowboy paraphernalia. Ralph Carver was staring at a gaudy plaster cowboy boot in the front window.
Pie ran in, talking her way to her father. "Dad, Ellie threw up and she's really, really sick, you should get her some medicine or something or maybe even take her to have her stomach pumped, it was those darn shrimps, at least that's what she says, Dad, come on, you've got to help her out!"
Ralph blinked. His daughters were indeed still there. Boy, what a buzz. "Well..." he said. He appraised his daughters again. Were there really three... four... five... no, two of them? Oh wait, yes there were. He turned to the man standing behind him. He had on a cowboy hat (Inside! thought Pie. Inside!) and a plaid flannel shirt with tight dark blue jeans on. And, of course, he was wearing cowboy boots. His tight jaw worked. "You gonna hepp these little girls out, sir?" His nametag said "Dave."
Ralph looked at the two men. "I want some of that."
"Dave" looked at the girls that had just come in. "Sir, Ah appreciate yer patronage, but ye need ta help ur own daughters before buyin' booze."
Ralph blinked again. His vision cleared enough for him to flick off the man in the middle and he passed out.
Audrey Wyler was sitting in a McDonalds with most of the other children. She was paying special attention to Seth and Mary. They seem up to something... she mused.
She slowly became aware of David Carver at her feet. "Is my fam'ly all wight?" he asked.
Audrey chuckled a little nervously. The way he'd said that... "Why wouldn't they be?"
David looked up at her with his huge eyes. "I was pwaying, like you said to. And then I saw Daddy... but he was dead."
Audrey closed her eyes. Oh boy, separation anxiety. "Listen, you're daddy's okay." He kept her in his gaze. "David, how did you know he was dead? Maybe he was just sleeping."
David shook his head. "No... there was blood. A lot, and I couldn't see his face. It was scawy."
Audrey shivered and suddenly felt sorry for a boy kept in an environment such that would foster that kind of image. "Baby, it was just your imagination. You were just thinking about it."
David thought about it. "Maybe, " he said and stalked off to play in the ball pit.
Audrey shivered again. That was just downright creepy, that.
"And you had exactly the same dream?" Mary was asking.
Seth nodded. "It was pretty scary... but I can't think of why right now. The red light was what got me... I dunno why."
Mary nodded. "Me too." She looked around at the other tables. Except for Brad and his mom, the tables were completely empty. There were no locals at the McDonalds. Okay, I can see that, thought Mary, But where were these people?
She spoke her thoughts to Seth. He also nodded in agreement. "I don't like this place. It's way too quiet... and it seems like it's hiding something. Like this one time, I was eating a peach, and I took a bite out of it, right? There was a spider just beyond where my bite ended. It had evidently gotten stuck in there... maybe as an egg. And it was a black widow, too." He wasn't sure if this last part was true, but it seemed to him his story needed some pizzazz to show his point. "That was like this town. Calm and sweet on the outside, deadly and stark and bitter on the inside." He shivered at this true memory.
Mary took his hand. A spark passed between them; if the lights had been off, they would have noticed its distinctive red color, but right now, they both said in unison, "Ouch, you shocked me!" They broke into giggles then, but even to them, they sounded like the laughs of the doomed right before the platform drops out below him and the rope pulls taut.
