I notice odd things

This has always bothered me about movies, usually action type flicks. There is a big gun fight between people and then one person gets the drop on the other. Let's say Brad Pitt is a good guy and gets the drop on Edward Norton. Now, they have been firing at each other enough that they have both had to reload a bunch of times. This has been a very exciting gun battle. Now Pitt is standing in front of Norton, brandishing his weapon. It turns out that Norton has Pitt's family, and Pitt is threatening to kill Norton is he doesn't reveal where the wife and child are. They bicker back and forth, Norton being cool and cocky, Pitt becoming highly agitated and emotional (just like a woman...what a girly-man!). He comes to his breaking point and says "I swear on my mother's grave (this is a very emotional movie) that if you don't tell me where they are I will blow your brains all over this carpet!" (For the sake of the movie they are fighting in a very nice office with a deeply coloured mahogany desk and several paintings on the walls, which are now completely in tatters because of the grenade. Did I mention that there was a grenade? Cuz there was). To show that he is serious (and keep in mind that this gun battle probably lasted a solid ten minutes. They've each been hit at least once, a few guards (like twenty) have been caught in the crossfire, there was backflips and slides across open doorways and all sorts of excitement) Pitt aggressively cocks his gun.
I must not understand guns, because I can see no reason to cock the gun at this point. Had he flipped the safety on and now he's taking it off? If so, why? That makes no sense. Does the gun become automatically unable to fire after a minute of disuse and so he has to recock it? Does cocking it make the bullet hurt more?
I don't get it. They've spent ten minutes just pointing and pulling the trigger. There was no extra effort needed. Where did this sudden need to do something to the gun come from? And seriously, why wait to do it. If the other guy knows anything about guns, and given the fact that they were just engaged in a gun battle, don't you think he would know that the gun can't be fired yet? So why would he just stand there and wait for the Pitt to ready to the gun to be fired. Jump him, or move somewhere where getting shot isn't an option!
The movie scenario is just made up, but not the part about the gun. It happens in movies and TV shows ALL THE TIME. I used to go with it, but it has bugged me for a while. It makes absolutely no sense. I don't even think it is a very good device for making things more dramatic, or upping the tension. Ah, maybe it's just me. It doesn't really bother me in a serious way, but every time I see it happen I immediately think of it and shake my head.
If anyone knows more about guns than I do (it's be hard to know less), and has an explanation for why this might be necessary, let me know.

Be Cool, man. Be Cool

Speaking of movies, I recently had the opportunity to sit down and watch some movies. I saw Judge Dredd, Be Cool and The Matador.
First, The Matador, with Pierce Brosnan and Greg Kinnear. I thought we were renting a different Brosnan movie, one where he is a jewel thief that gets brought back to do another heist on behalf of the corrupt part of the FBI (or something like that). Instead, it is about Brosnan being a hitman who is experiencing burn out and befriending a hard-luck businessman (namely Greg Kinnear). Frankly, I was impressed by Brosnan. He can play a slightly neurotic crazy man pretty well. The best scene was when he walks through the lobby of the hotel in his undies (tighty whities that were black) and cowboy boots (the kind that are only half as tall as normal cowboy boots and have a zipper on the side. They probably aren't even cowboy boots, but that is what they look like). And then he goes outside to the pool and jumps in, still holding a can of beer. And then he sees a shark in the pool. I think the shark isn't really there, it's just a symptom of his crazy, but he still sees it. All in all, it was a pretty good movie.
And then we saw Judge Dredd. Speaking of good movies, this was not one of them. It was one of those action movies that is so bad it is fun to watch. Sylvester Stallone plays Judge Dredd. It is set in the future when law is kept by the ubercops called Judges, they have the ability to sentence people as soon as they catch them, there is no trial, no jury, just the judges. And of course there is an evil plot to overthrow the leaders and destroy the judges and take over with new cloned judges and...well, it is the type of movie that you really just have to let play and not think about too much because it will only hurt your brain. And Stallone has a repeated line ("I knew you were going to say that", or "...he was going..." depending on the circumstance) that was a little clever the first time he said it and just laughable every other time. And he says it five or six times at least during the movie. I watched much of the movie just stunned at how ridiculous it was. That being said, I had fun with it. It was a silly movie. Also, Rob Schneider was in it.
Finally, we watched Be Cool with John Travolta and Uma Thurman, not to mention the Rock, Vince Vaughn, and Cedric the Entertainer. This is a very funny movie. I was laughing out loud for most of the movie. It's one of those movies where the protagonist (Travolta) never loses his cool. He is always in control and one step ahead of the others, even when he unexpectedly finds himself face to face with a gun (which happens about four times during the movie). Every time it happens he talks his way out of it and escapes unharmed. Andre 3000 (of Outkast fame) plays a gun happy thug who is absolutely hilarious. The Rock is a gay bodyguard who just wants to act. He sings a country song (You Ain't Woman Enough To Take My Man) and they made a video that is almost painfully bad, but manages to be hilariously funny, which is the best kind of funny. Vince Vaughn is a music manager who dresses and talks like a pimp, but deep down inside he's a loser. All the characters were well cast and the situations that occur are hilarious. At one point Travolta wakes up to find that Cedric and his group of thugs (including Andre 3000) have broken into the house. He goes down and instead of getting shot because he doesn't have their money he ends up negotiating a record deal that leaves everybody happy. At the end Andre 3000 is sipping on a small cup of tea and resting it on his gun. He also accidentally shoots his gun. It's funnier than I'm describing it, but trust me, it is rather funny.
So those were my three movies in one day. It was a good day.
Over the next two days I then watched Season Three of Alias. All of it. Including special features. I like that show, though I am curious if they had to use slow motion every episode, or if they just liked to.

Random Kung Fu Scientist

So I'm sitting here watching Alias (season 3, a very cool show) and I am struck by a thought. The show is about a female superspy and this episode starts with her kicking some serious butt, beating up at least five guys on her own, unarmed. Last night I watched Judge Dredd (a terrible movie, it was AWESOME), and at the end Stallone, the star, fought the bad guy while the two women paired off against each other. My thought is this - why do most action movies insist on women only fighting other women. In Judge Dredd, one woman was a highly trained cop, and the other woman was a scientist who just happened to know kung fu and could fight. I'm not saying it isn't possible, but I am saying that there was nothing about the character that suggested that she had these abilities until the very end of the movie. And yet, in Alias, it is normal to see Jennifer Garner beat the crap out of men and women, and it doesn't seem wrong to see the men trying to beat her up.
For some reason that has always bothered me, the way that women have to fight other women. If a woman is the star of the movie, then a woman has to be the villain. Why can't women be the hero and take out the guy. It might even be more cool to see a smaller woman take out a huge guy. Imagine if Cameron Diaz got into it with The Rock. You look at it and think The Rock should win cuz he's huge and Diaz sure isn't that large. But it would be totally possible to make Diaz win the fight in a completely believable way (most marial arts are based, I think, on using an opponents weight and size against him, so it's not necessarily the power that has to win, but speed, strength, and endurance), and it would make her triumph that much more impressive. But Hollywood doesn't seem to roll that way. And that's too bad.
Sidenote, The Rock is pretty awesome in Be Cool. I'll tell you about my little movie marathon later.

Driving on a skating rink

Well, the winter weather is upon us, and that brings winter roads, winter ice, and winter bad driving. We all know that things get icy and that when you are driving you have to be a little more cautious, leave a little more room and just be sensible.
However, it seems that there is a neglected area of thought, at least for some people. During the winter, you also have to be a smarter pedestrian. I was driving today and I was going 40km/h at the very most, and likely much slower. I was watching the road, thank goodness, and I saw the girl running up to the crosswalk. She hit the crossing button as she ran by and right onto the street. I barely touched the brakes and all four tires locked up because the road was covered with ice. I layed on my horn and she dashed out of the way, but if she had been going slower or I had been going faster or not watching I likely would have ran her over. There was little that I could do at that point. There were parked cars beside me so I couldn't go around her, my only option was straight forward. Heck, I would have had trouble stopping in the summer.
So my plea to you is before you cross a road, make sure the cars are stopped before you go. Take the time, it could mean your life.
Wow, that was very 'government-sponsored-commercial' of me. Still a good idea though.

Fools Of Us All - Chapter 6 (See November 17th)

I reached the elevator and seriously considered hitting the up button, but instead I hesitated - I'm not sure why. Normally I would hit the button a few times. Not because I thought it would make the elevator arrive any faster, but because I like hitting buttons. It is hard for me to resist. But this time, I just didn't want to hit that button.
Maybe, I figured, I just needed to take the stairs, but then I remembered that his room was on the sixth floor, and it had been a long day, so the stairs were out. I gazed at the elevator again before finally turning away and heading back towards the waiting room. I was in sight of the theoretically comforting colour scheme when something bowled me over from behind. I tumbled, but the two years of martial arts and three years of gymnastics served me well. As quickly as I fell I rolled to my feet, landing lightly in a defensive pose, arms raised to eye level. They quickly dropped when I saw who my attacker was.
The mysterious woman had a bandage wrapped around her head and a few bandages on her legs and arms, but other than that she looked fine. I could scarcely believe that I had hit her with my car only a few long hours ago. If she hadn't spoke up right then I may still be standing there, gaping like an idiot.
"Thanks for offering to help me up."
Ah sarcasm. There is very little that inspires me to action like a small slice of stinging sarcasm (it also inspires alliteration). Still not trusting my tongue, I reached down and pulled her up, surprised at how little she weighed. Considering the force with which she had knocked me on my face I had figured that there was more weight packed on that tiny frame.
Once she was standing we spent a moment looking each other over. Once again I was drawn to her eyes. They were a piercing blue-green mix that seemed to flash in the pale fluorescent lights. I never could figure out how she managed that. Her short brown hair was a bit ragged, almost like she had done it herself.
I suppose only a few seconds had passed, but when she shook her head and started to walk away I would have sworn that we had spent the better part of a year standing there. The fierce pain and determination to overcome that pain was written in her eyes, and I found it so compelling. I realise that this is starting to sound rather sappy, and for that I apologise. But the truth was I felt, and this is a cliché alert, like I had just met my soul-mate.
No, that's wrong. It wasn't quite anything that romantic. When we spent that piece of forever face to face, it was as though I was allowed to read her life story, but only in emotions instead of words, and those emotions hooked me like a cheap drug.
Well, now I have compared her to a cheap drug. This is harder to explain than I thought it would be. Just trust me when I say there was a connection there. A connection that we both felt, though I don't think either of us quite realised what it meant right away. Not for at least ten minutes on her part. I was a little slower to catch up, but to be fair she had more information than I did.
She had managed two entire steps before she froze. A second later I realised why. "I can't believe our Jane Doe just skipped out on us like that." This voice was deep and rich, a very soothing voice.
"I just can't believe that she could move at all after being hit by a car, let alone giving us the slip." This voice was much harsher, sounding like it was perpetually irritated at life in general. One quick look at her and I could tell that she had reasons not to be found. Thinking quickly I grabbed her hand and pushed her through the nearest door, following close behind. I closed the door behind us and clicked off the light. Mercifully the door locked from the inside.
I could hear the voices continuing their conversation as they walked down the hall, trying each door as they came to it. The doorknob of our door rattled briefly and they carried on, fading into the distance.
I turned, half-expecting to see an empty room. The window was open, a slight breeze blowing into the room, the smell of rain washing over me. A small sound drew my attention and I realised that the woman was still standing in the room, just to the left of the room. With the barest nod of thanks she turned to leave via the window. She got as far as one leg on the window sill before she hesitated.
We had now spent less than five minutes together while we were both conscious, but I had yet to speak a word to her. I finally found my voice. "Wait," I said, wincing at how small and pathetic I sounded to my own ears.
Reluctantly she turned. "Thank you," she said, "for your help, but I don't have time to wait."
"But I don't even know your name." I wasn't expecting a response to that. I was mostly just looking for an excuse to make her stay even a second longer. What was it about her that caught me so completely?
She surprised me. "My name is Caz."
Pouncing on my opportunity I followed up with a flurry of questions. "Are you okay? How come you can walk after being hit by a car? Where are you from?" A glare from her cut me off.
"I don't expect you to understand." Her words were carefully picked, like someone who didn't grow up speaking the language. "But I have very little time, despite the fact that I should have all the time in the world. Any delay could have dire consequences." I could tell that she had dismissed me completely at that point as she turned and leapt awkwardly onto the window sill. Her injuries were worse than she was letting on.
Desperately I cast around for anything to keep this conversation going. "You dropped this." The words were out before my hand had even closed around the dimly glowing globe. I held it up for her to see.
The sight of the globe brought her up short. Stiffly she dropped back to the floor and walked over to me. "Please return that immediately." Suddenly she looked younger. The bravado had left her face, replaced with a worry and...doubt.
"On one condition." I was feeling brave now. "You have to tell me what you are doing here. Maybe I can help." Kind of foolish I realise, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.
It was pretty obvious that she didn't want to play along, but equally obvious that she didn't have many options at this point.
"Besides," I continued. "You're obviously not from around here. You need all the friends you can get."
Bowing her head she sighed. "I am looking for someone who is supposed to be here in this time and place."
"Hey, maybe I can help. I'm good at finding people." I wasn't expecting her reply.
"Very well. The one I am looking for is a brave man named Spin."
I was speechless for a moment. This was interesting. I stunned her right back with my reply. "Well lady, you are either very lucky or the biggest hard-luck-Harry I've ever met because you are looking at the man you came to find." Now it was her turn to be shocked.
"Woh," she said.
"I know," I replied.
We stared at each other some more.
We were still standing there a moment later when two very large men burst through the door, holding what looked to be two very large handguns. I was soon going to learn that this wasn't as uncommon a phenomenon as I thought it should be.

Here we go again

Well, away I go for a week in Lethbridge, putting up signs at Home Depot. Whoo. Actually I am looking forward to this, I haven't worked much the past couple weeks because, well, Home Depot can't get their act together. But it sounds like this particular time things are ready for us. Here's hoping.
Really, the only thing that I'm not looking forward to is the Christmas music. Hopefully the store will change it during the night, but it's not likely. They have a bad mix of Christmas music to play at Home Depot. I will probably let y'all know my feelings on Christmas music. But not today.
Now I must go. And AWAAAAAAYYYYYY!

Fools Of Us All - Chapter 5 (See November 2nd)

If someone were to ask, I would probably tell them that I walked for a few days without stopping, just wandering aimlessly, trying to come to terms with what I had heard. Truth be told, I think it was no longer than a few hours. I am sure that it rained for much of that time, one of those depressing rains, the kind that just falls steadily and everything is just grey and cold. Somehow it seemed fitting.
It's an odd feeling, knowing that everything you had held to be true was actually a lie. I had always known that the world wasn't in the greatest of shape. It was hard to get a job anymore and there seemed to be little place for those without work. Entire sections of large cities were given over to those without a place to live. It was almost as though an entire society had developed underneath the brighter and more affluent society, a society made up of those who had to fight just to survive, and where only the strongest last. That was the society that I had recently found myself deposited into.
And then I go to that fateful meeting where I find out that it was worse than I thought, that only those in the privileged class were going to be allowed freedom. What we were fighting against was a movement, still in its infancy, to round up everyone who was homeless, the vagrant society, and send them to work hard labour without any rights. Basically what we were talking about was slavery. At least the hard labour at present was still a paid position, though it didn't matter too terribly much because the life span of those hard labourers, both on earth and in space, was horribly short. If the proposed measures were passed into law everyone with whom I was now associated would be sold into slavery and certain death. This was all to be precipitated by the merger of the globe into one 'country' run by a select number of corporations.
And then I go into Dun's office find another layer. The corporations have no real interest in using people as cheap labour. Even without paying them and not taking care of them at all it was still more cost efficient to simply let machines do the same work. What was really being proposed was genocide - round up the vagrants and simply make them disappear. Permanently. That was the first part of what Dun had told me. I was shaken by that, understandably. Being faced with the prospect of being arbitrarily killed was hard enough to take. But Dun wasn't quite finished.
He told me that I was the world's last hope. Myself, and one other person. A person that by all rights, we couldn't use because he had been dead for a hundred years. And yet it was my job to find him and get him to save our world. The last thing he had told me before he left his office was that I was going to be transferred to the proper facility where I would be sent back in time. I could think about it for a day if I needed to, but I was the only one who could stop the coming Armageddon. Is it any wonder that I had to clear my head for a while?

I finally found my way back to the office. The scanning light spun around me again, giving me a slight case of vertigo until I closed my eyes, shutting out the world around me, if only for a second. I heard the sound of the door opening and with a deep breath to steel my nerves I walked into the room.
Dar was still sitting at his computer terminal, his pale features made even more pale by the glow of his monitor. He spent most of his time scanning the government databases and the corporation files, trying to find any information that we could possibly use. He was also in charge of security, and one of the first people I had met when I joined the organisation. I headed over and sat in the chair beside him. With a sigh he turned away from the computer screens and faced me.
“I suppose you know what they told me?” I was in no mood for pleasantries.
He nodded, but remained silent.
“I have to know one thing.” I looked him straight in the eye, and I could tell that he wasn’t completely comfortable, but to his credit he held my gaze. “Did you know of this right from the start?”
Finally he looked away, closing his eyes. “No, I swear to you I only found out a couple of days before you did.”
He was telling the truth. Something that I have always been able to do is to tell when people are lying to me. It is an ability that borders on the mystical, and that was bothering me. Dun had told me that they had been lying to me ever since the beginning, and I hadn’t picked up on it. It almost felt like he was lying to me about lying to me. Something just didn't quite sit right, but I had no way of knowing what.
Finally I dropped my gaze and looked at the computer screen. "Anything new that might be helpful."
Dar simply shrugged. "It's always hard to say. Some things only show up as problematic when you decipher the pattern, and that takes time. Right at this moment, however, I don't have any problems on scan." He placed a friendly hand on my shoulder. "I know all of this is pretty overwhelming, but don't be too worried. I've seen what you can do, and I have faith in you. No matter where or when you are, I'll be rooting for you." He squeezed gently and then dropped his hand, turning back to his work.
I got up, grateful for the encouragement. Squaring my shoulders, I turned to head to Dun's office. Before I could make my way, I felt a hand on my arm. I turned and saw Dar's face, looking even more pale than usual. "Before you leave, come see me, but don't let Dun know. It's important." With that he dropped his gaze again, almost as though I wasn't even present.
Things were moving faster now, faster than I knew. That's probably for the best, because I don't know if I would have had the strength to carry on if I had known what was going to happen next.

Pa-ZING!!

One of the best movie lines ever: "Lately, your low self-esteem is just common sense." From Spanglish, a very good movie.

Weird

Every once in a while I look in the mirror and my head just seems to be huge. I don't know it only happens sometimes and the rest of the time it is just normal. Last night was one of those days. It just seemed like my entire head was bigger than it should be, like every detail on it was exagerated. I felt like Peter...

Like, come on. Seriously?

Okay, so I know that I have voiced displeasure about my job in the past, but for the most part I really don't have a problem with it. Heck, since I started back with the Sign Guys I've been having a better couple months, and for no real specific reason. But today was just mind-boggling.
We are working at Zellers right now, installing their new sign scheme, and part of what they are doing is changing everything to red. Before each section had its own colour of border on the wall and colour scheme, but now they would all be red. It actually does look quite a bit better than it did. But part of it involves what is known as 'bird beaks'. In their 'neighbourhood market' section (where they sell groceries and beauty products), they have aisle directories saying the aisle number and what is in the aisle. These directories are triangular, kind of like this : >, where the straight line is the rack, and the arrow is the aisle directory (that's an overhead view). The old colour scheme involved these 'beaks' being a truly bad green. So now they have to be switched to red. Their solution was to have people paint them red. This is a pain, especially since most stores don't actually have anywhere that is set up for painting, i.e. no ventilation (which is probably not the best thing when you are dealing with PAINT FUMES), so it is hard to paint. A few stores we have flat out refused because we are not being paid to inhale these fumes and develop cancer and die. We just don't like Zellers that much.
But today's store begged us to get it done. They were having all of the highest mucky-mucks coming to see the store the next day and they wanted the new sign package to be completely finished. So we made them find us a place that was very well ventilated and we went to work. Of course, by doing this, it put us behind on finishing the other stores (it probably cost us four hours between getting set up and actually doing the work). Not to mention the other irritants that go with painting, such as coming out of it looking red, stained clothing, etc. Plus sore fingers because we were just using cans of spray paint. All in all doing the painting was something none of us were all the keen on doing. But the wanted it done, so we did it.
As we are finishing, I find out that in a month or two, new beaks are being sent to every store, these ones already red. I almost quit right there. Basically, all of the hassle and extra time (extra time that they paid for), as well as the cost of paint and gloves and masks, was all for nothing. The paint will barely be dry and they will be changing it all. Or we will be if they make us do it.
Why did they want this done? Couldn't they have lived with the green for a couple more weeks? Or just wait until these new beaks were ready before putting up the new signs. I would gladly have changed them before I painted them, any time. I just don't get it.
How do these corporations continue to function?
For those of you expecting a Home Depot story, fear not! I have a quick one - a Home Depot in Abbotsford has been scheduled for a refit (getting new signs), and our company was given the PO number for that, which means we have the contract. A guy of ours went to BC to do some other work, and while he was there he had to go get some stuff, so he went to this Home Depot. We received a call from him that day asking us why the store was already done. Apparently someone had gone in and done the store already. That means either Home Depot went and gave out two separate contracts for this job, or someone went in and did the work without a contract. Either way, that is not good. So now we have the president of Home Depot telling us that this was a mistake and that it shouldn't have happened, which is information we already had. Seriously, they should be bankrupt by now, given how things seem to be run there.
Anyway, I've got to go sleep now, we have to go back to the Zellers and put the painted beaks back on the racks so that they can take them down next week and throw them away.
Oi.

Cheeeeeeeese

Sometimes a movie will just tickle me pink. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is one such movie. I have seen some of the previous Wallace and Gromit films and found them to be quite amusing and excedingly clever, and the movie is no exception. There are so many background things that just leave me laughing out loud. When Wallace gets stuck in a whole because he is putting on a bit of weight, Gromit walks by a counter that has a jar of some sort of spread (like Peanut Butter) on it, and the jar is labelled "Middle-Aged Spread". The bunnies are very cute and extremely amusing. They are so cheeky. And when the pack of rabbits starts howling I just about died laughing.
That's not the best part, though. What really impresses me the most is the animation. Wallace and Gromit are done in the clay animation, and it boggles my mind what they can do, the feelings and expressions that can be put across, especially on Gromit. Gromit is a dog that doesn't even have a noticeable mouth, so his emotions and acting has to be performed out through eyes and body language only, and they do such an amazing job. One scene in the beginning features our two heroes being woken up, and because Wallace is an enterprising inventor they are woken up by being dumped out of their beds onto chutes that carry them to the garage, putting them in their clothes as they go, sort of like when Adam West slid down the pole to the batcave in the 60s Batcave (he was in civilian clothes at the top and in the Batsuit at the bottom). It is obvious that Gromit finds this process to be slightly tiresome. He is lying in bed and he very slightly rolls his eyes and sighs before being dumped out of bed. Throughout the film you can tell what he is thinking, completely without words or even a mouth. I love it.
Really, the movie is silly, but quite clever. I recommend it to everyone, I think you will enjoy it.

Belgium

Well that could have gone better. I was feeling hungry because I hadn't eaten anything yet today, so I heated up some chili in the microwave and then sat at the computer to eat it (I don't actually have a table to eat at in my house, but I don't mind). I was holding it on my lap and went to move it, and one side of the bowl slipped out of my hand, spilling chili all over my lap. Very quickly it started to burn because it was still quite warm. Now I'm sitting here in a bathrobe because I don't have any other pants that I can wear - I'm down to one pair of jeans and one pair of pajama pants, and the PJs are already in the laundry. I guess I'll just have to tell myself that I'm just training to be Arthur Dent. Where's my towel?....

Fools Of Us All - Chapter 4 (See October 1st)

I have had better nights. For the greater part of two hours I had paced in the waiting room, waiting for some news. A few times I had sat with Cindy, but I was just feeling too restless to stay in one spot for any length of time. After what felt like an eternity a doctor finally came out and called us over. The report on Gerry was encouraging. He had a nasty knock on his head, but it wasn't extremely serious. He was sleeping comfortably, they said, and would have to stay overnight for observation. It was likely that he had a concussion and there might be some fallout from that, but there was no other damage. Hopefully he was going to make a quick and easy recovery.
Cindy was overjoyed. She actually hugged the doctor before running out of the room, returning a moment later to find out what room Gerry was in, leaving as soon as she knew. The doctor and I shared a chuckle at her enthusiasm. As I turned to go pop my head into my friend's room, the doctor motioned for me to stay.
"I'd like to talk to you about the woman you brought in."
I couldn't read his expression or his tone, so I answered cautiously. "There isn't much to say. I hit her with my car and drove her here. That's about all I know."
The doctor nodded absently. "You have no idea who she is at all? You didn't see any ID or identifying marks at all?"
In my pocket I could feel the weight of a small orb. It had stopped glowing shortly after we arrived at the hospital. My first guess was that it had stopped glowing because she had died. "How is she?" I asked, avoiding his question, trying to sound casual as I did. With forced nonchalance I placed my hand in my pocket, feeling the slightly warm weight of the mysterious globe.
"Well, that's the funny thing," the doctor said, a slightly frustrated puzzlement in his voice. "She is actually doing quite well, considering the circumstances of her admission. There is some bruising, but nothing is broken. She also has a slight concussion, but your other friend is actually worse off. Are you sure that there is nothing else you can tell us?" He regarded me closely, almost as though he knew I was hiding something but unable to decide what exactly it was.
For the life of me I could not figure out why I didn't tell him. It's not like it was anything that special or odd. There are plenty of toys that glow in the dark, surely that is all that it was. And yet I couldn't. There was something just tugging at the back of my mind, almost like a hard to reach itch. In the end I just shrugged. "I already told the police everything that I knew, that she was on the side of the road, it was raining hard with limited visibility and I ran into her, so I brought her here. You know as much as I do."
Clearly the doctor didn't completely accept my explanation, but he had no real reason to suspect anything else was the truth. With a shrug he turned to return to his rounds. Before he could go I asked him what room the woman was in. "Room 112, down the hall to the left," he said absently, his mind already on the next victim that needed his attention.
I thanked him and stood for a moment, unsure of what to do. I should probably go see Gerry, just to make sure he was okay. But I just had to see her again, to make sure she was actually okay. The orb weighed heavily in my pocket, almost like it was trying to pressure me into making a decision. Why did those eyes haunt me so?
Shaking my head I slowly turned and headed over to the elevator to visit Gerry's room. That would have been one of the greatest mistakes of my life.