Sheldon woke up and looked at his clock. It was flashing four thirty five.
Knowing that he had forty minutes before Leonard woke up he took his time in the washroom grooming himself before hopping into the shower. As he soaped and shampooed, Sheldon made a mental list of the things he wanted to do before going on his trip to see the AAA man. There was no doubt he was going, especially after Penny disappeared. Besides, both Sheldon and she spent a reasonably tolerable evening watching fireworks, eating pizza and, in Penny's case, drinking beer.
"So when were fireworks invented anyways?" Penny asked before taking a sip of beer. When they got back home she had darted into her apartment to change into her green comfy shorts, yellow tank top, and brown booty slippers before getting the remaining three bottles of her six pack of beer. She thought about grabbing the bag of barbecue chips from the cupboard but remembered that Sheldon always had something good around the apartment whether it was popcorn, Pringle chips or pretzels.
Sheldon finished chewing his bite of pizza before responding. "Well, the earliest documentation of fireworks dates back to seventh century China, time of the Tang Dynasty. The art and science of firework making had developed into an independent profession. The pyrotechnicians were respected for their knowledge of complex techniques in mounding firework displays." He raised the pizza slice to his mouth and paused. "Chinese people originally believed that the fireworks could expel evil spirits. and bring about luck and happiness." He took a bite and set the slice on the plate which rested on his lap.
"I'd believe it," Penny said, he mouth full of pizza. She caught Sheldon's frown and quickly chewed and swallowed. "Back in Nebraska we'd have fireworks at the fairs and carnivals. I remember a lot of times laying in the back of trucks staring at the sky. All the pretty colours and explosions made me happy."
"My sister did the same thing when we went for the fireworks. Of course when she was older she went in her boyfriends' trucks, something which Mother frowned upon." Sheldon picked up his bottle of orange soda from the table. "Then she'd say that it wasn't good practice to give the milk for free if Missy wanted a fella to buy the cow. Sound advice from an economic standpoint, although why Mother chose at these moments to discuss agriculture is beyond me."
Penny let loose with a wide smile, unable to help herself. "Yeah, sweetie, it sure is."
"Still, this does lead to a relevant question—do you like fairs?"
"Yeah. That's why I was game to go with you guys to Ostler Park, although I think it was more of a picnic place than a fair. Fireworks are best seen over the water or out in the boonies."
"Surrounded by your fellow corn aficionados," Sheldon said with a twitch of a smile even as Penny stuck out her tongue.
"Well in this case I'm spending my fireworks evening with a genius physicist." She took a bite of pizza.
"That's right, so this can be a learning experience for you." He set the pizza plate on the table and picked up a napkin to wipe his individual fingers. "Fireworks are a formulation of chemical reactions which fall under the paradigm of physics. So. What is physics? Physics comes from the ancient Greek work physika. Physika means the science of natural things. But, of course, in this instance our focus is on China. It's a warm summer evening in the Tang Dynasty. You've finished your shopping at the local market, or chaoshi, and you look up at the night sky. There you notice some of the stars seem to explode in a fiery wash of colour, and you recognize it as Yanhua, or fireworks—"
"Just a sec." Penny drained the rest of her beer and set the bottle on the table. She then settled herself into the couch in order to better see the fireworks on the television. "Fire away, Doc."
Sheldon handed her a napkin with which to wipe her hands. A repeating night or not, he wasn't going to have his couch stamped with pizza prints. "Now, you pay for your wares and set out to find the origin of the fireworks and..."
Sheldon set about making his breakfast. Forty minutes later Leonard dragged himself into the kitchen towards the coffee maker.
"Thank God," he mumbled as he poured himself a cup.
"I took the liberty of switching on the coffee maker since the power outage canceled the timer feature." said Sheldon between bites of cereal.
"Thank you," sighed Leonard as he sat in the easy chair to watch the end of Doctor Who.
As the credits rolled Sheldon turned to his roommate.
"Leonard, I have a quandary," he said.
"Shoot." Leonard blew on his coffee before taking a sip.
"Penny was angry because I broke into her apartment to clean it and yet reacted favorably when you returned her stolen mail," Sheldon said. Leonard choked on his coffee. "One act is benevolent and the other, self-serving, and yet they seemed to have opposite results."
"I didn't steal her mail," Leonard gasped.
"You picked the lock with a nail file. Anyways, the act I'm planning is both self-serving and looking out for Penny's wellbeing."
Leonard's face reddened. "The mail person looked shifty. I was just checking to see that her mail hadn't been tampered with."
"Tampered mail would require you actually leaving mail in the box." Sheldon frowned. "Leonard, focus. Should I be forthcoming and tell Penny my plans or should I work under the pretext of doing something which I have no intention of doing?"
"What do you have planned with Penny?" Leonard asked, trying not to sound jealous. This was Sheldon after all. He probably had a trip to the comic book store in mind.
"Well, I—"
The door opened and Penny entered.
"Dear God tell me you've got coffee," she pleaded.
"Coming up," Leonard said quickly and popped up and went to the kitchen to prepare her mug and refresh his own.
Penny leaned against the counter. "Anyways, I'll be finished work at three so I'll meet you at Ostler Park at around five thirty."
Leonard handed her a cup. "So you're sure you don't want us to wait for you?"
"Of course not, Leonard. You've got the whole day to roam around and explore. Go on. Have fun," Sheldon said with an overenthusiastic grin.
"Eyah, what he said," Penny said with an odd look at her even odder neighbor. She took a sip of coffee and sighed.
"Wait, are you saying you're not coming with me?" Leonard said slowly, hoping against hope.
"Of course not. I'm going with Penny," Sheldon said. He got up from his spot and crossed by a choking Penny in order to rinse out his bowl and glass in the sink.
"You're coming with me?" Penny said at last after a rather loud throat clearing sound.
"Drat, you've seen through my dastardly plans," Sheldon said as he put his bowl in the drain tray. "Bazinga."
Leonard smiled behind his cup. "And there's plenty more Cooper-inspired whimsy to come," he said and took a sip.
Penny racked her brain. "Sweetie, look, I'm gonna be a while so maybe you should go with—"
"A three-thirty departure time gives me more than enough time," Sheldon said. He raised an eyebrow. "You do get off at three, right?"
"Oh balls," Penny sighed and took an extra long slug of coffee.
"Excellent." Sheldon clasped his hands behind his back. "I'd say, 'be on time', but it's my experience that any number of Penny's couldn't achieve this."
"Hey! I'll be on time."
Sheldon walked down the hall towards the bathroom. "There once was a waitress named Penny. A Fi Fa Diddle Dee Dee. She'll arrive at three-twenty-seven, which is as close as she'll get to three."
...
At three twenty seven Sheldon heard the sound of keys in the hall.
He spent several minutes looking over his formulas on the board. They were a mix of physics and cornhusker-like activities. Given what he remembered of Penny talking about her upbringing in Nebraska, Sheldon felt he had enough information to provide a memorable day. Besides, if things didn't go according to plan there was always tomorrow.
"And tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow," he murmured and erased the whiteboard. He had no idea what created the closed timelike curve, much less how to extract himself from the mess. What if I'm stuck here forever?
"One problem at a time, Dr. Cooper." Sheldon went to the refrigerator and pulled out a number of water bottles and put them into a small cooler.
The apartment door opened and Penny entered—showered, dressed and ready to go.
"All set," she said cheerily.
"Three-forty. I believe this is some sort of record for you, Penny," he said and closed the cooler.
"Yeah, yeah," she said and then went to the counter to take the cooler from Sheldon's proffered hand. She raised an eyebrow as Sheldon donned a backpack and grabbed a cloth bag with a blanket in it. "What's with all the goods?"
"I believe in being prepared," Sheldon said, and the pair went to the door.
"Boy Scouts and all that stuff, huh?"
"I never joined," Sheldon said as he pulled out his keys and locked his door.
"Ah. Right. Forgot you're not a joiner." They began their descent down the stairs.
"If you mean I am not a mindless drone, then yes. But if you're saying I don't join things as a rule, you're mistaken. I'm a member of the Museum of Natural History, the Astronomy Society , the library and, of course, my membership in the Justice League."
"What's the Justice League?"
"The Justice League of America. It's a crime-fighting association."
Penny was delighted. "Oh cool! So you're like Magnum P.I., only without the cool car and moustache and cute laugh and that butt!"
"I am not a private eye," Sheldon sniffed. "Detective work is Bat-Man's job."
"Bat-Man? He's a member of the Justice League?"
"A founding member. He even signed my membership card."
Penny paused. "Uh, how old were you when you joined?"
"Five. I can show it to you when we get to the car." A small smile twitched his lips. "I never thought you'd be interested. My estimation of you, while admittedly small, has risen."
"Well I have to be estimated. I know your secret identity, right Moonpie?"
Penny grinned as she pushed open the front door, a scowling Sheldon followed behind.
...
"The driver's manual states passing left of a centerline is not permitted thirty meters from a viaduct, tunnel or in this case, bridge," Sheldon said in a strained voice.
"How many feet is thirty meters?" Penny asked.
"Ninety eight point four three."
Penny's tongue plucked the side of her cheek. "Yeah, ok, I'd say we're close to a hundred feet." She sped up and changed lanes to pass the sedan before weaving seamlessly back into her original lane and crossed the bridge. She looked over at Sheldon, who was pressed against his seat, his eyes wide. "'Resume breathing, Scotty.' 'Aye, aye, Captain,'" she chuckled.
"You did that on purpose," Sheldon scowled even as he did his best to steady his heartbeat.
"Well the old lady was going too slow."
"I mean you purposefully contesting my will with your own."
Penny smirked. "Sorry, sweetie, didn't know we were back to this, 'I'm homo novus' stuff." She glanced at Sheldon with wide green eyes. "Gee willikers, Dr. C., tell me more about how to drive."
"You're impossible," Sheldon said as he folded his arms across his chest.
"You said there's no such thing."
"I stand corrected. You are an anomaly of the first order."
Penny's smile was wide. "Penny the Impossible! Hey, I could be a member of your Justice Team."
"Justice League."
"Whatever," she said, aware of his deepening frown but choosing to ignore it. "Penny the Impossible and her sidekick, Moonpie!" Sheldon pished. "Okay, Dr. Whackadoodle!"
"Amusing," Sheldon said in a huffy voice. "I'll be sure not to tell you the location of the Bat-Cave."
"What's the Bat-Cave? Is that the place where Bat-Man hangs out?" Penny unintentionally snorted. "Get it? Hangs out?" Sheldon wrinkled his nose. "Why would I wanna know where the Bat-Cave is?"
"Because some of the Justice League meetings are held there."
"Well, if I can't go there I guess you'll have to take the bus. That should impress the Bat-Dude."
Sheldon turned to her and cocked his head to the left. "Now you're being intentionally antagonistic." Penny tapped the tip of her nose with her pointy finger. Sheldon gave a gaspy, although clearly unimpressed, laugh and turned his head to look out the side window. This was not how he had imagined the day would go. He had it planned out and here was Penny being, well, Penny, and frustrating him. Sheldon caught his eyes in the passenger side mirror. Well, Meemaw didn't raise no quitter, no sir.
"Leonard and I play games in order to pass the time," Sheldon said in an enthusiastic tone. "We could revisit the periodic element game where you say an element and I try to say another using the last letter of your word." Penny made to speak. "Or, we could play a more personal game of 'What Would You Do?'"
"Let's try that one." Penny bit her lip in thought. "Let's see. What would you—"
"I'll go first," Sheldon interjected. "Now, what would you do if—Penny, quit laughing and pay attention—what would you do if you lived the same day over and over again?"
"Depends. Do I appear the same way every day? My bank account, my weight, everything the same?"
"Everything."
Penny grinned. "Then the sky's the limit. I'd eat whatever I wanted, go shopping on Rodeo Drive," her eyes brightened, "take out sports cars for a spin." She glanced at Sheldon. "Just think of me behind the wheel of a Ferrari." She paused. "Wait, can I die or does my death also disappear?"
"I'm not sure. The math suggests that everything should reset, and yet you, yourself are an anomaly because you realize you're repeating the same day." Sheldon's eyes narrowed in thought. "But so far the physical aspect has been repeated: bowel movements are at appointed times regardless of the fiber content consumed, the scale stays the same, even whisker length returns to what it was at the beginning of the day."
"Whisker length?" Penny rubbed her bare calf against the shin of her right leg and was relieved that she couldn't feel any stubble.
"Anyways, you mentioned gluttony, near-death driving experience, banal boredom on Rodeo Drive. Pick one and we'll do it."
"Seriously?"
"No Bazinga."
Penny tried her best to figure out where this was coming from but aside from left field she had no other answer. "But what about the guys? They're expecting us."
"We can always see them tomorrow," Sheldon countered.
"You mean we'll be doing this tomorrow, anyways," Penny said with a smirk.
"Correct. So which activity do you choose?"
"You really don't wanna go to the fireworks, do you?"
Sheldon snorted. "Well, it's not like I've actually seen them, but to go with your premise, no, I don't feel like standing around waiting for roadside assistance."
"Why would you be—"
"Although it does occur to me that the AAA driver gave a second option to go to a garage." Sheldon smirked. "Yes, we'll go to the garage today."
"So you want me to drop you off at a garage?" Penny said. This was getting weirder by the minute.
"No, I have to be with you."
"Why?"
Sheldon was silent a moment as he recalled the sick feeling he had when he realized she was missing. "Because I do."
"You're telling me that we repeat one day and you want to spend it with me?" Penny asked incredulously. "I mean, why not James Earl Jones or Leonard Nimoy?"
"I can't explain it," Sheldon said with a shrug.
"I can. It means I'm the center of your universe," Penny said in a chipper tone.
"Hardly."
"Joke, sweetie. I—" The car began to slow down. "What the frak?"
"You can pull off in about fourteen meters," he said.
Penny checked her mirrors and put on her hazard lights as she angled the car off the roadway. The car came to a stop and she put it into park. She looked at Sheldon and pressed the accelerator; the car sounded anything but healthy. Fearing to do any more damage she shut off the engine and sat back in her seat.
Sheldon handed her his phone. "Remember, choose the garage option."
...
Sheldon's arms were folded across his chest as he scanned the various tools scattered around the garage.
"Are you sure he's competent?" Sheldon asked Penny as he scowled at the mechanic.
Penny clenched her teeth in a wince. "Sheldon, keep your voice down," she hissed.
"Well he couldn't answer me when I asked him about the engine."
"'Wouldn't'. Big difference between the words." Now the waitress was the focus of his glare. "You grilled him for nearly twenty minutes about the history of the modern combustible engine. Cut him so slack will you? He's actually working on the car on July Fourth."
"Combustion engine."
"What? Oh whatever." Penny was interrupted by the ringing of her phone. She checked the screen. "It's Leonard. … Hey Leonard. Yeah we got to the garage…." A teenage girl with brown curly hair passed Penny as the Nebraskan walked out of the garage so to better hear the phone.
"Hey dad," the girl said to the mechanic. "Can I have twenty dollars? I'll pay you back when I get paid next week."
Sheldon rolled his eyes. Looks like Penny wasn't the only one without a 'budgeting gene' as she had called it.
"Out tonight?" the mechanic asked without looking up from the Volkswagen's engine.
"I thought I'd go back to the fair and, you know, see the fireworks and whatnot," she shrugged.
The mechanic stopped what he was doing to regard his daughter. "I don't want you going alone, Kate."
"No I'm meeting Dennis." There was a pregnant pause.
"Ok, you kids have fun—but not too late or your mom will kill you. And me." He reached into his pocket and took the twenty dollars from his wallet. Kate kissed her father on the cheek and raced from the garage, smiling at Penny as, again, the two crossed paths.
"I told Leonard to be on standby depending on what Mark says about the engine," said Penny to Sheldon as she indicated the mechanic with a nod of her head.
"I've got the verdict now, actually," said Mark. He grabbed a towel to wipe his hands and walked to the two friends. "Your alternator's gone. Your fuel pump needs replacing at some point and I'd recommend a full mechanical when you get back."
"When you say 'at some point' you mean some point near now or in the future now?" asked Penny as she envisioned the cost.
Mark grinned. "Somewhere in between. I can get this done for you but it'd take several hours and I imagine you kids want to get yourselves home."
"Perceptive," Sheldon said through pursed lips. Penny gave him an elbow.
"It'd be appreciated," said Penny.
"Ok then, I'll just replace the alternator," Mark said as he fished a pen and pad from his pocket.
Penny braced herself. "How much?"
"Well you're lucky I have a refurbished one for your make and model. Volkswagens aren't that common around here. Labor will be an hour so"—here he paused—"two seventy five."
"Fine," Penny said with a sigh. So much for catching up on her bills this month.
"I'll write up the estimate. I have another vehicle ahead of you so it'll take a couple of hours."
"Perhaps more if you entertain any more of your family members while you work," grumbled Sheldon. Penny gave him a dark look.
Biting back a response Mark suddenly had a thought. "You know there's a July Fourth fair in town. Why don't you go enjoy it and come back later?" He indicated Sheldon with his eyes as he faced Penny.
"Sounds good to me," she said overenthusiastically. "Come on Sheldon."
"Oh very well," Sheldon said. "We'll be back in two hours."
"Make it two and a half just to be sure," Mark said hastily. The last thing he wanted was more time with the annoying physicist.
...
"I'm proud of you Penny. You bypassed several tables offering various female adornments," said Sheldon as they walked away from the vendors' area.
"Yeah," Penny said sadly. One lady had an amazing copper necklace with a pendent in the shape of a dragonfly. The only thing that separated the waitress from the jewelry was the sixty dollars needed to buy it. It really sucked being poor. She looked longingly at the Ferris wheel. Maybe what she needed was a new perspective. "Let's go to the midway."
Sheldon raised an eyebrow. "Whatever for?"
"I want to go on some of the rides," she responded as she picked up her pace. "Besides, this was your idea going to the garage."
"We only have an hour and a half left before we pick up the car," he reminded her.
"Uh huh. Twenty tickets please," she told the ticket agent.
"Need I also remind you that you've already spent two hundred and seventy five dollars on your car not more than an hour ago?"
Penny turned to face him with a smile. "You only live once, Sheldon." He studied her for a moment, puzzled at her upbeat demeanor given their misfortune. "So what should I try first? Any favorites?" Penny asked as they moved among the crowd.
"Preferably something that doesn't overwhelm my senses," said Sheldon as he steered them away from the 'Rock n Roll Express'.
"I'm surprised no one's bleeding from the ears," agreed Penny.
"Actually injuries at portable carnivals are extremely unlikely," Sheldon reassured her. "In 2004 there were twenty five hundred non-occupational injuries treated in emergency rooms. Not an overwhelming number considering the mobile amusement industry had over three hundred million people visit their various venues."
"What's the percentage?"
".000833. Why?"
Penny grinned. "Just wanted to know if you could do it." Sheldon pursed his lips.
"Never doubt me."
"Oh! Tilt-A-Whirl. I so love that ride." Penny got in line and Sheldon stood beside her, though on the other side of the chain barrier.
"You realize this ride works as a result of centripetal acceleration," he said as he watched the ride in motion.
"Never heard of centripetal before."
"From the Latin centrum 'center' and petere 'to seek'. It's a force that compels a body to follow a curved path. When you're in circular motion at a constant velocity, the centripetal force on you is constant and is directed at the center of the circle."
"Huh."
"I'll hazard a guess that Newton's second law was never covered at Cornhusker High," tsked Sheldon.
"Didn't need it to hack up a frog." Penny smiled at the memory. "My lab partner and I used to make the legs move by pulling on the frog's tendons with our tweezers."
"Lovely," grimaced Sheldon. The ride finished and people exited. The gate opened.
"Wait for me by the exit," said Penny as she handed her tickets to the operator who gave her a rather toothy grin.
Walking to the other side of the ride, Sheldon pulled out his phone and logged onto Twitter. 'At a carnival midway with Penny instead of doing something memorable', he typed. He surfed the web until he found the official 'Previews' magazine for all things comic-related. Sheldon never read the comic descriptions—that'd ruin the surprise—but given that he might never have the chance to actually read them, he made an exception.
"Sheldon." He looked up to see Penny standing next to him. Apparently the ride had finished and he hadn't heard the exit gate open.
He began to walk while firing off a quick comic book order to Stuart in case things managed to work themselves out. Suddenly he stopped as he'd walked into Penny, who was facing him with a scowl.
"Phone away. No work allowed," she ordered.
"But I'm not working I'm—"
"No 'buts' Sheldon. Today's a freak occurrence. Let's just roll with it, ok?" Sheldon rolled his eyes and sighed at her expression.
"Very well." He put his phone away. "Where to next?"
"I see 'The Octopus' over there," she said as she threaded her arm through his, ignoring the shudder that passed through his body at the contact. "I remember riding that with Johnny Dickenson in grade ten. Nothing like trying to kiss when your body's being tossed and spun at the same time."
Penny suddenly found herself jerked backwards as Sheldon had stopped dead. "Sheldon, what the hell?" She looked at the physicist and saw his eyes wide with an expression of absolute joy. Following his gaze she smirked as she saw a little roller coaster whose cars were shaped to look like a train. With a little tug she started them towards the racing coaster.
"It resembles the Bethlehem Steel 0-4-0 Switcher steam engine," breathed Sheldon. "Except it wouldn't be painted in primary colors." In the three minutes it took the train to complete its circuit Penny learned more about steam engines than she wanted but Sheldon's enthusiasm was such that she couldn't bear to stop him.
When the train came to a halt and let out a gush of steam his grin nearly split his face. Penny couldn't resist and tore off five tickets and handed them to her friend.
"Go have fun," she smiled.
His eyes said all the thank you he felt as he took the tickets and gave them to the operator before selecting the car behind the engine. Sheldon clicked the bar over his lap after wiping it down with an antibacterial cloth and made sure it had locked. He was nervous but the thrill of riding the Bethlehem Steel 0-4-0 Switcher steam engine overrode any sense of doom. He laughed his gaspy laugh as the train whistle blew and the ride commenced. In order to distract himself from the climb to the top he recited the table of elements in reverse alphabetical order. Deep breathing also helped.
Penny smiled as she stood by the operator watching Sheldon scream while the train made its descent and began its trek around the tracks.
"Your boyfriend's got a thing for trains, huh?" asked the operator. He'd heard Sheldon's speech on train engines and was amazed at Penny's patience.
"He's not my boyfriend," amended Penny. "But yeah he's a regular Thomas the Tank Engine."
When the train pulled into the station she made her way to the exit gate. Sheldon was pale although he was still smiling as he came to her side.
"Thank you Penny," he said in a rush.
"You're welcome sweetie."
"You said you wanted to ride the Octopus."
Penny mentally counted her remaining tickets. "No it's ok. Let's just walk."
"Now this is a lesson in futility," Sheldon tsked as he glanced at a carnival game. "Midway games are notorious for fraud. For instance the 'milk pail toss' game is virtually impossible to win because the pail sits at a slight tilt towards the back wall thus making the ball hit the rim on virtually every shot."
"Uh huh," said Penny as her eyes scoured for something to catch her fancy.
"As for picking a winning number from the 'clothesline' game you'd have a better chance winning the lottery. All of the numbers are reversible so whatever you pick is immediately altered by holding a pin upside down. For instance a '9' becomes a '6', '18' is '81', '61' is '19'—" He stopped his recitation as they come across a small clearing where two paramedics were treating a young girl who was crying by the horse rides.
"Ow. Poor thing," winced Penny. "I fell an awful lot while training for the junior rodeo. Not fun."
"Hence the reason why I've never ridden a horse of my own free will." Penny was thunderstruck.
"But you're from Texas. I thought that was ingrained."
"No, football and frying meat so it tastes like chicken are ingrained. Riding a horse is as optional as wearing a cowboy hat and as you've observed I don't wear one."
Penny grinned. "But can you shoot?"
"Close enough that I can make a raccoon crap itself."
"Wanna prove it?" she said and strode towards the water guns. Sheldon sighed.
"Penny weren't you listening? The games here are all rigged against you." Noting she hadn't altered her course he quickly caught up.
"Come on Sheldon, one game."
"It's throwing away good money as my mother would say."
"I don't care if I don't win"—here she grinned—"as long as I beat you."
Sheldon pursed his lips. "Woman, you are on."
They selected their guns and at the bell began squirting their individual targets so to make their race horses move across the board. While neither won the game overall there was a smile on Penny's face as she gave out a "Yee-ha" much to Sheldon's disgust.
"Your gun had more water pressure than mine," he pouted.
"Whatever Sheldon. The point is I won." She smiled sweetly at his scowl.
Sheldon zipped up his jacket as the night air started to get cool. Penny's upper body was fine tucked away in a hoodie but she wished she'd worn pants instead of jean shorts.
"You know, I think I'm going to play one more game," said Penny. "Something with a guaranteed win."
Curious, Sheldon followed her over to a booth surrounded on four sides by row after row of lollipops.
"So Sherlock, what are my odds?" Penny asked as she strolled around the booth.
"Incalculable. Odds are generated by comparing the unfavorable with the favorable possibilities. In this case I don't know how many suckers have been tagged as winners. Assuming the operator is trustworthy enough to have put one winner on each side your chances are one in one hundred and twenty." Penny paid her five dollars and wiggled her fingers as she waved her arm up and down the rows. Sheldon raised an eyebrow.
"What are you doing?"
"Since math isn't going to help I've got to rely on good ol' intuition." He shook his head and sighed as she selected her lollypop. It wasn't a winner. "Ah well, at least I come out a sucker ahead."
"You are what you eat," Sheldon replied with a smirk. "Bazinga."
"Yeah, yeah." Penny gave him a playful elbow.
At last they reached the Ferris wheel. Penny pulled out her tickets. "Come on," she said excitedly.
"I don't do Ferris wheels," Sheldon said firmly.
"Sheldon…" she pouted.
"I'm not stopping you from going." He looked at his watch. "Although it's about time we returned to the garage."
Penny looked longingly at the Ferris wheel and sighed. She turned to a couple who were getting into the line.
"Here," she said and gave off her remaining tickets. Putting her hands in her pockets she trudged off in the direction of the garage. Sheldon watched her go for a moment before he moved to catch up.
Once they got back Penny quickly slipped on a pair of sweat pants. She paid Mark and hopped into the car. Sheldon was relieved when she turned the ignition and the engine started. Putting the car in gear she pulled out of the lot and, much to her passenger's surprise, turned into a parking lot close to the fairgrounds.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"It's almost time for the fireworks so what the heck."
Sheldon frowned. "I'd rather go home."
Penny sighed. "Look Sheldon, July Fourth is all about good food, good friends and fireworks. I've got granola bars and bottled water and you. Just work with me on this one, ok?"
"Alright," he said after a moment.
Grabbing her rations and a blanket Penny and Sheldon made their way to the field. After settling themselves down Penny offered him a granola bar and water.
"I should let Leonard know everything's ok," she said as she pulled out her phone.
"Fireworks originate in China and date back to the tenth century. In 1240 the Arabs acquired knowledge of gunpowder and its uses from the Orient," Sheldon said. He was oblivious to the look of first shock then anger on Penny's face.
"Uh huh," said Penny in a gruff tone.
"Something wrong?" he asked.
"Oh nothing. Just read over a Twitter update from someone I thought was having a good time," she said coldly.
"You mean Leonard?" said Sheldon as the fireworks began. "I swear that man can't do anything without me."
Penny opened her mouth to reply but decided it wasn't worth it.
...
"Well, this day was different," Sheldon said as both he and Penny made it to their landing. "I hope you had a pleasant day."
"Actually, I did," Penny replied as she went over and unlocked the door. "Sorry it wasn't memorable for the likes of Dr. Cooper."
Sheldon was puzzled and then he remembered his Tweet. "Penny, I meant that we didn't do anything special."
"Funny. It felt special to me." Penny entered her apartment and closed the door.
Sheldon paused and then entered his own apartment. Leonard heard the door shut and came out of his bedroom.
"Glad you made it home," he said. "Sorry you missed the fireworks."
"Actually, we got to see them in Orrville after we got the car fixed. The town had a Fall Fair complete with carnival and vender's tables."
"That's awesome."
"Why is it awesome? We spent an hour at the side of the road, another thirty minutes at a garage and Penny had to pay two-hundred and seventy-five dollars—money which she probably doesn't have—for her car. How could this day be awesome?"
"Because you got to spend it with Penny. I mean, didn't you go on any rides at the carnival?"
"I went on a train ride while Penny went on the Tilt-A-Whirl and—" he thought about her disappointed face before she handed off her tickets and walked away from the Ferris Wheel—"I guess that was about it," Sheldon said, his voice tapering off.
"Better than us. No carnival there and the grounds were packed with people for the fireworks," Leonard said.
"So what you're saying is that the destination wasn't worth the effort," Sheldon said slowly.
"Sometimes it's the journey that makes it good, Sheldon. 'Night," Leonard said and went back to his room.
As long as he lived, Sheldon didn't think he'd ever understand how Penny and Leonard thought. For him, there had always been a goal: get out of Galveston, get his PHDs, get on at CalTech. The awards. The accolades. Always an end. But in this case, there might be no end. There might only be this repeated day for eternity.
'Funny. It felt special to me.'
"It's the journey," Sheldon said softly to himself and then went to his room.