John "The Gneech" Robey (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} the_gneech) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} suburban_jungle,@ 2005-04-02 22:15:00 |
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SJ Fiction: The Special Day
A short story that came to me this evening. Enjoy!
"It's a conspiracy of idiots!"
Comfort T. Tiger slammed her car door, then slammed it again when it didn't latch. Then she kicked it when it didn't latch a second time. This at least made it stay shut, with the downside that it sported a new dent and may very well have been rendered unopenable.
She didn't care; she was beyond caring at this point. It had officially been a Really Crappy Day, and as the cold rain pelted the top of her head, her instinct was to slump down onto the curb where she was and just let the tears come up.
It wasn't the rain that made the day crappy -- although that certainly didn't help. What made the day crappy was that it was supposed to have been such a terrific day instead. "I wanted today to be special," she told the cold night air. But the cold night air wasn't listening.
What made the day special was that it was the fifth anniversary of the day she and Dover met. She didn't expect him to remember -- guys were useless at remembering that kind of thing, and it was pointless to resent them for it -- but she remembered, and she had decided to use it as a pretext for a romantic surprise. Scented candles, a romantic dinner, soft music and maybe some dancing, definitely a massage ... she'd wanted to pamper her cheetahboy for the way he was knocking himself out at two jobs to make sure they stayed in the black.
But then the phone call had come. "SET ALBERT(CAME_INTO_WORK) = FALSE; DOVER = WORKING(EXTRA_SHIFT);" Their one night of the week together, shot to hell by some slacker who didn't show at Roebuck's. Oh well, that wouldn't have been so bad, Comfort decided, she could still get Dover some kind of a nice present. Dover and Comfort had both been eyeing "Star Racer 4" for the Gamestation for weeks now, so she popped out to Bleep'n'Bloop to get it.
Bleep'n'Bloop didn't have it. So she tried Savemart.
Savemart didn't have it. So, even though it would be twice as expensive there as anywhere else, she decided to get it at GameMaze.
GameMaze had gone out of business as of this morning.
Finally, fighting off a headache, Comfort had gone back to Bleep'n'Bloop and gotten Dover a gift card, the closest thing she could think of, and a promise from the clerk that he would order Star Racer 4 and they'd have it in a few weeks.
When she got home and found a large delivery box on the porch, she was certainly intrigued. She took it inside and opened it to find a Gamestation III, complete with "Star Racer 5: Mega Edition," and a note from Dover's mother that read, "Dear darlings: I happened to remember Comfort mentioning that today was the day the two of you met. So I thought I'd commemorate the event with a little present. I know you two are on a tight budget right now and something like this might be out of your reach, so please enjoy it with my love and blessings. -Chessie Cheetah"
NO! Comfort had decided. I should be the only person who even THINKS of doing something today! I'm NOT going to be upstaged by Dover's frickin' MOTHER, I don't care HOW nice she is! But what to do about it? She could shove Chessie's package into the closet and bring it out tomorrow, but even then Comfort's crappy little gift card -- that she'd spent all afternoon getting -- would still seem pathetic.
So into the closet went the box, and back into her car went Comfort. She didn't know where she was going or what she would do, only that it had to be special -- more special than a Gamestation III with Star Racer 5: Mega Edition, that was for sure! She was driving more or less in big circles around town, looking at storefronts and restaurants and anything else she could think of for inspiration.
Therefore, she wasn't looking when the tiny little hatchback ran a #&$%!! red light and smacked into her car! She didn't even realize what had happened at first. Her light turned green, she pulled into the intersection, and suddenly the car lurched to the left with a loud, hollow WHUMP!, and then lurched again to the right with a slightly louder metallic tearing sound. When Comfort managed to recover from a flailing second of panic and look around, she realized she was at a 45-degree angle to the intersection and that all traffic had come to a stop.
Idiot A had run his red light and smacked into the rear of her car, pushing it into the path of Idiot B, who had been coming the other way and turning left around her but cut it way too close, and had promptly snagged on her bumper and pulled it nearly off, leaving a deep gouge in the side of his own car.
Nobody was injured. But Idiot A's car was totalled, Idiot B's car suffered no structural damage but looked ugly as sin, and Comfort's car, while still drivable, was noticeably off-kilter and banged up. She'd managed to find a bungee cord in the trunk to hold the bumper in place, but it had taken four hours to deal with the police, to fill out the insurance papers, to get around Idiot A's stonewalling about having run the red light, and to slowly drive home in order to avoid having anything fall off in transit. Now, everything was closed, it was dark, and Comfort had nothing to show but that same damn gift card and a higher insurance bill. Dover still wasn't due home for two hours, thanks to Albert the Slacker, and Comfort had never felt more alone.
"It's a conspiracy of idiots!" she shouted, and slammed the car door twice, then kicked it, to make it stay shut. Finally, it all overtook her, and she sank down onto the curb, sobbing quietly. "I wanted today to be special," she told the cold night air.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there, with her face in her hands, but suddenly the rain sounded different. She looked up: Dover was standing there, shielding her from the rain with an umbrella. He looked tired, he always looked tired lately, but more than that, he looked worried.
"COMFORT = UNHAPPY;" he said, in his peculiar dialect. "QUERY: STATUS(COMFORT) = ?; LET COMFORT.TELL(DOVER) = THE_MATTER; LET COMFORT.TELL(DOVER) = WHAT_HAPPENED;"
She looked up at him, tears mixed with rain, trying to find words. He glanced over at the mangled car and squatted in front of her, still shielding her with the umbrella. "QUERY: STATUS(COMFORT) = OKAY?"
"How did you get here?" she managed to get out.
"SET ALBERT(CAME_INTO_WORK) = LATE; MANAGER SET DOVER.GO(HOME); QUERY: STATUS(COMFORT) = OKAY?"
"I wanted..." she managed to say, and found herself shoving tears out of her eyes again. When she opened them, Dover had produced a rose from somewhere and was holding it out to her. "What...?" she said.
"DATE(TODAY) = FIVE_YEAR_ANNIVERSARY(MEETING[DOVER+COMF
Comfort nearly knocked him over wrapping her arms around him; there was no holding back her tears now, but somehow, it was a good thing.
A short story that came to me this evening. Enjoy!
"It's a conspiracy of idiots!"
Comfort T. Tiger slammed her car door, then slammed it again when it didn't latch. Then she kicked it when it didn't latch a second time. This at least made it stay shut, with the downside that it sported a new dent and may very well have been rendered unopenable.
She didn't care; she was beyond caring at this point. It had officially been a Really Crappy Day, and as the cold rain pelted the top of her head, her instinct was to slump down onto the curb where she was and just let the tears come up.
It wasn't the rain that made the day crappy -- although that certainly didn't help. What made the day crappy was that it was supposed to have been such a terrific day instead. "I wanted today to be special," she told the cold night air. But the cold night air wasn't listening.
What made the day special was that it was the fifth anniversary of the day she and Dover met. She didn't expect him to remember -- guys were useless at remembering that kind of thing, and it was pointless to resent them for it -- but she remembered, and she had decided to use it as a pretext for a romantic surprise. Scented candles, a romantic dinner, soft music and maybe some dancing, definitely a massage ... she'd wanted to pamper her cheetahboy for the way he was knocking himself out at two jobs to make sure they stayed in the black.
But then the phone call had come. "SET ALBERT(CAME_INTO_WORK) = FALSE; DOVER = WORKING(EXTRA_SHIFT);" Their one night of the week together, shot to hell by some slacker who didn't show at Roebuck's. Oh well, that wouldn't have been so bad, Comfort decided, she could still get Dover some kind of a nice present. Dover and Comfort had both been eyeing "Star Racer 4" for the Gamestation for weeks now, so she popped out to Bleep'n'Bloop to get it.
Bleep'n'Bloop didn't have it. So she tried Savemart.
Savemart didn't have it. So, even though it would be twice as expensive there as anywhere else, she decided to get it at GameMaze.
GameMaze had gone out of business as of this morning.
Finally, fighting off a headache, Comfort had gone back to Bleep'n'Bloop and gotten Dover a gift card, the closest thing she could think of, and a promise from the clerk that he would order Star Racer 4 and they'd have it in a few weeks.
When she got home and found a large delivery box on the porch, she was certainly intrigued. She took it inside and opened it to find a Gamestation III, complete with "Star Racer 5: Mega Edition," and a note from Dover's mother that read, "Dear darlings: I happened to remember Comfort mentioning that today was the day the two of you met. So I thought I'd commemorate the event with a little present. I know you two are on a tight budget right now and something like this might be out of your reach, so please enjoy it with my love and blessings. -Chessie Cheetah"
NO! Comfort had decided. I should be the only person who even THINKS of doing something today! I'm NOT going to be upstaged by Dover's frickin' MOTHER, I don't care HOW nice she is! But what to do about it? She could shove Chessie's package into the closet and bring it out tomorrow, but even then Comfort's crappy little gift card -- that she'd spent all afternoon getting -- would still seem pathetic.
So into the closet went the box, and back into her car went Comfort. She didn't know where she was going or what she would do, only that it had to be special -- more special than a Gamestation III with Star Racer 5: Mega Edition, that was for sure! She was driving more or less in big circles around town, looking at storefronts and restaurants and anything else she could think of for inspiration.
Therefore, she wasn't looking when the tiny little hatchback ran a #&$%!! red light and smacked into her car! She didn't even realize what had happened at first. Her light turned green, she pulled into the intersection, and suddenly the car lurched to the left with a loud, hollow WHUMP!, and then lurched again to the right with a slightly louder metallic tearing sound. When Comfort managed to recover from a flailing second of panic and look around, she realized she was at a 45-degree angle to the intersection and that all traffic had come to a stop.
Idiot A had run his red light and smacked into the rear of her car, pushing it into the path of Idiot B, who had been coming the other way and turning left around her but cut it way too close, and had promptly snagged on her bumper and pulled it nearly off, leaving a deep gouge in the side of his own car.
Nobody was injured. But Idiot A's car was totalled, Idiot B's car suffered no structural damage but looked ugly as sin, and Comfort's car, while still drivable, was noticeably off-kilter and banged up. She'd managed to find a bungee cord in the trunk to hold the bumper in place, but it had taken four hours to deal with the police, to fill out the insurance papers, to get around Idiot A's stonewalling about having run the red light, and to slowly drive home in order to avoid having anything fall off in transit. Now, everything was closed, it was dark, and Comfort had nothing to show but that same damn gift card and a higher insurance bill. Dover still wasn't due home for two hours, thanks to Albert the Slacker, and Comfort had never felt more alone.
"It's a conspiracy of idiots!" she shouted, and slammed the car door twice, then kicked it, to make it stay shut. Finally, it all overtook her, and she sank down onto the curb, sobbing quietly. "I wanted today to be special," she told the cold night air.
She wasn't sure how long she sat there, with her face in her hands, but suddenly the rain sounded different. She looked up: Dover was standing there, shielding her from the rain with an umbrella. He looked tired, he always looked tired lately, but more than that, he looked worried.
"COMFORT = UNHAPPY;" he said, in his peculiar dialect. "QUERY: STATUS(COMFORT) = ?; LET COMFORT.TELL(DOVER) = THE_MATTER; LET COMFORT.TELL(DOVER) = WHAT_HAPPENED;"
She looked up at him, tears mixed with rain, trying to find words. He glanced over at the mangled car and squatted in front of her, still shielding her with the umbrella. "QUERY: STATUS(COMFORT) = OKAY?"
"How did you get here?" she managed to get out.
"SET ALBERT(CAME_INTO_WORK) = LATE; MANAGER SET DOVER.GO(HOME); QUERY: STATUS(COMFORT) = OKAY?"
"I wanted..." she managed to say, and found herself shoving tears out of her eyes again. When she opened them, Dover had produced a rose from somewhere and was holding it out to her. "What...?" she said.
"DATE(TODAY) = FIVE_YEAR_ANNIVERSARY(MEETING[DOVER+COMF
Comfort nearly knocked him over wrapping her arms around him; there was no holding back her tears now, but somehow, it was a good thing.
The End</center>
©2005, John "The Gneech" Robey, all rights reserved
©2005, John "The Gneech" Robey, all rights reserved
