Chapter Seven – 'Thats a lovely name'
"I soon have to be there. I have ridden this iron for at least a few minutes." As Ned finished his thought the iron started to slow down in front of a cross street lined with shops. A great arch entry way showed where the beginning of the street started and a far away multilevel building showed the end.
An animation on his MyPad started to show him moving the six spaces for the dice he had rolled, and it counted out loud to show him what he had passed and where he was sitting. "You have arrived at Oriental Avenue." A computerized voice announced to him.
He looked up at the light blue street sign that pointed down the street. It also read Oriental Avenue. "This must be the correct place. I wonder what I need to do now. This game can't possibly be played just sitting here, so I think I will go explore." Ned dismounted from his iron and started to walk toward the shops. "If there is anywhere I can't go, I guess I will hit one of those invisible walls."
The closer he got to the beginning of the shops he noticed the big towering arch that stretched across the entrance to the street. He stopped and looked up at it. Sprawled across the arch was also written Oriental Avenue, with a banner below saying: 'For Sale, Inquire Within'.
"It appears this street is for sale. I wonder who owns it, and why they are selling it. It looks so quaint and cozy." Ned looked down the street and began walking again to see what else he could find.
He passed a few street vendors and fruit stands before stopping at a small shop selling flowers. Lilies and orchids caught his eye. They were an odd shade of blue he had never seen before. "How did you get the flowers that wonderful shade of light blue." Ned asked the flower vendor.
"I didn't." Replied the vendor. "They always grow that color. No matter what I try to do different, the flowers always turn that color. I have got used to seeing that light blue I even named it. I call it Oriental Blue." She reached under the table and pulled out a light blue rose and handed it to Ned. "I'll give you this if you can answer me a question."
"I can do that, as long as I know the answer." Ned looked at the flower and then back at the vendor. He was curious about a lot of things that were happening and her question did not help.
"How did you get here?" Asked the vendor until she interrupted herself. "I mean I guess I should introduce myself before I ask anymore questions or favors." Ned started to get worried that he didn't know why he was there or what anyone was going to ask of him. "You will have to excuse all of us, as you are the first new person we have had down our street since that crazy guy a few weeks back."
"Well, I'm certainly not crazy. Just crazy about your blue rose. So what was your name?" Ned tried to lighten the mood hoping to find out more information.
"They call me Rose." As she held the flower in front of Ned. "What is your name new guy?"
"Ned Flanders and I arrived here on the iron parked at the end of the street." Ned's hand slowly reached for the rose as she dropped it into his hand. "You look disappointed."
"It's nothing, really. I was just hoping for more answers. But if you don't have any now it won't help." Rose looked solemn because Ned seemed to have less information than she did.
Ned looked awkwardly at the rose for a moment before asking a few questions. "So what is this place and why is it for sale?"
"I just sell roses on this street and live in my apartment above the shop. So I haven't ventured off of this street, ever." Rose looked confused before continuing. "Every time I walk down to the main road and turn left to try to leave, it's like a barrier prevents me from leaving. And not just me, all the people who live on this street."
"What does your MyPad tell you about where you are?" Ned asked but got a blank look in return. "I assume that means you don't have one. It's this thing." As he held up his, Rose continued to stare at him.
"I don't know what that is, or how you got here. You seem just like the crazy guy. And if my memory is correct our mayor helped the crazy guy, but we never saw him again." She thought deep for a moment. "In fact, I think he bought this street while he was here, but now it's for sale again. Seems kinda strange."
None of this really made sense to Ned, but he hoped talking to the mayor may help clarify his situation. "Where is the mayor or better yet, who is your mayor, and can they help me?" Ned asked questions so fast Rose had to interrupt him to calm him down.
"Like I said, I just sell flowers and live upstairs. Our mayor can better help you. Her name is Gloria and she lives in the apartment above the toy store. Go find her." Rose finished and walked back into her shop to rearrange the rest of the light blue flowers.
"Thanks for the rose, Rose." Ned yelled into the shop as he turned and continued to walk down the street.
After passing a few more shops he seemed to be most of way down the street and could not see any other side streets or alleys. The fronts of shops formed a solid wall on both sides, and the only way to walk was forward toward the end or turn around and walk back to the iron.
Ned stopped and saw the large shop on his left. The large sign above the door read "Toys L Us". "This must be the toy store. It seems awfully familiar." A feeling of uneasiness hit Ned as he approached the front door and walked in.
As he entered the toy store, it was full of aisles of brand new toys. All appeared to still be in the original packages. The further in he walked he kept seeing random toys in that weird shade of blue that matched the street sign and the rose he now carried in his shirt pocket.
"Hello." He called and it echoed through the store. "Is there anyone here?" He added and heard it echo louder. He waited for a response but did not receive one.
Ned tried again but no one was inside the store to greet him. "Well, Rose said that the mayor lived above the toy store so maybe I should find some stairs to get to her apartment."
He continued to walk through the store and passed many the displays of toys all the same shade of blue he now liked the more he saw it. "I was sent here by Rose." He tried adding to see if that would earn him a response. It did not
He made it to the back of the store and found a set of stairs that lead up. One step at a time he became nervous to what lay ahead. "I'm walking up the stairs." He announced, but still received no answer.
When Ned arrived at the top of the stairs there was a lobby with a table and four chairs. They looked like they had never been sat in. He passed those to find a door labeled: Mayor. He knocked and waited, but no one answered. He tried again and said: "Is this the apartment of the Mayor? Rose sent me here to talk to you about this street being for sale, and to gain information about what is happening." Ned finished and still received no response.
"This is frustrating. I guess she isn't home." One more knock at the door confirmed that she was not home. "Maybe I'll try talking to Rose again." He said as he checked to see that the light blue rose was still firmly inside his shirt pocket.
Back down the stairs to the main floor of the toy store and out the front door Ned went, and just as the front door opened a woman approached him from down the street. She appeared out of breath as she ran the last few yards. "You... must be... looking for... me..." She breathed out a few words at a time. "Let me catch my breath a second."
"Are you the mayor?" Ned asked as he tried to remember the name. "Are you Gloria?" He finished his thought as she started to answer.
"I am Gloria. Gloria Jailbird. I also happen to be the mayor of this street. Welcome to Oriental Avenue if you have not been welcomed yet." The mayor ensured that Ned was properly welcomed, even if he couldn't figure out why. "So, what brings you to our wonderful street."
"Honestly I don't really know. I do know the MyPad told me I rolled a six, and then the iron drove me here." Ned tried to form his answer so it didn't sound as weird as it did to Rose. "Does that make any sense? You don't look as confused as Rose."
"So, it has started again. The rumors were true. That crazy guy might be telling the truth." Gloria said mainly to herself, but loud enough the Ned could also hear what she was thinking.
"You know about this game? I seem to have all the questions while you have some answers." Ned asked and then waited as Gloria thought of the best way to answer him.
"I do know what is going on. You and I are the only ones on this street that have any idea. I am late getting back to my street. There was an emergency city meeting for all the mayors to attend." Gloria started to explain and caught Ned's attention. "We had heard rumors of this game starting again, and this time the game is bigger than last time. The crazy guy who came through here last time started a big commotion that caught the ears of many people that another game was starting."
"Who is this crazy guy?" Ned interrupted as she was the second person to mention it.
"I don't really know. I only saw him once, he bought this street, and he was never heard from again. At least not here." Gloria continued. "None of the other residents here know there is a game going on..."
Ned interrupted her again. "I saw that talking to Rose. She didn't seem to understand what I needed."
"None of them will. It is better to keep the idea of a game bigger than them to yourself, so that they won't affect your ability to play." Gloria finished this thought as Ned continued to ask more questions. He had finally found the mayor and this was his chance to gain an advantage finding out everything he could.
"It seems there is so much more that I need to find out. How much more do you know about this game?" Ned proceeded to ask more questions, but finally hit a roadblock.
"I only know what happens on our street, and do not know anything outside of our light blue themed avenue." Gloria went on for another minute with any information that may help Ned. "This is Oriental Avenue, as you have probably already seen. Our color scheme here seems to be this light blue shade that appears everywhere. It had went away once, but came back a little while ago. That's when the rumors started about another game being played, but the residents don't know what that means." She paused for a second to gather her thoughts and determined what else might be useful. "As you can see our street is for sale. That banner just appeared between the time I left for the meeting and when I returned."
"I saw that on the way in, it was hanging on the archway." Ned stopped for a second. "That arch looks really familiar. I have seen that before. I think it was in Springfield's Chinatown district, but I don't think I'm in Springfield anymore. At least I can't tell if I am or not."
"Springfield? Chinatown? Where are those? I have been all around this city and have never seen that." Gloria explained. "I have gone for a long walk around the entire city and can tell you every place, but those don't exist."
"They do exist where I come from." Ned replied.
"And where is that?" Gloria countered.
"It is a long story that doesn't even make sense to me." Ned stopped at this and rethought how to ask Gloria any more questions that actually make sense to her. "I don't think it is worth explaining."
Gloria looked confused but shrugged it off. To keep the conversation moving in a positive direction she offered information to Ned that he would need. "You still interested in buying this street? Follow me and I'll lead you to your destination."
"I think after all of this, I should buy it and see what happens." Ned thought as they continued to walk down the street.
"If you choose to buy this street, there are two more streets that are cast in this shade of light blue. The residents of those streets would probably be happy to have you own their land also." Gloria explained as best she could. "There is also rumors that if you buy their land also great things can happen."
This got Ned's attention. "Such as...?"
"I do not know as the last time this game was played nothing happened after the crazy guy bought our street. Then I assumed the game was over when the street faded from light blue back to gray. Down the end of the street is what you are looking for. There is one in every area. You must seek them out." Gloria stopped walked as she finished talking.
Ned stopped too and turned back to face Gloria. "One of what?" He asked.
"One of the game statues. Ours is kept inside Bob's Big Buddha at the end of the street. Just approach it, you will figure it out." And with that Gloria parted ways with Ned.
"I guess it is worth a look." Ned thought to himself as he walked the last few yards to the multilevel building he had seen from his iron. He continued up the steps and walked inside.
It seemed different on the interior compared to the exterior. Outside it was a large five-story pagoda. Inside it was a very small room with a stone statue in the shape of Mr. Burns with his arms outstretched in front of him.
The MyPad started to glow as Ned approached the statue. He thought for a second and placed the MyPad in the hands of the Burns statue. A holographic Burns then appeared beside him.
"Greetings." said the hologram Burns. "You have found me in Oriental Avenue. Welcome to Bob's Big Buddha. As you saw on the way in, the street is for sale and you can own it for the low-cost of one hundred dollars."
"That seems fairly cheap for this street. I really like this shade of blue." Ned replied to the hologram, but he did not think it would answer.
"One hundred dollars buys you Oriental Avenue. Anyone else visiting here will owe you six dollars. Just think of it as an entrance fee." The holographic Burns continued as it was preprogrammed to do. "So what is your decision?"
The MyPad now had a screen that had a green Buy button and a red Decline button. "It seems I have to make a choice. One hundred dollars seems cheap enough for me."
Ned reached up and pressed the green button. The screen went blank and the holographic Burns disappeared. "I thought something would actually happen..." As he said that two pieces of paper started printing from below the hands of the Burns statue. Ned grabbed both of them.
The first one said: Title Deed for Oriental Avenue printed on that wonderful shade of light blue paper. The other said: Receipt of sale and listed his fifteen hundred dollars to start minus the one hundred he had just spent. "Fourteen hundred dollars left. This game just started and I have already spent a small percentage of my money. I have to spend money to make money." He pocketed both the receipt and the title-deed and left the pagoda.
The street now appeared to be empty as he started to walk back towards the iron. "Maybe I'll let Rose know that I bought her street."
He passed Toys L Us and saw the flower shop, but it was closed up for the day. "I guess she is done selling flowers for now. I have her rose, I'll keep it right here to look at." He passed the shop and found his way back to his iron.
He looked up at the archway and noticed the For Sale banner had been removed. "I wonder what I do now. I own this street, but I probably can't go anywhere until it is my turn again."
Ned sat on his iron for a second then stood back up. "I could see what other information I can find out since I have some time." He pulled the title-deed from his pocket and looked at it again. "I owe this street, maybe I'll go see what one hundred dollars gets me."
He started to walk back toward the entry arch and back to his favorite light blue colored street as he heard a couple loud booms in the distance.
"I guess my turn is over." Ned said out loud and walked through the arch.
