Hollywood Dreams
(Part IV)
written by Zycho32
Authors Note: I am skipping the actual filming part for this trip. E-mail me if you'd like me to show that exact part. Otherwise, it's left to your imagination.
Date: 9/23/39
7:04 PM
Unbelievable, just unbelievable!!!!!!! My first ever time filming as a cameraman, and I ROCKED!!!!!! I was awesome!!! I passed my test with flying colors!!!! I.........I'm bragging, aren't I? Anyway, the point is, I did very good.
It was just 12 minutes after the filming. I had already changed into my old clothing (thank god for that). We had all gathered for a late dinner, and as usual, I was chowing down. This time, I selected a triple cheese, triple pepperoni pizza, HEAVY with the salt. It was like I had a mountain of salt! Ah heck, I like salt! So sue me.
I even displayed my talents as a pizza maker by showing everyone my "Buried Treasure" pizza.
What's a "Buried Treasure" pizza, you ask? I'll show you.
Step 1: Make the best tasting pepperoni that you can make. Normally, I take the pepperoni, and sprinkle some good spices on it, making it taste absolutely delicious!
Step 2: After you put the pizza sauce on the bread dough, put the pepperoni over it. Simple enough.
Step 3: Pile tons of cheese on it. Also, for a more rocky impression, making it look like the treasure is on a beach, apply some sausage in random places.
And viola! A "Buried Treasure" pizza! The group gave me a 9.4 out of 10 for it. I guess I'll have to develop better tasting pepperoni.
However, as I was eating, my gaze would turn to two certain cats. You see, Danny and Sawyer had vowed to get me for that little water mishap earlier this morning. They could do just about anything to me if I wasn't careful. Every now and then during the meal, I'd see one of them give me a glance, as if watching me.
Naturally, this was freaking me out. Of course it would. You have no idea what those two can do to someone when they want to. They're cats, and cats can be VERY aggressive.
In order to save my own skin, I need to apply some chaos so I can make a getaway, and chaos can be considered my middle name, even though my real middle name is Ryan. I promptly jumped up to a table, with a pizza pie in my hand, and bellowed out the first words that came to mind.
"FOOOOOOOOOOOOD FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Immediately, I sent the pizza hurling, hitting Flannigan in the face. Blindly, he tossed some food, smacking Enrique.
Chaos took over as everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, including the chefs, began tossing food at each other. I also noticed Flannigan took the unofficial title of "Food Fighting Champ". There was no one he couldn't hit, and he was using a rather large dinner plate to shield himself from flying food. One would think he had experience in such an event. He probably did, especially when all those executives get together. They're bound to be hostile to one another.
I waited until the right moment, then fled the scene. I only traveled about 50 feet before I was stopped. And you know who stopped me.
Danny had taken most of the bombardment of those two cats. A bunch of food was on his face, some on his arms, and not too surprisingly, none on his chest. He had this somewhat evil smile on his face. Downright frightening when you consider the fact he's rarely ever in an evil mood.
Sawyer had avoided much contact with flying food, even though she had a pizza slice on her head. Her smile looked even more evil. Each one had some food in their hands.
I put my arms on the back of my head, a sign of surrender. I got no mercy.
SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT! and.........SPLAT!
7:56
Well, I finally got cleaned up. Dang food stains. Then again, everyone had to get cleaned up. But then again, what did I have to wear? I was NOT going to wear that cameraman suit!
Enrique had given me some clothing. Let me give you the inventory.
1 white sleeved shirt, thin.
1 Cut up red shirt (sort of like a vest to you readers)
1 pair of black pants 1 pair of red shoes
A little odd, but they actually fit pretty well (provided you wash and dry them so they shrink to your size). Remind me to invest in this kind of clothing when I get back.
Well, now I had nothing to do again. So, I decided to take a walk around the ship, looking up at the stars in the now cloudless sky, and stopping every now and then to fix a little problem with my new clothing, which was rather......uncomfortable in a particular place.
I was just strolling along, minding my own business, then I bump into someone. Oddly, it's enough to make me fall on my butt (All this outfit needs is some butt padding to protect my butt). I looked up, ready to spit out various and certain 4-letter words.
I had run into Alyssa Henderson. The cat would rip your head off, and tape the whole procedure to be sold in a horror movie (if such a thing existed back then).
"OH ^^&%#^%$!!!!!!!!!!!" I was beginning to back up, after I had managed to get up. The look she was giving me was pure death. I was ready to make a run for it, but those eyes kept me from doing so as she stepped closer and closer to me. Within minutes, she had me backed up to the railing.
She grinned. "You know, I never did pay you back for that encounter on the street." I gulped.
I figured, what the hell, why not have a little bit of fun at her expense?
So I gave her a quick kiss on the lips. She started at me in semi-shock, semi-anger. I made a nervous smile, actually darn near cocky smile.
Hey, when I'm going to get clobbered, I like to deserve it.
Date: 9/24/39
Well, as I wake up, I see the sea. Actually, the sea is all I see. You see, Alyssa tied me to some rope, pushed me over the railing, and tied the rope together so I would dangle about 8 feet from the water. While the sea provides some form of refreshment, such as those waves smacking you, it also gave me some time to think about that kiss.
I had never kissed anybody. Ever. Now, I just did it for some kicks. I just did it to make a cat with a very bad anger problem even more angry. The confusing part is that it actually felt kind of good. Hmmmm........maybe I should try that again...........
"Hey kid! Are you NUTS!" That must be Cranston.
"Do me a few favors! One, SHUT UP, and two, PULL ME UP!!!!!" I reply, just as a high wave smacks me in the face. The 14th wave to hit me in the face today. I don't even want to talk about the BIG wave that just went through my entire body about 40 minutes ago.
Cranston swiftly pulls me up onto the deck and unties me. "Geez, you're sure active for an old goat."
He just looks at me. "At age 62, some goats can still compete in sports such as football." He says. "What happened to you anyway?"
"I ran into Alyssa." I reply.
"Alyssa Henderson? The cat with a flaming temper?" He says. I nod. He chuckles. "What did you do?"
"Kissed her." I reply. He does a double take. "Kissed her?? Boy, why didn't she rip your head and limbs right off?"
"I dunno, maybe she enjoyed it somewhat?" He does ANOTHER double take. "Cranston, that's getting irritating."
"I'll be seeing you at the morgue kiddo." He says. This got me to laugh a bit. Hey, it was funny! Anyway, he quickly gets out of there, probably in case Alyssa was watching, which I hope she wasn't. I REALLY don't want to know what she has done, and can do to anyone, anywhere, especially if it happens to me.
I was so afraid I wasn't even noticing the fact Cranston called me 'kiddo'!
Well, I decided, why not report for work? I imagine it's always a good idea to show up for work early. Also it would take my mind off of Alyssa, especially a picture of her with my head, disemboweled of course, in her hand.
Gee, Flannigan doesn't look that bad in his non-director uniform (unofficial, but a LOT of directors wear that geeky crud for some reason). Simple red shirt and blue jeans, and no hat. Even the shades are gone.
Now, if he only got a nose job, then he wouldn't be so comical-looking. "Hey Flannigan."
"Hello Jake. In case you haven't noticed, we don't start until later on at night today." He replied, still all professional.
"Okay then. What exact time?" I asked.
He did a small shake of his big-nosed head. "Jake, I hate to break it to you, but.."
"There's no need for me for this shoot? I take it it's an indoors shot." I replied before he could finish. I really nailed this one on the spot.
"Right Jake. Ned can handle an indoors shot. Would you still like to watch?" He asked.
"Sure!" I replied. I felt like seeing where this movie would end up. Wouldn't anyone?
But it sure would be one heck of a wait until nighttime.
And who knows what will happen during that time! The ship could sink, we could be invaded by pirates, or aliens of some kind!
Or I could run into Alyssa again. *GULP*
You can tell that I don't want to run into her, can you?
Oh well, it'll be at least 6 hours until sunset, so I'll have plenty of time to myself, perhaps too much time. I guess I'll be thinking a lot.
Especially about John.
By my account, it has been approximately 3 weeks since I arrived in Hollywood. And in those 3 weeks, absolutely nothing, nada, zip has been found of John. Not one trace. I haven't even found anybody who's even seen someone that looks like him! It's like......I don't know....it's like he disappeared of the face of the earth or something.
And now I'm caught up in the movie business, something John hates. That'll win him over when, or if, I do meet up with him.
Maybe he'll think otherwise. Maybe he'll think that I needed a job in order to stay alive, and since my first friends here are in the movie business, they could help me out there.
Or maybe he'll think I came here to make a new life.
There's too many possibilities to think about, so I'll stop thinking about that.
Okay, it's been an hour since I talked to Flannigan, so I decided to walk around the ship again. Along the way, I figured I'd bump into someone. Naturally, it'd be those two cats.
I was right.
They were dressed in their normal clothing, of course. It's not like they'd be in suits and dresses, or sleepwear, or something like that. From what I heard, they had just had a bite to eat, and decided to take a stroll too. I mean, what else was there to do on the ship, besides chatting, and the kinds of stuff gf/bf like to do?
Anyway, I asked them what was going on in the next shoot.
"Sorry Jake, we're not in it, so we don't know." Danny said.
"Then what good is the shot?" I asked.
"From what I can tell, it's got Enrique in it, along with Alyssa." Sawyer replied.
That's when I visibly freaked out. Who knows what she'd do to me, if she had a reason to do something to me! A whole bunch of images appeared in my head, each one was Alyssa doing something terrible to me. Whether it was her hitting me in the face, kicking me in the stomach or lower, taking some blunt object to my head, or even grabbing a BIG shotgun and......
That thought was a bit TOO much for me.
I guess they could notice I was afraid. "Alright Jake, what did you do?" Sawyer asked.
"It had to be something pretty bad." Danny said.
It took me a couple seconds to respond. "W...would kissing her be bad?"
Stunned silence. A few minutes later. Even MORE stunned silence.
"Um, guys? Guys? GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!" I said, getting their attention. "I take it that's bad, right?" They nod. "VERY bad?" They nod again.
I gulp. "Maybe she'll go easy on me." I say, although it's only to comfort myself, which isn't doing a very good job anyways.
"Last person that did that to her actually wished he was sent to the morgue." Danny said. I gulped again. I knew that most, if not all, young people didn't want to get sent to the morgue. To be wishing that after being attacked by a crazed female because you just kissed her... well, let's just say that it's not a pretty picture.
I decided to walk away, but anyone could tell I was walking like I was already dead, which wouldn't be so far from the truth at the time.
4 hours to go......I guess I'll just put on that cameraman gear for some more testing and....
I just bumped into someone....oh no.....not Alyssa!
Before I can react, she grabbed me and pushed me to a wall. The angry glare was in her eyes, staring right through me, and scaring the crud out of me! Her arms were keeping my arms against the wall. I braced myself for a severe beating.
Then I noticed her arms let go of mine. A quick look showed she wasn't glaring at me, although she still wasn't smiling. "I'm going to make a deal with you." She said. I listened.
"Don't mess with me, and you won't get ripped to shreds. You understand?" I nodded eagerly. It wasn't a very convincing speech she said, but I don't think It would have done good to make a comment about it, especially when she can clobber you, like you were a side of beef (artificial, of course).
Then she smiled. That one almost sent me down to the ground. I mean, in all those seconds that I had seen her, she just glared and glared, and glared some more. Like she was always ticked off. "I'm Alyssa Henderson." She said, holding out her hand.
It took me 5 seconds to shake it; 2 to get over the shock, 2 to realize what the hand was for, and just 1 to shake her hand. "I'm Jacob Anderson." I replied.
Well, what do you know, I make a friend out of an enemy. Life just got much better for me. Heck, it even gives me someone to chat with for these couple hours.
Alyssa Henderson was another one of those big-city beings, this time, from New York, via a brief (about 6 weeks) time in Miami. Apparently, one of those giant hurricanes put away her stay there, since she pretty much lost the place she was staying in.
Apparently, she too had a big obligation to make it big in the movies, only she had experience, in the theaters in New York. Even though that wasn't big or anything. After all, at that time, animals weren't regarded as acting material.
Mostly it was around back alleys and such small, out of the way places in such a big city. This concerned me slightly. After all, I figured all sorts of thugs would be roaming those very alleys, looking for unsuspecting victims to rob, and who knows what else?
Anyway, she noticed what was going on over here, and decided to make it big too. Only natural. After all, most people and animals are driven by fame. And with the experience she had in theater plays, she looked to have a good shot at fame.
I explained to her about my life, my family (hers only consists of her mother now), and why I was here.
"I doubt that's the only reason you're here." She replied. "You look like you're enjoying this whole thing too much." Then she walked away.
I....I can't believe she said that! Yes, I was enjoying myself a bit too much, with all the cameraman stuff and all.......
The last hour or so was spent at the stern of the ship, thinking about things once again. I hoped to find John soon, only this time, I began thinking about staying, to pursue a career here. Hey, I was given a shot as a cameraman, and with my abilities, I'd be one of the elite, heck, maybe I'd revolutionize the job!
Oh, man, I'm LATE! I mean, late for that shooting that I wanted to attend.
And to my utter disappointment, I found that they had just finished up the shoot, and were currently leaving. Actually, they had already left. Dang me and my luck sometimes.
I noticed that there was a black box where I was. The only thing odd about this box was the series of holes along the bottom, otherwise, it was a normal black box, which was kind of large.
A quick examination revealed a handle on the side of the box, so I picked it up by that handle, and after a few seconds, I was able to get it on my back.
I figured, maybe Danny would know. So, I lugged that heavy thing over to his room.
Looking back, I must not have been thinking very clearly. Obviously, Danny wouldn't know what that was, who would? I mean, it was an odd box with holes. Who'd know about that?
Anyway, both my hands are occupied, one grabbing the handle, and the other trying to help my other hand, when I approached his door. I therefore banged my head against his door until he answered.
"Hey Danny. Look what I found below." I said.
He carefully set down his cup of tea. "You're going to set it down in here?" He asked incredulously.
"Sure, why not? Not like it's going to be a BOMB!" I exclaimed. For some odd reason or another, I wanted to see Danny freak out.
Anyway, I carefully put the object down on his bed. A quick turn around revealed Danny had in fact panicked from what I said. Normally, no one would start sweating bullets the way Danny was doing. I promptly went over and closed the door.
"Danny," I began, "I'm perfectly, 100% sure, that this thing I found below is not a bomb. Besides, why the HECK would SOMEONE plant a BOMB HERE?!" My voice just got louder, and since I had walked back to the funny looking box, I banged it with my right fist every time I raised my voice. My left fist would shatter the box.
Danny's reaction was absolutely priceless. His eyes were wide, his mouth gaping, he obviously figured I'd make it EXPLODE with all these banging noises. "Ack! Shh! Shh! I don't know about you, but I don't want to cause a stampede!" He explained as calmly, well, as calmly as a cat who was only a millimeter away from cardiac arrest, and this is a young cat that I'm talking about!
"Well, I'M not willing to look like a fool, ESPECIALLY if this thing is fake!" I responded. Then I became more calm. I guess his panicking set off my adrenaline. "Actually, to be perfectly honest, it may be one of those props for the shooting that they failed to pick up...."
"Jake," Danny replied, "I don't know much at all about the script, but I do know that the script called for a BOMB. The BOMB would look JUST like a regular BOMB. And THAT is not a regular BOMB." His hands were gesturing at the object, and if I didn't know better, I'd say his fear triggered some anger.
And that's when my fingers noticed something. "Hey, I think this is a lid." I said. After a few seconds, I got it open to reveal......absolutely nothing!
"Is anything in there?" Danny asked rather nervously. He peeked in for a closer look, then jumped back in surprise, dang near jumping on my head when knocks were heard at the door. He was BEYOND afraid. He was absolutely TERRIFIED.
Fortunately, I wasn't. "Yes?" I calmly asked. My calm was because I figured for certain that whatever the hell it was, it certainly WASN'T a bomb.
"Hey, it's Sawyer...Jake?..."(Naturally, many of you readers KNOW who's speaking.) Danny had managed to regain himself, and began speaking in a whisper. "Just great!. Last thing we need is to have her find out. Why she'd panic, and then who knows...."
I whispered back. "Danny, if I remember correctly, she's had more control than you."
"Jake? Danny, are you in there?" Sawyer asked from beyond the door.
I decided to speak, since Danny would probably stutter and such, especially in his state of mind. "If you'd like to Sawyer, you can come in."
And naturally, she opened the door. Danny was doing his best to maintain a proper look, which is of course, the non-panicking look. To his credit, he did rather well. "Hey Sawyer, what are you up to?" He asked. Polite conversation.
She stepped into the room, and I could tell, even though my head was turned against her, that she was looking at this weird contraption. "I was about to settle in for the evening," and then she turned her head, probably towards Danny. "I was wondering, do you have another teabag, you know, the special blend with a hint of catnip?"
Catnip, I can't tell if it's a cat's favorite smell, or the preferred choice when a cat needs to be knocked out for a week. Nah, it's just one of those stupid questions that makes me human. Anyways, Danny led her to one of those desks, and helped her get some. During that time, I decided to fell around the inside of that box with my hand. After all, you never know what might be invisible to the naked eye.
You'd be as astonished as I was when I found out the empty inside only went as far in as my wrist. "Hey guys, I think this is a trick lid."
Danny walked up to me. "What?...I don't get it..." Sawyer came over for a peek. First she smiled, and then she laughed a little. "Oooh, I see. And may I ask what you two pranksters are up to?" The look in her eyes suggested she might even clobber one of us. Most likely me, since I know for a fact that she and Danny are an item.
To be honest, I ignored that comment, while I tried to pry off that other lid, the "Trick lid". Meanwhile, Danny decided to explain, explaining that I had found this below, I carried it here, and now I'm currently toying with something that's dangerous.
She was halfway in her response about telling both him and I (thought I wasn't exactly listening) that it was best to go to the porters office, or get a sailor's help, etc, etc. when the lid came clean off with a "SNAP!" Sent me flying to the other side of the room!
Danny once again shot into panic mode. "Don't DO that!!!!!" Yep, he was scared. That's the loudest I've ever heard him speak before.
Sawyer was actually amused by his outburst. "For Pete's sake guys, you shouldn't have to play it up for MY benefit." At this point, she was pretty darn close to outright laughter. Danny had the incredulous look on his face again, as if he was thinking 'You call THIS playing?!?!'
I walked back to the box, then noticing something, I reached out my hand, and slowly took out a clock, the alarm clock type, with the twin bells. A close examination revealed that there were twin wires coming out of the clock, on the back side.
Danny began laughing nervously. "Well, trust me, I don't want to mess with you guys again, so it wasn't me to planted this sucker. And apparently, neither did you." I said.
Sawyer gave it a close look too. "So, you're really going to be elaborate about this?" She gave me a sly smile. Sometimes I think she's got a lot more brains than we know, and we already know she's pretty intelligent.
She glances towards Danny. So do I, and I noticed that he's been sweating bullets again, but they almost look like cannonballs from where I was standing. "So, what do you thinks going to happen? Going to be a real blowout?" I get the feeling she was torturing Danny a bit, because the sweat drops just got bigger and fell faster.
Then I did something which proved to be real dumb. Putting my left foot on the box as a brace, I began tugging on the clock, in order to rip the cords off.
This set him off again. He grabbed my hands roughly. The expression on his face was extremely comical. "Jake, puhleease... eheh.. Don't want to mess it up, now do we?" He was VERY close to total breakdown, from what I could tell.
"What is it with you?" Sawyer asked Danny. "Geez, if you're so touchy......" she gives another sly smile, than ruffles Danny's fur on his head. "Then I guess I'll be leaving you boys with your toys. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me....Night."
It was about then that I tugged on the clock again. Obviously Danny was watching Sawyer leave, otherwise he would have stopped me.
Then the cords ripped, I flew to the other wall again, and out of those little holes came smoke! Grey smoke! It was very fast, since this whole room was covered in smoke in just roughly 1 second. You couldn't see anything!
"Oh my god....it's a SMOKSTER!!!" My dramatic understatement of the day.
"GAAAAHHH! I'll save you!"
"Hey!" You didn't have to be Sherlock to know who said what.
"AAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!!" *WHAM!* I just tripped over the cats.
"OW!!! My tail!!"
"Danny? I can't see...where's the door?" Sawyer was much more calm than Danny thought.
"Jake?? You okay? Here Sawyer, hold my tail.. I think the door's over here..."
"Hey, WOULD SOMEBODY LET GO OF MY LEG!?!?!?!?" That's me.
"Oh! Oops, sorry. thought it was too big for a tail..."
"Sawyer, here. Oh good Jake, you sound okay...ah! Here's the door. one sec and we'll be in the clear..."
"Hey, I think I found a doorknob!.....Wait, my mistake, it was the clock..." Me again.
It was at this time I managed to get up. With out thinking, I threw myself at the door. It would have been spectacular....that is, if Danny hadn't just opened the door. So, I wound up smashed against the hallway. The smoke was still pouring out.
Only one thing to do. I went back inside, picked up the box, with great difficulty, and began carrying it out of the room.
"Jake?? Are you nuts!? We're trying to get away from the smoke!!" Sawyer shouted.
"Shut up and help me carry this!" I replied. After a moment, both cats were helping me and we traveled up the boat deck.
No one was outside, which helped us out a good bunch. At least we wouldn't have to explain ourselves.
We approached a side of the ship. I couldn't tell which side it was because of all the smoke. "Quick! Dump it over!" That was Danny.
And we dumped it over. Easy as pie, right?
WRONG! As luck would have it, the lid had snapped shut, trapping a piece of my clothing, which was still on the rest of my clothing, which unfortunately, had me tumbling over the side along with it.
Danny and Sawyer had managed to grab a hold of me, more specifically, by the ankles, but then again, they are two cats, and I'm a human. Who weighs more? THE ONE WITH THE BOX!!!
I decided to think quickly, so I decided the best thing to do was get rid of my shirt. I had to take the sweater off, but I was fortunate enough to have my teal t-shirt on at that time.
Unfortunately, this still left me hanging by my feet on the rail, and my friends were beginning to tire out. I couldn't even help them, since my hands were too far below the railing to grab on. Yep, I looked like a goner.
"Hey, what's going on!?!" Alyssa! She had come over! After a quick bit of explaining, she began to help pull me back onto the ship.
After all of that, all 4 of us were still slumped at the edge of the boat, which was on the bow, starboard side. We were too exhausted to do anything else other than chat. And what did we chat about? Anything and everything, and obviously it would be boring otherwise I'd share it with you.
Then I noticed something was stuck to my butt, a kind of sticker. After removing it, I noticed the initials "D.D." on it, in pink letters.
"Does anyone know anybody with these initials?" I asked, showing them the sticker I found on my rear.
Danny and Sawyer just stared at that sticker. Alyssa shook her head, but I didn't notice, at least, not too well, since I was looking at the others. Maybe this triggered a memory for them.
Such a shame I couldn't find out. They were that silent.
Date: 9/25/39
Last night affected me so badly that I didn't sleep one wink. Nope, not one wink. I've been awake approximately 24 hours at that exact moment.
Yep, I was running on empty today.
I was walking, well actually, make that staggering like a zombie on a sedative, along the deck. My eyes were half open, my mouth was wide open, and I could've sworn I was drooling. I was constantly bumping into walls before I could turn away from them. Then, without warning, I flopped to the ground, so knocked out I was asleep just before my knees hit the ground.
I REALLY was running on empty!
I woke up at the same spot, feeling incredibly energetic. I didn't even notice I only slept 10 seconds! Now THAT'S a re-fill.
I went over to the bow (FRONT SIDE!) part of the ship, and I just noticed we made port.
Now, every now and then, if something happens or will happen quite soon, I'll get into a bit of panic, which you've probably seen already. Now, I was freaking out about what my luggage might be. As it turns out, I had none. I didn't have any when we started, the clothing Enrique gave me, I returned, and the cameraman suit and gear belonged to Ned.
So, with that settled, I went over to the ramp. I could spot both Danny and Sawyer getting off the ramp and into the port, so naturally, I followed. I just hope the sailor I knocked over with all that luggage isn't in a sour mood.
"Hey guys!" I call out to them, as I approach them. Do all women have tons of luggage or something?
"Hey Jake!" Danny responded. "Been a long cruise, wouldn't you say?"
"A vacation and a cruise all in one." I replied.
I noticed a cab horn honking in the distance. Kind of got me listening to it. Remember the cab accident I got myself into before?
Well, the cab had just come into view and made such a shape little turn that it's right side was facing us directly, only about a foot or so away.
Then that cabbies face pops out of the passenger's window. That same cabby!
It was at this point I zoned out. I was blubbering something, I couldn't tell what. I couldn't even hear my friends speak, but I could tell Danny was talking with the cabbie, and Sawyer was speaking to me, trying to find out what was wrong with me.
By the time I stopped zoning out, I found that I was pulled into the cab. Danny was in the middle, and Sawyer was at the left side. Me? I was on the right side.
"Uh guys.....do you remember that cab accident a while ago?" I asked them. If I remember correctly, they had seen the way the cab landed into the pile of luggage. They also saw me exit the cab, only to fall into the water.
Danny was thinking about that. Sawyer was faster at thinking however, as she glanced at the cabbie. "You mean...?"
I nodded. "He's the cab driver." For some strange reason, I was giggling, then, moments later, I was laughing a deep maniacal laugh, like someone would just before execution.
Then the cab went from 0 to 90 in no time flat.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" This was all 3 of us screaming, no, SCREAMING!!!!!!!! Danny slid into the door, not really crushing me, since he was so light (having a thin chest will do that to you).
It was only 2 seconds into the ride when we saw that we were coming across HEAVY traffic!!!!
I felt the need to say something, besides maniacal laughter and ultra-loud screaming. "Get ready for the ride of your nine lives!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I could tell that those two cats were latched onto each other, more for safety than for any kind of passionate moment. Trust me, I'm not them, but I defiantly know they'd prefer ANY OTHER moment than this, to be doing this!
Now, I'm not a religious man, but I was beginning to pray that he'll hit the breaks, no matter how hard, and stop the cab. Fat chance. I'll have better luck winning a zillion bucks! That cab just kept going full throttle, maneuvering through cars and other obstacles, with surprisingly, no damage. Me, I couldn't tell the difference, because my fingers were latched onto the car seat, my body kept totally stiff, so I wouldn't worry about flying out the window. It was SO much worse!
Things were just as bad for my friends. Sawyer had wrapped herself around Danny completely, but then again, so had Danny. I feel compelled to add that onto the top 10 favorite little things that I had seen them do, right along with the kisses and that moonlight dance. Then again, this wasn't a romantic moment.
Anyway, I finally snapped. After strengthening my hold on the car seat with my right hand, I reached out with my left hand, and grabbed the cabbie roughly. I then screamed, "STOP THE (*^%(&^$^*%#^&%$#&*%$&%# CAB!!!!!!!!!!".
His response was very calm. "That's impossible."
"WHY THE $@#^%$@^$!&%$@& NOT!!!!!!!!" My language is very varied. This includes all the dirty words ever uttered on the face of this planet. If you want an un-cut version, read my autobiography (which is actually a joke, I don't have one).
"Because we're 300 feet in the air."
"What!??!!?!?!" This surprisingly didn't come from me. It came from Danny. Sawyer just sat there, latching onto Danny in complete shock.
And it was true, we were VERY high up in the air, for some reason or another. All I could do was gaze out the window, as we just missed a building by inches.
I casually sat back against the seat. "Anybody who wishes to strangle me, please do so now." I felt I deserved it, since had I not zoned out, I could've told them about him, and we would have most likely walked back.
I noticed Sawyer glare at me. She was obviously saying 'later'. Maybe it was because she didn't really want to let go of the cat to whom she was attached to. Danny was keeping his eyes shut. Clearly, he didn't even want to think about that.
A quick bounce on the ground, and we were 50 feet up this time, and on our way into a local swimming pool!
My last glimpse before we hit the water was those two cats, still latched onto each other, although I forget HOW they were latched onto each other, but in any other moment, it would definitely be considered romantic.
I'm rambling, aren't I?
Moments, possibly minutes later, I broke through the water, gasping for air. I found myself at the edge of the swimming pool, so I grabbed onto the edge. I then looked around for any sight of my friends, whom appeared almost out of nowhere right next to me, also gasping for air.
For cats, they're very good swimmers. They didn't have any real difficulties reaching the edge of the pool.
Before any of us could say anything, we heard car sounds. When we turned our heads around, we saw the cab, which had sunk just moments before, had somehow got out of the water, onto the ground, and was driving away. The rest of the luggage my friends had was currently floating around in the pool.
How the hell did that cabbie do THAT!?
Carefully, I got myself and my friends up out of the pool, which was rather slippery. I wound up falling back into the water a couple times. Dang shoes of mine.
After the last time I got out of the water, I made a small remark. "I can see why you animals never wear shoes."
I unwittingly made a really dumb quote, right in front of my friends. "You know, all this makes me wish I'd brought a camera to film this...GAACCK!!!"
The sound was caused by two small white hands grabbing me by the throat. Before long, I was in a major struggle which looked far more comical than serious. She was choking the life out of me (or trying to), while he tried to pry her off, or maybe he wanted to get a hand in there as well.
After a while, the fight had stopped, more or less, and we were walking down the road, carrying the luggage, all of it. At least whatever hadn't been totally ruined, which wasn't much at all. So, all 3 of us were carrying about two suitcases apiece, which would have been about 4 apiece, if the others weren't ruined beyond salvation.
I hadn't bothered to speak, since my mind was once again on John. I just kept thinking about him, again and again, which would be natural. You haven't seen someone in a long time, you're bound to think about that person, right?
So NOW what will I do?
I'm not going to worry about it now. Want to know why? Because I'm going to take the job as cameraman, and work my way up. I'm going to stick around for a while and maybe encounter John one of these blasted days! I've got friends, I've got connections, right? I can do this, right? RIGHT!
I may be a 16 year old kid up against LA, but I'm not going to back down. I'm going to put up one hell of a fight, and I'll win!
I only have one question to ask.
Are all boat cruises like that?
THE END
(This ends the introduction series. You have requests? Send them to mailto:Zycho32@yahoo.com)