The Eight O'clock Movie
By Poncho D
Gadget Hackwrench was in a rotten mood. Very carefully, she once again insterted the long pair of tweezers into the pressure cooker's access panel, and grabbed a wire, preparing to solder it back into place. She was rewarded with yet another forty volts of chastisement from the stubborn machine. She jumped back, sucking on her now thoroughly singed fingers. "DAMN!" She yelled, and threw one of her screwdrivers across the shop, knocking the pressure cooker off of her workbench.
In the living room, Monterey Jack cringed as his god-daughter's expletive struck his ears with unbearable force. Monty shook his head sadly. Gadget was normally the farthest you could get from a potty-mouth, but the young gal sure had a temper. He didn't want to put himself in harm's way, but he decided something had to be done to cheer her up. Monty got up off the couch quietly, carefull not to wake Dale, who was snoring contentedly in front of the television, and headed for the kitchen.
Gadget looked up when the knock sounded at her shop door. Great, she thought.
It was probably Dale, trying to be angelic and sneak in a few points with her
while Chip was gone. Those two fought over her like cats and dogs; neither seemed
able to except the idea that she might not want either of them. She cracked
the door preparing to see a sheepish-looking Dale. What she saw was rather a
relief. "Come on in, Monty," she said sadly. Monty stepped in and
handed her a tall, cold glass of lemonade. "Couldn't make the old crockpot
do your biddin', huh?" Monty asked sympatheticly. "Why don't you just
break down and take it to young Sparky?"
"Well, I considered that," she laughed mirthlessly, sipping her drink.
"But I'm afraid it's a little late." She pointed to the remains of
her mechanical victim, strewn across the floor around the bench.
"Tew roight," Monty observed in his thick Aussie accent, "I'd
say you eliminated the problem, all right."
"The pressure cooker's--well, was--only half the problem." Monty gave
her a prompting look.
"It's kind of a female, thing, Monty. You probably don't want to hear it."
The big Austrailian mouse laughed, his belly heaving. "Never underestimate
old Monterrey Jack, girlie. I've talked to boys, girls, and naked squirls. Come
on, spit it out now, what's really eating you, eh?"
"It's those two chipmunks," she snapped. "They're both really
nice, and I appreciate their help, but it's obvious that they're both interested
in me. I don't have time to do half the stuff I do around here, let alone date
anybody."
That wasn't quite true. She had been out with Chip once or twice, and rather
enjoyed it. Chip was the solid type, responsible, dependable, and very nice-looking,
but the guy was so unbearably arrogant! He treated his younger brother like
dirt, and her like he expected to have her in his bed by the end of the day!
Fat chance.
Dale, on the other hand, was the quintessential goof-off. He wasn't quite as
good-looking as Chip (or as smart, for that matter), but at least he wasn't
trying to separate her from her pants. He was sweet and loved to have fun. The
problem was, that was all he wanted to do. Dale never took responsiblity for
anything. He was lazy and irresponsible, and her work bench had a longer attention
span. The only nearyby male that struck the middle ground was Monty, and he
was old enough to be her father!
"So don't date anyone." Monty said simply. That made Gadget mad, but
she held her legendary temper. Monty was just trying to help, and he was a good
friend. It wouldn't do to blow up at him.
"That might work for now, Monty, but I can't be alone forever. I'm not
just a mechanic, you know, I'm a girl, too. Some day, I want find a nice man
and settle down, like every other female on the planet." With her chin
in her hands, she kicked a loose piece of metal. Monty put a comforting arm
around her shoulders. "Awww, cheer up, Gadget luv. You'll find the right
one some day."
As if in answer of his prediction, Dale's big red nose popped out from around
the doorjamb. "Heya, Gadget, he said excitedly, "Attack of the Killer
Robots is on! You gonna come watch it?" Gadget shook her head and smiled.
Maybe Dale was smarter than she gave him credit for; or at least sneakier. He
knew she was as a big a sci-fi freak as he was, and he would take the opportunity
just to get close. Better an innocent crush than lust, she thought.
"Sure, Dale." Gadget said, smiling.
About forty-five minutes into the show, Gadget sighed happily. At last, she
was simply having a good time watching a movie with a guy who wasn't constantly
making advances. So Dale wasn't exactly marriage material. So what? He was a
decent guy her age with a big heart; he would do for now.
Dale was in hog heaven. He was watching the best sci-fi movie of all time, and
with the girl of his dreams not an inch from him to boot! He debated giving
Gadget the arm, but judging from what had happened to Chip, he decided against
it. He would have been shocked to know that at that point, she wouldn't have
minded.
Suddenly, Chip came barging through the door with Zipper in tow. "We're
back!" he said happliy. "We caught those two car theives red handed!
Made sure the police got hold of them, too Hah, they're going to look pretty
funny in prison uniforms." He flopped down next to Gadget, and gave her
his sexiest look. "Gadget, you wouldn't believe the story..."
"Hey, quit flapping your trap, will you?" Dale berated his brother.
"We're watching a movie."
"Why don't you make me, you little..."
Gadget rolled her eyes toward heaven as a verbal war broke out. Why me? she
thought.