The Ring of Time
You think quickly for a way you could get apart from her where she can't see you. AHA! "Mom, I gotta go to the bathroom!" you plead, as she drags you along by your arm. "I don't THINK so, young man! I'm MAD at you! And to think I actually went there to BUY clothes for you!" You don't even bother rolling your eyes at this point, but you do know the answer with your Mom is persistence and volume. As you run out of patience, you attempt both at once. "MOOOOMMMM, I'VE GOTTA GO OR I'LL PEE IN MY PANTS!!" you yell. (Yeah, it's embarrassing for now, but this is getting ready to be just a faint, but disturbing memory.)
"FINE!!" she huffs, obviously flustered. "But you get your butt RIGHT BACK HERE, do you hear me?!?" You think to yourself, "I know some ESKIMOES that heard you, Mom!", but you only say, "Yes, Ma'am," and then you run to the nearest public bathroom.
To your relief, you find no one in the bathroom, and immediately go into a stall and rewind time. Confident that no one is in the bathroom again, you stop time when you're done to head back to the store. Confident in how you had entered the store before, you allow the same exchange between the clerk girl and yourself, but quickly take one of the shirts you'd like back into a changing room to think. THIS time, your hear your Mom enter the store (though you dare not peek out). You decide to wait until she leaves this time before you try anything. No sense taking any chances, as you might have to use real time again. You sit patiently for what seems like HOURS, hearing your Mom getting all chatty with the clerk, occasionally telling embarrassing stories about you and your brother David, as she is apparently shopping for you both. You become drowsy just sitting there, and as you are about to nod off, you feel a misting of white dust hit the back of your neck. It is, unfortunately, the LAST thing you feel, as the old iron casing for the HVAC system (that the new HVAC system's installers had been too lazy to remove) comes CRASHING through the flimsy white ceiling tiles, smashing your brain and killing you instantly.
It's almost a good thing your Mom is in the store when it happens, otherwise she would've had to find out about it on the evening news.
"FINE!!" she huffs, obviously flustered. "But you get your butt RIGHT BACK HERE, do you hear me?!?" You think to yourself, "I know some ESKIMOES that heard you, Mom!", but you only say, "Yes, Ma'am," and then you run to the nearest public bathroom.
To your relief, you find no one in the bathroom, and immediately go into a stall and rewind time. Confident that no one is in the bathroom again, you stop time when you're done to head back to the store. Confident in how you had entered the store before, you allow the same exchange between the clerk girl and yourself, but quickly take one of the shirts you'd like back into a changing room to think. THIS time, your hear your Mom enter the store (though you dare not peek out). You decide to wait until she leaves this time before you try anything. No sense taking any chances, as you might have to use real time again. You sit patiently for what seems like HOURS, hearing your Mom getting all chatty with the clerk, occasionally telling embarrassing stories about you and your brother David, as she is apparently shopping for you both. You become drowsy just sitting there, and as you are about to nod off, you feel a misting of white dust hit the back of your neck. It is, unfortunately, the LAST thing you feel, as the old iron casing for the HVAC system (that the new HVAC system's installers had been too lazy to remove) comes CRASHING through the flimsy white ceiling tiles, smashing your brain and killing you instantly.
It's almost a good thing your Mom is in the store when it happens, otherwise she would've had to find out about it on the evening news.
