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A Robotic Heart
- Thread starter AnimatedC9000
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AnimatedC9000
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Chapter 6
Eventually, I was released from the hospital after recovering for a while. Lindbergh was kind enough to drive me out of the hospital in his company car (“I got it from my uncle,” he explained to me later.) and to my house. I wanted to show my mother that I was all right, and that I had made a new friend while I was in the hospital.
Unfortunately, Mom was out of the house that day, and the door was locked.
“Darn,” I said in defeat after fiddling with the doorknob for a while.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” my kiwi companion asked me. “This is your home, right?”
I nodded in his direction, searching under the mat for a spare key. My search was rewarded.
“It looks like a nice place, Michael,” Lindbergh commented to me.
“Wait until you see the inside,” I said as I unlocked the front door and let the two of us in.
“Gee, it is a nice place!” he exclaimed, looking around.
A smile crept on my face. I was finally home. After countless days of being in the hospital, I was finally home. I sat down on the couch. It felt good to be back.
Lindbergh was looking at the pictures on the wall. “Is this your mom?” he asked.
I walked over to him and looked at the picture that he was observing. In that picture, my mother and I were standing side by side, smiling at the camera. “Yes,” I answered after taking it all in. “That’s my mother and myself in that picture.”
“Wow, both of you sure look happy.” The kiwi turned to me. “Where’s your father?”
I paused, trying to remember what happened to my father, but all I drew was a blank. “… I guess… I guess I’ve never had a father,” I admitted to him. “For as long as I remember, it’s been just me and my mom living together. She raised me all by herself.”
“I’m sorry to hear about that,” he consoled. “Your mom must be pretty amazing.”
“Yes,” I said with a smile and a nod, “she truly is amazing.”
The attention of my friend shifted to a door that was partially open. “What’s this?” he wondered out loud, opening the door. He gasped with excitement. “Neat! Is this your room?”
I looked into the room in question. Lindbergh was right, the room that he found was my old room. Everything was still in place, just as I remembered it. The only thing that changed was the calendar.
“Wait a minute…” I was beginning to realize something. “Lindbergh, how long was I in the hospital?”
The kiwi looked at the calendar. “About a month,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”
“I want to know if I missed graduation or not,” I told him, rummaging around in the drawers of my desk for the written speech that I had prepared.
“I’m sorry, Michael, but school let out about a week ago.”
Lindbergh helped me up off the floor after I had sunk to my knees in shock. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I could not believe it. That lab accident didn’t just hurt me physically, but academically as well. Without graduating from high school, I couldn’t go onto college and earn a degree. As if things weren’t already bad enough…
The sound of a throat clearing made me turn my head. “Michael… there’s something I think you should know…” My companion grabbed a newspaper from the top of the desk and held the title up for me to read.
“Local High School Student Lost in Explosion” was one of the headlines.
“They think that you’re dead,” Lindbergh said to me.
I sat down on my old bed as I let all of the information sink in. No… it couldn’t be possible, they couldn’t think that I was dead.
“And… the hospital could only get your first name out of you, so that’s all that I saw on the files in the container that one day,” my friend confessed, sitting down beside me. “I’m sorry, Michael.”
My answer to him didn’t come right away. I was in a deep state of disbelief. Everyone thought I was dead, the hospital only knew my first name, I hadn’t graduated from high school, and to top it all off, I had been turned into a cybernetic being for the remainder of my life.
Lindbergh patted me on the shoulder. “You want me to leave you alone right now?” he questioned.
I mumbled something to him that had hardly any meaning whatsoever, even to me. I lied down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling and pondering the events that had happened.
~~~
I must’ve fallen asleep sometime later, because next thing I knew, Lindbergh was shaking me awake. “Michael, wake up,” he whispered to me. “Your mom’s home.”
Immediately, I sat up in bed. “Mom?” I repeated.
“Yeah,” the kiwi said quietly. “Didn’t you say that you wanted to see her again?”
I looked down at my hands, pondering my options. I did want to see her again, but how would she react? Would she be happy to see me alive, or would she reject me?
“Here she comes!” Lindbergh warned.
I moved to do something, but I wasn’t sure what to do. I thought to myself, Should I hide, or should I do something else like--?
“Who’s there?” a female voice called out in slight alarm.
I froze in place. I didn’t know what else to do but to meet Mom face to face.
Footsteps were heard coming closer to the room until they came to a halt. It was at this time that I turned myself around to face the doorway.
“… Mom?” I questioned, stepping closer to her.
She backed away out of confusion and fear. “Who are you?” my mother asked in a voice above a whisper.
“Mom, it’s me,” I told her, “your son, Michael.”
My mom had a look of disbelief. “… no,” she finally said after regaining her train of thought. “This can’t be happening. They told me you were…”
“I’m alive, Mother,” I said to her, coming closer. “Please… give me a chance to explain myself.”
Tears formed in my mother’s eyes out of a mix of emotions as I began to tell my story to her. She seemed confused and upset, like she couldn’t believe what was happening.
“… and then Lindbergh and I came here so that you would know that I was all right, Mom,” I finished in a comforting voice. “I wanted you to know that I was alive and well, that’s all.”
My mother cried as she hugged me in happiness. “My baby,” she said through the tears. “I… I can’t believe this. It’s like you’ve come back from the dead.”
A warm smile came upon my face as I hugged her back. “I know, Mom,” I told her. “It’s been difficult for me to believe all of this as well.”
Neither of us spoke for a while. We were just so glad to see each other again after all that we’ve been through that we couldn’t think of more words to speak.
“Awww…”
I turned to see Lindbergh watching us, a tissue box close at hand. He stared back at us in surprise when he found out that we were looking at him. Clearing his throat, the kiwi went over to my mother and presented her with the tissue box. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Michael’s Mom,” he said in a friendly voice.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Lindbergh,” Mom replied, a warm smile on her face. “Thank you for helping my son.”
The bird blushed (though it was hard to tell with the feathers in the way). “Aw, it was nothing, Mrs. S,” my friend said back. “Anything for a friend, really.”
I smiled as I observed my mother and my friend as they chatted with each other. They were getting along just well for two people who’ve just met. It seemed as if they were old friends by the time the chat started to wind down.
Good thing too, since I had just remembered an important matter that was needed to be discussed. “Mom, what’ll I do now that I’m… like this?” I asked her.
“Sweetie,” she said to me, “you’ll be fine. I know it pains me to say this, but… now that you’ve finished your schooling, I think it’s time that you live on your own.”
Since everyone in town thought I was deceased, that meant that I had to go to a different city, possibly a different state, to begin my new life. “But… that means I might never see you again.”
Mom held back more tears. “Michael… it’s just like I’ve always tell you: You can do it. You just have to believe in yourself.”
I was choked up at this point. “I just got back, Mom,” I told her. “I don’t want to leave now.”
A feathered hand patted me on the back. “Hey, it’ll be all right,” the owner of the wing told me. “Besides, I’ll be with you.”
“I’m sure you and Lindbergh will be fine,” my mother said, a few stray tears rolling down her cheeks.
I hugged my mother again. “I promise to write when I can,” I told her, trying to prevent the tears from flowing.
“Promise me you’ll be okay,” she said back, looking at me straight into the eyes.
Trying to keep from crying myself (if I even still had tear ducts
then), I looked back at her. “I promise, Mom.”
Those were some of the last words I ever said to her. After that, Mother and Lindbergh helped me pack my things and loaded them in the back seat of my friend’s car. I hugged my mother one last time before getting into the car, driving off into the sunset and leaving behind the life I once knew so I could begin a new life.
Shakespeare was right. Parting is such sweet sorrow.
Eventually, I was released from the hospital after recovering for a while. Lindbergh was kind enough to drive me out of the hospital in his company car (“I got it from my uncle,” he explained to me later.) and to my house. I wanted to show my mother that I was all right, and that I had made a new friend while I was in the hospital.
Unfortunately, Mom was out of the house that day, and the door was locked.
“Darn,” I said in defeat after fiddling with the doorknob for a while.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” my kiwi companion asked me. “This is your home, right?”
I nodded in his direction, searching under the mat for a spare key. My search was rewarded.
“It looks like a nice place, Michael,” Lindbergh commented to me.
“Wait until you see the inside,” I said as I unlocked the front door and let the two of us in.
“Gee, it is a nice place!” he exclaimed, looking around.
A smile crept on my face. I was finally home. After countless days of being in the hospital, I was finally home. I sat down on the couch. It felt good to be back.
Lindbergh was looking at the pictures on the wall. “Is this your mom?” he asked.
I walked over to him and looked at the picture that he was observing. In that picture, my mother and I were standing side by side, smiling at the camera. “Yes,” I answered after taking it all in. “That’s my mother and myself in that picture.”
“Wow, both of you sure look happy.” The kiwi turned to me. “Where’s your father?”
I paused, trying to remember what happened to my father, but all I drew was a blank. “… I guess… I guess I’ve never had a father,” I admitted to him. “For as long as I remember, it’s been just me and my mom living together. She raised me all by herself.”
“I’m sorry to hear about that,” he consoled. “Your mom must be pretty amazing.”
“Yes,” I said with a smile and a nod, “she truly is amazing.”
The attention of my friend shifted to a door that was partially open. “What’s this?” he wondered out loud, opening the door. He gasped with excitement. “Neat! Is this your room?”
I looked into the room in question. Lindbergh was right, the room that he found was my old room. Everything was still in place, just as I remembered it. The only thing that changed was the calendar.
“Wait a minute…” I was beginning to realize something. “Lindbergh, how long was I in the hospital?”
The kiwi looked at the calendar. “About a month,” he replied. “Why do you ask?”
“I want to know if I missed graduation or not,” I told him, rummaging around in the drawers of my desk for the written speech that I had prepared.
“I’m sorry, Michael, but school let out about a week ago.”
Lindbergh helped me up off the floor after I had sunk to my knees in shock. “Are you okay?” he asked.
I could not believe it. That lab accident didn’t just hurt me physically, but academically as well. Without graduating from high school, I couldn’t go onto college and earn a degree. As if things weren’t already bad enough…
The sound of a throat clearing made me turn my head. “Michael… there’s something I think you should know…” My companion grabbed a newspaper from the top of the desk and held the title up for me to read.
“Local High School Student Lost in Explosion” was one of the headlines.
“They think that you’re dead,” Lindbergh said to me.
I sat down on my old bed as I let all of the information sink in. No… it couldn’t be possible, they couldn’t think that I was dead.
“And… the hospital could only get your first name out of you, so that’s all that I saw on the files in the container that one day,” my friend confessed, sitting down beside me. “I’m sorry, Michael.”
My answer to him didn’t come right away. I was in a deep state of disbelief. Everyone thought I was dead, the hospital only knew my first name, I hadn’t graduated from high school, and to top it all off, I had been turned into a cybernetic being for the remainder of my life.
Lindbergh patted me on the shoulder. “You want me to leave you alone right now?” he questioned.
I mumbled something to him that had hardly any meaning whatsoever, even to me. I lied down on my bed, staring up at the ceiling and pondering the events that had happened.
~~~
I must’ve fallen asleep sometime later, because next thing I knew, Lindbergh was shaking me awake. “Michael, wake up,” he whispered to me. “Your mom’s home.”
Immediately, I sat up in bed. “Mom?” I repeated.
“Yeah,” the kiwi said quietly. “Didn’t you say that you wanted to see her again?”
I looked down at my hands, pondering my options. I did want to see her again, but how would she react? Would she be happy to see me alive, or would she reject me?
“Here she comes!” Lindbergh warned.
I moved to do something, but I wasn’t sure what to do. I thought to myself, Should I hide, or should I do something else like--?
“Who’s there?” a female voice called out in slight alarm.
I froze in place. I didn’t know what else to do but to meet Mom face to face.
Footsteps were heard coming closer to the room until they came to a halt. It was at this time that I turned myself around to face the doorway.
“… Mom?” I questioned, stepping closer to her.
She backed away out of confusion and fear. “Who are you?” my mother asked in a voice above a whisper.
“Mom, it’s me,” I told her, “your son, Michael.”
My mom had a look of disbelief. “… no,” she finally said after regaining her train of thought. “This can’t be happening. They told me you were…”
“I’m alive, Mother,” I said to her, coming closer. “Please… give me a chance to explain myself.”
Tears formed in my mother’s eyes out of a mix of emotions as I began to tell my story to her. She seemed confused and upset, like she couldn’t believe what was happening.
“… and then Lindbergh and I came here so that you would know that I was all right, Mom,” I finished in a comforting voice. “I wanted you to know that I was alive and well, that’s all.”
My mother cried as she hugged me in happiness. “My baby,” she said through the tears. “I… I can’t believe this. It’s like you’ve come back from the dead.”
A warm smile came upon my face as I hugged her back. “I know, Mom,” I told her. “It’s been difficult for me to believe all of this as well.”
Neither of us spoke for a while. We were just so glad to see each other again after all that we’ve been through that we couldn’t think of more words to speak.
“Awww…”
I turned to see Lindbergh watching us, a tissue box close at hand. He stared back at us in surprise when he found out that we were looking at him. Clearing his throat, the kiwi went over to my mother and presented her with the tissue box. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Michael’s Mom,” he said in a friendly voice.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Lindbergh,” Mom replied, a warm smile on her face. “Thank you for helping my son.”
The bird blushed (though it was hard to tell with the feathers in the way). “Aw, it was nothing, Mrs. S,” my friend said back. “Anything for a friend, really.”
I smiled as I observed my mother and my friend as they chatted with each other. They were getting along just well for two people who’ve just met. It seemed as if they were old friends by the time the chat started to wind down.
Good thing too, since I had just remembered an important matter that was needed to be discussed. “Mom, what’ll I do now that I’m… like this?” I asked her.
“Sweetie,” she said to me, “you’ll be fine. I know it pains me to say this, but… now that you’ve finished your schooling, I think it’s time that you live on your own.”
Since everyone in town thought I was deceased, that meant that I had to go to a different city, possibly a different state, to begin my new life. “But… that means I might never see you again.”
Mom held back more tears. “Michael… it’s just like I’ve always tell you: You can do it. You just have to believe in yourself.”
I was choked up at this point. “I just got back, Mom,” I told her. “I don’t want to leave now.”
A feathered hand patted me on the back. “Hey, it’ll be all right,” the owner of the wing told me. “Besides, I’ll be with you.”
“I’m sure you and Lindbergh will be fine,” my mother said, a few stray tears rolling down her cheeks.
I hugged my mother again. “I promise to write when I can,” I told her, trying to prevent the tears from flowing.
“Promise me you’ll be okay,” she said back, looking at me straight into the eyes.
Trying to keep from crying myself (if I even still had tear ducts
then), I looked back at her. “I promise, Mom.”
Those were some of the last words I ever said to her. After that, Mother and Lindbergh helped me pack my things and loaded them in the back seat of my friend’s car. I hugged my mother one last time before getting into the car, driving off into the sunset and leaving behind the life I once knew so I could begin a new life.
Shakespeare was right. Parting is such sweet sorrow.
AnimatedC9000
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Chapter 7
After we left my home, we traveled for quite a while. We occasionally took some side-stops for some photo opportunities, but our only main stops were for food, gasoline, and sleep. (Both of us slept out in the car to save money for the former two items.) Other than that, we drove on the open road by daylight, determined to find a place to live (or possibly a college I could go to.
It was during one of our stops at a diner that I started to feel a little homesick. Even though it had only been about a week since we had left, I was concerned about my mother and her safety. As much as I had wanted to stay with her, I knew that there was no other choice but to move on.
Lindbergh and I were seated in a booth, waiting for the waitress to come by with our orders. I was staring out the window, watching the cars go by. As I thought about my troubles, I let out a sigh.
My companion must’ve heard the sigh (obviously; he was sitting right across from me), because he immediately spoke to me afterwards. “Something wrong, Michael?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Lindbergh,” I said to him. “It’s just that… well…”
The kiwi nodded, understanding my problems. “You miss your mom, don’t you?”
I swallowed something that was in my throat before responding to him. “… yes,” I confessed, looking down at my hands, “very much so.”
“Aw, don’t worry too much about her, Michael,” my friend said to me. “You’ve got the rest of your life ahead of you. Besides, it’s natural to get homesick every once in a while.”
“I know that, Lindbergh,” I addressed to him, hardly looking up, “but I think that this is an extreme case of something, if not homesickness.”
“Michael,” the kiwi began, “it’s okay if you’re like this right now. You’ve just left your home and you have a lot of things on your mind right now. You probably feel that the whole weight of the world is on your shoulders now, am I right?”
“Something like that, yes,” I responded. “Plus, I want to find a college to go to so that I can at lest get a passable job.”
“Well, whatever happens,” Lindbergh continued, “I want you to remember one thing.”
It was then that I looked up at him. “What’s that?” I asked.
My friend smiled at me. “I want you to know that you’ll always have a friend in me.”
I gave a small smile back, pondering my companion’s words. Out of all the people I knew, he was the only one other than my mother who treated me like I was still normal in appearance and not like I was an experiment out of a science-fiction film. In all honesty, he was the first true friend that I ever had.
“Blasted TV,” I heard a man say before he stood up.
“So, do you feel better?” Lindbergh asked with a smile.
“Why yes,” I answered, “but I still have a funny feeling in me that won’t go away…”
“Wonder what it is,” the kiwi commented.
Around that time, the man started to change the channels on the TV. Right at that moment, I started to glitch up a bit.
“And now for the forecast of the week,” I began before I started to sing. “Sunday, Monday, happy days! Tuesday Wednesday-- Sunny day! Sweepin’ the clouds away! Lucy, I’m home! Book ‘em, Danno!”
Little did I know that some of the patrons of the restaurant were giving me odd looks. Fortunately, the channel-changing came to rest on a broadcast of “Hello, Dolly!” “… and one more thing: we are not coming back to Yonkers until we have each kissed a girl.”
“Guess it was a glitch after all,” I heard Lindbergh say. “I should fix that soon.” He paused. “But why do you want to kiss a girl?”
“I’m twenty-eight and three-quarters,” I answered him, influenced by the broadcast. “I got to begin some time.” In actuality, I was 19.
“Well, I’m a plumber,” my friend replied. “I thought I could meet girls any time I wanted to.”
“Here you go, boys,” a female voice said. It was the waitress, but in my glitches state I mistook her for the title character from the movie.
“Mrs. Levi,” I said, slightly surprised.
The waitress raised an eyebrow. “Uh yeah. You’re orders are here.”
“Oh goody!” Lindbergh softly exclaimed.
“We were only talking,” I told her, trying to cover up for my friend and myself.
“Right,” the waitress said. “Now, unless these are your orders, I could probably send them back to the kitchen to exchange them for your actual meals.”
“What ladies?” I asked her, still in tune with Michael Crawford’s character.
“Okay, kid, you’re freaking me out,” the waitress said to me.
“Okay, here’s a cheeseburger with no onions…” She set the plate in front of me.
“Irene Malloy?” I repeated.
“The name’s Barbra.” The waitress rolled her eyes before handing Lindbergh his order. “You put up with this guy?” she asked him.
“Oh, he’s just glitching,” the kiwi explained to her.
“… your orders cost $9.95,” the waitress told both of us, “and you can pay before you leave.” She left the table herself, muttering something under her breath about “weirdos”.
I had a look of surprise on my face. “A millinery shop,” I stated.
“Why are you talking about a hat shop?” Lindbergh questioned before starting to eat.
“Adventure, Barnaby,” I said again, my voice growing in excitement.
“It’s Lindbergh, actually,” my friend said, concern in his voice.
“Living, Barnaby!” I exclaimed.
“Who’s Barnaby? I’m not Barnaby!” the kiwi stated, concerned about my well-being.
“Will ya come, Barnaby?” I asked him.
“I’m already traveling with you,” “Barnaby” answered. “Of course, I’ll come!”
“The lights of Broadway!” I exclaimed, stepping onto the table. “Elevated trains! The stuffed whale at Barnum’s museum!”
“Wow, I didn’t know that they had a stuffed whale there,” Lindbergh said before he continued to eat. “We should go there sometime. New York sounds nice around this time of year.”
“Let’s get dressed, Barnaby,” I told him, “we’re going to New York!”
“We are?” my friend asked, nearly finished with his meal.
I answered him by singing. “Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers. Way out there beyond this hick town, Barnaby… there’s a slick town, Barnaby. Out there, full of shine and full of sparkle. Close your eyes and see it glisten, Barnaby. Listen, Barnaby…”
“I’m listening, Michael,” “Barnaby” told me, “but all I can hear is you singing along with the TV.”
“Put on your Sunday clothes, There's lots of world out there!” I sang again, getting up from the table. “Get out the brilliantine and dime cigars.”
“Michael, neither of us smoke,” the kiwi reminded me.
“We're gonna find adventure in the evening air,” I continued to sing, hardly hearing my friend over the music. “Girls in white in a perfumed night where the lights are bright as the stars!”
“It sounds fancy!” Lindbergh commented.
“Put on your Sunday clothes, we're gonna ride through town,” I continued, glad that my friend was getting into it, “in one of those new horsedrawn open cars!”
“Yeah!” my friend exclaimed before joining me in singing the rest of the verse. “We'll see the shows at Delmonico’s, and we'll close the town in a whirl. And we won't come until we've kissed a girl!”
I was surprised, but not too startled, to hear Barbra the waitress sing as well. “Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out,” she sang. “Strut down the street and have your picture took. Dressed like a dream your spirits seem to turn about. That Sunday shine is a certain sign that you feel as fine as you look!”
A female customer joined in and started to sing with her. “Beneath your parasol, the world is all a smile that makes you feel brand new down to your toes!”
Lindbergh and I joined them in song. “Get out your feathers, your patent leathers, your beads and buckles and bows,” we sang. “For there's no blue Monday in your Sunday... No Monday in your Sunday... No Monday in your Sunday clothes!”
Then, all the diner seemed to come to life with the sound of music. “Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out. Strut down the street and have your picture took.”
“Dressed like a dream your spirits seem to turn about,” Barbra sang as she led us in the verse. “That Sunday shine is a certain sign that you feel as fine as you look!”
“Beneath your parasol, the world is all a smile,” the waitresses and female customers sang.
“That makes you feel brand new down to your toes,” we all sang. “Get out your feathers, your patent leathers, your beads and buckles and bows. For there's no blue Monday in your Sunday clothes!”
After that verse, all the patrons and employees started to dance, including Lindbergh and myself. I was actually surprised by my own dance skills, considering that I‘ve hardly danced before.
“Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out,” the children in the diner sang. “Strut down the street and have your picture took.”
“Dressed like a dream your spirits seem to turn about,” the women sang.
“That Sunday shine is a certain sign that you feel as fine as you look!”we all sang. “Beneath your bowler brim the world's a simple song, a lovely lilt that makes you tilt your nose. Get out your slickers, your flannel knickers, your red suspenders and hose. For there's no blue Monday in your Sunday clothes!”
“Modulate, everybody!” someone shouted.
“Put on your Sunday clothes there's lots of world out there,” everyone in the diner sang. “Put on your silk cravat and patent shoes. We're gonna find adventure in the evening air.”
“To town we'll trot to a smokey spot where the girls are hot as a fuse!” Barbara sang out, mainly addressing my companion and I.
“Wow!” all of us exclaimed before we continued to sing. “Put on your silk high hat and at the turned up cuff. We'll wear a hand made gray suede buttoned glove.”
“We wanna take New York by storm!” Lindbergh and I harmonized, dancing towards the front of the diner.
“We'll join the Astors at Tony Pastor's and this I'm positive of,” everyone sang. “That we won't come home…”
Lindbergh gave the cashier a ten-dollar bill to pay for our meals. “No we won't come home…”
The two of us then danced to the door and finished the song. “No we won't come home until we fall in love!”
The door closed behind us, leaving the two of us outside the diner.
“Wow, that was fun,” the kiwi commented to me, walking to the car. “New York does sound like fun, Michael. We should go there sometime.”
“Adventure, Barnaby!” I exclaimed, sitting on the hood of the automobile.
“Oh yeah,” Lindbergh remembered, “you have a glitch.” He went to get his tool belt out of the car and then dragged me to the back seat. “This will only take a few minutes, Michael.”
That’s all I remember hearing before I shut down.
~~~
When I woke up, we were on the road again. Lindbergh was listening to the radio while driving.
I tapped my friend on the shoulder. “Lindbergh, why was I dreaming that I was in a musical?” I asked him, puzzled.
“Long story, Michael,” the kiwi answered. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
After we left my home, we traveled for quite a while. We occasionally took some side-stops for some photo opportunities, but our only main stops were for food, gasoline, and sleep. (Both of us slept out in the car to save money for the former two items.) Other than that, we drove on the open road by daylight, determined to find a place to live (or possibly a college I could go to.
It was during one of our stops at a diner that I started to feel a little homesick. Even though it had only been about a week since we had left, I was concerned about my mother and her safety. As much as I had wanted to stay with her, I knew that there was no other choice but to move on.
Lindbergh and I were seated in a booth, waiting for the waitress to come by with our orders. I was staring out the window, watching the cars go by. As I thought about my troubles, I let out a sigh.
My companion must’ve heard the sigh (obviously; he was sitting right across from me), because he immediately spoke to me afterwards. “Something wrong, Michael?” he asked.
“I don’t know, Lindbergh,” I said to him. “It’s just that… well…”
The kiwi nodded, understanding my problems. “You miss your mom, don’t you?”
I swallowed something that was in my throat before responding to him. “… yes,” I confessed, looking down at my hands, “very much so.”
“Aw, don’t worry too much about her, Michael,” my friend said to me. “You’ve got the rest of your life ahead of you. Besides, it’s natural to get homesick every once in a while.”
“I know that, Lindbergh,” I addressed to him, hardly looking up, “but I think that this is an extreme case of something, if not homesickness.”
“Michael,” the kiwi began, “it’s okay if you’re like this right now. You’ve just left your home and you have a lot of things on your mind right now. You probably feel that the whole weight of the world is on your shoulders now, am I right?”
“Something like that, yes,” I responded. “Plus, I want to find a college to go to so that I can at lest get a passable job.”
“Well, whatever happens,” Lindbergh continued, “I want you to remember one thing.”
It was then that I looked up at him. “What’s that?” I asked.
My friend smiled at me. “I want you to know that you’ll always have a friend in me.”
I gave a small smile back, pondering my companion’s words. Out of all the people I knew, he was the only one other than my mother who treated me like I was still normal in appearance and not like I was an experiment out of a science-fiction film. In all honesty, he was the first true friend that I ever had.
“Blasted TV,” I heard a man say before he stood up.
“So, do you feel better?” Lindbergh asked with a smile.
“Why yes,” I answered, “but I still have a funny feeling in me that won’t go away…”
“Wonder what it is,” the kiwi commented.
Around that time, the man started to change the channels on the TV. Right at that moment, I started to glitch up a bit.
“And now for the forecast of the week,” I began before I started to sing. “Sunday, Monday, happy days! Tuesday Wednesday-- Sunny day! Sweepin’ the clouds away! Lucy, I’m home! Book ‘em, Danno!”
Little did I know that some of the patrons of the restaurant were giving me odd looks. Fortunately, the channel-changing came to rest on a broadcast of “Hello, Dolly!” “… and one more thing: we are not coming back to Yonkers until we have each kissed a girl.”
“Guess it was a glitch after all,” I heard Lindbergh say. “I should fix that soon.” He paused. “But why do you want to kiss a girl?”
“I’m twenty-eight and three-quarters,” I answered him, influenced by the broadcast. “I got to begin some time.” In actuality, I was 19.
“Well, I’m a plumber,” my friend replied. “I thought I could meet girls any time I wanted to.”
“Here you go, boys,” a female voice said. It was the waitress, but in my glitches state I mistook her for the title character from the movie.
“Mrs. Levi,” I said, slightly surprised.
The waitress raised an eyebrow. “Uh yeah. You’re orders are here.”
“Oh goody!” Lindbergh softly exclaimed.
“We were only talking,” I told her, trying to cover up for my friend and myself.
“Right,” the waitress said. “Now, unless these are your orders, I could probably send them back to the kitchen to exchange them for your actual meals.”
“What ladies?” I asked her, still in tune with Michael Crawford’s character.
“Okay, kid, you’re freaking me out,” the waitress said to me.
“Okay, here’s a cheeseburger with no onions…” She set the plate in front of me.
“Irene Malloy?” I repeated.
“The name’s Barbra.” The waitress rolled her eyes before handing Lindbergh his order. “You put up with this guy?” she asked him.
“Oh, he’s just glitching,” the kiwi explained to her.
“… your orders cost $9.95,” the waitress told both of us, “and you can pay before you leave.” She left the table herself, muttering something under her breath about “weirdos”.
I had a look of surprise on my face. “A millinery shop,” I stated.
“Why are you talking about a hat shop?” Lindbergh questioned before starting to eat.
“Adventure, Barnaby,” I said again, my voice growing in excitement.
“It’s Lindbergh, actually,” my friend said, concern in his voice.
“Living, Barnaby!” I exclaimed.
“Who’s Barnaby? I’m not Barnaby!” the kiwi stated, concerned about my well-being.
“Will ya come, Barnaby?” I asked him.
“I’m already traveling with you,” “Barnaby” answered. “Of course, I’ll come!”
“The lights of Broadway!” I exclaimed, stepping onto the table. “Elevated trains! The stuffed whale at Barnum’s museum!”
“Wow, I didn’t know that they had a stuffed whale there,” Lindbergh said before he continued to eat. “We should go there sometime. New York sounds nice around this time of year.”
“Let’s get dressed, Barnaby,” I told him, “we’re going to New York!”
“We are?” my friend asked, nearly finished with his meal.
I answered him by singing. “Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers. Way out there beyond this hick town, Barnaby… there’s a slick town, Barnaby. Out there, full of shine and full of sparkle. Close your eyes and see it glisten, Barnaby. Listen, Barnaby…”
“I’m listening, Michael,” “Barnaby” told me, “but all I can hear is you singing along with the TV.”
“Put on your Sunday clothes, There's lots of world out there!” I sang again, getting up from the table. “Get out the brilliantine and dime cigars.”
“Michael, neither of us smoke,” the kiwi reminded me.
“We're gonna find adventure in the evening air,” I continued to sing, hardly hearing my friend over the music. “Girls in white in a perfumed night where the lights are bright as the stars!”
“It sounds fancy!” Lindbergh commented.
“Put on your Sunday clothes, we're gonna ride through town,” I continued, glad that my friend was getting into it, “in one of those new horsedrawn open cars!”
“Yeah!” my friend exclaimed before joining me in singing the rest of the verse. “We'll see the shows at Delmonico’s, and we'll close the town in a whirl. And we won't come until we've kissed a girl!”
I was surprised, but not too startled, to hear Barbra the waitress sing as well. “Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out,” she sang. “Strut down the street and have your picture took. Dressed like a dream your spirits seem to turn about. That Sunday shine is a certain sign that you feel as fine as you look!”
A female customer joined in and started to sing with her. “Beneath your parasol, the world is all a smile that makes you feel brand new down to your toes!”
Lindbergh and I joined them in song. “Get out your feathers, your patent leathers, your beads and buckles and bows,” we sang. “For there's no blue Monday in your Sunday... No Monday in your Sunday... No Monday in your Sunday clothes!”
Then, all the diner seemed to come to life with the sound of music. “Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out. Strut down the street and have your picture took.”
“Dressed like a dream your spirits seem to turn about,” Barbra sang as she led us in the verse. “That Sunday shine is a certain sign that you feel as fine as you look!”
“Beneath your parasol, the world is all a smile,” the waitresses and female customers sang.
“That makes you feel brand new down to your toes,” we all sang. “Get out your feathers, your patent leathers, your beads and buckles and bows. For there's no blue Monday in your Sunday clothes!”
After that verse, all the patrons and employees started to dance, including Lindbergh and myself. I was actually surprised by my own dance skills, considering that I‘ve hardly danced before.
“Put on your Sunday clothes when you feel down and out,” the children in the diner sang. “Strut down the street and have your picture took.”
“Dressed like a dream your spirits seem to turn about,” the women sang.
“That Sunday shine is a certain sign that you feel as fine as you look!”we all sang. “Beneath your bowler brim the world's a simple song, a lovely lilt that makes you tilt your nose. Get out your slickers, your flannel knickers, your red suspenders and hose. For there's no blue Monday in your Sunday clothes!”
“Modulate, everybody!” someone shouted.
“Put on your Sunday clothes there's lots of world out there,” everyone in the diner sang. “Put on your silk cravat and patent shoes. We're gonna find adventure in the evening air.”
“To town we'll trot to a smokey spot where the girls are hot as a fuse!” Barbara sang out, mainly addressing my companion and I.
“Wow!” all of us exclaimed before we continued to sing. “Put on your silk high hat and at the turned up cuff. We'll wear a hand made gray suede buttoned glove.”
“We wanna take New York by storm!” Lindbergh and I harmonized, dancing towards the front of the diner.
“We'll join the Astors at Tony Pastor's and this I'm positive of,” everyone sang. “That we won't come home…”
Lindbergh gave the cashier a ten-dollar bill to pay for our meals. “No we won't come home…”
The two of us then danced to the door and finished the song. “No we won't come home until we fall in love!”
The door closed behind us, leaving the two of us outside the diner.
“Wow, that was fun,” the kiwi commented to me, walking to the car. “New York does sound like fun, Michael. We should go there sometime.”
“Adventure, Barnaby!” I exclaimed, sitting on the hood of the automobile.
“Oh yeah,” Lindbergh remembered, “you have a glitch.” He went to get his tool belt out of the car and then dragged me to the back seat. “This will only take a few minutes, Michael.”
That’s all I remember hearing before I shut down.
~~~
When I woke up, we were on the road again. Lindbergh was listening to the radio while driving.
I tapped my friend on the shoulder. “Lindbergh, why was I dreaming that I was in a musical?” I asked him, puzzled.
“Long story, Michael,” the kiwi answered. “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
Fluffets
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Hahaha that was hilarious! Submit it to the muppeteers because it would be an awesome special!
AnimatedC9000
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Chapter 8
As much fun as falling in love and kissing a girl had sounded at the time, I was too devoted to my studies to pursue such an idea. Besides, based on my past experiences with romance, I wasn’t exactly what people might call a ladies’ man. The accident made my love life even worse…
Anyway, Lindbergh and I were searching for a college for me to go to. We roamed from town to town in the car for weeks, looking for a college to accept me. So far, we hadn’t found any that would accept a… person with my condition.
“Lindbergh,” I remarked to him one day, “with my kind of design, I belong in a technical institute instead of a regular college.”
“I think they could use you on the science force, Michael,” my friend told me, hardly taking his eyes off of the road. “Besides, I think that the space race is really getting big now.”
Indeed, I had heard much about the race to space growing up. Ever since I was younger, I had always dreamed of working as a scientist for NASA, helping figure out more efficient ways to launch our astronauts into space and what experiments would work up there. To tell the truth, I was also fascinated with the unknown, and outer space had definitely captured my interest.
“Yes, I know that,” I said to Lindbergh. “Are there any technical institutes nearby?”
I held out a map for my friend to look at. “Hey, there’s one in the next town over,” he announced.
“Really?” I double-checked the map in amazement.
“Yep, the Jack Haley Technical Institute. Sounds like a nice enough place.”
I could hardly believe it. There I was, thinking that I wouldn’t get an education, and the opportunity of my lifetime was in the next town. It was a dream come true.
“Michael, you got your portfolio with you?”
The words of my comrade hardly reached my ears. I was too busy imagining what it would be like to finally work for NASA and to live my dream of being included in scientific history. It was remarkable. It was energizing, it was wonderful. It was--
“Michael! We’re almost there!”
Finally, my mind was brought back to reality with the help of my flightless friend. “Um, thank you for telling me that, Lindbergh,” I thanked him.
“Aw, it’s no trouble, Michael,” he replied. “Just didn’t want you to be so quiet anymore, so…”
“Found it!” I had been rummaging through my things, trying to find my portfolio to present to the college.
Lindbergh parked the car in the parking lot of the institute and helped me out of the car. “Well, Michael,” he stated, “this is it.”
All I could do was nod at my friend’s comment. This was it, my big chance to show them all that I could be accepted into society, get a college-leveled education, and earn a job.
Naturally, I was nervous about everything.
“Lindbergh, what if they don’t accept me?” I asked him, a hint of doubt in my voice. What if they turned me down because I was… different?
The kiwi patted me on the back. “You’ll do fine, Michael,” he said to me in a friendly manner, “I know you will.”
I gave the plumber a small smile in return. “Thank you, Lindbergh,” I replied.
“Anytime, Michael,” he replied. “Now, let’s get you accepted into that college.”
“Right.” With that, both of us walked through the school doors and to the admission department office, never leaving the other‘s side.
There was a woman behind a desk typing on a typewriter. She seemed to be a secretary of sorts, so I knew that this must be the right place.
“Is this the administration office?” I asked the woman.
“Yes it is,” she answered, glancing at me as she spoke.
“Are you holding interviews for students today?” Oh, how I hoped they were…
“Why, yes,” the woman said. “I’ll go tell the interviewer you’re here, Mr. …”
“Michael Scott,” I told her.
“Mr. Scott,” she repeated before going into another room.
I sat down beside Lindbergh in a chair, letting out a sigh of relief.
“You’ll do fine, Michael,” my friend told me in a sing-song voice.
“Thank you,” I answered in the same manner.
After a while of waiting, the secretary motioned for me to go inside.
“Wish me luck,” I whispered to my companion before standing up and walking into the interview room with my portfolio.
~~~
For confidentiality reasons, I won’t go into great detail about the entire interview.
After the interview was over, I joined Lindbergh on a bench outside the office, awaiting my results.
“I think that it went pretty well, actually,” I confessed to the kiwi.
“You see? There was nothing to worry about, Michael,” my friend said to me.
The conversation continued from there, but the talk was halted when the secretary came out of the office. “Congratulations, Mr. Scott,” she told me. “You’ve been accepted into the campus.”
I immediately stood up, joy filling my body, and shook her hand. “Oh, thank you, ma’am!” I thanked her. “Thank you so much!”
The woman chuckled a bit. “I’m sure that you and your friend will enjoy it here” were her last words that she spoke to me before she disappeared back into the office.
“The recommendation worked!” Lindbergh happily exclaimed.
“We’re going to be roommates!” I added, a look of excitement on my face.
College was going to be great. I had been accepted, I was going to get a higher-level of education, and my best friend would be with me through it all. I could hardly wait for the classes to start.
As much fun as falling in love and kissing a girl had sounded at the time, I was too devoted to my studies to pursue such an idea. Besides, based on my past experiences with romance, I wasn’t exactly what people might call a ladies’ man. The accident made my love life even worse…
Anyway, Lindbergh and I were searching for a college for me to go to. We roamed from town to town in the car for weeks, looking for a college to accept me. So far, we hadn’t found any that would accept a… person with my condition.
“Lindbergh,” I remarked to him one day, “with my kind of design, I belong in a technical institute instead of a regular college.”
“I think they could use you on the science force, Michael,” my friend told me, hardly taking his eyes off of the road. “Besides, I think that the space race is really getting big now.”
Indeed, I had heard much about the race to space growing up. Ever since I was younger, I had always dreamed of working as a scientist for NASA, helping figure out more efficient ways to launch our astronauts into space and what experiments would work up there. To tell the truth, I was also fascinated with the unknown, and outer space had definitely captured my interest.
“Yes, I know that,” I said to Lindbergh. “Are there any technical institutes nearby?”
I held out a map for my friend to look at. “Hey, there’s one in the next town over,” he announced.
“Really?” I double-checked the map in amazement.
“Yep, the Jack Haley Technical Institute. Sounds like a nice enough place.”
I could hardly believe it. There I was, thinking that I wouldn’t get an education, and the opportunity of my lifetime was in the next town. It was a dream come true.
“Michael, you got your portfolio with you?”
The words of my comrade hardly reached my ears. I was too busy imagining what it would be like to finally work for NASA and to live my dream of being included in scientific history. It was remarkable. It was energizing, it was wonderful. It was--
“Michael! We’re almost there!”
Finally, my mind was brought back to reality with the help of my flightless friend. “Um, thank you for telling me that, Lindbergh,” I thanked him.
“Aw, it’s no trouble, Michael,” he replied. “Just didn’t want you to be so quiet anymore, so…”
“Found it!” I had been rummaging through my things, trying to find my portfolio to present to the college.
Lindbergh parked the car in the parking lot of the institute and helped me out of the car. “Well, Michael,” he stated, “this is it.”
All I could do was nod at my friend’s comment. This was it, my big chance to show them all that I could be accepted into society, get a college-leveled education, and earn a job.
Naturally, I was nervous about everything.
“Lindbergh, what if they don’t accept me?” I asked him, a hint of doubt in my voice. What if they turned me down because I was… different?
The kiwi patted me on the back. “You’ll do fine, Michael,” he said to me in a friendly manner, “I know you will.”
I gave the plumber a small smile in return. “Thank you, Lindbergh,” I replied.
“Anytime, Michael,” he replied. “Now, let’s get you accepted into that college.”
“Right.” With that, both of us walked through the school doors and to the admission department office, never leaving the other‘s side.
There was a woman behind a desk typing on a typewriter. She seemed to be a secretary of sorts, so I knew that this must be the right place.
“Is this the administration office?” I asked the woman.
“Yes it is,” she answered, glancing at me as she spoke.
“Are you holding interviews for students today?” Oh, how I hoped they were…
“Why, yes,” the woman said. “I’ll go tell the interviewer you’re here, Mr. …”
“Michael Scott,” I told her.
“Mr. Scott,” she repeated before going into another room.
I sat down beside Lindbergh in a chair, letting out a sigh of relief.
“You’ll do fine, Michael,” my friend told me in a sing-song voice.
“Thank you,” I answered in the same manner.
After a while of waiting, the secretary motioned for me to go inside.
“Wish me luck,” I whispered to my companion before standing up and walking into the interview room with my portfolio.
~~~
For confidentiality reasons, I won’t go into great detail about the entire interview.
After the interview was over, I joined Lindbergh on a bench outside the office, awaiting my results.
“I think that it went pretty well, actually,” I confessed to the kiwi.
“You see? There was nothing to worry about, Michael,” my friend said to me.
The conversation continued from there, but the talk was halted when the secretary came out of the office. “Congratulations, Mr. Scott,” she told me. “You’ve been accepted into the campus.”
I immediately stood up, joy filling my body, and shook her hand. “Oh, thank you, ma’am!” I thanked her. “Thank you so much!”
The woman chuckled a bit. “I’m sure that you and your friend will enjoy it here” were her last words that she spoke to me before she disappeared back into the office.
“The recommendation worked!” Lindbergh happily exclaimed.
“We’re going to be roommates!” I added, a look of excitement on my face.
College was going to be great. I had been accepted, I was going to get a higher-level of education, and my best friend would be with me through it all. I could hardly wait for the classes to start.