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Prologue
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Alexander Dane put on his raincoat and undid the clasp of his umbrella. Tommy and Fred had already left the convention early. Since they had begun filming on their new series, there had been a few job offers. It would seem that things were picking up for them. Alex had been offered a part in a theatre production that would start in three weeks time. When he had been offered it, he’d just laughed. They were asking him to play Richard the third... "Well, goodnight then." He opened the door to the back entrance and then closed it again. Wind and rain howled along outside. He did up the last remaining button on his coat and then put on his hat. He didn’t want the colours of his rubber head mask to run. Jason tucked his shades into the pocket of his own coat after seeing the weather. Something was telling him that he wouldn’t be needing them. "Hey, er, Alex, do you wanna go for a drink?" Alex paused from turning the door handle. "A what?" "A drink. A beer, a turkey sandwich. A drink. There’s a bar near here I go to." Jason zipped himself up. Winter. He hated winter. "I’ll see you later Gwen." "Yeah alright. Your round." Alex opened the door and let Jason go first. Gwen Demarco popped her head up above her dressing table. She was hunting around for something under there. "Bye Gwen." "Bye Alex. Have a nice time." She watched Alex go, and then resumed her hunting. The eye shadow was caught at the back. She could almost reach it... "Come here you little..." Just another inch, and– "Hey Gwen!" the sound of Guy’s voice made her jump and bang her head on the dressing table. She cursed and reached again. "What do you want Guy...?" Her fingertips were right near it... "Well, I was wondering if you’d want to go for a drink." Perhaps inwardly she smiled. Not out of affection or friendship, but how he could have the nerve to ask her that. "Well that is a great offer Guy, and I’m touched that you would ask me," she grabbed the eye shadow, got up, dusting her knees off from being on the floor. "But the chance of spending more than fifteen minutes alone with you is too much for me to bear. Goodnight." She left Guy standing there in the dressing room ticking over what she had just said. Jason picked at something under his fingernail as Alex spoke. "And I just laughed, you know? All these years asking for my job back, and what do I get? I tell you, one bit of fame and they all come crying like wolves to a carcass. It’s a joke. Show business..." Jason rolled his eyes. Alex had been rambling on for over a half hour about him reprising his role as Richard the third. The waitress came over with their sandwiches and to glasses of scotch. "Thanks," Jason said, watching her behind as she walked off. "So I rang Donny. You know Donny? He’s a great–" "Alex, how do you feel about getting old?" Jason asked all of a sudden. He was staring down into his scotch glass. Alexander shot him a worried glance. "Getting old? What’s brought this on? I thought we were talking about" "Don’t you feel yourself winding down? Those old aches and pains that used to go away as quick as they came, my old knee injury... I don’t know. I just feel old lately." Alex considered for a moment. "Well, I don’t feel anything about it really?" "You don’t? Not even for a second?" Jason picked up his scotch. "No. Doesn’t even cross my mind. Not something that I worry about. Oh yeah, sure, I worry about financial matters... where I’m going to be in twenty years, what I’ll be doing... but other than that; everyday things that everybody wonders about, getting old doesn’t bother me." Jason took a long swig of his drink. Alex smiled. "You don’t look old Jason." "Thanks Alex, but it’s not that that worries me. I know that I don’t look as good now as I did twenty years ago. I won’t look like I do now in another twenty years. It isn’t that that bothers me." "Is this a mind game? What bothers you specifically?" Alexander took a bite of his sandwich and leaned back in his chair. They’d chosen a window seat. The street outside was dark and wet. "I’m over forty years old. I’m not married, and I’ve got no kids. I’ve realised that there are more years behind than there are ahead. Time is running out for me to do those sort of things, and I just worry that one day I will be too old." Alex finished off half of his sandwich. "Well, I can’t help you in that department Jason. I’m afraid that if there’s one thing I have learnt so far, it’s the simple truth that we all have to deal with getting old in our own way. I can’t tell you how to grow old gracefully, or get a wife and kids." He drained his own glass of scotch. "Here, I’ll get the next round." Alex slotted the key in to the door to his apartment. He stopped from entering. A light was on inside. He waited outside for several seconds, trying to decide what to do. Was somebody still in there? He couldn’t hear anything... He eased the door open as silently as possible and took a step inside. "Hello? Who’s there?" he left the door open and reached for the light switch. He saw something blur past him to the left. He spun around to see what it was... Before he slipped into unconsciousness on the floor of his apartment, Alex heard someone whisper next to his ear. "At last we meet. Dr. Lazarus..." |
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GALAXY
QUEST A New Adventure.
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Was Last Updated: Tuesday, August 27, 2013 04:46 PM