Acapulco Sun pedaled like a madwoman away from the aquarium. Steamed and slightly woozy from the smell of the restroom-- a mixture between rancid cleaning fluid and ikky restroom stuff-- she decided to ride into Aquaside.
“Because of me wasting an hour in that loo, I didn’t get the glass clean,” she said furiously to herself. “And if I don’t get it clean, I lose my job.” She gritted her teeth. She’d never been the dutiful sort, so riding away from her responsibilities seemed like the natural thing to do.
Her anger faded into a feeling of helplessness and a slight sense of misery. She felt defeated in an abstract way, but couldn’t put her finger on it.
The ride to Aquaside was neither short nor long; tiring, but not exhausting. The first half of the ride she’d been going fast, fueled by her fury, but the second part she had pedaled more easily.
Acapulco had ridden to Aquaside a week prior, but she’d just gone on a joyride around the outskirts of the village. Aside from that, she hadn’t been there in over a month. She had no idea what was waiting for her, to say the least.
* * *
A kid with fuzzy brown hair and massive glasses observed Magnolia Simms walking slowly down the street. He dropped out of the tree and ran around in front of her. “Heya, Mags! Wanna go out?”
She sighed. Why did this always happen to her?... “No thanks... what was your name again?”
“What do you want it to be?” he drooled.
“Please go away,” she implored, worried.
“Anything,” he said, then deliberately jumped down an open manhole. Magnolia sighed heavily.
With him gone, another came to take his place. “Helllooo. Want me to serenade you?”
“No thank you... I’m a little busy right now...” Magnolia looked around nervously.
“LOVE TO ME IS BLUE-EYED AND BLOND... OH, THAT’S SWEET MAGNOLIA....!!” he bawled, desperately off-key. Magnolia covered her ears and ran down the street, ducking into an alleyway and slipping into the shadows and out of sight. The sounds of the evilly dischordant singing wafted through the heavy summer air until the singer realised that his subject had disappeared. Dejected, he headed for home.
* * *
Meanwhile, at the mall...
“You run into the weirdest freak show in the mall,” a short blue kid named Tobiah complained, observing a blue slime drop drinking a Slurpee. “It’s a good thing we’re normal.”
“No kiddin’,” Sanballat said, smiling unnervingly at a passerby.
“But seriously,” Tobiah continued, blinking furiously. “I really think we should become telephone sanitizers.”
“Maybe Wednesday,” Sanballat scratched her ear. “I have to go to war tomorrow.”
“Reeaally?” Tobiah inquired.
“No, not really,” Sanballat responded. Tobiah and Sanballat paid for their new hats and walked merrily out of the store with them.
* * *
Acapulco wiped her forehead as she forced her legs to pedal down the street. It was very, very hot. Feeling gross and sweaty, she made plans to turn into the mall’s parking lot and buy a Slurpee..... or two.... or three...
