Spotlight

The DeMolator

Have you read Episode I yet? If not, CLICK HERE to read it first!

The DeMolator - Episode II

Footsteps... and a decision. Should Tiffany Ashley-Megan Smith try to take the DeMolator?

Shadows fell across the threshold of the lodge room.

No time, she decided, typed something quickly into the laptop, and melted back into the shadows.

The DeMolator was sent back to Dad Bard with much admonishment from Mom Hardison for playing 'practical jokes' with his silly contraption. Dad Bard didn't mind-at least he had it back before they could realize that he really could see what the officers were doing, even if he couldn't transport them.

Little did Dad Bard know, the DeMolator could and did transport the State Officers, and thus where this last cliff-hanger ended-at the edge of a cliff.

"Uh... what happened to my nice, warm bed?" State Marshal Stephen Bohn, also known as 'Goofy,' asked as he dangled from the climbing gear that had just replaced his much more comforting bed sheets.

"What happened to my hair?" Christina wondered, still perplexed. She looked down, "Holy Smoke! I hate heights... more importantly, I hate falling... "

Richie and Chris looked around with bleary eyes. They had been playing Halo 2 on Xbox (Interesting Note: Microsoft Word did not require a spell check for the word Xbox. It won't recognize 'Playstation,' however ... but I digress) for three days straight.

"Man... I think we've been playing too long, Chris," Richie said.

"Nah... the hallucination isn't complete until I get a sniper rifle."

Todd, the State Chaplain, began to fidget with all of the climbing gear.

"We need to get out off of this rock," he said, "I know a little bit about rock climbing, but not enough to feel comfortable with... does anyone else have a familiarity with climbing?"

"I've watched Mission Impossible," Kyle, the State Senior Deacon, said.

"That doesn't help," Todd said.

"It makes me feel better," Kyle said, "If that pretty boy Tom Cruise can do it without ropes, I can certainly get down with ropes."

"It can't be that hard," Christina said.

She began to fidget with the grappler.

"I remember seeing this in some movie," she said. You push this thingie here and... "

She fell ten feet in about one tenth of a second.

"No more touching the 'thingie' for you," Michael said, "If you don't know what it is, you probably don't know enough about what it does."

"Well I'm ten feet closer to the bottom than you are."

"I think that was a challenge," Goofy said.

Michael pressed the grappler and slid down five feet lower than Christina.

"What, now, chump?"

Geoff started to rappel down the side of the cliff as if it was nothing.

"I asked if anyone else knew how to do that... " Todd called to Geoff.

"Don't look at me," Geoff said, stopping for a moment, "I'm just as surprised as you are."

"This is how the Marines do it," John said, and began to rappel. He looked at Richie, Chris, and Todd, "I guess SSL is too much for Mountain Park to handle... "

Richie, Chris, and Todd exchanged glances, their competitive Mountain Park instincts getting the better of them, and began to haphazardly rappel down the cliff as fast as they could.

Kyle sighed.

"If I break anything, I am going to be really irate," he said, and began to descend as well.

Pretty soon, they were all safely at the base of the cliff.

"That was a lot easier than I thought it would be," Geoff said.

"I feel as though there is something to be learned from this," Michael said.

"Don't play Halo 2 for three days straight?"

"Why would that be a problem?" Michael asked bemusedly.

"Think before you squeeze?" Christina asked.

"That sounds more like a personal problem to me."

"How about things aren't as bad as they seem as long as you are in good company?" Kyle asked.

"That's beautiful, man," Goofy said, pretending to shed a tear.

"Yeah, that's better than what I was thinking."

"What were you thinking?" John asked.

"I don't remember... "

Todd laughed and rolled his eyes. It was certainly true that this situation would be a lot more serious if he was by himself, but now they needed to figure out where they were going.

"Hey guys, does anyone know where we are?" Todd asked.

"Left of the Middle of Nowhere?" Christina said.

"I'm serious Christina."

"So is she," Chris said, pointing to a sign that said 'Middle of Nowhere', "There's the sign, and we are on the left of it."

They all laughed, despite the situation.

"So where do you suppose 'Somewhere' is?" Geoff asked.

"Forget 'Somewhere.' I just want to find a Taco Bell," Michael said.

"Or Arby's," John chimed in.

"Let's go... " Goofy licked his finger, held it up to the wind, and pointed in an arbitrary direction, "that way."

"Why that way?" Richie asked.

"Why not?" Goofy countered.

Richie shrugged, "Makes sense to me."

They began walking in an arbitrary direction with no food, no water, and no way of knowing how far any of these necessities might be. They did, however, have each other's company, and one crazy State Chapter Dad.

Dad Bard brought the DeMolator back to his lab and eagerly turned it on. He hadn't heard from any of the officers in a while. He looked up the stairs.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen Geoff or Peter for a while.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Undergound Atlanta a young man wearing nothing but his glasses and potato sack was dancing for money. To his credit, he had already earned enough to pay for his first year in college...

Dad Bard turned on the DeMolator to check on Geoff. He saw, through Geoff's eyes, all of the other State Officers... and nothing but woods.

"What... ?"

He also saw, at the bottom of the screen, a green flashing sign that said 'DeMolation in Progress.'

"It can't be... " Dad Bard said, then began to laugh and jump up and down, "It is! It is! The DeMolator works!"

Dad Bard quickly set the DeMolator to send the State Officer's back to his lab. He excitedly explained to the officers what had happened. At first, they were a little upset... but they all decided it was pretty cool. It seemed that the DeMolator was there to stay.

The State Officers decided to reveal the DeMolator at the Joint SMC/GWA reception. What better way to start off a Hollywood-style year than with a Hollywood-style device?

Little did they know that envious eyes and greedy hands would be there as well... watching... waiting... for the DeMolator!

Stay tuned for the next episode of "The DeMolator" in the October Word of the Day.

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