Gym Blond

   Jack finished his shower and then stepped into the next room in the progression.  This room, like the rest, was quiet and bereft of people.  It did, however, have an assortment of exercise equipment.  Jack turned right from the door and walked towards the corner of the room, where there were several flattish stationary bikes positioned to afford a good view of the television, which was on.  Before Jack became too engrossed in the program, a blond woman approached and began fiddling with one of the bikes.

   "Hello, how are you?" she asked.

   “Oh, hi, fine.  You?” replied Jack, a little startled.

   “I’m doing well.”  The blond woman stretched a bit before sitting down on the bike and beginning to pedal.  An attendant came up to Jack and started preparing a bike for him, even though he'd expressed no interest in using one.

   “Well, I guess I’ll close at five now...” said the attendant with joking sarcasm.

   “Oh...” mumbled Jack.  Glancing at the clock, he saw that it was nearly six.

   “No problem.  You want a magazine?” the attendant said, breaking into a smile.

   “Uh, no.  Well, yes," Jack said.  The attendant left and Jack started to pedal the bike too.

   “So, what brings you here?” continued the blond woman.

  

   “Uh, I’m in town, from Minnesota,” answered Jack.

   “You’re from Minnesota?”

   “Yeah, Minnesota.  I’m here to to play in...to play in that music festival.”

   “Cool.  And why the gym?”

   “Oh.  Well, I just thought I’d try the gym.  I don’t work out very much, so, you know.”  Jack had only really been interested in the showers, but he thought it wiser to keep quiet on that point.

   “And what do you think?”

   “It’s very nice.”

   “Yes, it’s magnificent,” murmured the blond.

   “You know, there’s a Seinfeld bit about that," said a voice from across the room.  Jack looked over to see Jerry and George approaching.

   “Hmm?” asked the blond woman.

   “About having sex with a gymnast.”

   “Oh!”

   “Yeah, he was excited, but it was just ordinary.”  Jerry and George continued talking to the blond woman, leaving Jack out of the loop and feeling more than a little incensed.  After a time, the woman got off the bike and started gathering her things.

   “Well, I’ve got to go, it was nice talking to you,” she said.

   “Ok, bye...” George replied meekly.  The woman exited through an open door across the room.

   “What are you doing? She’s leaving, go after her!” implored Jerry.  George hesitated before steeling himself.

   “Uh, wait!  Hold on!” George yelled after the woman.  He and Jerry ran out of the room.  Jack turned back to the TV and continued pedaling.

   A little while later, the blond woman returned.  Jack got off the bike and watched as she split into three orbs.  The orbs began orbiting a hazy central point and slowly drifting back together.  Jack quickly drew his pistol and shot all three orbs as fast as he could before they came together again.  After the third was shattered, the blond woman rematerialized. 

   “Hey, thanks!” said the woman happily.  She went back to her previous bike.

   “Yeah, I can kind of shoot when I’m desperate...I mean, frantic!”  said Jack, embarrassed.

Campus Non

   Jack and Moptop walked on their old campus.  The landscape was mostly flat and brown, dotted by trees and unfamiliar buildings.  Ahead, a particularly gnarled arboroid sat rooted, it's twisted limbs obstructing the view of a nearby brick construction.  A short ways downhill on the left sat a small, dirty pond.

   "You know," remarked Jack thoughtfully to Moptop, "this place feels much smaller than I remember."

   "I can still feel that hateful demon," replied Moptop.

Strange Girls

   Jack and the others walked through the city.  The damp night air had not deterred patrons of a nearby restaurant from filling the outdoor section, and Jack turned his head left to watch a waitress ignite a flambe for a jockish young diner.  As the flames consumed the excess alcohol, Jack felt someone approach from behind and draw level with him.  It was a young woman, slightly shorter than Jack and quite attractive.  The jock noticed her too, and whistled obnoxiously from his table.

   "Hey, beautiful," he called suggestively, pointing to his flaming dish, "why don't you come over here and put out my fire?"

   "I would, but judging from your inbred face that's your sister's job," the girl shot back without hesitation, barely slowing her stride.  The jock's face fell and his friends laughed.

   "Hey, that was pretty good," said Jack, matching his pace to hers.  They walked on past the restaurant and down the sidewalk, falling behind the others in Jack's group.

   "Thank you," replied the girl with a smile.  She had short, slightly pink hair that bounced as she walked.  "So, where are you headed?"

   "Oh, just a few blocks from here.  I'm just following my friends to their place."

   "I'm headed that direction too."

   "Ah, then perhaps we shall walk together," said Jack.

   "Yes, perhaps," she said, again flashing a beguiling smile.  "I'm Myla, by the way."

   "Jack," he replied, shaking her outstretched hand.

   They continued talking as they neared their destination, and Jack felt more and more drawn to her.  She was cute and confident, but in a way that was completely genuine and un-intimidating.  By the time they reached the building, Jack had resolved to find a way to see her again.  Now only to find a graceful way to go about it.

   "Yeah, I guess I keep pretty busy," said Jack in an attempt to wrap up the current topic.  They were nearing the door now, and he still hadn't thought of anything.

   "Well, do you ever find time to go out on dates with strange girls you've just met on the street?" Myla said, casting him a flirty sidelong glance.

   "Oh, yes, absolutely," said Jack, taken aback.  "I think that...I mean, we could probably find some time."

   "Great," she said.  Together they walked into the building and stood in the lobby.  Jack's friends continued on further into the building, leaving the two alone.

   "What day?  Sometime next week?  How about Tuesday?"

   "It's a date," she said, smiling slightly.  She turned and glanced over her shoulder at Jack, and their eyes lingered on each other. As she walked away, Jack felt light.

Naughty Cat

   Jack walked up the narrow stairs to the furnished but cramped attic to start the game movie.  As he neared the top, Trewd appeared and waved merrily.

   "Oh, hello!" said Jack, surprised to see his old acquaintance.  In response, Trewd picked Jack up by the head and knocked it with his own, then promptly dropped Jack back down to the middle of the stairway.  Jack, startled by this unusual greeting, dusted himself off and once again climbed the stairs.  Meanwhile, Trewd had disappeared into a side room.

   Jack sat down and looked at the feline near his feet.

   "Oh, a cat," he remarked.  The cat was mostly black with white splotches.  It sauntered up to him and stared quizzically.  Jack was careful not to touch the cat this time, remembering how he had inadvertently harmed the last one. 

   The two stared at each other for a time before the cat looked away and walked over to a fuzzy scratching post.  From here, it stood upright on its hind legs and stretched its paws towards the top of the post.  It began pulsing its pelvis in and out, rubbing against the fabric in a quick and mechanical way.  Jack watched as the cat turned its head around and looked back at Jack.  The cat's pupils began to dilate in alternation, the left expanding to comical proportions and then shrinking, followed by the right.  It reminded Jack of an owl in a cartoon he'd seen.

Young Hopeful

   Aldrew stood near the front of the stage, the only lighted figure in the otherwise dark auditorium.  He smiled as he spoke, accompanying himself on a small keyboard that was slightly too short, forcing the confident conductor to bend a bit to reach the keys.

  A hand shot up from a seat in front of Jack.  Aldrew pointed to the questioner, a young girl with a hopeful face.

   "Yes, how does a pianist go about playing with the orchestra?" she asked.

   "That's a good one," Aldrew smirked, returning his pointing hand to the keys.  "I'll save that for later, Maryish and I will have a good chuckle."

Unexplored Waters

   Jack started to walk across the bridge.  It was not very high or long, but it was enclosed by a paper-thin roof and similarly weak walls interspersed windows.  It was one of these windows that drew Jack's attention away from the other people on the bridge.  This particular window had no glass and afforded a nice view of the shallow river a short ways beneath.  As Jack approached the opening to get a better look he was stopped by an man with an officious air.

   "Sorry, that is off-limits," said the man.  Jack frowned in annoyance but complied anyway.

   Jack and the man began talking about the bridge and the river.  Around them, people walked by or chatted amongst themselves, some tucked into small alcoves along the perimeter of the bridge.

   "Well, of course not all of it has been explored," remarked the man.

   "What?" said Jack with indignant surprise.  "I'll tell you one thing, if there was a river running through a city, through a major metropolitan area like this, I'd have explored every inch of it, from top to bottom!"  As he spoke he imagined deep crevasses in river bed.