Harbolt
mustered all his courage and leapt through the zipper
curtain of public holo-booth #19. He was blinded for a
moment, as his eyes adjusted to the change in light. A
cool breeze of air conditioning washed over his body and
he caught several tremendously odd whiffs of air. One,
he thought smelled distinctively like the time his brother
firebombed a heard of the family’s cattle from a
low flying Cessna.
It
had already been a hard enough day on the farm. So when
Roy saw his brother screaming out the window of the yellow
Skyhawk SP, Shawn had just received in the mail his settlement
check from his class action suit against the Coca Cola
Corporation for damages caused by Diet Coke. Though he
had several malignant tumors in his liver, Shawn Harbolt
could not be more overjoyed at the site of a check for
1.7 million dollars. Even if he had the best intentions,
he picked a poor way to show his parents that they would
never have to milk cows again. As he caused a field of
700 cattle to erupt into an explosion of methane and flames,
the air became heavy with the smell of hot angus and gasoline;
a smell Roy knew he'd never forget.
The
world came into focus, the bright neon signs of the East
Shore Valley Mall's Food Court blazed above several small
concession stands. The signs were for restaurant chains,
Harbolt had never heard of "Hectors Falafel and Kraut",
"myMcD's" and most surprising "Mary Kate’s
Taco Bell".
A
look of sheer shock flooded over Roy’s face. While
you might think it was the sight of a heavy-set Olsen
twin in her late 40s that surprised Roy, it was in fact,
the floating boy head he had just spoken with now attached
to a young boys body standing at the back of the food
line waiting for a Chesseygordita
Bajakrautwrapsuoreme.
