Tales of the Parodyverse

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Jack
Tue Apr 19, 2005 at 10:25:41 pm EDT
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Gloria.
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                    Gloria

[author's note: it's not my intention to offend, but i wanted to make Gloria's harsh life convincing. As such, there is harsh scenes and language.]

“I know that no one sees me,
I know that I don’t like me,
In this world we’re pale and shiver ‘in,
But in this world we don’t talk about these things.”

            -Galen Leech (a musician I knew in high school)

Her heart had been pounding for days. Although her grey eyes were bloodshot and had a glassy surface to them, Gloria was alert. The amphetamines hadn’t left her system nor had she shut off survival mode. Under her white sweater, Gloria could feel adrenaline rampage through her petite, muscular body. A small whimper inside her being begged for her to come down, but she suppressed it.
    
8:00 a.m. It was just one thing after another, and as Gloria stood waiting for the bus, her heart stopped. She gasped and it started again. Then, she laughed like a stoner and mocked her own laugh. “Wow, narly; I laugh like a fucking surfer.” The whining steel of an aging bus caught Gloria’s attention as it pulled up along side the curb. The bus driver opened the doors and let Gloria on board.

The bus driver was a grizzly fellow with a red beard and whose gut slightly hung over his waistband. He wore a blue shirt for the top of his uniform and black pants. On his driver’s cap was a patch with the letter ‘P’ for Parodiopolis Bus Line. The bus driver watched Gloria through his large sunglasses as she hopped up the few steps. He gave her a friendly smile, and she returned it.

As the bus pulled away from the curb, Gloria made her way down the isle. It was another beautiful morning; she may not go home again, and now it’s off to school. The old bus had tall green seats and a metallic feel to it. It was one of the few apart of Paodiopolis’ old bus line, which still ventured into Hell’s Bathroom. Gloria wrinkled her nose at the stale smell of booze and homeless people. She shuffled down the grooved, plastic isle. Deciding the seats were too dirty and too sticky, Gloria pulled the end of her sleeve over her hand and grabbed one of the poles. The cool metal of the pole conducted the early morning temperature, which Gloria could feel through her fingertips. She shivered and wished she wore a t-shirt under her large, white sweater.
    
Aside from Gloria, there was only one other passenger. He was a grandfatherly figure in a long wool coat. He too smiled at Gloria but not in the same way the bus driver did. Something was wrong about the old man, the stranger. Gloria sensed it. She sensed it before she even looked at him. She was already cursing herself for catching his eye. The stranger had a look of coveting in his eye. He wanted something like a child wants something, maybe to play with.

Gloria turned around and pretended not to see him. Fuck, she thought. Her instincts were at the moment, supernatural. Since Gloria had been hyped up on adrenaline for too long, dopamine saturated her amygdala, causing her senses to be heightened- all this from her earlier trauma two days ago. She could sense the stranger approach from behind. The stranger wasn’t old enough to be weak. He still had some strength in him, probably worked construction his whole life. He was a white guy with graying hair and smelled like vodka.
No problem, Gloria thought and smiled. She pulled her black hair in a ponytail as the stranger approached, and she felt goose bumps form on the back of her neck.
    
The stranger slowly put an arm around Gloria and squeezed her left breast hard with a wrinkly, meaty hand.

“You’re so beautiful,” said the stranger in a gentle and eerie voice. “Do you like that?”

“Oh yeah,” said Gloria. “That’s just what I need right now.”

“You like the pain?”

“Oh, I need it baby.” Gloria looked over her shoulder at the stranger and slowly stuck out her tongue in a provocative manner. The stranger’s eyes widened with enthusiasm, and then, Gloria looked in front of her again. She kept her mouth open and tongue stuck out. As the stranger was distracted, Gloria subtly plucked a razor out from underneath her tongue. She flicked a tiny cardboard sheath off the blade.

With one hand, Gloria grabbed the stranger’s wrist, and with the other, she slashed the back of the stranger’s hand deep and hard.

“Aaaghh!”

“Do you like the pain baby?” Gloria asked as she turned towards the stranger. The sleeve of the stranger’s wool coat began soaking up his blood, but his blood still ran profusely, and he became very scared over the extent of his wound.

The grizzly bus driver heard the scream and stopped the bus. “Hey, what’s going on back there?”

“This guy is hurt. Quick, open the door!” Gloria said. The bus driver opened the door, and Gloria made her exit. As the bus driver saw Gloria bolt, he stood up and shouted after her.

Moments later, Gloria was still running. Motherfucker, Gloria thought. That old bastard hurt me like hell; I bet he left a bruise on my tit. Gloria kept running until she could see her school, but when she stopped running, pain surged through her whole body and head. Her high was finally ending, and she collapsed on the ground. Fuck me, not now, Gloria thought. But there was nothing she could do to stop from blacking out.
    
When Lisette saw the girl in blue jeans and a white sweater lying on the sidewalk, she thought it strange (for only a second) that she was rushing to the kid’s aide. Not long ago, Lisette would’ve have ignored a kid lying in the street. The once callous prostitute now watched out for children, and as she dropped her coffee and ran towards Gloria, she pulled a cell phone from her black, leather bag and frantically dialed 911.

As Gloria opened her eyes, she felt a hand on her forehead. She wanted to move but couldn’t. There wasn’t an ounce or fraction of energy left in her body. She looked to her right and saw a pair of knees in fishnet stockings.

“It hurts,” Gloria said
    
“I know it does honey, but the paramedics are coming.”
    
“Where am I?” Gloria asked.
    
“On a sidewalk. You’re lucky I was on my way to your school. I was supposed to lecture you kids about drugs.” Lisette smiled.
    
“My back hurts. I can’t breathe.”
    
“Don’t talk. They’re coming right now, so just hang on.”
    
“Don’t leave me.”
    
“I’m not going to leave you honey.” Lisette couldn’t immediately discern what was wrong with the girl she kneeled beside. The girl was fatigued, possibly dehydrated. She must have been on meth.

As the white ambulance stopped in the street in front of Lisette and Gloria, two paramedics hoped out of the cab. Gloria couldn’t find the energy to be scared of the loud siren or flashing lights. The two paramedics instructed Lisette to move out of the way as one of them applied an oxygen mask to Gloria. The other unfolded a stretcher.

Lisette bit her fingers as she watched the paramedics work. She asked if she could accompany them to the hospital when they had Gloria on the stretcher, and they let her ride with them.

Hours later in the grim evening, Gloria lay in a hospital bed. It was blurriness, then whiteness, then, a little clarity as Gloria opened her eyes from time to time. Shapes took on more definition each time Gloria opened her eyes. She saw a yellow ceiling. And when she looked to her right, she saw the woman in black, fishnet stockings smiling down at her.
There was something on Gloria’s face. She reached up and tried to remove the mask.

“No, no. Wait a minute; I’ll get it for you.” Lisette carefully lifted the oxygen mask off Gloria’s face. “Did you want to say something? Can I get you anything?”

“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” Gloria asked.

“Maybe.”

“Don’t you hang out with a superhero?”

“Not much anymore. Ironically, they can be too needy. They always need a damsel in distress to save,” Lisette winked. The kid was probably too tired to find amusement in the statement, or too young Lisette figured.

“What’s going to happen to me?” Gloria asked.

“Right now, you’re going to rest. And we’ll figure out what to do next tomorrow. How’s that sound?”

“Sound’s good,” Gloria smiled.

“That’s good. I’m Lisette, by the way. And you?”

“Gloria.”

“It’s nice to meet you Gloria.” Lisette held Gloria’s hand as Gloria slowly blinked her eyes once, and then fell asleep. Lisette watched the child sleep for an hour. When she was satisfied that Gloria was peacefully asleep, she stood up and walked to the hospital’s restroom.

Lisette made sure that she was alone in the restroom. After finding she was alone, she stared in a mirror above a sink. The image of the nurse changing Gloria into a pale hospital gown stood out in Lisette’s mind. When she thought about the deep black and purple bruises on Gloria’s back, Lisette covered her mouth with one hand and choked back a cry.

…TO BE CONTINUED

Jack Bryson


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