Sunday, October 30, 2005

"Blade Runner was here!" He held out his arm and there, sitting in the plastic dustpan was a little origami figure. With a flourish Russ picked it up and deposited it with the others.

"You've got quite a collection going there." Aimee had been juiced about getting a job at the theater but barely a month into it she was looking anywhere she could for diversion, including the top of the popcorn machine. "How many have you found?"

"Ten, although I threw out the first couple. I didn't realize the scope of Blade Runner's obsession."

She stood on her tiptoes and examined the line. "They're all cranes, though. Doesn't he know any others?"

"I dunno. Maybe he's a moron. Or an idiot savant."

She shrugged and dumped a cup of kernels in the machine. "Maybe you should call him 'Rain Man' then. Besides, wasn't it the Edward James Olmos cop who made the origami?"

Russ was adding weenies to the wiener-go-round. "Duh, Edward James Olmos was the blade runner. Harrison Ford was a replicant. Everybody knows that! Jeez."

"Sorry." Aimee looked out at the lobby, filling up with the dinner show crowds. She dumped the popped popcorn out of the hopper and started a second batch. "So why are you saving them?"

"Because. Welcome to the Multiplex 24. What can I get you? You must've figured out by now. The extra large is only 19 cents more. How freakin' boring. Butter topping? This job is. If it weren't. Plain or peanut? Two? For little mysteries like Blade Runner. Tea bags are at the end of the counter. I'd go postal.

"The best part is. Your total's $19.75. Trying to figure out who he is. I get. It's butter flavoring. Maybe two or three cranes a month. The bathrooms are upstairs next to Theater 6. Donte, Alex, and Kelee save 'em when they find them. No, 'tub' is our largest size. That co—Two tubs? Uh, okay. Ben won't save them, or even tell me if he sees any. Theater 4 is at the end of the hall.

"I've got ideas about who it could be, people who are in here all the time. Me wondering which one is the real Blade Runner is what makes it bearable."

"So what are your theories, Sherlock?"

"Blade Runner digs the sci-fi flicks, but not so much the fantasy stuff. Blade Runner is not a tween girl; I've gotten nothing out of anything with Hillary Duff, Mandy Moore, or the Olsen Twins. With the sci-fi geek factor, that really points away from teen or pre-teen girl. No Harry Potter, no Star Wars, so probably not a kid. But anything animated is pretty much guaranteed to result in a find, which is another point in favor of geek. Cartoons, origami; maybe the guy's oriental."

Aimee sighed. "So what movie did you find crane number ten in?"

"Corpse Bride. Easy pickings. Down front, as always. Hey," Russ looked over at Aimee leaning over the candy counter. "What are you doing?"

"If it's alright with you I want to get in on this game, too." She held up an abandoned receipt. "So I'm gonna make a little bait for your mystery man. Here." She handed him a small white iris. "Put this down front about 20 minutes before 'The Nightmare Before Christmas' starts, on one of the aisle seats."

"Excellent." Russ looked worried. "Does this make me Holmes, then?"

4 comments:

Daniel Heath said...

you definitely win the "startlingly non-gratuitous mention of Edward James Olmos in a work of fiction" award for 2005...

I think you could continue with these two. a little curiosity is a lot dangerous in a job like that.

Bones said...

You know I live for the startling and non-sequitur; it's like getting three cherry halves in the fruit cocktail.

Chemical Billy said...

Oh, you must continue this. I want to know, I want to know...

Bones said...

Oh, and I had a good line all thought up while driving the other day...forgot it.

I just realized it's already the eleventh and I've only got one post up for November.

Slack-r!