A Day Out
By Laura

Part One
The Ball Game
It took her forever to get tickets to this. And just scraping by, not gettingseats in the nose-bleed section, made her feel better, and aided in the attemptto coax her friends into coming with her. Laura had dragged her friends Ali,Theresa, Julie and Kelly along with her to the last game of the World Series. It seemed fun. She was open. They grabbed the traditional hot dogs, soda, and peanuts and sat themselves into their seats. "Uh, Laura, whose seat is that?" "Um… I don’t know really. It’s none of ours" Laura replied. She wondered. She had purchases tickets 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, but seat number 10, the one closest to the isle and next to Laura was empty. "Eh, who cares? Maybe they won’t come anyway. Let’s just enjoy the game. Great weather huh?" She told them.

"Yup, it is." Julie replied.

They audience was called to their feet for the singing of the National Anthem. Chills ran down Laura’s spine as she listened to one of her idols, Billy Joel, "one of New York’s own", sing it. As they sat down to watch the first inning commence, a stranger sat down in seat number 10. He was wearing dark sunglasses, a long coat, and was reading a book. "Who the hell reads a book at a baseball game? Especially the World Series" Laura whispered to her friend Ali. "I dunno. A weirdo I guess" she replied. He put down his coffee, and continued to read his book. As soon as he put it down, he accidentally knocked it over, moving into a different position in his seat. "Aaah!" The hot coffee had spilled all over Laura’s new shoes. "Oh, I’m really sorry." He leaned over to pick up the coffee cup, and as he picked it up, his dark-rimmed sunglasses fell into the pool of coffee. "Ah, shit." Kelly elbowed Laura. "Hey, isn’t that that Greg Proops guy you’re always talking about?" "Shut up Kelly" she whispered back, so as not to get his attention. "Hi, girls." The not-so mysterious-anymore stranger managed to sputter out. "Oh, uh…hi." Laura managed to sputter out. "How are you enjoying the game so far?" "Oh, just fine thanks…and you?" The words no sooner came out of her mouth than the moment that she was struck in the head with a foul ball.

"Oh…" was her last attempt to mutter anything of sensible before she hit the floor. "Oh my God!" Theresa shouted. Laura had fallen from her chair, face forward onto the floor. "Oh my God, are you okay kid?" Mr. Proops had asked her. "Oh…uh…yeah…I think I’m alright" she managed to say. Her friends helped her off the ground into a standing position. "Hey, we better go, get you some ice or something…that looks bad kid. Hey, what’s your name anyway?" Greg asked her.

"Oh…my name?" She was stalling. "Um…Laura. My name is Laura." "Okay then, Laura, we should at least get you some ice or something. You, what’s your name? Get Laura some ice dammit." "Oh, well, my name’s Ali, and I’m only going to get some ice because she needs it, I don’t take orders from ‘nice’ strangers." Ali was one of those no-bullshit girls. She ran off to get Laura some ice. Laura held her head in violent pain. The ball had hit her fairly fast and with a mean spin to it. Greg pulled her hand off of her face, and looked at the mean bruise she had acquired.

Ali had just returned with the ice. Greg had made the motion for Ali to put the bag of ice in his hand. She looked at him weird, and handed it to him. He gently placed it on her forehead. She sighed. "Only me. I never get a break. The only day that I can come to see the World Series, with all of my good friends, listen to my idol sing the National Anthem, and now I’m here, with one of my favorite people in the world, standing over me, with a f*cking bag of ice over my head!!" Laura had just opened up, and was slowly becoming dizzy.

"We should really get you home, Laura." Greg tried to comfort her. "No, damnit! I’m not going anywhere. I never go anywhere ever. And now, just because I get I bump on the head, this isn’t going to stop me from this day." "Laura. This is serious. Greg…it is Greg right?" "Yeah, Greg’s my name." "Greg’s right Laura. We should really get you home. That really doesn’t look good." Theresa tried, as Greg did, into coaxing her to go home. "Arg! Fine, we’ll go home." She said. "But, uh…how the hell are we going to get home. Your mom said she wasn’t going to pick us up until 11." Kelly was right. Laura’s mom wasn’t even going to think about coming to pick them up before hand, and this could cause a problem. "Well, we can all just take the subway. No big deal." Greg suggested.

"The subway…Who the hell’s got money to pay for that crap? We’ll walk." Laura insisted. She was stubborn, and now pissed off, she was angry. "No."

They all responded in unison. "Laura, you have to understand. You are really badly bruised. Doesn’t that hurt? You can’t walk home. Please be reasonable." Julie pleaded. "Oh! All right! Let’s just take the damn subway!" Greg steadied Laura and led the rest of the group out of the stadium.

It seemed, to Laura, that the trip from the stadium to the parking lot took forever. She was continually getting dizzy, and couldn’t steady her own two feet without the help of Greg. "Do you think you can walk yet?" "Oh, I can walk just fine." She replied. "Its making my brain work in compliance with the rest of my body that I’m having trouble with." She smiled, hoping that the subway wasn’t too much farther. "I…I think I’m ok now. Let go. Lemme see what happens." She insisted. Greg slowly let go of her, not stepping too far away from her, in the case that she would be unable to balance herself. She was able to stand, and to walk, but she was still in an incredible amount of pain. "Are you ok?" Greg asked. "Oh…yeah. I’m fine. Let’s just get home." She insisted.

The group walked into the entrance of the subway, and Greg graciously paid for the girls tickets, but on the insistence that each would pay him back. None of the members of the small group had ever rode in a subway before, so all were confused on what exactly to do. "Where do we get on?" Julie questioned.

"Um…the ticket lady told us to wait for the number 4 train." Greg replied, as confused as the others. "Greg, how long of a wait is this going to be?" Theresa asked, becoming worried and impatient. "Oh, only about fifteen minutes. No big deal." Greg replied. He was guessing. "Oh, alright." The group took a seat on a bench nearby. The bag of ice that Laura used to try to stop the swelling of her bruise had now turned to water. "Oh, shit. Ah, well." She tossed the wet bag into the trashcan next to her. The train number three had just pulled up. "Not too much longer now girls" Greg assured them. "Oh, I’m so sorry I dragged you into this mess Greg. I just can’t believe all this crap!" Laura exclaimed. "No, really. It’s ok. Are you ok?" "Yeah, really I’m fine. I just feel really bad that you’re here with me and my friends and not enjoying the game. I mean those tickets weren’t cheap…" She was cut off. "Hey, guys. Train 4 is here. Thank god!" Ali said and was the first to jump onto the subway.

She stood hanging onto a poll, Greg and Laura sat on one side, and Theresa, Julie, and Kelly sat on the other. The subway filled up quickly, and it wasn’t five minutes before the subway started moving. "Whoa." The sudden movement startled Laura. She was becoming steadily more nervous. The group made small talk throughout the next 15 minutes of the ride. Greg happily obliged to all of Laura questions and promised to stop in NYC again to do some stand-up. She was happy. It wasn’t about to last too long though. Lights flashed. A loud sound of a crack startled all of the passengers. Some young children began to cry and search for their parents. Ali frantically looked about in the darkness for a seat. Laura reached for Greg’s hand. He reached back and their hands met. "Dude, I’m scared." Kelly said with a slight quiver in her normally steady voice.

The electricity was gone and the group could hear the driver make his way through the cars reassuring everyone that things were okay, and that, in all honesty, it could take some time before the train gets running again. Now it was our turn to hear the message of comfort.

"Okay people. Can you all hear me in the back, even if you can’t see me?" His flashlight streamed over the group, as all nodded their heads, and some replied "Yes". "Okay, um…the train, as you can all see…" he chuckled. "…is having some problems. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m trying to get everything under control, and we should be running soon after. In all fairness though, it could be some time before anything gets running again. I would suggest, that if you’re standing, to try to find a seat, and attempt to call someone to let them know what’s going on. Just stay calm, and the time should go by steadily." He seemed to have said that message to passengers often. "Is anyone hurt?" A man pushed his way forward, holding his head, and walked back to the front with the conductor.

A Day Out: Part Two
The Stuck Subway
The car of the subway was now fully dark, and it took Laura a while to get her eyes adjusted. Her hand began to shake in Greg’s. "It’s ok, Laura. We’ll get out of this. I promise." "Oh, Greg! I’m so sorry!!" She cried out to him. They embraced. "It’s going to be ok. It’s going to be ok." He kept repeating it to her, to comfort her. She slowly left the embrace and asked, "Are you guys okay over there?" "Yeah, we’re ok. Just scared is all." Julie replied for herself and the rest of the girls. "Oh God! I can’t believe this crap!" Ali was mad. "Ali, please. Contain yourself." Theresa said, as Ali paced the subway car. Ali muttered something illegible under her breath as the others waited patiently for the subway to begin moving again. Laura continued to hold Greg’s hand.

The next ten minutes passed slowly. It was a while before anyone said anything. "Is anyone wearing a watch?" someone in front of the group had asked. "I have one." Greg responded. He slowly took his hand out of Laura’s, smiling, and said, "Um…I can’t really read it too well, but I think it says 10 o’clock." "Thanks." Greg re-placed his hand in Laura’s. "Do you guys think we’re going to make it?" Theresa asked. "Don’t worry." A stranger had replied. "I’ve gone through this before, and the conductor was right, it’s really no big deal." The stranger continued his walk up toward the front of the subway, and left the group slightly confused.

"Um…okay. Whatever the hell that was." Ali said, perplexed. Laura was becoming tired. She began to wonder how the game was going. A thousand thoughts filled her mind at that moment. The subway was getting increasingly cold. She could feel he eyes begin to close. Greg adjusted himself to comply with Laura’s head, which was slowly moving toward his shoulder. Laura only slept for a half-hour, which seemed like a good idea to the others in the group, who soon after, also fell asleep. Greg was the only one still up. Another hour passed by. The electricity started working again, and a strange voice came over the intercom.

"Uh…this is your…uh…conductor, yeah, your conductor speaking." "What the hell?" Greg thought to himself. "I’m going to be…uh…to be driving this thing soon…Shut up!" Something wasn’t right. The stranger the group had encountered before was now in clear light, and was badly bruised. Greg stopped listening to the ‘conductor’ and moved their belongings to make room for the man. "Hey, do you know what the hell is going on?" "Yeah, but its got to be kept quiet okay? I don’t want to alarm anyone else." At that moment Laura had woken up, but decided just to listen, and wait a while before making the attempt to adjust her eyes to the light. "That guy…you know…our ‘conductor’?" "Um…yeah." "If you haven’t noticed, he’s really not our conductor. He gave our real conductor a serious head injury. I pulled in some friends of mine, and they’re trying to stop the blood flow. He gave me this bruise." He pointed to the deep mark on his forehead. "I tried to stop him, and that’s what happened. I’m seriously worried." Greg mused over what the stranger had just said, and thought about what could be done. He whispered something to the stranger regarding the whole ordeal as Laura woke up.

"Greg…Greg…is everything okay?" she asked him. He didn’t have time to answer her before the subway started up again. "Aaah!" he shouted, and flew halfway across the subway car. Laura and the others shot up and ran to his rescue. "Oh my gosh Greg…! Greg…are you okay?" Laura was worried, and with the gap of time between her question and his lack of response, she began to cry. The subway continued to fly on its course for the next 10 minutes. Greg was still unconscious. The subway came to a sudden halt. The group and a bunch of other passengers attempted to push the subway door open. It was to no avail, until the door opened by its self. The girls lifted up Greg and carried him as far as they could to a bench near by. The rush of panicked passengers filled the subway station that the hijacker had stopped the shuttle at.

Carrying water in their hands from the water fountain, the girls tried to wake Greg up. "Oh, God. Please let this work." Ali said aloud. "What?" The other girls were puzzled. "I know I’ve been a bitch to this guy, but I don’t want to see him hurt, ya know?" The girls continued their frantic attempts to revive Greg, and after 10 straight minutes they figured it was helpless. Laura broke down into a fit of tears.

She fell on her knees in front of him, and held her head in her hands. The other girls left her alone, and started walking to try to get some information on where they were and how they could possibly get home and get help. Laura’s feelings of hopelessness and sadness were soon uplifted when she saw Greg’s chest begin to rise and fall steadily and his eyes begin to flutter. "Oh my God! Ali…! Julie…Theresa…Kelly! Someone!" The girls weren’t too far away when they heard Laura’s cry for help. Laura wiped away the tears from her face and immediately embraced the girls, and then ran to Greg’s side.

"Girls, what…what happened?" Theresa recounted their tale after the time that Greg hit the floor, how worried they all were, and the predicament they were all now faced with. "Well, girls, I’m not going let this challenge stop me. Who agrees?" It was a rhetorical question on Greg’s part. All the girls were destined to get home, at any cost, whatever it took. The girls picked up what belongings they had grabbed in the rush, and followed Greg out of the subway. They had reached the end of the staircase, into the darkness that was the night. They all searched the new, ‘uncharted’ territory they were about to walk across.

"This way?" Greg suggested, motioning Laura to help him lead the way. The girls agreed as Laura moved closer to him, and they proceeded. They walked around, clueless and oblivious to most of their surroundings for about a half an hour. Greg then spotted an open-24-hours mini-mart. The girls were relieved and Laura expressed her gratitude toward Greg with a small kiss on the cheek. The others giggled behind them immaturely, and Greg smiled at her, in a steady stride toward the door. "Excuse me, sir." Greg said to the cashier. "Would you mind if my friends and I use your phone? We’re lost, and we really need to make a phone call. It would be greatly appreciated if you could oblige us." Greg was the most polite he could be to the cashier, in the hopes that it would persuade him to allow the group to use his phone. "Oh…sure. The phone’s in the back though. See that aisle with the cans of soup in it? Go down there, and just open the door. There’s a black phone on the table you can use. Good luck to you guys." "Oh, thank you, thank you very much, sir." Greg responded. The girls nodded in compliance. The rest of the girls followed Laura and Greg to the back room. Laura was the first to pick up the phone. "Oh, great. Just great. It’s dead!" She sank down into the chair next to the desk.

"No. This isn’t going to stop us." Greg pulled her out of the chair and headed back to the cashier. "Dude, your phone’s out. Can we use that one? Please, you can even supervise us if it would make you feel better." "Oh, sure. Sorry ‘bout that." This time Greg picks up the phone and first calls a taxi. The man on the other line said that he could have someone out within 15 minutes. The girls’ hopes were rising. He then hung it up, picked it up again, and handed it to Laura. She dialed her home phone number first. Her father picked up and she quickly accounted the story to him. He said he was glad she was ok, and hung up, telling her that he would try to get a hold of her mother on her cell phone. She had already left looking for her. Laura bid her father goodbye for now, hung up, and allowed the other girls to phone their parents.

"Well, I guess you weren’t suspecting this, were you?" Greg asked Laura as they all sat on the curb out side waiting for the taxi to arrive. "No, not exactly. I mean I thought this was going to be a pretty normal day. I mean all I wanted to do was to watch some baseball. That’s all!… I’m so sorry you got sucked into all of this. I mean, I know that I’ve said that before, but I just feel so bad!" Greg hugged her, reassuring that all was okay.

The taxi had just pulled up. Ali hopped into the front seat next to the driver, and all the others squeezed into the back of the cab. Ali sat up front, guiding the way to Laura’s house. "Well, you guys, this has been a real adventure huh?" Julie had summed up what all were thinking. "Sorry we all had to meet this way Mr. Proops." Kelly had remarked. "Eh, it’s alright gals. We had a funky time right? I mean, it’s one of those days you just don’t forget. Well, two days huh?" He smiled at them. They were now only 5 minutes from Laura’s home, and the sun was beginning to rise. Greg paid the taxi driver for his services as the girls grabbed their remaining belongings and headed up Laura’s path. "It’s been a great couple of hours, Greg. Even though it was extremely painful on both our parts, and really scary, I wouldn’t trade it in for anything in the world. Anything." The rest of the girls were now in the home and Greg and Laura stood on her front porch. "You know Laura. I’ve had better experiences in my life, but I wouldn’t have traded that in for anything either. It’s been great." He said with a smirk on his face. He gazed into her eyes. "Laura…" "Yes, Greg?" "Laura…Laura…Laura!"

"Huh?" What’s going on?" ?BUZZ? "Dude, you fell asleep!" Nicole told her. "Its time to go home. Let’s get a move on there buddy!" "No…I mean I swear I…I was in New York City…and…and Kelly and Julie and Ali and Theresa were there, and there was a baseball game and a subway ride and…" "Laura, my friend, you need to start sleeping nights, okay?" "But…but I swear…oh, it seemed so real!" "Well, you can continue your little daydream later, but I want to get home."

"Oh…well…alright. I guess we can leave…but…it was just so beautiful!" "Oh, Lord Laura…let’s just get home already." She smiled at her friend and led her to the school parking lot
*~The End~*