From: "David Hearne" Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 12:31:39 -0500 Subject: xfc: It's What's Inside That Counts Source: xfc From: "David Hearne" TITLE: IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE THAT COUNTS AUTHOR: DAVID HEARNE CLASSIFICATION: SH RATING: PG SPOILERS: BAD BLOOD, HUNGRY, HOME AUTHOR'S NOTE: This time, I cheat. This week's episode has inspired me, but the tale I have in mind will need a bit more involvement than I can give right now. Currently, "The Seventh Age" is being edited and I'm also working on a sequel to "Goin' Down South." I don't think that "It's What's Inside That Counts" will be novel-length, but it will require a bit more effort than "Cierta Gente Solo" and "Forsaken." I admit that I've run into this problem before. I gave you a preview of "All God's Children," but I found out that I didn't know how to write the whole thing yet. Then I got involved in this "Goin' Down South" sequel and...well... Still, I promised to turn out something for every episode and here it is in its unfinished glory. I also promise that I will post the whole thing one day along with "All God's Children," if that means anything. Yeah, I know. If promises were nickels... XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The greatest scene in movie history was playing on the television screen. After a long trek over the desert, John Wayne had finally caught up with Montgomery Clift. He strode across the wide, dusty street towards Clift, giving not a glance to all the other cowboys who were staring him in fear and amazement. One cowboy, however, was not so afraid. He stepped onto the street behind Wayne and yelled at him. Wayne ignored him. Then the cowboy yelled out a second time, angrier and louder. Wayne spun around, drawing his gun. The other cowboy pulled out his gun... ...and the screen went black. "Aw, mom!" "You can watch television anytime you want to, young man." "But, mom, that was 'Red River!'" "Well, then, I'm glad I turned off the television. Everytime you see that movie, you end up complainin' about the endin' the whole day long." That was true. 'Red River' may have had the greatest scene in movie history but it also had the dumbest ending. Here you have John Wayne so full of rage at Clift that when he takes a bullet in the side while shooting the other cowboy down, he just turns around and keeps marching towards Clift. Wayne is hurting bad, but he's too determined to open a big can of whup-ass on Clift. But then...but THEN...after he and Clift rumble in the dust for awhile, some stupid girl steps in and tells them to stop fighting because, as she says, "you two are in love with each other." And Wayne and Clift stop fighting just like that and make up. When he had first seen this movie, Lucius's jaw hung down as the words "The End" faded onto the screen. Then he moaned and bitched to his dad. "Well, son," his dad said. "that's Hollywood for you." Yeah, it sure was. Hollywood was always fouling things up. Especially the vampire movies. "Come on along, Lucius," Mrs. Hartwell said. "Let's go to the ballroom." Lucius looked down at his feet, not moving from the bed he was sitting on. "Lucius?" "Mom, do we really have to be here?" "We've been over this already, son. Besides, I'm not gonna drive all the way back to Texas just because you're feelin' all uppity." Lucius kicked the blanket with his heels. "Just what is your problem?" his mother asked. "I don't have nothin' to do with these other kids. They're just...y'know..." "What?" "Freaks." "Lucius Hartwell! I should slap you upside the head for sayin' such things!" "Well, they are!" "I shouldn't have to remind you that you're not exactly considered normal in a lot of fine circles yourself." The twelve-year-old boy had nothing for a reply to that. All he knew that he was stuck in a hotel smackdab in the middle of a town which could make even Chaney, Texas look like a thriving metropolis. Stuck with a bunch of freaks and their oh-so-caring mothers. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX "I am SO pleased to see SO many of you here today. It does my heart SO proud to see you all." I am SO bored, Lucius thought. His back slid an extra inch down his chair. H is mother had to slap him on the knee before he fell all the way off. He quickly straightened his body up. The woman behind the podium wore a dress of an almost blinding shade of pink. She had a weird smile on her face like there were fishhooks in her mouth. "And look at ALL these children," Mrs. Pleasant gurgled into the microphone. "Oh, my, I just want to give you all a BIG kiss!" Please, God, no. "It just does my heart glad to know that there are SO many of you special children in the world..." Special? What do you mean, special? I ain't retarded. "I used to think that my poor Wendy was the ONLY child who had been given...unique attributes by nature. I used to think that my darling girl would NEVER..." Mrs. Pleasant sniffed. She took out a handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. Shoot, Lucius thought. If she starts crying, we'll never get out of here. And what's all this horse manure about her girl being poor? I can see her Wendy right now sitting next to the podium and she don't look poor to me. It would take a week's wages from my Dad to buy that dress. And look at how she's sitting like she's a queen. She's got that 'I'm-rich-and-you're-not' look. A lot of girls would like to be her, even if it meant having gills. Mrs. Pleasant composed herself, then continued, "Oh, my, I just get all teary thinking about it, I admit it. Anyway...I would like to welcome you ALL to the first convention of 'The Love Society.' I would like to start out our meeting by reading the rules of OUR wonderful group. Rule number one -- it doesn't matter what you look like. It's what's INSIDE that counts. Rule number two -- all children are God's creation and MUST be cherished. Rule number three -- we must give our children all the LOVE we can give..." Or all they can take. The sound of the goofy speaker faded away from Lucius's attention. He looked around the room. He found nothing to change his opinion about the other young 'uns in the room. There was nothing to connect him to them. Of course, not all of them looked strange, though some of that was due to a little cosmetics. For instance, his keen senses could detect the falseness of one kid's ears and teeth. Many of them just looked weird, though. There was the boy who had large red words appearing and disappearing on his skin. The words were ones being spoken by others so Mrs. Pleasant's speech was flashing over his face -- 'esteem' on his cheek, 'care' on his forehead, 'love' on his nose. There was the girl with the turtle shell over her body. A boy had to be tied to his chair or else he would float away. Newspapers were spread under the chair of one fat kid whose skin kept dripping a pink fluid. And there was... Lucius froze. All the way in the back was a mother with a boy around his age. They had two rows of chairs between them and the others. That seemed to be the way they wanted it. They were ugly and deformed, but that was nothing to remark on here. There weren't too many beauty contestants in that room. It wasn't the woman's stretched mouth or the boy's thick brow which unnerved Lucius. It was the look in their eyes. They were cold and unfriendly like those of a rattlesnake. The boy looked straight back at Lucius. His nostrils flared and Lucius realized that he was smelling him from a distance. Lucius could pick up his scent, too -- rotting meat and unclean sheets. Lucius turned quickly away. "...above all, The Love Society believes that our children deserve a place at the table JUST like everybody else," Mrs. Pleasant asserted. I want to get out of here, Lucius thought. I want to get away from all these freaks. I want to get away from that cold-eyed boy. He felt so scared that he didn't notice the person watching him. Then he became aware of bright blue eyes, hair red like the final hours of daylight and the sweetest smile he had ever seen. A girl up front was looking back at him. Smiling back at him. Lucius smiled in return. That the girl's head was completely turned around didn't bother him. The girl's pretty face was much more important. The girl let him see her wonderful smile one more time, then her head twisted back towards the podium. Okay, Lucius thought. I could stick it out. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX