The Parasol

“Up here isn’t that bad!” Shouted Leigh.

“Famous last words” Janancy grunted under her breath trying to forget she just had her last water lozenge.

Leigh shouted again, “Ohh c'mon! We’re almost there! Quit being so proud; just turn your bike on!”

Janancy has had it. She didn’t want to go any further. In a fit of frustration, she threw herself into the side of the sandy mountain. She lay there with her bike on top of her as one lone fire ant crawled up her arm. She stared at the ant, wondering how it’s still alive-wondering how she’s still alive.

She then started wondering what her life would have been like if she decided to follow in her hero Marie Fredrikksons' footsteps and become a pop star. The door opened a while back, and then immediately closed.

She often wondered if the government closed it for her, because not too long after that two agents showed up to her AP Chemistry class requesting her assistance. Fast forward 20 years and now much of her life is spent collecting gold that is to be used to convert Carbon Dioxide to Oxygen. She just had to go and do an experiment for her 11th-grade science fair proving CO2 could be converted into Oxygen molecules if wrapped in gold foil.

Still lying in the sand; Janancy cranked up the radio attached to her handlebars: "It must have been love..but it’s over now.."

Leigh finally realized he couldn't see Janancy anymore and headed back down the mountain to find her. "I saw the sign!" Leigh exclaimed.

"No, this is Roxette, not Ace of Base." J corrected him.

Leigh, in turn, corrected her: “Ummm, I'm talking about the Estate Sale sign on the top of the hill, not your late 1900s esoteric pop-rock obsessions."

She continued singing, as she pulled herself from under her bike: “I don’t know where I’m going, and I don’t know whyyyy..Listen to your heart..before you tell him goodbye.."

Leigh rolled his eyes. "Let's go, I want to get there before the droids."

They finally make their way to the top of the hill and are joined by bikers and bots. The sale is about to begin; the excitement is palpable.

A supreme woman in a white robe and matching parasol emerged from the already open front door. She didn't make eye contact with anyone, but that wasn't that unusual for this time period. Most people never showed their eyes because the sun is so blaring. Janancy even started to think it odd this woman wasn’t wearing any eye protection at all.

She spoke:

“Hello Brethren and Sisteren. This here is my home, and I am inviting you inside. The scientists and Buddhists will get first entry. The robots will be last. If you don’t like my rules, leave. Please don’t take anything you don’t absolutely need, for someone else may need it more."

Janancy and Leigh walk past the woman with their badges displayed. The supreme woman smiled at Janancy then followed them inside.

“See anything 'of use' scientist lady? What kind of science do you study? Are you one of those singing scientists who couldn’t decide if they wanted to be a scientist or a pop singer?”

Janancy thought to herself, "How does this woman already have my number? She just met me? Am I really a genre, a statistic, a cliche? Did I choose to be a government scientist? Did I have a choice? Can I go back?”

This was bad. The last thing J would ever wanted to be was a cliche. She snapped out of it...

The woman leaned over and squinted to read Janancy's badge "Department of Oxygen" she smiled “Well then you must be here for the gold…Come with me.”

She leads Leigh and J through three doorways and happens upon a very bright room with what looks like a refrigerator from the early 2000s. The door swings open and inside it is filled with all things gold: gold bars, gold chains, gold figurines, trophies, and rings.

Janancy walked towards it in awe and started riffling through it. After opening all of the drawers in the fridge she found something that catches her eye. It's a few shades brighter than the rest of the gold, and has craftsmanship she doesn't recognize. Inside is a black and white photo of a child, it’s not her-but she’s seen this child before. The eyes look familiar. She carefully removed the photo from the locket and a computer chip dropped out.

The woman noticed this and started moving toward her. "You've found it! I knew it. I knew it was you. Janancy you must take this chip. It's going to help a lot of people. You cannot give it to your employers, they do not know what to do with it; only you know what to do with it. Do you hear me?"

Her mind raced, she rubbed her hand carefully over the carved gold embellishments trying to think and listen to the woman at the same time.

Leigh interrupted her thinking. “There hasn’t been gold like this found in ages! How did all this gold slip past the government's seizures? I wonder who the owner was?”

“Is.” J corrects Leigh for what seemed like the 30th time today.

“Was.” Leigh retorts.

“The owner IS right here.” J moved her arm to display..a window? The place where the woman was standing is now vacant. She looked around the room, but it was still just a refrigerator, and a parasol leaning against the window.

There is a prolonged silence. Janancy looked out the window at all the robots waiting to get in the house. Then she looked at all of the gold still inside the fridge, she then looked at the locket next to the computer chip in her hand, then finally at Leigh in desperation.

“How did we get here?” she asked him.

Leigh sighs, "Get where? This estate, or to the part where you turned weird?”

"No, how did we get in here? Here, here. This Estate??" Janancy asked.

Playing along Leigh responded, "Uh there was an Estate Sale sign and a lockbox on the door and a sign that said "Scientist first dibs."

“And the woman?” Janancy asked as she discretely placed the computer chip back in the locket.

Lee shook his head. He didn’t know whether to be frustrated or intrigued. “What’s that? You gonna keep that from the government?” Leigh asks pointing at the locket in J's hand.

“Yeah.” She cleared her throat. “Yes! I am.” J said. “I have to go.”

"Go where?? There's nowhere to go? You're working!” He lowered his voice to a whisper “...And they’re watching.."

Janancy clenched her fist so hard that the fleshy part of her palm filled in the tiny grooves on the locket.

“Leigh when is the last time you listened to your heart? If I learned anything from Roxette it's that there is nothing else to do other than 'Listen to your heart'! So when is the last time Leigh? Spill it?"

Leigh sat for a second inside the question wondering if it's rhetorical. When he realized Janancy is being genuine, he started to think. This took a while because no one has asked him a question about the heart or emotions in ions.

J waited.

Leigh finally answered, "I guess...I guess I don't know if I ever have. I was never taught to. I was taught to put my head down and provide, not to let feelings get in the way."

Janancy isn't surprised by Leigh's answer, but she is surprised by Leigh's honesty.

"What if I told you we have a chance right now to really help the people? We could have helped your mom and dad, and my sister. Instead, we gave our findings to the government so they could save scumbags like that human trafficking senator from that state that sank a couple of years back."

"Florida? You don't even want to say the name? Does it piss you off that much? Florida always got such a bad rep, but what's better than Gators, Scientologists, and boiled peanuts?" Leigh asked, cluelessly.

"Leigh! Please! It sank for a reason." Janancy continued, "I'm leaving. I'm giving Oxygen and love to the people, my people. You can either be with me or against me!"

Leigh was still in shock. He was skeptical but had grown quite fond of Janancy. He started to think of her as a humble role model that would never seek followers but should be followed. He's always viewed her as enlightened, but the good kind of enlightened.

He opens his mouth: "Let me disable the drones first..."