(lxiv.)

Midge stared up at the stars, through the break in the trees. She stretched her legs out on the hood of the car.

"Lor, why are we headed toward D.C?"

Lorelei sighed heavily. "Do you really want me to answer that question, or would you rather just come along for the ride, same as before?"

There was a still silence.

The only thing that could be heard were the crickets.

Midge thought about it, for a second, before saying, "Well, I know I'm really going to regret this... but..."

"You want to know, don't you?"
"...actually, I don't know."
"Fair enough."
"Huh?"
"There are, as any bad science fiction movie will tell us, things that man was not meant to know."

Midge nodded.

"But, if you do decide you want to know, just say the word. I'll tell you."
"Really?"
"Oh, yeah. I have no problems telling you my master plan."
"Wait, you have a master plan?"
"Kinda, yeah."
"...that, kinda scares me. I mean, the idea that all of this was planned out-- like, it's okay if this was all, like, one fuck-up after another... but you had this all planned out, like, you--"
"--in a manner of speaking, yes. It was one big plan."

Midge shook her head in utter disbelief.

"How do you sleep at night?"

Lorelei smiled evilly.

"Just be happy that this isn't my first plan."
"What? You mean to tell me that this is your 'plan b'?"
"Actually, technically speaking, it's, like, 'plan e' or 'plan f'... but, uh, yeah."
"...I know I'm goin--"
"--to regret this, but what were the first four?"
"...yeah."
"Ummm, yeah. They all tended to revolve around the idea of big explody gerbils."
"Explody--"
"--Just don't ask. I was, um, not sober when I started planning."
"Uh-huh."
"Yeah. Trust me though, it made perfect sense to me."



[chapter lxv.]