Hope 3

Rick started sucking in air and looked around. He then quickly ducked around a corner. Looking at his picture, he found himself right where it showed. He didn't know if anyone had seen him, however, since the few people he saw did nothing, he was guessing not.

He bent over and looked at the band that was still around his ankle and the tiny amount of cable that was attached to it. Then a sound had him almost jumping out of his skin. He turned to look and found the same circular saw that he had used to cut the cable lying on the ground. "What the fuck?" How did that thing get here? He looked around for someone then up to see if a contractor had dropped it. He saw no one. Rick reached for a conclusion. One that meant he hadn't been followed. "Must have gotten caught on one of my bags."

Still it was a little good luck for a change. He dropped both backpacks, picked up the circular saw, and adjusted the blade location so that it didn't cut very deep. He sat down so that he could reach his ankle and see what he was doing. It was then that he saw the cut running up and down his leg. It wasn't deep, but it had sure hurt like hell. All that was left was the cut and the dried blood.

He got to work on cutting the band off his ankle. The noise was really loud and he peered around to see if anyone was coming his way to investigate. It took time and yet no one came to look. The noise was really loud but he was finally free of it. There was a planter near by so he tossed everything into it. Now he had to think. Think of what to do, where to go, who to trust. Provided there was anyone at all save for his mother. Now he wished he had paid more attention to where she was.

He vowed not to be so stupid from here on out. But he had a problem. No clothes save for his boxers, no shoes, no drivers license, no social security card, no credit card. "WAIT!" He hurriedly opened one of his backpacks. "Wrong pocket." He closed the big one and zipped open one of the smaller ones.

He had been told once not to carry his social security card on him in case of a pickpocket. He pulled out what he'd found. Rick sighed in relief. He had his social security card. He also had his US Passport and a certified copy of his birth certificate. Now he just needed a plan. Given where he was it sounded like a good place to try and hide for a short time or longer if he was careful.

He looked embarrassing and he knew it, but he didn't have a choice. Regardless, he walked to the front door and walked inside. He loved the feel of the cold air. He even stopped, closed his eyes, and let the cold air flow over his skin. He ignored the looks he was sure he was getting.

Opening them he saw a huge amount of green right in the center of the lobby. A sign told him where the restrooms were so he headed there.

Once there he grabbed a number of paper towels and ran some of them under the faucet. Then he got into one of the toilet stalls and locked the door. Hanging his backpack on the hook on the door he started dabbing at his cut and then patted it dry. It looked better but it was still a nasty red line down his lower leg.

Rick opened one of the bags and found British pounds inside it. Closing it he opened the other and found dollars. At least he didn't have to Jump to Germany or somewhere else. He took out about six hundred dollars in twenties and crushed them in his hand. Putting one backpack on his back, he lifted the other one then kicked the flush valve to flush the toilet and left the stall.

He couldn't check in looking like this so he went upstairs and found the gift store. He started smiling when he realized it was a really big gift store. Walking around, he found a pair of shorts that actually had pockets since his boxers didn't, so he grabbed two pairs. Then he found a Hawaiian-style shirt and selected a pair of tee shirts. He dropped them at the service desk. "Be right back," he told the lady that was standing there.

He found boxers, toothbrush, toothpaste, antiperspirant, gummy bears, cookies, and a Coke. They had almost nothing in the way of shoes, but they did have flip flops so he got a pair of those.

The lady was happy to take his money and didn't say a thing. He was now loaded down with bags and followed the signs into the restroom that was upstairs.

Inside the stall he changed into his new boxers, shorts, and tee shirt. He made sure where all of his paperwork was located, stuffed in his change in his pocket and then added a few thousand to go with it.

He kicked the flush valve to flush the toilet and looked at himself in the mirror after stepping out. He couldn't help but smile as he looked at himself. He looked ridiculous but he would probably fit in perfectly. Rick went downstairs and got in line.

"Welcome to Disney's Polynesian Village Resort. Checking in?" she smiled as she asked him.

"Yes, please, if you have a room." He feared that they might not.

"Do you have a reservation, sir?"

"No, I don't," he replied.

"I'm afraid I have no more standard rooms available without a reservation."

DAMN! He'd been afraid of that. "Do you have any rooms? It's just for two or maybe three nights. Anything will do." He really didn't want to go searching the entire complex looking for a room.

"Let me check." She turned to her screen and started typing. "I have one, a one bedroom suite at $1,717 per night as well as the Presidential Suite at $2,490 per night. However, the Presidential Suite is only available for one night only. It's reserved after that." She waited patiently for him to respond.

He had money enough for both but was thinking of staying longer than one night. "I'll take the one bedroom suite for three nights," Rick replied. She nodded and began typing.

"I'll need a credit card and a drivers license with your photo ID on it."

SHIT! Another damn problem. "I don't use credit cards. If I can't afford it using cash I don't buy it. Plus my wallet was stolen at the airport. I've been told that a new drivers license will take a few days. I have my passport and cash." He fished out his passport and pushed it across her counter.

She stopped typing. "I'm sorry sir, but I can't help you without a credit card. We need something as a guarantee in case of damage to your room."

"I don't use them." He had no need of them.

"I'm sorry sir. There's a Chase branch in Downtown Disney. You can take the Disney Bus that's located out front. They might be able to help you. Or you can use the desk over there and obtain a fixed card, sometimes called a load card. So long as you can show that the card contains a minimum amount of $5,000 I can use that."

Rick looked where she pointed. "I'll be back. Please don't give my room away," he requested then started walking.

It took close to an hour but he was back and handed everything over to the very same clerk. He'd even stopped for a three day park hopper pass.

"Your room is located on the third floor; here's your key and room number. You can use the elevators over there. I suggest you make reservations for any restaurant that you choose. You will find everything we offer in your room. The pool closes at midnight and breakfast starts as early as 4:00 am. Please enjoy your stay. I wish you luck with your drivers license. Hopefully your trip will improve," she smiled.

"Let's hope so. I could use a little better luck," Rick told her and turned to leave.

"Then you're in the right place, sir. Disney is Magical." She smiled again as he walked away; then she helped the next person in line.

Rick followed the numbers on the wall to his room, slipped his card into the slot, and opened the door. It certainly looked nice. Rattan furniture. A beige sofa, coffee table, a single chair with bright white cushions, a pair of lamps. One wall had the entertainment center with the TV. A door lead to the bedroom that had a single queen-sized bed that was also beige. Another door led to the bathroom. It had towels, shampoo and soap, tissues, and cups.

Rick dropped his bags on the bed and went searching. He found a small safe, only big enough to put papers in, certainly not large enough for his backpacks. But he had an idea about that.

He slid the glass doors open and stepped out onto the balcony or lanai as it was called. It was hot so he wasn't going to be spending anytime out here.

Back inside, he looked around for that information and made a few phone calls so he had some reservations to eat while he was here. While he was hungry, what he really wanted was a shower!

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All he had was two pairs of shorts, one that actually had Grumpy embroidered on it that he'd worn the day before. He had a single Mickey Mouse tee shirt that he'd worn yesterday, one Goofy tee shirt, the Hawaiian-style shirt, and three pairs of Mickey Mouse boxers. Plus his flip flops. Then he realized that he knew practically nothing about Walt Disney World.

He had showered, brushed his teeth, and to his consternation, was dressed like a walking Disney advertisement. Rick looked for a bright spot in all of this. "Maybe no one will recognize me."

He couldn't leave his backpacks in case the room service maid found them and snooped in them. He also knew he couldn't use the pictures he'd left behind as Jump destinations. Since they knew about him, they were likely looking for him. He just remembered what that man had told him. "Oh, hell… video surveillance." He was going to have to be more careful.

He pulled out a few thousand dollars, stuffed them into his pockets, and buttoned them closed. He probably didn't need anything else so there was no real reason to take the other papers. He did need a place to hide his backpacks though. Some place new to him and not easy to find or reach.

There were a number or magazines and brochures that were all Disney based. "Naturally." He rolled his eyes. Still he quickly thumbed through the pages and just kept turning til an idea hit him. He flipped the pages back til he found it. "Walt Disney's apartment over the Fire House in Disneyland." He thought it might be a good spot since no one actually stayed there any longer. He was three hours out in front so it was still dark in California. Rick picked up his backpacks and Jumped to what the picture in the magazine showed.

It was dark and he waited for his eyes to adjust. Everything had an old Victorian look to it. It was also a little small.

"No fake ceiling." Rick didn't see one. Everything was just a little too open and he was beginning to think this was a bad idea. "Maybe the roof?" Except when it rained, it really rained. He knew that much.

Finally he found a pair of red sofas. "No bedrooms?" He saw a tiny kitchen with cabinets, but that was too open, too exposed. All someone had to do was open one.

Then he noticed that behind one of the sofas was a shelf or counter that held a number of things. Wondering if that was an empty space, he looked closer. Pulling off the seat cushions revealed that it was a sofa bed. He got down on the floor to look under it. "Not big enough." It really didn't have enough space. Then he started pulling the sofa out into the room a little and sure enough there was a void behind it.

It was old, it was dusty and a little dirty. "So they clean everywhere else, just not here." Rick dropped both backpacks into the space, pushed the sofa back, and put the cushions back into place. It looked like a good hiding spot but if he wanted them he was going to have to pull the sofa out and then Jump. It would have to do for now.

He Jumped back and went down to the lobby. He had a three day park hopper pass to use.

A few questions later and he was standing outside waiting for the monorail to show up and take him to the Transit Center where he could take yet a different monorail to reach Epcot.

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Epcot it turned out had an enormous Walt Disney World place called Mouse Gears. It was there that he found even more shirts, shorts, swim trunks so he could use the pool at the resort, still more tee shirts, more snacks and even a Mickey Mouse comb.

He had three huge bags and his feet were killing him, so he found a restroom, went into a stall, kicked the flush valve and Jumped immediately to his lanai. There he peeked into his room to see if he had any unwanted guests and then Jumped into the living room and looked around.

His bed had been made and there was even an elephant made out of towels on his bed. "How did they do that?" He was impressed. While trying to pick it up he found out it was actually made out of two separate towels. "Cute and inventive."

Rick dropped his bags on his bed and headed for dinner here in the resort. Since he had reservations, it worked out perfectly. Apparently only needing to seat one person was easier than seating four.

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Rick tried to enjoy himself as he visited the Magic Kingdom the next day. He really did. But he couldn't stop worrying about his choice for a hiding place. He really didn't know anything about the location. He was so worried that he left the Magic Kingdom and went back to EPCOT and moved quickly to the World Showcase.

It was there that he went through all of the foreign countries and bought every post card and magazine that they had. Went into a restroom, kicked the flush valve, and Jumped to his lanai. He carefully peeked into his room.

Next he had everything spread out all over his made up bed that now had a swan made from towels sitting on it. Then he started going through each and every one of them. He had two piles. One was the ones that he couldn't use for various reasons. Either too exposed or filled with people. The discard pile was far bigger than his keep pile, but at least he had one. Now he had to wait until it was really late in the day. Or more accurately early in the morning.

He scrambled to find something to put what he was keeping inside of so he could carry them around with him. Rick snapped his fingers. "Gift shop!" They seemed to have everything.

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The Animal Kingdom was next; if he wasn't careful he was going to need a suitcase to carry all of the clothes he'd bought. It needed to stop. He couldn't live the rest of his life looking like a walking billboard for Walt Disney World.

Still during his entire stay, today's trip was turning out to be far more enjoyable. He really didn't understand why, but he was feeling better.

He chose to only do the main rides and only the ones where the lines weren't that long. Then he got on a Disney Bus and went over to the only park left for him to visit.

He'd gotten onto the Tower of Terror relatively quickly and had yelled his lungs out. So much so that after he got off he ran around to get back into line to ride it again. "BEST RIDE EVER!" He even ignored his earlier decision and bought a Tower t-shirt.

The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster was down for maintenance so he kept walking until he found a popcorn stand. He was munching on popcorn as he walked. While he was walking around he decided that the food courts in this park were terrible. Hamburgers, hot dogs, disgusting looking pizza. However, he knew where to go to fix that and could even picture it in his mind.

A quick trip to a restroom and he was soon walking through the doors to Via Napoli Restorante. Authentic wood fired pizza from Italy.

He even stayed late enough to watch the fireworks before looking for a restroom and Jumping to his hotel room balcony.

Tonight was going to be his last night there and while it had been fun, he needed to find someplace else to go. Someplace that was hard for them to find him; someplace easy for him to get lost in and go back to living his life.

His alarm woke him up early in the morning. It was dark in California, so he Jumped to collect his backpacks. He found them right where he had left them. He made sure to push the sofa back into place before Jumping back to his hotel room.

Finding the front desk manned he asked them a question. Sure enough they had a business room that was only for guests. It was there that he could access a computer and start his search.

He didn't really know what he was looking for until he saw it. "PERFECT!" Or at least he thought it was perfect. Now he just needed to solve one not so small problem.

His name!