A Random Encounter of Sorts

Kowloon was busy this time of the year, as citizens prepared for the upcoming festival. It was approaching fast and merchants where stocking up on trade so that when the tourists arrived, they would be gouged out of some pretty money.

Though it was early morning, the streets were packed with sardine-like people going about their business. The city was bursting with tons of folk, for Kowloon rarely slept.

Mags walked down familiar streets - she was dressed in jeans and a tank-top - and took in the sights. She stopped at a fruit vendor, peered about the apples and selected one, handing the vendor a crisp bill and he smiled in return. Mags continued on her merry way.

She crossed the street and headed towards The Shiny Sun, a greasy spoon of a restaurant that specialized in Western food. And she was in the mood for some greasy high-cholesterol goodness. The chime jingled above the door as she entered, the restaurant was nearly packed.

"Maggie!" a voice called.

She looked over and spotted someone she hadn't seen in a little while. A smile flashed upon her face and she strolled over to the table.

Reflection on a Cold Starry Night

Akimoto stood there looking at the stars; he let out a huge sigh. His breath drifted out into the cold, escaping from the warmth of the body and into the still of the night.

"Missing someone, are we?" Max asked. He walked up to his friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"Yes," Akimoto said. He continued looking up at the heavens. He watched as meteorites streaked across the sky, which brought a smile to his face. There was a sensation that he felt, when he saw the streaking rocks across the sky; it was the sensation you felt when you were going home again. 

And at Night They Danced til Dawn...

Angst, Mags and Suki were on the dance-floor letting the techno beat consume their souls like the devil that music was. Amongst the throngs of the beautiful people; bodies sweating to the pulsating sounds of rhythms past, present and future.

It was times like these that made each adventure a blessing, a world saved unbeknownst to the inhabitants; they go about their business without a thought to what horrors would have befallen them if they opened their eyes a little wider. To peer beyond the darkness, and see for true the evil that lies waiting; like a rabid dog ready to snap at any moment.

Goner sat at the booth, sipping a drink and watching the girls dance. He was about to slip out and join them when a big hand shoved him back down into the booth. He looked up and saw a trio of suited men standing before him.

"Where you think you are going, Goner?" one of them asked.

"I have to bleed the lizard," Goner lied. 

"Well, you can hold it," the other said. He stood in front of the booth looking down at the table and at Goner. He noticed the several drinks on the table.

"Here by yourself?" another asked.

"Ummm, yeah," Goner answered. He saw that Suki had glanced over at the table, and then she stopped dancing and tapped Angst.

"Goner, you knew we'd catch up with you eventually," said the fellow. He slid into the other side of the booth. "You owe Bartinallo a lot of money."

"Crap," Goner said. "That had slipped my mind."

"You know what we are going to do with you," one of the goons said.

"I would be leaving if I were you guys," he warned. "There's a girl that's going to be showing up here and she is going to give you guys a serious thrashing."

The trio chuckled.

"Maybe we ought to give her a surprise or two," one of them joked. 

"Well, officially fellows, you've been warned," Goner said.

> Maggie in Plureality

Max pulled the flaps of the tent back, sweat dripping from his brow, the sound of the drumming and clapping filling his ears. He didn’t know how they did it, sitting in the sweat-tent waiting on the spirits to guide them, speak to them.  

  

His eyes struggled to focus but he could make out Maggie’s figure through the soft glow of the moon. The smoke from the campfire swirling around her, almost like it was dancing with her, kissing across her face and whirling away like the key to their freedom was a soft brush across her lips. He understood that feeling, despite how often she made him angry, nervous, and all together ungrounded. His heart hurt looking at her and he smiled. 

  

“Damn it.” He loved her. Maybe he had learned something in the sweat tent after all, he thought, pulling himself quickly to his knees. 

  

The snapping just behind the tent was the first clue that they had been set up. He wondered if he was the only one who had noticed. He stood statue still, his eyes glancing over to her again, watching her lean in laughing to Frank and he smiled to himself as she gracefully swooped down, pulling the pistol from her ankle boot. Her eyes turned and met his, almost like she had always sensed him there. It was like that for them. She smiled and nodded. 

  

 “That’s my girl,” he thought, as all hell broke lose.

Twilight Chill

The sun began to sink beyond the horizon bringing out the twilight. The street-lights began their merry humming, kicking in to light the way for passersby, to hold back the night in patches so that the illusion of safety is there.

Max and Frank waited by the park. Frank huddled in his long coat, holding a cup of coffee in his hands, while Max leaned up against a lamppost, smoking a cigarette. Looking like rejects from the Exiles On Main Streets painting.

"Damn cold out this evening," Frank said. "I hate winter."

"And she probably hates you as well," Max interjected. He flicked the butt from his hands and it arced across the sky like a comet, landing on the damp pavement and extinguishing its life in the process.