Times Change

by redandready45

A Cut and a Save

Inside Dennis' bedroom, the alarm rang continuously. If he heard it, he didn't show it. He continuously laid there, still in bed, clad in green pajamas, his faced turned over to his left side, his tanned face in a very hard appearance, like a soldier sleeping after a terrible battle. It lasted until Dennis turned over to the left, falling out of the bed with a hard thud.

"Ugh," Dennis grunted, his face facing the floor and still on the ground, until he realized his tasks for the day. He jumped up and ran out of the room, running to the next door room like a cop looking for a suspect, and found both of them empty.

"They're gone," he said to himself, his tone not really reflecting any joy, nor any sadness, more like a feeling of emptiness, like something was missing. He went back into his room, and ran to shut off the still ringing alarm.
-

Dennis walked into the barn which held Crystal, and was holding an old tin bucket. He was clad in an old grey t-shirt. He pulled out a wet rag as well as a container of liquid soap from the bucket, and walked over to the small pen, which held his little pony inside. The pony heard his footsteps along the hay covered ground, and looked toward away from him, her dark eyes filled with an unusual amount of sadness.

"Come on Crystal," said Dennis in a soothing voice ," don't be shy, I'm just need to get the dye out of your mane." He put the rag and soap back into the bucket, and dropped them on the ground, opening Crystal's stable. The pony trotted out, her hooves gently scrapping the hay on the ground. Dennis walked over the wall with had a large hose with a green coil on a hook. He pulled it off, and attached it to a faucet nearby. He uncoiled the house and brought it toward the pony. He looked the Crystal's mane, which still was pink. He took a better look, ,and his eyes widened when saw the pink had spread to pretty much the top part of her mane.

'Or maybe it was dark, and I didn't notice the pink until I got a better look,' he thought to himself, his face now neutral. He took the hose in his left hand, and sprayed it onto the pony, the freezing waters making the pony shake her head and whinny as they hit the top part of her head..

"Whoa," said Dennis, holding his right hand up, the cloth still in his hand, "easy girl, this is just water, it won't bite." He took out a bottle of liquid soap he got and began washing her the top of her mane with it. He remembered one time when Jason accidentally got pink dye in his hair, so he had to create a special soap to get it out of his hair. He never thought he'd be using the same soap on his pony. He chuckled remembering that day:

"Dad I feel like a poodle", complained Jason. He was in the living room, standing awkwardly, explaining to his dad about one of his stunts gone wrong. Dennis just sat there, a newspaper in front of his face, while he continued,"Please, I've tried washing this out like five times."

"Well maybe this will teach you not to play paint balloons," Dennis said in a quiet voice, while not offering his son even a glance. He sat there for a few minutes not saying much else. The silence permeated through the air, and to Jason when his dad was silent, it was often scarier than when he was made. It was the rare "screw you go help yourself " silence when he really caused trouble. Jason walked up to his dad and begged him. Dennis never budged. "Fine," muttered Jason, annoyed at this father's ignorance. Just as he reached for the door to the upstairs, Jason heard the paper go onto the table.

" Go wait outside," said Dennis still in his chair and turning toward Jason,"I'll clean this junk out of your hair.I got to make something.

"But everyone will see me," complained Jason.

"Go outside poodle boy," mocked Dennis, who grabbed the paper to hide his grin. Jason sighed and walked out the door to the front lawn. "And don't move, or I'll put you on a leash," Jason turned around and glared at Dennis, causing him to chuckle. "Out," said Dennis in between laughs.

Dennis smiled inwardly, remembered how he secretly got his old neighbors in Queens, the Genaros, to take his picture so he could secretly cherish this moment. His younger sister , a hairdresser, had developed the dye removing formula, and he had carried that same recipe with him. It could clear dye away from hair like acid would burn through paper. He poured some of the soap onto the rag, and began scrubbing at Crystal's mane. As suds formed, he attempted to remove the dye, but the parts of her mane remained absolutely pink, it was annoying. He pulled at the mane, until he felt Crystal pull back signalling he had hurt her.

"Sorry girl," Dennis muttered. He received a nicker in reply, and went back to scrubbing her mane. Half an hour later, of scrubbing later, Dennis' hands we're pruned and burned slightly by the warm water, but still the dye had not come out. Dennis finally dropped the rag and examined her mane. His eyes widened, and muttered ," My god, there's more pink in her mane. The soap made it worse." He looked at Crystal ,"Stay here for a minute will you girl?" She shook her muzzle.

Dennis walked into the the house and walked into the kitchen. He walked over the phone on the white counter and made a call. "John, could be bring the steel wool?"
-

John stood over Crystal. He was wearing a white tank top and dirty overalls to help in the clean up operation on Crystal's mane. He brought the steel wool and his own soap, but after a while, his own hands grew pruned from the the warm water, while Crystal's mane had become more black than pink.

"You know Dennis," said John with the gusto of a Broadway actor ," I think when a guy asks a guy to come over to his house, it usually goes ,'Hey John, the game's on, want to come over.' Or ,'Hey John, my carburetor's shot, I could use a hand.' Or ,'Hey John, grab a bear.' It doesn't usually go ,' Hey John, could you help me style a PONY'S MANE!' Seriously!" He crouched down until he feel onto his butt, to weary to move.

"John," uttered Dennis, sitting in a folding chair that he kept in the barn,"you didn't have to come. I wanted your steel wool. You came on your own accord, and because you got nothing better to do. You hire somebody to manage that hotel of yours.

" Ugh," sighed John, still on the ground, haven't paid little mind to Dennis retort." "My hands are wrinkled," he complained.

"Your in you're sixties John, every part of you is supposed to be wrinkled.No I don't what sixties that is supposed to be. I mean by the looks of it, you'd be in the 1860's." He smirked and snickered quietly.

"Oh ha ha," said John sarcastically. He got up from his chair. "Why can't you just get one of those Kell girls to wash this dye out. I mean they're the ones who put it in. Let them endure this torture."

"First of all," Dennis exclaimed rising from his chair, "you have been scrubbing for like five minutes. Secondly I don't those girls anywhere near Crystal." He walked over Crystal. "They scared her to death," he said in a soothing tone, and began petting her man. "Besides Polly loves Crystal, and anytime spent with her would never ever be punishment for that kid, even if it meant cleaning up after her. In any case, I am buying a security system so that this won't happen again."

"Was it really necessary to kick those girls out," continued John.

"I don't wanna-,"

"Just answer the question, Dennis," interrupted John ," I mean I understand you not want to bring trouble to your business, but I think you may have overreacted."

"Those girls acted weirdly, you know. They had weird color hair, one of them couldn't even hold a pencil right," replied Dennis.

"You wanna hear weird," said John shaking his head, "My family's been in the hospitality business in Saratoga county since the days of independence. I've been running a hotel since Truman was president. You wanna hear weird. Imagine five college students in red robes with pentagrams on their hoods. Imagine them standing outside at night at 2 in the morning shouting 'By this hour, the Dark one will grant us power,' okay?" He started chuckling ."I know this because I heard it through the night. They woke me and the wife up. And I still can't get the cheesy chant out of my goddamned head. The bottom line John is that when you work in an industry that the Civil Rights Act requires you to accommodate you, you're going to meet some weirdos."

"Lifestyle is one thing John," said Dennis, "but here is another thing. Even though they said they were astronomy students, I never once saw them with a telescope or some star chart. You know I heard them speaking to Carl and Larry, I heard one of them ask 'what is NASA?' What astronomy student hasn't heard of freaking NASA!"

"That is actually kind of strange," admitted John. His eyes widened and he began shaking his head." Yeah an alternate lifestyle is one thing, but these girls don't sound...sound in general."

"That was among," Dennis paused remembering another uncomfortable moment that made him blush." Other things that made them seem weird, but the fight with the neighbors really was a final straw. In spite of their...quirks, they were harmless up until that point.But they not only could have put themselves in danger, they assaulted Polly as well."

"Why did you invite them, to go to Fourth of July," asked John.

"I asked them because I," he paused ," I wanted them to see the beauty of Lake George to encourage tourism. They said they already planned to see Lake George for an "experiment," whatever that was, so is was only sensible to bring them with us." He shifted his head away from John toward Crystal, but John didn't look convinced."

"I seem to recall two girls who always used to come with you me, Roger, and Carl and Larry, on our Fourth of Julies, and they lived in your house, in those same bedrooms you rented out. And they certainly knew how to hold a pencil," he said slyly.

"I don't wanna talk about this okay," Dennis said frustrated.

"Then comes this little girl who brightens up a whole, loves ponies, and well... brightens up all a whole room. A girl who anyone will kill to keep safe." He paused. "Are we talking about Polly, or Sa-,"

"Just drop it already-," said Dennis ,"it's not important."

"Okay," said Dennis in a softer tone," I believe you." He looked away from Dennis, a smile on his face. He turned back to them. "You know you could have kept the cash anyways."

"I wanted to show those girls I can never be bought and sold, that having money doesn't make them all powerful."

"Says the guy who slaved for Kensworth, and let them cut your pay on Christmas."

"Hey," shouted Dennis, "I never worked for Kensworth, those guys just bought the building. I haven't worked there in over ten years, and my firm treats me like a person. Their honest and they do business with Arthur Anderson."

"Fine Dennis," sighed John ," I'm just saying as both an innkeeper and as businessman, don't be soon keen on returning a deposit like that. The last time I ever got such a big advance like that was when John Lennon came to my hotel. "

"Alright," said Dennis exhausted. The pause endured between the two exhausted gentlemen.

"Why don't I get us some drinks," said John.

"Sure," said Dennis, "get me some of the Cherry Cola in the fridge."

"You got it," said John walking out of the barn. As he got the door, John heard Dennis scream. "Ah." John turned around alarm.

"John, I cut myself, could get bandages while you're in there."

"Sure," John said, running to the barn.

" The first aid kit is in the upstairs bathroom, don't run towards me ya dope!" John turned and ran back toward the house.
-

"Oh," said Dennis, clutching his right hand, which was now sporting a slash across the palm of his hand. Crystal just nickered while staring at Dennis. He pulled a napkin out of his pocket, and pressed it against his right palm trying to stop the bleeding. He continued to moan and complain until her heard a knock on the barn door, and a familiar uniformed lady showed up from behind the door.

"Mr Sadnik," asked Stirling.

"Hey Stirling," said Dennis through gritted teeth, "what's going on."

"I was wondering if-," he saw him writhe in pain, "are you okay."

"Yeah, I just cut my hand a little," said Dennis

"Let me see it," said Stirling, holding out her hand.

"No it's fine," replied Dennis, "John's just getting the first aid-,"

"Let.Me.See.It," demanded Stirling, much more firmly.

"Yes mam," said Dennis, immediately holding out her hand. She examined her hand looking at it, and was sickened by the sight of blood coming from the long cut on Dennis' palm.

"Uh..well, I accidentally rubbed by hand on.." he looked at Crystal ," a nail."

"A nail," screeched Dennis, "we better get you a tetanus shot then." He started pulling Dennis. "Come on, we gotta get you to the hospital."

"Did I say nail," said Dennis, wondering how he can get out of a trip to the hospital. Stirling , while maybe at least twenty years younger than Dennis had been a cop for two years, she had lived in Greenfield for 9 years, and Dennis knew she had an unusual interest in him. But he also knew what she hated the most was lie, which meant he knew his two choices: let her take him to the hospital, or let her put him in the hospital. He was about to answer but was stopped by John running into the barn.

"Dennis, I got the-," John stopped when he saw Stirling holding Dennis' hand. "Hello Stirling," he said, staring at the site. There was a pause until Stirling realized she was still holding Dennis' arm. She let go, a blush on her face. "I got the kit," said John, holding up the white plastic box with a Red Cross.

"Good," said Stirling, "I'll just tie those bandages around you're hand."

"That's fine," said Dennis, holding up his hand nervously, "I can attach-,"

"I'll.Tie.The.Bandages," said Stirling.

"Yes ma'am." He held out his arm. She dragged him to the chair and sat him down. She was very strong despite her appearance. She took the bandages and the rubbing alcohol out of the case, and began putting it on her hand.

"Anyways," said Stirling, as she massaged the wounds," I'm here because the sheriff's office wanted me to investigate here for some reason. They told me there was a lead here for some device that was stolen a few days ago."

"What was it," asked Dennis

"Some scanner by some company near Albany called Dasher Pinow," said Stirling

"Carl and Larry got robbed," blurted Dennis.

"Carl and Larry," asked Stirling. She stopped applying the bandages and was eerily stroking Dennis' palm, just avoiding the painful cut on his hand. Dennis realized what he just done."You know these people?"

"Well," said Dennis, trying to find something innocuous to say. "I know of them." Stirling's index finger hovered just above the cut. He decided to cut to the chase. "I mean, uh , I know them very well. I'm friends with them. But it is not like they share their inventions with me. I hear their very important." He smiled sheepishly. Stirling looked at him, but didn't see guilt, but nervousness, mostly due to her hand on her palm.

"Yeah I imagined they wouldn't," said Stirling, "they have some pretty big government contracts. Not stuff people speak openly about. The device that was taken was some Spectral Scanner," she pulled out a picture of the device on hand. It looked like some pair of space age binoculars with a white exterior, and what looked like dark viewing glass.

"Yeah, I haven't seen it Stirling," said Dennis ," I've never seen anything like it."

"Neither have I," said John, who had been quiet throughout the interrogation. He as well as Dennis relaxed as Stirling applied the lotion, which is less painful than anything Stirling could do to someone for lying.

"Listen do you know where Lyra and that other girl are," asked Stirling, "I'd like to talk to them to."

"There not here," said Dennis, "they left the house just this morning, and took everything with them."

"Why, did they say where they were going," asked Stirling.

"No they didn't," said Dennis, looking straight but with an uneasiness, "I have no idea where they are."

"Are you sure," said Stirling as she leaned into Dennis, with the eyes of authority.

"Yes." A tense pause held for a few minutes until finally Stirling switched her eyes back to her normally relaxed and calm ones.

"Okay Mr. Sadnik, I have what I need," said Stirling. "I gotta go, see you around."

"Bye." She walked out of the barn, but not before staring and the pony with the black and pink mane. The pony recoiled at her gaze, but if Stirling was stunned by the appearance, she didn't show it. Silence reigned in their for a few minutes until finally Stirling's squad car was heard pulling out of of road.

"That girl," said John, "Whoa."

"I wonder why would she have a thing for me," asked Dennis,"even after all these years."

"Who knows," said John, "considering you showed her the neighborhood, loaned her money for the first few weeks, was her only friend, and she saw you look sad and lonely at Lindsay's funeral-," he paused when he saw Dennis' glare.

"Sorry, Uh," John tried to look for something to change the subject with. He rubbed the back of his head and looked at Dennis' bandaged hand. "So w-what did you cut yourself on."

"I don't know," said Dennis. "I patted and rubbed Crystal's mane," The men looked left toward the pony that was going it's own way, "But as I was rubbing it, I just rubbed my palm onto the something sharp.," Dennis looked at his bandaged hand, "It hurt like hell."

"There is nothing sharp on Crystal's head, how could you cut yourself like that, unless she bit you, and that was no bite mark," wondered John.

"I don't know," said Dennis. He saw a black tube in John's hand."What's that?"

"Black hair dye," said John," thought it could hide the pink in her mane."

"Where did you find it," asked Dennis.

"In the bathroom," said John with a smirk, "and you said I look old." Dennis pondered his words and made a realization.

"Wait a minute," said Dennis, shaking his arm ,"I don't dye my hair," he said waving to hair, that was still sheen for man of age. John continued to stare at him, with a smile. "I don't!"

"Whatever you say, Dennis," he smiled.

"Just give me the die," Dennis held out his hand.