Dimensions of Change
By Zipper
Chapter Three
Blind! Foxglove reeled away as heat swept over her. Widgets maniacal laughter
rang in her ears. “Widget, would you mind removing the light from my eyes?”
“No, not until you tell me why you’re here!” Widget demanded.
“Golly, what do you mean? This is my workshop.” Gadget stated as she
shaded her eyes.
Foxglove was growing inpatient. She did not appreciate having a spotlight shown
in her sensitive eyes. She stood up straight; eyes clenched shut, in a futile
attempt to block the light. “Widget, would you please put the light down!
“
“Not until you tell me why you’re here!” Widget reiterated.
Foxglove had alternate reasons to her sudden resistance. She was successful
in emanating a couple ‘clicks’. The images that replayed in her head
took her by surprise. Widget did indeed look exactly like Gadget in her return.
Foxglove also recognized Tammy, a surprised look on her face ten times brighter
than the light with a massive lump on her right leg. Then it occurred to Foxglove,
that’s no lump; it’s a small child’s head.
“Widget, why shouldn’t I be here?” Gadget asked, stumbling backwards,
away from the light.
“Widget, Dale and the guys asked me to talk to Gadget. She was having a
bout…. of…Inventionism. She had been in here for days. They were concerned
that she wasn’t eating.” ‘Ok’, Foxglove resend,’ that’s
close to the truth. ‘
“Yeh, right. I thought better of you Wolfbane.” Widget said steadfastly.
Foxglove reeled again at the sound of her alter egos name.
“What are talking about Widget? That’s Foxglove. You must have mixed
her up with a different bat.” Gadget couldn’t hide the confusion in
her voice.
“No Gadget she’s talking about me. I… I had an incident on our
honeymoon last year. I… I don’t want to talk about it right now.”
“An incident? How about Vamparism’. You talk like it was nothing.
Drop the charade wolfsbane. I didn’t fall off the cheese truck yesterday.
“
Gadget thought she had it figured out. “OK, nice joke. Turn off the light
Widget. You’ve had you’re laughs Dale, you got me back of the time
I put an inflatable Foxglove doll on your bed. Dale? Chip?” Gadget was
becoming desperate. “Monty?”
“Oh, get off you’re high cat. We both know that Chip and Monterey
are dead, and you killed them!” Widget couldn’t restrain her anger
any more as her hand struck out, pistil wiping Gadget wit the light.
Foxglove heard the audible thump of flesh hitting the floor. “Um, Widget?
Could you turn the light out now? I think Gadget fainted.”
Foxglove could hear someone approach., then the world went black.
Foxglove slowly came to. Her head pounded and throbbed. She was about to stir
but a voice interrupted her. She decided to listen in.
“…are you sure about this?”
“Of course I am. They were playing innocent, like we wouldn’t of known
anything. There folly is the words gain.”
Foxglove felt something tugging at her leg. She cracked her eyes open slightly
to find a small mouse trying to climb onto her lap.
“I guess you’re right, I just wish we knew for sure.” Foxglove
started to recognize the voices.
“They cringed at the sun lamp, that’s enough proof.” That had
to be Widget, leaving the other to Tammy.
“Was bright mommy.” Grimcrack affirmed from Foxglove’s lap.
“Grimmy, get away from them!” Widget said sternly, but didn’t
move a bit. She knew that Grimcrack was in no trouble. Grimcrack on the other
hand had developed a case of selective hearing. He studied Foxgloves ears and
ignored his mother.
“Widget, you shined it straight into their eyes. Any one would of reacted
to that. There eyes, that’s it.”
Widget covered her ears as Tammy squealed in delight. ‘Youth, who needs
it?’ Widget thought to her self. “What are you getting at Tammy?”
“You contended that their fur and hair could have been dyed. That Vamparism
leaves the fur faded and pale, but what about eye color. Their eyes were exactly
the way I remembered them.”
“Contacts are easy enough to get and colored one at that.”
“For most animals yes. That would work for Gadget, but what about Foxglove?
Her eyes are more of a yellow instead of white with a unique shade of blue,
almost purple inner color.”
”Wolfsbane could easily wear them like any other animal.”
“But her pupils wouldn’t seem to dilate. Her eye color could be matched
perfectly, but to simulate the inner color along with the outer, a slot for
the pupil would have to be cut into the middle. In essence her eyes wouldn’t
dilate. In any event, contacts could be removed.”
“How do you know so much about contacts Tammy?”
“I was studding to be an optometrist before… everything started.”
Grimcrack tugged on Foxgloves sensitive ears.
“OWWW!”
Grimcrack giggled and clapped his hands. “Funny ears Tammy.”
Tammy and Widget stood in stunned silence. Their jaws hung open, wide eyed,
uncertain what to do.
“Grimcrack that hurt.” Foxglove said sternly, gently.
“Sorry pretty lady.” Grimcrack apologized sincerely.
Foxgloves mind was reeling. Grimckrack knew who she was. He would commonly ask
for ‘Aunty Foxy’ whenever the Widget called from the Albacore or visited.
She storied this info away with the constant Wolfsbane references. Chip had
to be wearing off on her. Everything seemed to be a clue, now if she could only
peace them together.
The Director of the ‘Institute of Enlisted Technology’, IET, stormed
down the hall, leaving a cloud of anger and rodents that would take hours to
clear. Rounding the corner she forced two scientists to scrambled out of her
way, lest they be thrown, and a toppled mail cart, victims of her unchecked
anger. “Dolts, all of them.” She mumbled to her self as she stopped
in front of a door marked ‘restricted access’.
She submitted to the retina scan and voice ID security checks. These were the
inventions that marked the times. She ran a high tech libratory now. She yearned
for the days of spending time purely on inventing; yet those days were distant
and blurred. A nagging felling that she was different then started to eat away
at her subconscious mind, but ceased as the door slid open on silent rails.
She fixed a look of pure evil at the two enlisted rodents, a male mouse and
a female hamster, as they lounged in their chairs, feet up on the equipment.
She stepped in, the door hissing loudly behind her as it closed. “This
is why we’ve been having intermediate brakes in the cloud layer!”
The startled scientist, surprised at the door closing, and the sudden voice
of dread emanating from behind their heads, fell out of their chairs, landing
harshly on the ground. “Madame Director!” The two rodents gasped in
surprise.
“What a pleasant surprise!” The mouse sputtered. “We were just
finishing a report to be sent to you’re desk.” He said in an overly
sweat way, masking his nervousness from his voice unsuccessfully.
The hamster sat in stunned stillness. “Its not out fault!” She burst
out suddenly.
“Its not?” The director feint surprised. “Then whose fault is
it?”
“There was a dimensional shift causing fluxes in the weather matrix.”
She eagerly volunteered, hoping to have her life spared.
“Dimensional shifts? From the Nimnal generator? Why wasn’t I informed!”
“No, they were external to the facility! Its not our fault, honest.”
The hamster’s lip quivered in fear.
“Were did they come from?” The director demanded.
“In the uncontrolled portion of the Park district. Please don’t kill
us Miss. Hackwrench!” The hamster crawled over on her knees, front paws
wrapped together pleading for her life.
“That’s Madame Director!” Gadget’s paw struck the hamster
square on the face for her insubordination, sending the rodent sprawling across
the room. “I expect to be notified if ever there is a problem in the Generator
or the weather matrix! The only thing keeping me from throwing you into the
generator my self is you’re the fact that you’re not complete idiots!”
The director stormed out leaving behind a sense of foreboding.
As soon as the door hissed shut, Alicia suffered a breakdown. She curled up,
silently sobbing.
“Don’t worry Alice, it could have been a lot worse.” Jonathan
comforted.
Alicia looked up, her eyes reddened further for their pinkish color by the tears
rolled down her furry cheeks. Jonathan could see her cheek starting to swell
into the shape of a paw. He knew from experience that it would soon swell to
the size of a small nut. “Don’t worry, you won’t fell as much
pain after the assimilation is complete. Go on, you’d better get some ice
for that cheek.”
Alicia exited, sniffling as she headed for the break room. Her life was no different,
here or when she worked for Fat Cat. The fall of one tyrant paved the way for
the rise of another. At least her memories of her time with Fat Cat were fading.
It was more of a feeling than a memory. She pondered if it was true that you
lose you’re memories as the assimilation continues.
Gadget awoke with a pounding headache. “I’m going to have to change
pillows. Mine fills like a rock.” She mumbled under her breath.
“Ah, I see shes awakened! We may just get some answers!” Gadget knew
that voice! Suddenly the past events rushed back to her like the tide its self.
She quickly surveyed her surroundings. She was in what she recognized as Monterey
and Zipper’s room. The room was charred and blackened with soot. All around
was destruction. Burned maps of the world scattered across the walls, pictures
half burnt lay scattered were they had fallen. Gadget realized with a start
that her pillow had been a rock, and that she was not tired down. She rose to
her feet cautiously. This could be some trick. Widget had been known to be on
the extreme side, not that it ran in the family mind you.
“What happened here?” She asked, believing every thing around her
was an illusion. Widget wanted something, but she was unsure what.
“A fire swept through here about a year ago. Most everything was lost,
including Monterey.” Widget said with a far away look to her eyes. “You
killed him. We had thought both of you were lost in the fire, but Chip had discovered
that he was murdered. To keep you’re secret safe, you had him snuff out
also. A screwdriver though the scull was all that it took.”
Gadget was stunned into silence. “Are… are you saying that I…?”
She couldn’t finish her sentence, it was so unbelievable
Widget nodded. “Yes, I am.”
That was the last straw. Gadget turned and launched her self at Widget in a
blind anger. ‘How dare she accuse me of doing such a thing! I saw Chip
no more than two hours ago.’ She thought.
Widget had anticipated that Gadget would take her words in such a matter, but
was thrown off by the ferocity of the attack. She ducked to the right a second
to late. Gadget was able to sink her nails into Widgets left arm, leaving long
gashes that started to trickle blood. “Calm you’re self Gadget. I’m
not saying that you personally killed Chip. I’m just saying that Gadget
did it.”
Gadget recovered from her landing and turned, ready to press the attack. Widget
was wounded, granted, only a flesh wound to her left arm… Her mechanical
left arm… Gadget stopped in utter bewilderment, then Widgets words sunk
in. “How can I kill someone, and yet not personally kill him. Are you saying
I hired someone on to do it?” Gadget was starting to suffer an emotional
break down. She tried to stay level minded; there was something here she was
missing.
“Gadget,” Widget continued, “what were you doing before I found
you in the dark? This is important” Widget‘s eyes were trained on
her like a bird watching its prey, clutching her left arm, blood trickling between
her fingers.
Is Widget to be trust-worthy? Has she invented some new prosthetic that simulates
an appendage so accurately that it bleeds, or is it some clever ruse? Will Foxglove
ever stop suffering indignities, such as have her ears pierced by the curious
hands of a three year old? Tune in for the next exciting installment of ‘Dimensions
of Change’
‘Dimensions of Change’ was produced, written, edited, and well, brought
into this dimension by Zipper the Magnificent! He can currently be seen performing
the one fly play, ”I am a Monkey’s Fly” at the world famous Fly
Away civic art center, conveniently placed next to the dump for all of you’re
insect needs.
All Characters except for Widget and Grimcrack are the trademarks of Disney
Animation or some other Disney company (who knows, or cares). John W. Nowak
is credited for the creation of Widget and Grimcrack. John is currently producing
the for mentioned play after winning a Peoples Choice award for his roles in
‘Under the Bridge’ and ‘Icarus’. Every one agreed, he was
an excellent screaming guy #3 in that scene were… Yeh, that’s the
one… Yup, the one crushed under the giant shoe… no the other shoe…
yeh, that’s the one.
Any grammatical errors found in my text please send two… ah, I mean to
(or is it too, anyways,) send them to www.Teachers-4-Betta-Skools.gov