Left Hanging

Looks like I left off on a cliffhanger. Funny how that works. If I weren't deathly afraid of losing my grip, I'd enjoy the view. It is spectacular after all. Olivia reaches out to me. I try and extend my free arm out to her, but it is no use. I can't reach her. "You should shield yourself." I shout to her. "It's ok, I shot tiny hearts at him. I don't think he'll bother us." "How does  that work anyway?" "When I shoot them at the person, or animal it gives them a changed perspective." "So is it a permanent thing?" "It lasts as long as it needs to." She replies simply while extending her arm again. "I would feel better if you shielded yourself." I insist. Olivia rolls her eyes and puts the pink bubble around herself. "You do realize that anyone and anything can get in this bubble." She reminds me. "I know, but it seems like a good idea." Olivia shakes her head. " I don't understand but whatever." She reaches out to me yet again. I still can't make it. "Hold on, let me find a branch or something." Olivia shouts to me. She walks away from my field of vision. Olivia climbs back to where we were. She spots the the Mountain Lion on his side. He lets out a loud yawn and eyes Olivia. "I feel refreshed." The mountain lion declares. "So you feel better?" She asks. "Like a new born." "And you won't try to hurt us anymore?" The mountain lion laughs. " I didn't say that."  He pauses. "You aren't afraid of me are you?" "No." "But you also know that you can't stop me, right?" Olivia smiles slyly. She takes the green emerald out of her pocket and reveals it to the mountain lion. The mountain lion inches closer. " I haven't seen that in ages." He mutters. "That's right and I'm gonna bury it and finish the mission." Olivia says confidently. "It's too bad that you both need to be here to bury it." "Says who?" "I don't make the rules it's just how it is."  Olivia bites her lip and walks away. With smugness in his tone, the mountain lion shouts "I'll be waiting right here."

At the Very Top

Here we are at the top of the mountain. The very top. We made it. And what of the mountain lion you ask? He’s still here. In fact he is less than a foot away from us, starring at us deeply in the eyes. Trying to make us squirm.  He is so close to us that Olivia can’t even raise her hands to shoot hearts for fear he may pounce. “I could kill you now if I wanted.”  He explains dryly. “Wait, you can talk?” Olivia inquires. “Yes I can talk. Does that surprise you?” “A little bit.”  “Well, I can talk. I can do other things too. Such as rip both your throats out in one swift move.” We both cringe. “Yes, that’s right. Tremble. Know that your lives are insignificant. Know that I have the power. Know that I can devour you. Make you disappear. Make you nothing more than a memory, or simply a rumor if I wanted to.” As sinister as this creature is, I feel a smirk on my face. I try and hold it back, but I can’t. The mountain lion sees me grinning and this infuriates him. “ What is so funny?” He demands. “Nothing, you just remind me of Salem’s Lot right now.” I say, still smiling. “Salem’s Lot?” “It was a vampire movie based off a Stephen king novel by the same title.” I explain casually. The mountain lion squints. “ I don’t understand the relevancy.” He says. I sigh. I don’t know why I just assumed that the bad guy would automatically get my reference. Too obscure perhaps? I prepare to give him a winded speech. “Salem’s Lot was a decent film. It was entertaining, but in my humblest of opinions the problem was the bad guys talked too much.  I mean there is a scene where the hero could have easily put a steak through the vampire’s heart in the time it took him to explain something.”  The Mountain Lion takes in all this information. “ I take it you’re not a fan of dialogue driven movies or good character development?” He says.  “No, I enjoy that stuff. But I think if you have it too dialogue heavy, it tends to get kinda boring.” The Mountain Lion thinks for a moment. “ Would you rather watch something like Transformers, where shit just blows up?” He asks. I shake my head no. “That’s the extreme opposite. You can’t have too much action either. Plus the special effects are a mess. It doesn’t feel real to me.”  Olivia, who this whole time has been standing in bewilderment, interrupts our film discussion. “What the hell is this?” “The girl is right, I have a job to do.”  The Mountain Lion leaps into the air. I quickly draw my sword. It just barely touches him. Not enough to draw blood, but enough to throw off his mound so that he does not land on us. However, amongst the chaos, I lose my balance and begin to fall backwards. Olivia grabs me by the cape, but it rips off in her hand and I continue my fall. Still holding onto the sword, I plunge it into the side of the mountain. I am stopped abruptly and breathe a sigh of relief. My girl is alone with a mountain lion and I’m hanging on for dear life. Guess this is the excitement I was looking for.

Just a Little Further

We journeyed through the flames. It did not hurt as one might suspect. I don't think the fire even touched us. We must have somehow walked through each individual flame, and it was over before we knew it. It wasn't just walking on fire I should explain. It was like going through another door. We were instantly transported in a poof of smoke. We were now back on the path up the mountain. Yes, it was still bitter cold, but now we much further along the path. Plus it was really neat to be transported  in that way. I felt like Nightcrawler from the X - Men. Transporting from one place to the other, leaving a cloud of smoke behind. So like I said, we were back on the path with the summit with in our grasp. We were so overjoyed to make it this far that we almost forgot about the carnivorous roadblock of a fiend waiting for us.

Dusty Old Bones

Initially I viewed Mr. Bones as someone who must be extremely lonely. However, upon further examination, I don't think that is exactly the case. He lives with many ghosts. Good and bad, young and old. The memories of the travelers that came before us rest in his hands. A thousand or more are with in the walls of these caves. For that he is never alone. Perhaps he is a bit of everyone. Our flesh may rot, and out bodies become earth , but we always leave something behind. I'm sure Mr. Bones gets this, at least on some subconscious level. I don't think he cares though. He seems content wandering the caves and discovering treasures here and there. His most recent find was a carton of Chesterfields. I don't even think those are manufactured anymore. For those of you who don't know, Chesterfields were an unfiltered brand of cigarettes from the 50's. I believe Ronald Reagan even endorsed them. When he was an actor that is. So he found a carton of ancient cigarettes. Lucky for him, he discovered a matchbox from a cheap motel shortly after. He was like a kid at Christmas. He smiled and jumped in the air. He told us that he always preferred matches over lighters. When I asked him why, he explained, simply : "Aesthetics. I love the look of it, the feel of it, there is nothing like striking a match." I was never a smoker myself, and the idea of unfiltered cigarettes seems utterly disgusting, but he was happy. Plus he was already dead. So what was the harm? He puffed away and led us to a pile of ancient furniture. He grabbed a wooden chair and asked us to help him break off the legs. We kicked, chopped, and pulled the legs off. Mr. Bones took all four legs and tossed them into a pile. He struck a match and threw it on the pile of wood. He then sat himself down in front of the fire and watched the flames dance. He reminded me of Jimi Hendrix lighting his guitar on stage. Who knows he might have been Jimi Hendrix. He watched the flames and urged us to sit beside him. We did, with slightly less enthusiasm, but we did. "Don't be afraid of the fire." He said to us calmly. "Embrace it." He continued. We both nodded. Mr. Bones shook his head. "No, you don't understand. Walk through the fire." Olivia and I stared at each other. "You will both be fine." I got up and held Olivia's hand as she picked herself up. We looked into the dancing flames. We were both a little scared, but we figured if this is what we must do....

Swimming for Swords

Mr. Bones swims through the mounds of treasure like Scrooge Mcduck doing a backstroke in his vault of gold coins. He dives into a particularly large mound of treasure. A moment later he bursts out of the top with a pirate hat and sword. He slides down the mound of treasure and hands me the pirate sword. "You want anything?" He asks Olivia. "I don't think I'll need it." "Oh, right. You got that pink bubble going for you." He says." I examine my gift closely. "Do you think this sword will work?" Mr. Bones shrugs. "It couldn't hurt." I clutch the sword tightly and practice my stance. "Yeah, this feels right." I tell him. "Oh good. Anything else I can get you kids?" I back up and take a swing with the sword. "Just tell us everything you know about the mountain lion." Mr. Bones chuckles. "We're gonna be sitting in silence because I really don't know anything." "You have to have some knowledge." Olivia insist. "'Fraid not." "How is that possible?" I ask. "Well, I live in my part of the mountain, and  he lives somewhere else." "So you have never seen him?" I ask, trying to delve deeper. "Never seen him. For all I know, he could be a great guy." "I don't think so he killed a man." Olivia says. Mr. Bones adjusts his pirate hat and brings both of us closer. "That don't make him a bad guy. You forget he's a mountain lion after all." Olivia and I eat crow and nod in agreement. Mr. Bones dives back into the mound of treasure. "Where are you going?" I shout.  "I have to get you something." He shouts from inside the mound. He emerges holding a leather sword holder. Mr. Bones walks over to me, coughing up gold coins in the process. He fashions the leather sword holder around my waits. "Thank you." I say sincerely. "Well, if you're gonna fight a supposed monster, I at least gotta set you up right." I glide the pirate sword into the holder. A feeling of nervousness and excitement runs through my spine. This is really happening. "I guess we should continue." He says with a faint sense of sadness. As if it pains him to see us leave. "Wait." I tell him, reaching into my pocket. I pull out the X - Ray specs. "What's that?" Olivia asks me. "It's something I don't think I ever needed." "If you don't want them, can I have them?" Mr. Bones asks me. "Why not." I hand Mr. Bones the X - Ray specs. He places them on his face. It's an odd look, the pirate hat with the X - Ray specs, but he appears to be jovial. "How do I look?" He asks us. "It's you." Olivia replies with a smile. Mr. Bones saunters ahead of us with a spring in his step. "C'mon guys."

Treasures Galore

Mr. Bones guides on a narrow path that leads to a connecting cave. It was not exactly easy to get to. There were stalactites and stalagmites. The bats would terrify us. When it seemed like a quiet time, a bat would swoop down and startle us. Then we had to get down on our hands and knees and squeeze through a teeny tiny opening. But in the end, it was worth it. We arrived in a wonderland of treasures. Things from the past that were long forgotten about. Mr. Bones extends his arms "Welcome." "What is this place?" I ask in admiration. "It is a collection of all the things people have left behind." Olivia falls back on to a pile of gold coins and makes an angel. "People just leave all this stuff behind?" I ask while looking around. "They decided they couldn't take it with them." I pick up an electric football game. " I suppose some of it is a bit much." "Well, none of them really knew what they were getting themselves into." "What do you mean?" I ask. "People, they generally carry around a lot of stuff with them. Makes them feel at ease. Makes them feel at home. But sooner or later they realize it's weighing them down." "So they dump it." I say, interrupting him. "Bingo."  Olivia walks up to us wearing a tiara. "Does that mean I have to put this back?" "Did you come in here with it?" Mr. Bones asks her. "No." "Then you don't have to put it back. Besides it's not something you have to do. It's just something that most choose to do." "That makes sense." Olivia says. "It does? Oh good. Now, would either of you happen to have an Atari that you want to discard?" "No." We say at the same time. Mr. Bones snaps his fingers. "Damn, I really wanted to play Space Invaders. It's been a long time and I really wanted to play it."  I view the mounds and mounds of treasure. "Do you by any chance have any weapons?" I ask. "Weapons? Yeesh. You're getting dark on me." "We need something to defend ourselves from the mountain lion." "Mountain Lion? I've never seen a mountain lion. Then again I haven't traveled everywhere on this mountain." "So you think there might be a weapon?" I continue. "It's possible, let's go check."

Mr. Bones

Olivia slowly opens her eyes and stretches her arms into the air. "Good morning." I say to her, softly. "Where am I?" she asks groggily. "Some sort of cave." She glares at me with half open eyes. "I could have figured that one out. How long was I sleeping?" "Long enough for me to find my smokes." The skeleton announces from the entrance. "Baby, is that a talking skeleton?" "Your eyes do not deceive you, my dear. I am indeed a talking skeleton." "And do you have a name?" Olivia asks. "The name is Mr. Bones." He reaches his hand into the bubble without any hassle. Olivia, still waking up, shakes it. "Nice to meet you." She says gingerly. "Mr. Bones? Really? that's your name?" I ask. Mr. Bones snaps back at me. "I don't have a brain, so clever names aren't exactly my thing." Mr. Bones taps his cigarette box. "Now, would anyone like to hear a joke?" He continues. "I would." Olivia shouts, eagerly. "Alright, I just need a light first." Olivia and I glance at each other. "We don't smoke." She says. "No worries, I have an idea." He says while placing a cigarette in his mouth. Mr. Bones leans toward the pink bubble with his cigarette dangling out of his mouth. He presses the cigarette against an electrical current running through the pink bubble. It lights the cigarette much like a car lighter would. "It worked!" He exclaims. A second later his head bursts into flames. "Your skull is on fire." I shout to him. Mr. Bones plants his head in the snow. He pulls his out, and a vile, smokey stench  emerge with him. He chucks the pack of cigarettes to the side. " I think I should hold off on the smokes for now." He says. "I think that's a wise idea." I tell him. "You know, they can kill you." He warns me, pointing his boney finger in my direction. "No." I gasp. He nods. "It's true." "You were going to tell us a joke?" Olivia interrupts. "Oh yeah, this is from a piece of literature I read." Mr. Bones glances back and forth at us. "You guys ready for it?" "Yeah." Olivia says eagerly. "Ok, why did the boy throw the clock out the window?" He smiles as if he told the world's greatest joke. "Because he wanted to see time fly." I tell him. Mr. Bones scratches his skull. "I see you've heard that one before. How about this one? Why did the boy throw butter out the window?" Olivia decides to play along. "Because he was a jerk?" Mr. Bones chuckles. "No, he wanted to see butterfly." Mr. Bones laughs hysterically. We try to laugh along with him, but he knows we are not earnest. "You guys heard that one before?" We both nod. "But how?" He asks. "It's a pretty old joke." I explain. "Figures, the book looked pretty old." "What book was that from?" I ask. "I believe it was called 101 jokes." "Someone left behind a joke book?" Olivia asks. "Oh sure, people leave behind all sorts of treasures." He says candidly. "What kind of treasures.?" I wonder. "All sorts of stuff. Books, pets, jewelry, you name it. You guys wanna see some of it?" "Yes, definitely." I cheer. Mr. Bones springs up. "Then follow me."

Rest Stop

We squeeze through a narrow opening in the wall. It is very dark in the cave.Only tiny amount of light shines in. I have to brush up against the wall just so I have some clue of where I am. I carefully rest Olivia against the wall, and I sit down beside her. It is a troubling that we are almost completely in the dark in an unknown area. My hearing is fortunately exceptional, so I can still keep vigil. That's a good thing. One of us should stay alert, and it should be me. Olivia's light is fading fast. She needs the rest. She rests her head on my shoulder and nods off. I stare out into a dark void and listen to her breath. All of the sudden the cave is illuminated. Her sleeping is recharging the pink bubble. Not only is it acting as a space heater, but there is some sort of electricity coming out of it. Shining on our surrounding. I can now fully see the entire cave. It is nothing spectacular, but this is amazing none the less. I view my surroundings. There are countless tally marks up and down the cave walls. I don't know if they signal months, or days or years. I look at the marks closer. One can almost smell the sadness and despair. "Wow." I think to myself. "I see you've made yourself at home." I hear a disgruntled voice yell to me. I turn around to see a skeleton standing at the entrance with his hands on his hips. " I pointed this place out. You could have at least dug me out of the ground." I stare in awe. "Yeah, that's right I'm a skeleton. And you know what skeleton's don't have?" "No." "They don't have muscles. So it was extremely difficult to dig my way out of the snow." "I'm sorry, I had no idea you were alive." "Alive?" The skeleton's eye holes widen a bit to suggest a surprised expression. "Animated, maybe, but alive, no." "I had no idea, you were animated." The skeleton gazes at the tally marks on the wall. "It's ok, you're hardly the first person to make that mistake." "What do you mean? I ask. "You see the marks on the walls?That's all the people who came before you." My heart skips a beat. "You've seen all the travelers die?" I ask. "Maybe not all of them, there might have been some before me." I try and find a silver lining. "Maybe this is good though. Maybe this means that all the dead travelers are animated skeletons like you and you can all give us advice." The skeleton scratches his skull. "Life advice?" He asks. "No advice on how to survive this mountain." "Oh, yeah I would't count on it." "Why not?" I ask. "Because I haven't seen any other skeleton's around. And I've been here a very long time." "Ok, well, you could help us." "I don't really like helping people. But I could tell ya some jokes." I stare at him in bewilderment. "I think it's a good idea too." He says. "Let me get my smokes first. They're buried somewhere outside" I continue to look at him in disbelief. "I was walking, minding my own business and all of a sudden I get buried in an avalanche." He pats me on the back. "I'll be right back." He starts to walk away. He spots Olivia resting and turns to me. "By the way, your girl's cute. I like her mask." He then exits the cave in search of his smokes, and some killer jokes.

Gimme Shelter

The pink bubble protects us from the elements, but as Olivia grows tired, the force field starts to deteriorate. Night fall is rapidly approaching. If it wasn't cold before, it will be freezing shortly. I search for any animal tracks. Anything to lead us to shelter. My efforts appear to be in vain. The snow is fresh, and there is no sign of anything scurrying around lately. It looks like I'll have to do this purely on instinct. I stumble onward, with Olivia holding on to me, half awake. I am also tired, but I have to keep going. Our survival depends on it. I'm so focused on finding refuge, that I don't see the rock jutting out of the snow. I trip , and we both fall face first. I pick myself up, and hoist Olivia off the ground. She clings on to me as if nothing happened. Perhaps she didn't even notice. I take a hard look at the rock I tripped on. Upon closer inspection it is not a rock, but rather a skeletal hand. It points off to my right. It is just a wall of rocks, but I decide to follow this signal. I walk over to the wall of rocks. I merely touch one of the stones, and they all shift. I quickly run out of the way to avoiding the rocks crashing down on me. When they are all done falling, there is a narrow opening. I stumble over to the wall with Olivia still clinging to my side. I peek my head in slightly. "Looks like we have a place to stay tonight."

Not Dressed for This

This is no way to begin a long, arduous hike. Under the best circumstances this would be difficult. I am not by any means dressed for the weather. Jeans, a t - shirt , and sneakers were probably not the wisest of choices. The cold, wet snow soaks right through my shoes. It is getting harder and harder to lift my legs. Olivia is not fairing to well either. I can see her teeth chattering. "You know, being from Chicago, you think we would be used to these sudden weather changes." I say, trying to lighten the mood. Olivia does not respond. She seems to be lost in her own world. That is the problem with extreme cold. Or at least one of them. In the midst of it, all you can think of is "Fuck it's cold." I stop in my tracks and wait for her to catch up to me. Despite her uncontrollable shivering, she catches up to me. "We could find a cave and start a fire to keep warm." I assure her. "A cave could be another mile. I don't think I could make it." She says nearly, falling over. I catch her before she can hit the ground. "But we can't stay still." I warn her. " I can't move either." "Do you want my cape. Use it as a blanket? Keep yourself warm?" Olivia looks down. " I may have an idea. She rubs her hands together. She cups her hands and concentrates. A pink bubble flows out. It is little at first, but the more she concentrates, the more it expands. It eventually becomes this huge bubble that wraps around the both of us. "This should keep us warm." she says upon completion.

Surrealist Sitcom

It's exciting, finally being able to complete a goal.Or at least being that much closer to the end product. Olivia glimpses at me and grabs my hand. This feels good, this feels great. Just as I am riding high on good vibes, our elevator stops abruptly. This is too funny. It's like a plot device for a sit com. A weird, surrealist sit com. Our rock - man operator sighs. I guess he has been through this sort of mishap before. That's reassuring, at least he'll know how to deal with this. He picks up the emergency phone from the wall and places it to his ear. Or at least the area where his ear would be. The lights flicker on and off. "Should we be concerned about that?" I ponder. "The Girl From Ipanema" plays over the intercom. Olivia's face lights up after hearing the opening bars. "No, let's dance." She assures me. Olivia and I begin to dance. I should say that at this juncture, I have no clue how to dance. Coordination has never been my thing.Two left feet is not an apt expression when it comes to me. I would argue something like seven left feet, but we're alone in an elevator with a creature from Middle Earth. So who cares? We dance because we can. Because, right now, it is the most fun thing in the world. The rock - man turns to us. "Our call is very important to them" He says, with a low, grainy voice. "They always say that, but I don't know if I believe it." I utter. The song ends, but we continue to dance for a moment. The rock - man hangs up the phone and turns to us again. "Disconnected." He says with a sigh. "You want to try again?" Olivia asks. "No use." He says with disdain. "Then what do you suggest?" I wonder. He holds up his index finger. The universal symbol for "one second." He forcefully pries open the elevator door with his bare hands. Outside is a blizzard - like landscape."Sorry, couldn't get to top." He says sheepishly. A cold wind slaps my face. I want to be upset with him. I wan to shout "Are you fucking kidding me?" None of that comes out. Instead, I simply say "At least you gave us a start."

And Now We Climb

Got the emerald? Check. Climb the mountain...ok one huge obstacle still in the way, but I am feeling good about the emerald. "We still don't have a rope, do we?" Olivia asks. "No, I didn't see one in the bomb shelter either." "And I'm guessing you can't fly." "Nope." Olivia shakes her fist. "Rats." "What about the thing you did with the dandelion?" I ask. Olivia shakes her head. "The wind would blow us in the opposite direction." "Might as well start climbing." I suggest. I crack my knuckles and prepare myself for the climb. I momentarily rest my hand on a boulder. A booming rumbling takes place. "What's happening?" Olivia asks. "I don't know." The boulder shifts and opens to a doorway. Olivia and I glance at each other. "Looks like we found a shortcut." I say. A three foot tall man made out of rock stands at the opening. He wears a 1930's style elevator operator uniform. Hat and everything. He points to his wristwatch as if we are wasting his time. Olivia and I make our way into the rock elevator. The doors close behind us with the same booming, rumbling noise as when they opened. I hadn't noticed before, but our elevator operator is also blind. It is a tad strange, but he seems to know what he is doing. "Up, please." I ask our operator. He grunts, pulling the lever towards himself. It does not sound like an angry or disgruntled grunt, but rather his own language. I'm excited, it looks like we may arrive a lot sooner than expected.

Negotiations

Gary shows off his Murphey bed that he and Carol had been sleeping on for the past few decades. On the other side of the bomb shelter(a few feet away) Carol and Olivia sit at a small, wooden table. I take a seat on the Murphey bed. Not exactly the most comfortable piece of furniture. I have no idea how they slept on this thing night after night. "Isn't that something?" Gary asks me with wonder in his eyes. I try and keep a straight face. "So, how things different now?" "What to you mean?" I ask him. "What is the world like now?" "Well, Pepsi at one point tried to make a clear drink." "Pepsi - Cola?" "Yep." Gary smiles in admiration. "Wow, a clear beverage." "It didn't do well." I admit. "That's a shame." Gary rests his hand on my shoulder. "Tell me son, what else has changed?" I take a deep breath. "You know your wife's favorite movie?" "Of course, I'm the one who told you about it." "I know, but anymore it is difficult to find that movie." Gary squints his eyes. "It's always been difficult. It comes on but once a year, and it is not as if everyone has a television." "And now it is even more difficult to view the movie. The pope banned it." Gary laughs. "It's a good thing I'm not Catholic." He muses. "But we did have a Catholic president briefly." I add. "You don't say?" "Yes. He was strongly influenced by the pope, because of this, it is now a nation wide law that no theatre or T.V. station can play that movie." Gary's eyes light up. "What?" I ask, perplexed. "I think the price value on Carol's ring dramatically increased." He says gleefully. I place my face in my hands. "Why so blue?" He asks. "You don't understand, congress also decided it had anti - American undertones." Gary smiles big and bright. "I know you are talking, but I just see money coming out of your mouth. I have to tell Carol." Gary starts to walk away. I reach out to stop him. Carol's voice cries out. "What did you just say?" Gary looks back at me. "Looks like the girls are clucking." he remarks. We make our way to Olivia and Carol. Carol rushes to Gary and points viciously at Olivia. "She said my ring is ugly." Gary comforts Carol. "Now, I'm sure she's just jealous." Gary says sympathetically. Olivia breaks in. "I have to be honest. We need that ring." She says. "Not as much as we need it." Gary responds. He looks Carol directly in the eyes. "Baby, we're going to be rich." Olivia turns her head toward me. "What did you tell them?" I pretend to look away. Olivia address Gary and Carol. "Gary, Carol, we need that ring more than you could possibly imagine." "Why is that?" Gary snaps. "I'm afraid you wouldn't understand." Gary appears insulted. "I am very intelligent." "We need to bury it on top of a mountain." Olivia says as a matter of fact. There is a brief silence. "I knew you wouldn't understand." Olivia adds. "What would you give us if I gave you the ring?" Gary asks. "Nothing." Olivia says coldly. Gary furrows his brow. "I beg your pardon?" "We released you from your own hell. As far as I'm concerned, we don't owe you anything." Carol sneers. "You think we're in hell?" Carol exclaims. "I wouldn't call it living." Olivia responds. "Why should we give up the ring just because you say so?" Gary cries. Olivia inches closer. "Because we're not leaving without it." Gary shakes his head and pulls off Carol's ring. "What are you doing?" Carol asks shakily. "We'll get another one." Gary hands the ring over to Olivia. Olivia does a curtsey. "Thank you, you have been very kind." She says with a dramatic change of voice. She looks over at me "Ready to go?" I nod and we clamber up the ladder. We get to the top and Olivia takes a deep breath of fresh air. "What the fuck was that?" I wail. "That's how you get shit done."

Bomb Shelter Soiree

We venture down the stairs into Gary and Carol's bomb shelter. There isn't much light. It is so dim that I am surprised that their pupils are not little pins. But their eyes look unaffected, as does their skin and the rest of their appearance. "Coming back from a Halloween party?" Gary asks us. Olivia and I stare at each other. " Something like that." I say. "At any rate, welcome to our home." Gary says warmly. "This is your home?" Olivia query's. Gary has a half smile now. "It isn't much, but it keeps us safe. And what's better than being safe?" Gary pulls Carol closer. "Am I right, baby?" "Absolutely right." she says gazing into his eyes. He gives her a long kiss, and then releases her. Gary claps his hands. "Now, let's celebrate." "I'll get the champaign." Carol says excitedly. Carol strolls over to a rusty shelving unit. There are pounds of dry food on it. The middle shelve, however has a full champaign bottle with, conveniently, four chamapign glasses beside it. Carol delicately carries the glasses and bottle to us. She hands each of us a glass and gives Gary the bottle. Gary pulls a tablecraft out of his breast pocket. As he fumbles with the instrument, something catches Olivia's eye. She nudges me and points subtly to Carol's hand. There is a green emerald ring on her index finger. Just then we hear a pop followed by Gary shouting "Eureka!" Gary pours a little Champaign in everyone's glass. He raises his glass high in the air. "To the end of a nightmare!" he declares. We all clink our glasses together and take a sip. "Carol, I couldn't help but admire your ring. It's beautiful." Olivia tells her slyly. Carol smiles. "My baby is a huge Wizard of Oz fan. You kids ever see it?" "Oh yeah it's a classic." I tell him, trying to butter him up as much as possible. "Judy Garland. Ray Bolger. What's not to like? But that's not why my baby likes it. Is it?" "Carol shakes her head no." "Go on, tell them why you like it." "Emerald city." Gary laughs to himself. "We saw the picture and you know what she tells me when the gang arrives at Emerald City?" Olivia and I shrug. "She says I want that." "And you went out and got it?" Olivia says. "Well, had to pull a few strings here and there, but I found it." Carol puts out her hand and displays her ring. "Beautiful isn't it?" He asks us. "Breathtaking." Olivia exclaims. "One of a kind. Nothing like it." He says pridefully. "Nothing?" I ask. "Nothing." I pull Olivia to the side. "There it is." I say hopefully. "What are you gonna do? Put on your charm for Carol?" I roll my eyes. "I was thinking you could convince her Emeralds are out of style now." "You really think that would work?" I nod. "She's materialistic, she'll want the new luxury item." "But Wizard of Oz is her favorite movie." I smirk. "Piece of cake. While you are talking to Carol about jewelry, I'll gab with Gary about the movie and make up how it has subtle ties to communism. Once he hears that, he'll want to do whatever he can to distance himself from that ring." Olivia half bends over, as if the weight of what she just heard was all to heavy. She stands back up. "I don't know if that plan is evil or genius." She says. "It just might get the job done. You ready for this?" "Yeah, I think so."

Dig! Dig!

We stand at the foot of the mountain and stare at the top. Or at least the closest thing to the top from our vantage point. I let out a loud whistle. "No kidding." Olivia says to me, still staring at the sky."Might as well start now." I declare. I saunter to the mountain. I place one foot the rock, preparing for the climb. "What are you doing?" Olivia shouts. "Climbing the mountain." "You can't do it like that?" "Why not?" "You need a rope." "Oh yeah." I take my foot off the rock and turn to Olivia. "So where's the rope?" I ask her. " I don't have one. I thought you had it." I scratch my head. "This could be a problem." I get down on my knees and start to dig in the dirt with my bare hands. "What are you doing now?" I stop my digging and look up at her. "The only other option I can think of right now." "I'm guessing we don't have a shovel." "Not unless you brought one." Olivia joins me in digging. "How do you know it's buried on this side of the mountain?" She asks me. "I don't. I don't even know how far down it would be." "So we're just gonna dig a big hole?" I stop my digging momentarily. "It's the best idea I got." I tell her earnestly. I'm sure she does not like the plan one bit. Honestly I don't really either, but as of now, it is all we can think of. So we dig. We dig with out bare hands. The top layer isn't so bad. It's summer time now, so the soil is fresh and soft. It's once we get past that top layer that things become tricky. Rocks and Clay. Fortunately though, that's when we become smarter. Olivia takes off her mask, and we use it to scoop into the Earth. It still takes a bit of effort, but we make it work. We dig as if there was no tomorrow, without any clear indication of when we want to stop. The sun sets and we are still digging. Eventually we hit something sold. Something metal. I brush away the dirt with my hands. There is a circular latch. I undue the latch and this metal door, or whatever you would call it swings open. I gaze down the entrance. There is a later that stretches a few feet into a sub basement. Out of no where, a couple who looks as though they are straight out of the 50's pop directly into my field of vision. Not expecting that, I jump back. "Sorry about that. Didn't mean to frighten you." The man's voice calls out. "Who is that?" Olivia asks me. "The name's Gary." The man shouts out. Olivia and I look down the entrance. "And this is my wife, Carol." He continues. Gary has neatly parted hair. He wears thick glasses and a business suite. Carol is a platinum blonde. She wears high heals, pearls, and a dress. "Say, is the war over?" Gary asks us. "Which one?" I respond. Gary chuckles. "Why they cold war." "Oh yeah, at least last time I checked." I tell him. "Splendid. Would you like to come down and celebrate with us?" Me and Olivia look at each other in confusion. "Yeah, sure." We reply back to him.

Lunch Time...the Best Time

"Unbelievable." Olivia utters as we enter a fast food joint. There is a gawky teenage boy standing behind the register. "Welcome to Burger Palace." He says cheerily as we make our way to the counter. Olivia looks in awe. "Do you get a lot of people coming in here?" She asks. "Oh no. You two would be the first." "So, how long has this store been open?" I inquier. " A few years." He replies. "You've been open for a few years, and we're the first customers?" Olivia asks. "Yep." "So what do you do with your time if nobody comes in?" Olivia pries. "You came in." Olivia sighs. " I know that, but what did you do before we came in?" "I would just stand here and wait for someone to come in." "And that is all you would do?" "Yep." I knock on the counter. "That is dedication right there." I say. "Oh, that's something." Olivia responds. "What can I get you guys?" "I'll have the number two special." I tell him. He looks over at Olivia. "I'll do the same." I take out my wallet. "Oh no, it's on us." The cashier insists. "Really?" He nods his head. "Huh, free food. What's not to like?" I say as I place my wallet in my back pocket. "You can have a seat. I'll bring the food right out." We take a seat in one of those plastic booths. They are the kind of booths that you see in just about every fast food restaurant in America. They kind that look much more comfortable then they actually are. "A thought occurred to me." Olivia tells me. "And that would be?" I ask. "You were so sure that there was a fast food restaurant around here." "Yeah, I was." "And that's great, but why don't you use that "gift" to help us find the emerald." "I can't control this power of mine." I say sarcastically. "You could learn." Before I have a chance to respond the cashier places our food on the table. Mouth watering burgers, french fries and fountain drinks. I look up at our cashier. "You know anything about your town's mountain." "Oh yes, much." "Do you know anyone who has climbed it?" "Yes, many." "And?" I say expecting that maybe this time he will have a more elaborate response. "No one has ever survived the climb." He says, still keeping his cheery demeanor. "Well, we're gonna climb it." Olivia tells him confidently. " And you'll probably die." He responds as if it is just a matter of fact. "What if we had some sort of guide with us?" I ask him. "Then you'll probably die less quickly." I raise my eyebrows. " Not bad odds. You wanna be our guide?" I ask him. "Stop it." Olivia warns me. " Gee, I can't. I have duties here." "I'll bring you back an icicle." I say jokingly. "Ok, I have to get back to work now though." He walks away. I have a feeling humor is not his strong suite. Olivia turns her mask around so she can eat. "Ready for our last meal?" I ask as I grab a handful of fries.

Doubt

"This is ridiculous. How are are we supposed to find it?" Olivia asks in a panic. I put out my hand give the "stop" motion. "Whoa." I say stopping her in her tracks. "What?" "You can't be worried?" "Why not." "Because I'm supposed to be the neurotic, somewhat pessimistic one." Olivia looks me directly in the eye. "Now it's my turn to be pessimistic." She declares. "Ok." I end it there and we continue to walk down a dirt path. After a moment, I break the silence. "No, this is hopeless. You know the odds of finding a little emerald?" Olivia shakes her head no. "It's like fining a needle in a haystack." Olivia slows her pace. "You're right. It could be anywhere." "Yeah, it could be at the base or the ledge. We don't even know how far up he went." Olivia looks up at me worriedly. "Are we really doing this?" She asks me. "We don't have to." "Are you suggesting we rebel against the Purple Haired woman?" "What's the worst that could happen?" I ask Olivia. " I don't know. But I think we should do this?" I sigh. "You know, I was happy with the ending." I say with a harsh undertone. "What do you mean?" "Sometimes that is just how stories end." "So what do you think it means then?" "Who cares?" "I do." She says sweetly. I take a deep breath. " Planting the emerald could be a metaphor for reaping what you sow." Olivia inches closer to me. " What do you think it meant that he was attacked before he could plant it?" I shrug. " Maybe it just wasn't meant for him." Olivia smiles with her eyes through the sugar skull mask. "That means it is meant for us." she declares. "Ok, I'll do this mission." " I knew you would." I examine the mountain off in the distance. "I think we should get some burgers before we start though." Olivia looks at her surroundings. "We are in a Grim's Fairy tale right now. where are we going to find a burger place?" She asks. "If there is one thing I know, we are never to far away from a Wendy's or a Mcdonalds or some sort of fast food place." "You really think so?" "I know so." "You really think we should be doing that though?" "Did she give us a time table of when we need to get the emerald?" I ask. "I don't think so." "Then let's go. It'll give us energy and who knows? Maybe we can find a sherpa there." Olivia extends her arm. "Lead the way."