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Skyshimmer Design

“Hey, have either of you seen Tay?” asked Isaac, coming back from James’ house.  Jessie and Zac were playing Super Mario Kart on the Playstation in the den. 

“Yeah, he’s in the kitchen making grease-corn,” said Jessie with a grimace, her eyes barely flickering from the TV screen.  Zac perked up.

“Really? Have him save me a little, Ike, there’s a good big brother,” he said.  “I’ll be right in as soon as I blow up Jess’s guy.”   Jessie gave a very unladylike snort and immediately blasted Zac’s car with a barrage of bananas.  “Ok, maybe I’ll be in a bit sooner.”  Ike shook his head with a smile and headed to the kitchen.  Taylor looked as if he had just woken up. 

“Geez, what time did you go to bed last night?” asked Isaac.

“Not that late, only about 3:30 or so.  Come on, we didn’t even get home from the concert until 2:00,” replied Tay.  The microwave dinged.  Taylor reached in and pulled out a bag of Pour-on Butter Flavored Microwave Popcorn, otherwise known in the Hanson household by the charming name of grease-corn, into a large bowl. 

“Zac says to save a little for him,” Ike told him.

“Yeah right.  I mean, right, of course, anything for my baby brother.” Taylor pulled out the smallest condiment dish he could find and put exactly ten kernels of popcorn in the dish.  He added a tiny dab of butter topping.  “There’s a little for him.”

“I still don’t see how you, Zac, and Avie can eat that stuff.  It’s 99% oil!”

“Hey, as long as Mom thinks I need to gain weight, she’ll buy any food I ask,” replied Taylor, picking up the large bowl.  Isaac stared unbelievingly at him.

“Yeah, I can see the headlines already: Rock star Taylor Hanson, dead at 20 from heart attack, autopsy reports arteries clogged with artificial butter.”  Just then, Zac strolled in and snatched the bowl out of Taylor’s arms.  Jessie followed him in and sat down next to Ike, surveying the scene.

“Thank you, brother dearest!” Zac sat himself down at the kitchen island with an infuriating grin and shoved a handful in his mouth.

“Hey, gimme that!” Isaac looked at his brothers, both now stuffing their faces with greasy popcorn, and let out a long sigh.  “Now I forget why I was looking for you,” he told Taylor. 

“You better hope it wasn’t important,” said Zac.  At least, that’s what he meant to say.  What came out of his mouth sounded more like, “Oo vetter oaf ifs na imforfant.”

“So Ike, my normal brother, where’d you go this morning?” Jessie asked. 

“Oh, I just hung around at James’ house for a while, had lunch and caught up on the news about everyone.  A couple people stopped off and had lunch with us.  Oh Tay, I remember now.”  Taylor looked up.  “I passed Leigh-Ann while I was driving home.  She was on her way to the five-and-ten and said she’d stop off here on her way home.”

“Ok, cool, did she say how long she’d be?  And what’s she coming over for?” Tay asked.

“She didn’t say why she’s coming, but she said she’d probably be about half an hour. I ran into her about fifteen minutes ago so…”

“She’ll be here in about fifteen minutes more, OK.”  Taylor mentally surveyed himself.  Knotted hair, ratty wifebeater, pajama pants, greasy hands and face…He muttered something that sounded very similar to a curse and jumped up and ran upstairs.

“Wow.”  Jessie poured herself a soda.  “Last time I saw him run for the shower that fast was when you guys were late for the Cindy Crawford House of Style taping,” she commented.  Zac chuckled and a piece of popcorn flew out of his mouth.  “Eww!” cried Jess, as she threw him a napkin.

Ding dong ding dong!   “I got it!” cried Taylor as he barreled down the stairs.  He tossed his towel over the banister and flung open the door to find…Lara.  “Oh.  It’s just you.  Hi Lara.”  He retrieved his towel and started drying his hair.

“Well it’s lovely to see you too!”

“Sorry, it’s just I was expecting Le-someone to stop off about now,” he said, a little apologetically.

“Ah, I see,” replied Lara with a smile.  “That’s OK, I’m not here for you anyhow.  I have this,” she held up a pale blue envelope, “from Céline for Ike.”

“Ohh, what’s in it?”

“Ahem, I believe reading other people’s mail is illegal,” said Lara.

“But reading other people’s hand delivered notes that don’t count as mail because they don’t have postmarks on them isn’t,” grinned Taylor.

“Well, true.  But you of all people should know how fully capable Ike is of killing both of us if he really had a reason.  I don’t particularly want to give him a reason.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Taylor shrugged.

“Yes, you know I am.  Anyhow, is Ike home?”

“Yeah.  He was in the kitchen, lemme see where he is now.”  He opened his mouth, but Lara covered it with her hand.

“Oh, let me do it this once!” and before Taylor could say a word, she bellowed at the top of her lungs, “IKE!  WHERE ARE YOU?”

“LIVING ROOM!” came the reply.  Lara nodded to Taylor and head down the hall towards the den.  Taylor shook his head in amazement and went and stretched out on the porch swing.

Isaac held the elegant blue envelope in his hands.   “Will you open it already?  I’m dying to know what she said.  I didn’t walk all the way over here to watch you meditate with it,” said Lara.  While he thought Lara pretty cool, considering she was one of Taylor’s good friends, Ike really wished she’d just bug off right then.  He examined the letter.  It was addressed to M. Isaac Hanson, and written in the upper left hand corner was simply ‘Céline Prévost’.  He slit the top of the envelope with his finger and pulled out a folded sheet of the same color as the envelope.  Opening it up, he read:

Dear Isaac,
Are you very mad at me?  If you are, you have every right to be.  I behaved like a mad dog.  My time in Katarine’s lair was terrible, and you saved me, and I repaid you with threats, accusations, and insults.  I have had some sessions with an anger management counselor, and I have seen how horribly I behaved.  I am very sorry for that, and I thank you for rescuing me.   All I ask is that you let me know whether or not you accept my apology.
Truly,
Céline

Ike looked up from the letter.  To her credit, Lara was sitting patiently, waiting for some kind of reaction from Ike.  “She apologized.  And she wants to know if I accept,” Ike softly said to her. 

“Do you?”

After the briefest of pauses, he said, “Yes, I do.”  A slight smile appeared on his face.  “Do you have her address?  I don’t think I could find the paper I have it written down on.”

“Sure.”  Lara grabbed a pen and a scrap of paper from the coffee and wrote down her cousin’s address.  “You know, that’s probably the same reason she sent the letter to me instead of straight to you.  I bet she threw away all her Hanson memorabilia after the…incident.”  She handed the scrap of paper to Isaac, and threw him a mock salute.  “My job here is done.  I’ll let myself out, say hello to the rest of the house for me.” 

Ike watched from the living room as she walked past Taylor reclining on the porch.  He got up and searched for paper and envelopes.  All he could find was a spiral notebook and a Sharpie marker, which just didn’t seem appropriate to him, at least not for this particular letter.  He went out to the porch and shook Tay by the shoulder.  “Hey, wake up!”

“I wasn’t sleeping,” protested Taylor, yawning.

“Right…do we have any good writing paper and envelopes and stamps and stuff?” asked Ike.

“I have no clue.  I can’t remember the last time I wrote a real letter.  I guess if we have any, it’d probably be on the bus.”  Which was currently parked in a garage, on the other side of town. 

“Ok, I’m not driving all the way across Tulsa and back to pick up some paper that might not even exist.  Tell Mom and Dad, if they get home from wherever they’re at before I do, that I went out to buy some stuff, and I have my pager.  Same to anyone else who asks, OK?  Where is everyone else anyways?” instructed Ike.

“Mom and Dad went to Wayne’s house to see Aunt Jude and Uncle Cliff and the new baby.  They took Mack and Zoë with them.  Avie went over to a friend’s house, and Jessica went to her room, I think.  Oh yeah,” Taylor continued with a smug look, “and I’m pretty sure Zac’s next door trying to seduce Manda.”

“Ok, bad mental image.”  Ike went to get his car keys.  He was halfway out of the garage when a shaft of bright sunlight struck him on the face.  Stopping a moment to enjoy the warmth, he drove the car back into the garage. 

“I thought you said you were going shopping,” Taylor called to Ike as he walked out the door.

“I am, but it’s such a nice day, I’m walking.  It’s not that far.”  He paused and remembered something completely innocent that he knew would irritate Taylor.  “Oh yeah, when Leigh-Ann comes over, try to remember to tell her I checked out a couple of the websites she emailed me about, and that she’s right, they are incredible.  See you later!”

“Yes yes, gotcha,” Taylor replied.  “Wait a minute!”  He sat up straight.  “You and Leigh-Ann email each other?”  But Isaac was already out of earshot, walking down the road.

A shadow fell over Taylor.  He opened his eyes and blinked as Leigh-Ann stepped back and let the sun flood his eyes.  “Ow, you’re doing that on purpose, aren’t you?” smiled Taylor as he sat up.  “Sit down, what’s up?”

“My parents are getting a divorce,” she plainly stated as she sat down next to Taylor.  He goggled at her.

“What?!”

“Yeah, my mom found out he was cheating on her and she kicked him out.  I think he’s moved in with her now.  I’m glad, now he can foist off all his crap on her instead of us,” she said vehemently.  Taylor looked at her, still somewhat unbelieving.

“You know what?  The neighbors are starting to stare at us and that’s the third time that silver SUVs passed by.  Wanna come in back?  We can talk more in the backyard,” he said.  Leigh-Ann nodded and they walked through the house silently.

“Ok, so what exactly happened?” asked Taylor as they sat down under a tree on the grass near the edge of the property.

“I told you, my mom found out was being unfaithful, she kicked him out, and she’s filing for divorce.”

“That’s it?  His, um, drinking didn’t have anything to do with it?” Taylor gingerly asked.

For a moment, Leigh-Ann seemed like she was about to snap his head off.  Then she softened.  “Well…it was just the last straw.  I don’t know how much longer any of us could have held out like that.”

“Um, I’m not exactly an expert on divorce, but shouldn’t you be upset or angry at your parents or something?” 

“Maybe if my dad was a wonderful person who didn’t blow up and become a jerk the moment alcohol touches his lips, I might be upset.  But really, this is best,” she said.  To Taylor, she sounded as if she was still trying to convince herself that it really was for the best.  Quietly he put his arm around her.  Leigh-Ann relaxed and leaned in against his shoulder.

A moment later, she asked, “Taylor, can I just hang around here for a while?”

“Of course you can,” said Taylor.

“Thanks, Tay.”

“You can stay as long as you like.  I mean, I don’t think I’m doing anything the rest of the day, but even if I’m not here, you can stay, my parents won’t mind, you know…” he drifted off when he noticed that his audience was no longer listening.  Leigh-Ann had a far-off look on her face, more content than he had seen her all that day.  He leaned back against the tree trunk.

Ike stepped out of the post office and squinted his eyes.  He waited for his eyes to adjust from the dim light of the post office, tucked his stamps into the paper bag that held the rest of that afternoon’s purchases, and looked around him.  The sky was a brilliant blue, and the day was cooler than normal for a Tulsa summer.  A few dark clouds on the edge of the horizon promised rain that night, but for the moment, it was beautiful.  Pausing a moment, Ike watched businesspeople taking a late lunch at the café across the street.  He turned and walked down the street, not in the direction of home, but towards the bus stop.

Two buses, four autographs, one photograph, and seventeen minutes later, Isaac stood in front of the Arthur L. Johnson Memorial Office Building, the tallest in all Tulsa.  He walked inside the somewhat overdone lobby, with its vaulted twenty foot ceiling.  He was pleased to see a familiar face behind the receptionist’s desk as he approached. 

“Hello Mrs. Crawfield!” he called out to the kind old woman behind the desk.  Beside her was a young girl unknown to him.  She gave a little gasp when she saw who had entered the building.

“Why hello, Isaac, isn’t it?  Walker’s boy?”  He nodded with a smile.  “And how are you, dear?  You and your brothers are in the music business now, aren’t you?  How are you enjoying yourselves?”

“Yes, we are.  It’s been a lot of fun; we’ve gotten to go to so many places.  We’re on tour now, and we just played at Mabee Center last night,” he told her.

“Why, that sounds wonderful!  I wish you the best of luck with your music in the future.”  And she really meant it.  “Now, dear, what can I do for you today?”

“Well, I know my dad doesn’t work here anymore, but I was wondering if I could still get onto the roof,” he said.

“Say no more.  Of course you can still get up there!   Now, if only I could find that silly key!” she said as she rummaged around her desk drawer.  “Oh, thank you, sweetie!” she said, when the girl beside her handed her the key “I must have misplaced it in that drawer.  Isaac dear, this is Erica, our intern.  Erica, Isaac Hanson.  His father used to work up on the 36th floor.”  Isaac shook hands with Erica, and smiled.  He received a nervous smile and a murmured ‘Hello’ in return.  “I don’t think anyone’s bothered to bring down your lawn chair, so that’s up there for you as well.  Do you still know the way?” she asked.

“Of course I do!  We haven’t been gone that long,” Ike protested.

“Of course you do, of course.  Well, tell your parents hello for me, and if neither Gwen nor I am here where you come down, just leave the key by the telephone,” she told him.

“Sure thing.  Thanks, Mrs. Crawfield.”  He headed off across the lobby towards the bank of elevators.

Left left right?  Or was it left right right?  “Yeah, I think this is right,” Ike said to himself.  “Then, one, two, three doors on the left.”  He grabbed the doorknob and threw open the door to find a surprised man, about to make a phone call.  “So sorry, wrong door!”  Man, we’ve really been gone from here too long.  He spotted a woman walking down the hall.  “Excuse me, do you know the way to the roof?”

Zac stood at Manda’s door, finger poised to press the doorbell.  He took a breath, then turned and walked away down the front path.  He sat down on the curb in front of her house.  Come on Zac, it’s just Manda!  You did this once, you can do this again!  He got up again, slowly walked back to the door, paused, and quickly rang the doorbell.  A short moment later, Manda opened the door.  “Hi Manda!” he said brightly.

“Hey Zac.  Come in?” she asked.  He had actually intended just to ask her out at the door, and then dash back home to relative safety, but his brain and body just weren’t cooperating that day. 

“Sure, thanks,” he said as he followed her into the kitchen. 

“The concert was awesome last night, by the way.  So what’s up?” she asked.

“Thanks, it was definitely better with you there.  And everyone else, of course,” he continued.  Zac thought he heard a car door slam, but continued.  Now or never, he thought.    “So, I was just wondering…” he started, but then the doorbell rang.  Manda got up, excused herself, and went to answer the door.  Zac couldn’t see who was at the door, but he heard the almost all the conversation. 

“Jack!  Hey, how you doing?”

“Just lovely, thank you,” said a confident male voice.  Manda giggled at something Jack did.

“So what are you doing over here?”

“Well, my brother’s taking me to get some new stuff for basketball, so I asked him to stop off here a moment.  I wanted to know, would you like to go to the movies with me, Rick, and Christine on Friday?”

“Well, sure.  I haven’t got anything else planned.  That sounds good.  What time?”

That was all Zac needed to hear.  Glancing around, he noticed a sliding glass door to the backyard in Manda’s living room.  He could see the fence between her house and his.  Manda and the Jack-guy were still talking.  Zac dashed through Manda’s living room, nearly running into Manda’s father and out into her backyard.  He dashed across the grass, nearly running over top of Taylor and Leigh-Ann.  He dashed up the slope of his backyard and into the house.  Leigh-Ann looked at Taylor.  “Is he training for some YMCA track meet?”

“I have no clue whatsoever.”  A moment later, “You want a soda or something to eat?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure.”  They got up and walked towards the house, Taylor’s arm still around Leigh-Ann’s shoulders.

Manda shut her front door.  “Sorry about that, Zac.  So-Zac?”  She entered the kitchen to find her father, newspaper in hand, looking at her quizzically. 

“Who was that?” he asked.

“Oh, that was just Jack,” she said with a hint of a blush.  “His brother just drove him over for a minute to see if I wanted to go to a movie with him on Friday.  That is ok, isn’t it?” she quickly asked.

“Yes, sure, that’s fine.  But who was the boy who just ran through the living room?” her dad asked her.

“Living room?  Oh no!  Zac must- boys!  Why do they have to be so weird?”  She threw up her hands and went up to her room.

"Teenagers!  Why do they have to be so weird?" her dad muttered to himself, shaking his head as he walked back into the living room.

Taylor poured out two glasses of Dr. Pepper, then excused himself to the bathroom.  Leigh-Ann took a sip of her soda.  Faintly, she heard the sound of guitar chords in the background.  Curious, she followed her ears into the basement, where she found Jessie strumming on what looked to be one of Ike’s old guitars, with her back turned towards the stairwell.  “Hey, I didn’t know you played,” Leigh-Ann said.  Jessie sat up with a start.

“Oh, it’s you!  Hi Leigh-Ann, you startled me!  Yeah, we don’t tell a lot of people that me, Avie, and Mack play instruments too.   Morons kept asking if we were going to start Hanson Jr.  I’m better on the piano, but Ike’s been teaching me a little guitar on the bus,” she told Leigh Ann, patting the side of the guitar.

“Cool.  My only musical experience is when I took a piano/music composition course at school second semester last year, for part of my fine arts requirement,” Leigh-Ann said.

“Did you get any good?” asked Jess.

“Not really.  I didn’t learn that much from the teacher, but I like playing and I figured some stuff out on my own and from the books.  I even checked out a little keyboard from the school music department for the summer,” she walked over to Taylor’s keyboard.  “Not nearly as nice as this one, but I like playing around on it.”  She spotted a wrinkled sheet of music lying on the floor next to the keyboard.  “Hey, what’s this?” she asked as she picked it up.  Jessie walked over and looked at it.

“Oh, that’s a bit of some song that Ike couldn’t get quite right.  It sounded pretty good to me, but he threw a little hissy fit at it.  Said he and the song ‘just didn’t get along’ and declared it a futile effort.  Those were his exact words, a futile effort.  Here, listen.”  She put it on the keyboard’s music stand and played the few lines.  Leigh-Ann silently read the lyrics written in:

You can only wait, you can only wait so long.
You can only wait, you can only wait so long.
In this game we play, can’t tell right from wrong,
You can only wait so long.

“What does Ike know?  That’s beautiful,” said Leigh-Ann.

“Well, Ike is Ike,” said Jessie as she switched off the keyboard and dropped the sheet into the wastebasket by the stairwell. 

“Leigh-Ann?” she heard Taylor calling. 

“Basement, coming up!” she hollered back.  “Ok, I’ll let you get back to your practicing, see you later.” 

“Yup, see you!”  Jessie sat back down in her original position and started strumming again.  On her way to the stairs, Leigh-Ann leaned down and grabbed the sheet of music from the trash and slipped it in her pocket.

Ike sat back in his weather beaten lawn chair, looking over all of Tulsa and feeling like a king.  He remembered the last time he was up here, the day before they left to record Middle of Nowhere.  He had lugged his dad’s ancient Polaroid camera up to take some photos of home.  They were still pinned to the inside of his suitcase.  Still, no photograph could capture the city all around him, his home.  He thought of the new house in Bixby that still stood empty because they hadn’t time to move in yet, and didn’t trust strangers to move their life in cardboard boxes.  After the tour, we need to take a nice long vacation at home, he thought.  Maybe we could record the next album here.  Then we’d stay long enough so that we could move in to the new house, and the neighbors could get used to having us around, and Tulsa would get used to seeing us walking around so we wouldn’t be mobbed at home.  Then after that album comes out, we could go even farther than before.  Take the tour all sorts of places, maybe smaller places too.  He thought of how the Albertane Tour was going to date.  Big stadiums were incrdibly awesome, true, but the fans were louder than they were!  He wondered what Zac and Taylor would think about doing a small club tour.  Granted, then we'd actually have to be old enough to enter the clubs.

Leigh-Ann was putting her glass in the sink when Jessie came up out of the basement. 

“Hey Taylor, Mom and Dad called while you were outside.  They said that Wayne and them are all coming over for a barbeque at 6 tonight, so don’t eat too much junk food now.  They were going to pick up some stuff at the supermarket and then come home.”

“Ok, cool.  Haven’t seen Wayne in a while now.  But it looks like it’s gonna rain soon.  Are we grilling the food in the garage again?” asked Taylor, with a slightly worried look on his face.  He joined Leigh-Ann at the sink and deposited his glass.  Just then, Diana, Walker, and Mackenzie walked in, carrying Zoë and a bag of groceries, two brimming grocery bags and a watermelon, and two bottles of soda, respectively. 

“Yes, we are.  For the last time, Taylor, we leave the doors all open, you don’t have to worry about gas leaking into the house.  Hi kids, hi Leigh-Ann,” said Diana as she set Zoë into the high chair in the kitchen. 

“Hi mom.  So what did you guys buy for dinner?  Is it just Wayne, Bryan, Uncle Cliff, Aunt Jude, and the new kid coming over?” asked Taylor.

“Jason, Taylor, the baby's name is Jason.  It’s not that hard to remember.  You remember Jason your bodyguard’s name, why can’t you remember Jason your cousin’s name?” his mother scolded him, as Leigh-Ann giggled. 

“We bought enough meat to feed half of Tulsa.  Got half a dozen huge steaks, a couple pounds of chicken, a steer’s worth of ground beef, some potatoes and stuff, and three bottles of barbeque sauce.  Did you know the stuff comes in lime flavor?” added Walker.  “I got a bottle of that just to try it.”

“Leigh-Ann, you’re welcome to stay for dinner if you like.  There’s plenty of food to go around, and both Avie and one of my nephews are having friends over,” Diana told her. 

“Hi mommy! Hi daddy!  Hi Taylor and Leigh-Ann!  Hi Zoë!”  Avie came running down the stairs and planted a kiss on the baby’s cheek.

“What, no ‘Hi!’ for Mackie?” teased Walker, with a grin.

“No, coz he broke the arms off my Olympic Medallist Barbie this morning!”  To the Hanson family, loving interaction between members was the norm; it was the absence of that warmth that indicated troubles.  Watching them almost made Leigh-Ann cry. 

“Leigh?  You staying?” Taylor asked. 

She blinked and replied, “No, I think I better get home now.  My mom’s gonna wonder where I am.  Thanks though, maybe some other time,” she said as she started heading for the door. 

“Alright, be careful on your way home, then.  Would you like to borrow an umbrella?” asked Diana.

“No thanks, that’s alright, Mrs. Hanson.”  Taylor walked Leigh-Ann to the door.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure.  Thanks.”  She gave him a hug and walked slowly down the street.

“Taylor?” called his dad from inside.  “Can you send Ike a page for me?  Tell him everyone’s coming over for dinner and not to be too late.”

Taking a last glance at Leigh-Ann walking away, he replied, “Sure Dad, no problem.”

BEEP BEEP BEEP!  Ike was dragged back into reality by his pager.  He had the sudden urge to chuck it over the side of the building.  He pictured it freefalling for thirty stories before smashing itself on a window ledge and falling in several pieces another twenty stories and landing on the street, to be run over by a fleet large truck.  Sighing, he looked down at the message. 

Wayne n fam BBQ a 6 no late   T.

Taylor’s pager spelling got more and more interesting as time went on.  Ike got up and stretched and took one last look around.  Thunder was starting to rumble and he would have to hurry home if he didn’t want to get drenched.  He headed inside for the elevator.  He got in and felt his ears pop as he went down to the eighteenth floor. 

Then his back tensed as he saw Ginger Reed step into the elevator.  She gave him a quick nod and moved to the other side of the elevator.  Ike began counting the floors until he was free of the suddenly much too small elevator.  Fifteenth, fourteenth, thirteenth, twelfth…he start to jiggle his foot impatiently…ninth, eighth, seventh, sixth, fifth, fourth, third, second…the elevator ground to a halt and the lights went out.  Isaac’s jaw dropped.  The amber emergency lights came on.  He started at the old-fashioned floor counter above the door, its pointer stuck between one and two, in disbelief. Of all the times this piece of junk could break down, it had to be right now?

“Oh, great.  This is just darling,” Ginger griped as she reached for the red emergency phone rang.  “Hello?  Yes, we're stuck in one of the elevators.  No, we’re not panicking.  Who’s we?  We are Ginger Reed, that’s me, and Isaac Hanson.  Yes, that Isaac Hanson.  Yeah, look, can you tell me how long it’s going to be until we can get down?  What?!  Why are we stuck here in the first place?  You mean the rest of the building is perfectly fine?  Urgh…OK.  Thanks.”  She dropped the phone back onto its hook. 

“So?” prompted Ike.

“You know that storm that’s been brewing for a while now?  Well lightning hit the building.  The guy on the other end told me it blew out something or the other, technical stuff I don’t get, but everything’s hooked up to some backup.  That is, everything except the elevators.  I think there’s people stuck in the other elevator too, but they’re higher up and near a floor.  Morons!”

“So how long are we here?  We’re having people over for dinner, I have to get home,” Ike said.

“Don’t count on getting home too soon.  You know how the first floor has a real high ceiling?  Well the guy said we’re stuck right in the middle of the wall, six feet below the second floor and six feet above the first.  It’s gonna be at least half an hour before we get out, probably more.” 

“Great.  Just dandy.  Absolutely freaking wonderful!”  He slouched against the wall. 

“Yeah.  I feel for you.”  She reached into her purse and pulled out a cell phone.  Turning it on, she watched the screen for any sign of activity.  “Curses upon the universe, the cell phone won’t work!  I guess it’s like when you’re driving through a tunnel,” she said, tucking the phone back in her purse.  Nodding, Ike reached for the emergency phone.

“Hello, anyone there?  Yeah, this is Isaac Hanson, the guy stuck in the elevator.  I was wondering, can you connect this phone to the real world?  Um, OK, I’ll hold,” he said, a bit bemused.

“How can you be put on hold on an elevator emergency phone?” wondered Ginger.  Ike shrugged. 

“The guy’s redirecting me to the building switchboard.  Hello?  This is Isaac Hanson, the guy stuck in the elevator.  Oh, hi, Erica?  Well, thanks, I’m glad you liked the ‘MMMBop’ video.  Look,” he said quickly, “can you connect this phone to an outside number?  Oh.  Uh, then, could you do me a favor?”  He didn’t think it’d be quite safe to give the receptionist his home phone number so he asked her, “Could you call this number for me?”  He recited his cousin’s cell phone number.  “Yes, just tell him to tell everyone I’m stuck here and will probably be late for dinner.  I’ll call him for a ride when I’m out.”  He covered the mouthpiece.  “Want any messages delivered to the real world?”  Ginger shook her head.  “Ok, thanks Erica.  I really appreciate it.”  He hung up the phone.  Ginger had seated herself on the floor of the elevator.  Ike sat himself cross-legged across the elevator from her.

“So Isaac.  Long time no see?”

Ding dong ding dong!   Jessie opened the door to find Manda.  “Hi Manda!  What are you doing here?” she asked, mentally crossing her fingers.  Not Zac, not Zac…

“Hi Jess!  Have you seen Zac in the last…half hour or so?” she asked.  Jess sighed.  “I gotta talk to him about what on earth he was doing this afternoon.”

“Zac’s in the kitchen with Taylor, Wayne and everyone else.  Come on in.  What was he doing this afternoon that was so weird?  I mean, weirder than usual?”  Jess closed the door behind Manda. 

“He showed up at my house, and I think he was about to ask me…something, when my friend Jack dropped by.  While I was talking to Jack at the door, my dad says Zac ran into our backyard and hopped the fence,” Manda told Jessie. 

“Ok, well he’s in here.” She led the way to the kitchen, where several Hansons were moving about, including Zac, Taylor, and two boys she didn’t recognize, one about Zac's age, the other as old as Ike.  The smell of limes and barbequed meat was coming from the door connecting the kitchen to the garage.

“Hi everyone.”  She walked over and tapped Zac on the shoulder.  “Zac, can I talk to you for a minute?  Alone?” she glanced pointedly at him.

“Uh, well, um,” he panicked, “actually, we were in the middle of something here,” he finished haughtily.  Taylor looked at him with a fake questioning stare.

“Were we?  I hadn’t noticed.  Don’t worry Manda, we weren’t busy, you two can go and talk.”  Taylor flashed his most innocently devious smile at Zac, who scowled and grabbed the unfamiliar older boy's arm.

“Well, we were, uh, about to get the rest of the stuff from Wayne's car.”  He dragged Wayne with him out of the kitchen. 

“What the-?  Hey, I’m supposed to be waiting for Ike to call!” said Wayne.  They heard Zac’s reply, “On your cellphone, you moron!”  The door slammed and a moment later, the people in the kitchen could see Wayne’s old pickup truck drive off.  Diana watched them leave with curiosity. 

“What has gotten into him?” she muttered to herself.  “Well Manda, I suppose he’ll be back in a little while.  Do you want to stay for dinner?  You can talk to him when he gets back,” Diana asked.   “And he will come back, he’s been whining for an hour about how long the food is taking to cook and how hungry he is,” she added.

“Yeah, why don’t you stay?  Both Avie and Bryan," she nodded to the remaining unfamiliar boy, "have friends coming over in a while and I wouldn’t mind having you to hang around with tonight,” Jessie said hopefully.  Manda inhaled and her stomach began to growl. 

“Sure, that sounds great!  Let me run home and let my parents know I’m over here.”  She went to the front door and opened it, only to be sprayed with rain.  “On second thought, I think I’ll just call them from here.  I hope Zac gets very very wet.”

Ginger was shaking with laughter.  “I can’t believe he did that!  And no one found him out?”

“Amazingly, no.  I could only imagine Rosa’s face, coz she was a pretty big fan.  At least, by the time we got there, she’d pulled out a whole lot posters for Zac to sign,” Ike commented.

“So do you ever do that?  Should I be worried if I see a tall pink-haired punk around town?” she asked with a grin.

“Oh, don’t think I haven’t been tempted.  Just to get away from the people with cameras for a few hours, I’d risk my parents and Mercury totally freaking out,” he told her.

Ginger looked at her watch, “Well, you’ve had about an hour and a half without cameras so far, so I hope that helps relieve some of your negative camera karma.” 

Ike shook his head and smiled at her terrible pun.  “Wow, an hour and a half.  I wonder if they’re anywhere close to getting us out.  I’m kinda hungry and my foot’s fallen asleep,” said Ike.  He stood up and stretched out his arms and legs.  Ginger followed suit.  They stood in the center of the elevator.  Ike stood on one foot.

“I wonder how long I can keep up like this.  Time me, will you?” he asked.

“You’re so weird!”  She tucked her right foot above her left knee and looked at her watch.  “Go!”  They stood there somberly for a full thirty-five seconds before Ike started making faces at her, trying to get her to laugh and lose her balance.  “Hey, that’s cheating, you dumbbell!” she said with a smile.

“Heh heh heh, you said ‘dumb’!” said Ike in his absolute worse Beavis and Butthead impression.  That did it.  Ginger laughed and began to tip.  As soon as her leg extended and her foot hit the ground, Ike declared, still on one foot, “I win!”

“You win what?” asked Ginger.  Ike paused.

“I don’t know, I’ll get back-whoa!” he exclaimed, as the lights flickered, the elevator dropped suddenly and he tipped forward.  He saved himself from a concussion by catching himself against the wall with his arms and looked up at the floor counter.  “Well, I guess we’re getting out of here.”

“Actually, I’m kinda trapped here.  Wanna let me out?” asked Ginger.  Ike turned to find Ginger’s face four inches from his. 

“Oops,” he said, blushing.  He straightened himself and helped Ginger, who was pinned against the wall between his arms, up.  The doors opened and they walked into the lobby.  Wayne and Zac were at the receptionist’s desk, talking to Erica.  Wayne appeared to be trying to hit on her, who looked more interested in Zac.  “Better go save Erica there from my cousin,” Ike said as he and Ginger walked over.  Zac’s eyes bugged out when he saw Ginger.

“Oh, there you are, hi Isaac!” said Erica brightly.   “The workmen told me a few minutes ago that they were almost done fixing the elevator, so I called up your friend for you, since you said you’d be calling him for a ride anyways and I didn’t think you’d want to wait another half an hour here.  At least, not with just me for company,” she said somewhat gloomily.  Isaac felt guilty, although he couldn’t think exactly what he should be feeling guilty about.

“Well, I don’t think you’d be such bad company.  I bet I’ve had worse,” he told her.  She cheered up immediately.  “Speaking of worse, this is my cousin Wayne.  Thanks for calling him for me.  I guess we should be going home now.”  Wayne nodded.

“Yeah, it’s been my pleasure meeting you.  Maybe I’ll see you around.  You have my number there,” he said. 

“Bye Erica!” said Ike as he steered Wayne across the lobby towards the door.  “Where are we parked anyhow?” 

“Out on the street, right by the door.”  Ike paused a moment.

“You go on out to the car, I’ll be right with you in a minute.”  As soon as Zac and Wayne were out the door, he turned to Ginger.  “I’ve decided what I’ve won from you for the standing on one leg contest,” he told her.

“What?”

“A date.  Friday night sound okay to you?” he asked, not quite believing the words coming out of his mouth.

Ginger’s eyes widened.  “Well, okay, sure!  Did you have anything in mind?”

“Not really.  I was thinking I’d pick you up about seven and hopefully I’ll have thought of something by then.”  He spoke nonchalantly, though his heartbeat was pounding out a military march.  Ginger laughed.

“Ok, that sounds good.  I guess I’ll see you Friday then.”  She smiled and headed off towards the parking garage.  Ike walked out to the truck and squeezed himself into the back seat.  Zac turned around and looked at him as Wayne slowly backed out of their parking spot.

“What was that all about?  Did you just do what I’m afraid you did?” he asked seriously.

“What are you afraid I did?” asked Ike.  Zac rolled his eyes and sighed.

“Must I spell everything out for you?  You’re stuck in an elevator with the Wicked Witch of Tulsa and you come out looking like a kid leaving Chuck E. Cheese’s.  You asked her out on a date, didn’t you?” he accused. 

“Hey, she’s cute.  What’s wrong with asking out a pretty girl?  And what’s with the witch thing?” Wayne asked.  Zac launched into an explanation and summary of Isaac’s dating history with Ginger.  Wayne glanced at Ike in the rearview mirror. 

“Just drive.”

“Is the food done?” yelled Zac as he walked through the front door, wringing out his hair.  Ike and Wayne came through after him, shaking themselves off outside.

“It’s all on the dining room table.  You kids are eating in the den.  Try not to drop anything on the sofa, OK?” called Walker from the living room.

“And don’t drip water all over the floor!” added Diana.  Zac looked guiltily at the puddles at his feet.  Well, they can’t prove it was me.  The three of them went into the kitchen and filled up their plates with drumsticks, burgers, and some grilled potatoes.  At the doorway into the family room, he froze in his tracks when he saw Manda sitting on the couch with Jessie.  Ike nearly ran into him. 

“Now what?” he asked.  Zac pointed into the room. 

“Manda.  She’s still here!” he exclaimed.  Wayne lightly snorted as he pushed past Zac into the room and sat down on the floor at the coffee table by Jessie. 

“And you said I was weird with girls,” commented Ike as he pushed Zac through the door.  Zac looked around.  Both armchairs, and the loveseat were taken.  There was a seat open on the couch next to Manda, and there was space on the floor near Taylor, Bryan, and his friend. 

Trying not to be much ruder than he already had been, he said, “Hello,” to Manda and told Bryan, “Scoot over.”  He squeezed in between Bryan and Taylor.  Ike shrugged and sank into the sofa. 

“Has anyone else had an unusually good day?” he asked, in between bites of lime-flavored chicken.  Zac looked up.

“I have not had a fun day.”  Manda looked at him and he returned to his absorbing discussion of video game techniques with Bryan’s friend Wes.  Ike raised his eyebrows. 

"Oh.  Well, I've had a nice day today."  Manda turned to him. 

"Ike, didn't you get stuck in an elevator for two hours?" she asked.

"Yeah, but you don't know who he was stuck in there with," Wayne told her with a grin.  Taylor perked up.  Ike groaned.

"I knew I should have kept my mouth shut," he moaned. Taylor laughed.

"But you didn't.  So one of you spill the beans."  As Wayne explained the afternoon's events to Taylor, Manda and Jessie, with Isaac correcting him occasoinally, Taylor's eyes went from widened to puzzled to narrowed in suspicion.  Turing to Ike, he asked, "Did you notice any strange gases coming out of the ventilation grates while you were in the elevator?"  Ike looked at him oddly.

"What?  No, there weren't any strange gases in the elevator!"

"That settles it then," declared Taylor.  "The girl must have supernatural powers and used them to brainwash you.  Again."  Manda and Ike tried to refute with Taylor, as Jessie and Wayne watched.  Zac and Wes pulled out the Sega game console.  Avie and her friend Haley finished their food and started playing with Mackie's' hair, despite his squirming protests.  In the next room, the adults' voices and laughter could be heard.  Four blocks away, Leigh-Ann sat alone in front of her TV, a bowl of macaroni and cheese on her lap.

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