|
I don't usually write fiction. In fact, I'm not sure I've every finished a story. I do, however, occasionally write bits and pieces of fiction. The piece below was written for a Play-By-Post M-Force game on the old Hex Forums. At the beginning of the game, we had to get our characters from Boston to Rockford, Illinois. I went a little overboard. The story below actually only gets the character in the van that will take her to Rockford. At the point where it ends, I realized that it was already way too long and just summarized the remainder of the trip in a few paragraphs. I found this earlier today and, since the original players seemed to enjoy it, decided to post it here.
"You've reached Trinket and Katina. We're currently incapacitated and cannot take your call. Please leave your name, number, and a brief message and we'll get back to you posthumously."
<BEEEEP>
"Trinket, how many times do I have to tell you? 'Posthaste' means soon. 'Posthumous' means 'after death.' Anyway, looks like there was some kind of mix-up with my forms here at the academy. Looks like I'm going to be..."
<BEEEEEEEP>
****
When Trinket finally called back around 3 a.m., Katina explained how the paperwork had gotten mixed up and she'd somehow ended up assigned to the Rockford, Illinois M-Force office. She left out the part about how she couldn't bring herself to tell Mary Anne Mayes that she hadn't actually volunteered for the job. It wasn't that she was afraid of Mary Anne, exactly; more like a feeling of shame for not being willing to move out to Rockford and help the team. Trinket wasn't nearly as upset about Katina moving out as she'd expected. Of course, maybe the fact that Katina had offered to pay a couple months extra rent (thanks to the M-Force relocation package) had something to do with that. As soon as Trinket started citing (or maybe just making up) statistics about the dangers of air travel, all Katina's guilt went away. Trinket knew how afraid she was of flying.
****
Monday, 6:00 a.m.
"WAKE UP GOD DAMMIT!"
Katina finally gave up her fruitless attempts to ignore the rude interruption and go back to sleep. She looked at the clock. "Why the hell are you waking me up at this time of morning? Classes ended last week!"
Katina's roommate at the academy was a girl named Autumn. She was a nice girl, but a little over-exuberant about All Things M-Force for Katina's tastes.
"If you didn't sleep like the dead, you'd have heard the phone ring. Your friend Trinket's down in the lobby. Says she's here to pick you up."
Confused and half-asleep, Katina made her way to the lobby, Autumn (and her sidearm, "just in case") in tow. Trinket was sitting in the lobby with a young woman Katina was sure she recognized, but couldn't immediately place.
"SURPRISE!" Trinket yelled, a bit too loud for this time of morning.
"What the hell are you doing here?" asked a groggy Katrina.
"Well, I know how much you hate flying, so we're going to drive you to Chicago!" Trinket (who was obviously well into her second pot of coffee) replied.
Katina introduced Autumn to Trinket and the other woman, who she now recognized as Trinket's long-time pal Gremlin. She left the three to get acquainted while she went upstairs to shower and pack her stuff. Then she said her goodbyes to Autumn and headed out to the parking lot with Trinket and Gremlin.
"Wait a minute," Katrina said, upon seeing the Pacer Wagon in the parking lot, "we're not actually going to drive all the way to Chicago in this thing, are we?"
Gremlin answered, "Nope. I just borrowed this from my friend Cosmo. My dad's bringing in the car we'll be driving in a few hours."
"Then why in the name of Diana did you wake me up this early?" Katrina asked, mourning for her lost sleep.
"We've got a long trip ahead of us," Trinket answered with a smile. "So we don't want to start off on an empty stomach. We're going to Benny's!"
****
Monday, 7:15 a.m.
"Come On!" Gremlin said through a mouthful of Cap'n Crunch. "She followed me to the bathroom. That's fuckin' weird."
"She’s not weird. She's, uh, dedicated. Besides, she's spent the week since classes ended watching 60's and 70's training films about slugs. Those things make Reefer Madness look like an even-handed documentary. I'd probably be a little on edge, too," Katrina explained as she finished off her Patriot Platter.
"Slugs?" Gremlin asked.
"The Vernon Imitator," Trinket answered as she finished off her All-Star Omelet. "They're these body-snatching worms that take over people and make them pee blue. Come on, surely you've heard of them somewhere."
"Sorry, Velma. I don't hang out with monsters and aliens and shit."
Before Trinket could bring up some wacky adventure that she and Gremlin had shared, Katina cut in. "So, Gremlin, what's the story with this car? Why's your dad flying it all the way in from Texas."
Trinket answered first. "You see, Katina, Gremlin's dad builds spy cars, and--"
"Dammit, Trinket," Gremlin cut in, obviously a little annoyed. "How many times do I have to tell you, they're NOT spy cars. They're personal security and defense vehicles."
"They've got to call them that," Trinket explained. "Kind of like how bongs have to have those little stickers that say 'for tobacco use only.'"
"Oh, I know all about that," Katrina said, fully realizing for the first time that she wasn't going to have to work at the head shop anymore. "So what's this got to do with us?"
"I work for my dad as a test driver" Gremlin answered, "and there's this new model we need to do a long-range test for. When Trinket called to tell me that you needed to get to Chicago in three days and hated to fly, I talked him into letting me do a Boston-to-Chicago road test."
****
Monday, 9:30 a.m.
"...but luckily dad had put emergency pontoons on the truck, so we were able to just paddle across Lake Superior back into the U.S.," Gremlin finished.
"Damn!" Katina said, "Your dad must be some kind of scientific genius to build all this stuff."
"Yep. That Mr. M's a regular mad scientist," Trinket said.
"I'm pretty sure they laughed at him in high school," Gremlin added.
"I'LL SHOW YOU ALL..."
The rest of the man's sentence was cut off by the sounds of a plane taking off, but Katina guessed from the way he was waving at them that this was Gremlin's dad. When she pointed in his direction, Gremlin and Trinket waved and started walking towards the black jet bearing a stylized "M" logo.
"What were you saying, dad?" asked Gremlin.
"I said," Mr. Morales replied, hugging an embarrassed Gremlin. "I'll show you all some of the options on the van as soon as they get it unloaded. I've really outdone myself with this one. Of course, Amy's the only one of you who’s got the training to handle the special options. So you two," he looked at Trinket and Katina, "are only allowed to drive in standard mode. Deal?"
From the look on his face, Katina really believed that Mr. Morales didn't mind if they drove the van in non-standard mode (whatever that was), as long as they didn't get caught. Before she could ask him who the fuck Amy was, Trinket answered him.
"Don't worry, Mr. M. I hate to drive and Katina doesn't have a license, so Grem'll have to do all the driving on this trip."
"Actually, I just got one--a special license, in fact. You see, I was supposed to be signed up for this class on 'The Role of the Magic in M-Force,’ but it was full and I ended up in this Emergency Driving course."
Before Katina could finish her story, Mr. Morales jumped in. "Well, in that case, it should be ok for you to help Amy with the---"
"Dammit, dad!" Amy broke in, "We had a deal. You don't call me 'Amy' and I don't call you 'Ed.'"
"Language, dear. Anyway, like I was saying, Katina here can help with the driving. 'Gremlin,'" Mr. Morales was obviously humoring his daughter. "I'll trust you to show her some of the options--whatever you think she can handle. Now, if you'll follow me, ladies, your chariot awaits."
Mr. Morales led them to a black van that looked just like the one from the TV show "The A-Team." After explaining (at length), a few of the more interesting options, he handed Gremlin the keys and wished them a safe trip.
"It's 106 miles to Chicago," Gremlin said, starting the engine. "We've got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses."
"Uh, Grem," Trinket said, "We're nearly 1,000 miles from Chicago, and from what Mr. Morales said this thing isn't powered by gas. Also, you've got two packs of smokes, it's 10:45 in the morning, and we don't have sunglasses--though I've probably got some in one of my pockets if we need them."
"Work with me here, people," responded an annoyed Gremlin.
"Hit it," Katina answered as Amy put the van in gear.
|
