Eleven

Smokey Saga #72: "Eleven"

*****

This is semi-adapted from a play script I wrote around the turn of the 2010s. A carbon-copy of that would not work very well as an erotic narrative. Well, it might, but most would find it far-stretched and far-fetched. So I feel what I came up with here turned out better. Hope you like it. Please enjoy, like each time, and you know your feedback is welcomed, valued and appreciated. Cheerios.

Update: I originally submitted this on February 24th, 2017, and it was rejected, as I realized I forgot one of Lit's rules. It takes Literotica several days to approve and publish a story, and actually even longer to let you know if it's been rejected. So...as a result, February '17's story has not/did not make it onto the site until March. My apologies for that; I forgot the rule, like I said, it's on me. But this shouldn't disrupt the timing or publication of March '17's eventual story. Thanks again, folks.

Ride 'N' Park

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016, 5:56 p.m.

The day was unseasonably pleasant in the high 50s, a nice surprise for outdoor-bound Juniperites. Especially here in the midwest, where winters proved quite unforgiving. A month ago, North America's faithful groundhog Phil Sowerby saw no shadows belonging to him. The prediction seemed accurate today, even with three more technical weeks of winter on the calendar.

One of Juniper, Minnesota's most treasured landmarks was the Park of Andrewsville County. It was massive, rich in both greenlife and acreage, and populated daily by people and animals alike. Most fairweather days including this one saw parkgoers picnicking, playing with their dogs, pushing their kids on the swings, or just perching on a bench and taking it easy. Into this fourth and last area of activity fell a pensive, thoughtful middle-aged woman named Merissa.

Merissa was not a native Minnesotan. As a matter of fact, it was her first day in the North Star State. She'd been led here through a rather complicated, unfortunate series of events. She'd wandered along until finding this park, and didn't feel a great deal of energy or motivation to go elsewhere, even as the sky began to dim. A suitcase sat by her feet, in her hands a diary and pen.

Around her, the park slowly emptied for the day. Alongside it, a few feet out in front of her bench ran a stretch of the Juniper-Minneapolis bike trail. Merissa looked up as she heard a new sound approaching.

From her right, a lady jogger trotted the trail due east, slowing to a halt near the bench. She was decked in athletic but winter-friendly gear, including sneakers and a pedometer, and sprinkled with sweat. She jogged a few more steps in place, stopped, caught her breath, and wiped perspiration from around her headband. Bottle of water in hand, she squirted some in her mouth and the rest of her face. She checked both her pulse and pedometer.

Pant."Yes!"

The jogger, whose name was Andi, had gone a mile and a half east on the trail, her desired distance. She normally did three miles a day. After the first mile and a half, she took an intermission, did some mid-run stretching and about-faced home. Though Merissa was not a justice of the peace, Andi approached her bench, gesturing to its unoccupied half.

"May I?"

Merissa looked up from her diary.

"Hm? Oh, uh, sure. Sure, go ahead."

Andi placed her left tennie on the bench to re-tie it. She felt she'd done this shoe too tight, and having freshly clipped her nails, now had trouble undoing it. Merissa was similarly less able to see her writing in the diary with disappearing daylight. She shut it and her eyes, and let her head loll back. She didn't know how much time passed, but she heard the jogger start emitting grunts and mutters. Finally, she heard that she was being addressed.

"Hi, 'scuse me, eh..."

Merissa opened her eyes, turning her way.

"Sorry, I know this may be a little weird to ask, but, uh...have you got nails, by chance? Do you think you could maybe help me with my shoe? I double-knotted it too tight."

"Mm..." Merissa set down the diary. "Well, I, uh...I guess I could try."

Indeed, it took a little doing, but with some skilled dexterity, she managed to loosen Andi's laces.

"Whew! Thanks, lady!" Andi sat beside her, redid her right sneaker and pulled her socks up. Merissa retrieved her purse, reopened her diary, took out her phone and used it as a flashlight. Beside her, Andi stretched and rolled out her cricks.

"Oh," she observed. "Mind if I ask what you're reading?"

"Mm, I'm writing, actually. 'S my diary."

"Oh. Oh, I see." Andi stood, cracked her knuckles and rolled her head around her shoulders. "Well, tell it hi for me. Got another mile and a half to cover here. Thanks for untying me. I'll see ya!"

"Bye," sniffled Merissa.

Andi headed back off the way she came, leaving Merissa's line of sight. She listened to the footsteps fade off, realizing just how empty the park had become. The sounds of frolicking were taken over by crickets and light gusts of wind. Merissa began to notice too how cold she was. Not to mention...alone. It had already sunk in that she was alone, and how. And just howcoldthe world could be, figuratively and literally. Of course, it would probably have been warmer had she stayed back home. But, she'd be sniffling either way.

Well, she guessed she'd better get up and find someplace to stay before it got too late. She slipped the phone and diary into her purse and picked up her suitcase. She felt her eyes water, also for two reasons. Well, at least...

Sigh. She should head off the same way as that woman whose shoe she'd untied. It looked like it would eventually take her back out to the main business district. She could certainly grab a cab from there and get herself to a hot—

Her thoughts were interrupted as she saw something she didn't expect. Now facing west on the bicycle trail, her eyes and ears once again detected approach. A few moments more, and she could see...it was the jogger. The very same one who'd briefly met her in the park. There was just enough daylight left to recognize her.

"Oh.Um...hello."

"Hi there," she panted, jogging a few more steps in place. "How's, eh...how's it going?"

Merissa arched a brow.

"Uhhhhh-kay, I-I guess," she supposed out loud. "I, uh...I kinda thought you were...going that way."

Her jogger acquaintance shrugged. "I was, but...I dunno, before, when I said 'See ya' and you said 'Bye,' sounded like you...sniffled. And I didn't know if it was like a, y'know, 'It's chilly out here' sniffle, or a..." Another shrug. "...'I'm having a tough day' sniffle."

Merissa looked forlornly at the ground, blinking repeatedly.

"Change 'tough day' to 'tough past couple months' and you'd pretty much have it."

"Aw, I'm sorry. Well...this would normally be the point where I'd say, 'Feel free to talk to me about it if you want.' But if not, no biggie; I'll shut right on up and get outta here. I've made that offer more times than I can count, but no one's really ever taken me up on it."

"Does that mean it's not on the table for me?"

"...No, not necessarily. We could walk and talk. You could use me as your diary, and I'll promise to keep everything in confidence."

"That's very sweet of you, honey, but...I don't even know your name."

"Andi. Short for Andrea. My last name's Jackson, and I swear I'm not even making that up. Andi Jackson. Honest to God," she chortled. "You'll probably never see me on a $20 bill...although you never know."

A weak chuckle and a handshake followed. "Merissa. Nice to meet you, Andi."

"Lovewise! Well, Merissa...strange as it might seem, I also wanted to thank you again for untying my shoe. I know it's not that big a thing, but, it wasreallyhurting my foot. And, well, I don't wanna come off as, like, some kinda whackadoo or whatever. But the thing is, I've been going through this...sorta...inspirational life phase, you might say. See, I went to this seminar that teaches you how to be more gracious and outgoing with people. And I don't always remember at first, but I'm trying my best."

She smiled. Something about her sweaty, gentle face brightening into a friendly smile made Merissa feel a little better.

"...Okay. Well, um...

"Which way're you going, Andi?"

A Leap Of Faith

Wednesday, March 2nd, 2016, 6:13 p.m.

"Well...as it turns out, I just came here today. It was completely by chance."

"No fooling??...Wow. There's gotta be an interesting story behind that."

"There is. Although I dunno if 'interesting''s the word. I guess it all started late last year, when I got divorced. My ex-wife fell outta love with me. It broke my heart."

"Oh, that sucks! I'm so sorry, Merissa."

"Thanks...it did suck. The whole process was so painful: the lawyers, the awkwardness, dividing our stuff, her using my weaknesses against me instead of helping me overcome them...I'll be sending her alimony, but that's no big deal. She can have it. I was born into family wealth; I don't care about the money at all."

"Well, that makes sense. Money can do a lotta stuff. But like the Beatles said, can't buy you love."

"How true that is. We finally got it through the courts...needless to say, that was a rough Christmas and New Year's. Hell of a Valentine's Day too. But last week, it was officially over. That's my one comfort in it: I can start from scratch now, with a...kindaclean slate. The trouble is...I dunno if I want to."

"Well, who could blame you. You just went through a grown-up trauma. I've never been married, so I can only imagine how it must've felt. D'you have any kids?"

"No. Okay, two comforts. Well, now you've heard the half of it...here's the other half. I just had a birthday. Which, to b—"

"Oh, Happy Birthday!"

"...

"Which, to be honest...I was really looking forward to. Thought my friends and family would take me out, and it'd be a nice way to get my mind off...y'know, everything. Only...it didn't happen."

"What, they were too busy?"

"Worse. I don't mean to sound whiny or immature about it, but I think they forgot."

"Oh, no. That's awful!"

"Well...believe it or not, 's not the first time. And the mature part of me says I can't gettoomad. Thing is...on Monday, I turned eleven."

"...What'sthis now?"

"Technically. I'm really forty-four. Or should be. I'm what we call a 'leaper.' I was born in 1972, on February 29th."

"OHHH...gotcha."

"Yeah, so this year was my most recent 'real' birthday. Call me a purist, but I just think it's a little unfair that I don't get my own special day every year, like everyone else. I mean, sure: every non-leap year I celebrate—if you can call it that—on March 1st, which leapers usually do. And there's nothing wrong with that, it just...doesn't feel as special. Or genuine. I feel like I'm cheating."

"I see. So, you're sorta like Robin Williams in that movie, uh...oh, what's it called..."

"Jack. Yeah, I'm familiar with it. He's born with some kinda defect that makes him age four times faster than normal. So when he's ten in school, he looks forty. It is similar, in a way, but he had it a lot worse than I do. Hedidget a birthday every year, though. God, poor Robin Williams. Still can't believe it about him. May he rest in peace."

"Aw, well, that's too bad. But you know, I'm sure they didn't mean to forget. Maybe theydidremember, and they were deliberately waiting past your birthday to spring it on you, so it'd be a real surprise."

"...That did occur to me...yesterday. But by then...well, lemme go back. See, it is always nice to be surprised. But, it's like for anyone's birthday, you don't wanna have to remind them. You want people to remember on their own. And if they were gonna throw me a party or take me out, I'd rather they'd do it on the day itself. Or before. If they wait till after, it really does look like they forgot. So...this on top of my divorce, was...it-it was just a really bad combination. And I got to feeling so lousy and down on myself...after a while I just felt like I had to get out. I needed some kind of escape. So...I bought a ticket and got on the train. Then, I, uh...kinda...fell asleep. And I must've slept a lot, 'cause I ended up here from Maryland."

"Maryland?My God, that's like a thousand miles!"

"I know. I didn't have any real destination in mind. I thought of it more as a personal retreat. Now I'm sorta regretting it, but not 'cause I'm so far from home. It's because...I didn't actually tell anyone. I just did it. Maybe it was cowardly or selfish of me, but...I was hurt."

"Aw...sorry. Although, y'know, now that I hear you talk, I can tell you don't have a Midwest accent. Most non-Midwesterners think we talk funny, dohn't'cha knohw. Of course, we tend to thinktheytalk funny. I don't mean to make light of your situation, just an observation. But...if you left without telling anyone you were going, they might be worried about you. Have you checked your phone?"

"I'm, eh...honestly, I'm a little afraid to."

"Hm. I guess I can see how you'd feel that way. My birthday's in October—'77, I'm 38—but I'd be pretty disconcerted if people forgot it. Thanks to social networking, though, that doesn't usually happen; Facebook sends out reminders."

"..."

"Oh, I'm...I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rub it in."

"That's okay. Maybe I should've signed up for Facebook."

"...So, if you ended up here and didn't really know where you were headed, does that mean you don't have a place to stay tonight?"

"Well, not right this second. But if you take me somewhere I can get a cab, I'll go to a hotel. That'll be fine."

"Oh, well, that might not be necessary. The cab, I mean. If you wanna walk home with me, I'll give you a ride."

"Aw, Andi, that's so nice. But I dunno if I could impose on you."

"Oh, please don't be proud on my account. I know you can afford it, and I know you're a big girl, but you're still a long ways from home by yourself. And you're clearly not thrilled about the way things're going. Your feelings are still hurt right now, I can tell. And I think you could really use a friend. Lemme at least do that much for ya, c'mon."

"...Only if you insist."

"I do. You helped me, and I wanna help you."

"I did, but...I'd hardly think untying your tennis shoe compares to you doing this for me."

"It's all a matter of perspective, my friend, just a matter of perspective. All in how you look at it."

"Gosh, you're an upbeat lady."

"I do my multi-level best. Also my motto in life.

"So then, my friend Merissa, tell me about yourself."

"What would you like to know?"

"Eh, I dunno...why don't we just wing it."

"A'right, 's see...okay, well, besides what you already know about me, I have two brothers and a sister...decent relationships and social skills. I like people, and life...or at least I want to. Iwannabe a positive, happy person...it's hard, though. I was born into family money, like I said. But I'm still not really happy, so I feel like that makes it even worse. Money can't buy happiness, or in my case even rent it."

"Bummer. Not to dredge up any bad memories for you, but I'd wager you were picked on in school."

"You nailed that one dead on. But that's also kinda bound to happen when your last name's Wolfschlegelsteinhausenberg."

"...Come again??"

"You heard me. Merissa, Fawn, Wolfschlegelsteinhausenberg."

"...Sorry, one more time?"

Sigh. "Like I haven't done this a billion times...okay, listen closely:Wolf-shlee-guhl-stiyn, how-zuhn-behrg."

"...H—...how...wh—...y-I...th—..."

"It's okay, Andi. I don't expect anybody to tell me one I haven't heard at this point."

"My good gosh! That's...wow, that's gotta suck anytime you sign something, huh?"

"Hmph. Letters, receipts, applications, forms...but signatures're hardly the worst part. Anymore it's just the 'W' and a straight line."

"Well, y'know, a funny or unusual name doesn't necessarilyhaveto be a bad thing. Look at me. My name's Andrea, but I've never been real crazy about it. It's a little too 'adult' for me. Andi's cuter, it saves me a syllable, and it gives me a cool opener to meet chicks. 'Hey, how ya doing? I'm President of the United States in 1829.'"

"Heh...I guess so. Well, I mean, don't get me totally wrong; I like my first name. My middle name's a little embarrassing, but, meh. So do you ever get resentful your folks gave you a name you don't like?"

"Not really. Like I said, I just shorten. And look at it this way: they sorta named me after a great man who fought for his country and his family. How about this: theycould'venamed me Janet. Or LaToya."

"Heh! Didn't think of that. Well, at least you didn't have to worry about them naming you Michael."

"Yeah; 's primarily for the gents. One exception comes to mind, though. There's a female rock star named Michael who was in a couple girl bands, the Runaways and the Bangles. Just one of those random things I know. So yeah, unlikely, but possible. Can you imagine that, me being named Michael? I mean, I love his music, butGod; let's justcounteverything that would've been wrong with that."

"I bet. So, uh...what kinda cards 'dyou get dealt in life?"

"Well, not exactly a royal flush. Although I kinda think of it not so much what's on the cards themselves; 's more like the cards that're already on the table make it hard to play mine. Y'know, how stuff affects me and how I handle it. I try to be as optimistic and upbeat as I can, but I'm very flawed too. For example, I've got kinda shaky judgment skills. I'm not always super-responsible. I'm a little messy. And while I'm at it, I've made more than my share of unwise decisions."

"Oh, you mean like...tying your shoe too tight to go jogging?"

"Yep; great example. I wish they could find a way to invent slip-on sneakers."

"Oh, I don't think 'they' can help us. 'They' need all 'their' time to come up with more weird things to say."

"What?"

"Yeah. Y'know, 'they.' 'That's whattheysay.' 'Y'know whattheysay.' 'What is ittheyalways say again?'"

"Oh. Yeah, well, uh—"

"Who do you think 'they' are, anyway? Some kinda big operation on Wall Street? 'They''re the ones who make all those decisions that control our lives, right? 'They'reworking on the problem.' 'Theydid a study.' 'Theydon't make 'em like they used to.'"

"Ah, I...see what'cha mean."

"Yeah...honestly, though, you wanna know what kinda drives me crazy about 'them'?"

"Go for it."

"Well, here's the thing. 'They' can put an astronaut on the moon. 'They' can let us talk to any human being on the planet at any moment. 'They' can transport us anywhere on this Earth we want in a matter of days. 'They' can design a toy the size of a playing card that lets you listen to twenty thousand songs. 'They' can create a worldwide cyberweb that lets you watch, read or listen to just about anything under the sun...but apparently, 'they' can't get a few million people on the street a roof to sleep under and a hot meal. So...I'm willing to bet 'they'caninvent slip-on sneakers, but it's not high on their list of priorities."

"...Wow. Well, you learn something every day. I guess I never considered that before."

"'Sometimes it's necessary to go a long distance out of the way in order to come back a short distance correctly.'"

"...Interesting. You know, Merissa, you're a really fascinating lady."

"Oh, go on."

"No, I mean it. You make me think. Although, y'know, 'they' can't do everything. 'They' can't let us time-travel. At least not yet."

"This is true."