After watching a ravenous Karoz eat sushi especially prepared for him by his wife (his favorite food), John Lockfry then prodded the moss being for questions as both sipped wine. “You must have many about our situation here,” he said.
Avoiding the obvious one, the elephant in the room as it were, Karoz asked why the Collagesity diner appears intact here, seemingly unchanged. He kept waiting for John Lockfry to spring out of his chair again, turn into a woman, and then pour himself another glass of wine. That was cool.
“It’s not completely the same. One picture is unstable compared to back in your Collagesity. It’s the one behind you on the wall there, the Warhol print.” He indicated it with his free hand. “Another Warhol print keeps forming behind it, and then receding. What do you think?”
Karoz Blogger got up and studied the work, swirling the wine around in his glass while contemplating. “It’s both a picture of a gun and a car,” he said plainly, and waited for more explanation.
“Yes, but the car is a *lemon*, you see. Backwards lemon. Like the word “redrum” in that famous movie whose name always escapes me.”
“Shiny Hare?” offered Karoz.
“Yes, that’s the one. The one with the soundtrack by Story Room. How is Story Room anyway, Karoz? You’re best buds with the lot of ’em aren’t you?”
“Kind of,” came the answer. He sat back down at the table. “I was just thinking about them, actually, on the flight up here.” Karoz started to explain how he plans to go into a particular baker b. collage set in Stonethrow, England to attempt to recruit the 3 members of Story Room again as teachers for his new school, but decided it would be too drawn out.
“And the movie begins with the same vehicle, colored yellow. Like a lemon. It’s traveling through high mountains while a high Tom Petty sings about driving toward a mystery leading him on.”
“You seem to know quite a lot about “Shiny Hare”.” Karoz eyed him suspiciously.
“It’s a famous movie by a famous director, after all. We have a large screen tv upstairs in our bedroom. There’s not a lot else to do.”
“*Their* bedroom?” Karoz thinks, and then speaks aloud. “I must ask about your situation here. Um, with your wife and your… what do you call that, er, object on your shoulder?”
“That’s my pet Bendy, not to be confused with another pet called Benjy. He’s different. Isn’t he Bendy?”
“No,” came the tinny answer.
“How improper of me. I’ve been attending our honored guest and forgot about your needs. Do you want a cracker to gnaw on. Obviously we can’t give you wine. You know what happened the last time.”
“Yeah,” the robot answered. “Sick.”
“But you’ll be polite with the cracker and not spill *too* many crumbs.”
“Okay, whatever.”
“Let me finish talking to Karoz and then we’ll go upstairs and I’ll feed you and let the wife take over.”
“Yup,” the robot responded.
John Lockfry turns his attention back to Karoz. “So… more questions now.”
“We’ll, I was asking about your situation…”
The robot loudly belched. “Pardon *me*,” it said, and covered its mouth with its small metallic hand.
“You’ll have to excuse me, Karoz Blogger,” John Lockfry then said. “It seems that Bendy can’t wait for his din din.”
“Nope,” the robot answered.
“We’ll have to let Dr. Mulholland take over early and then I’ll return.” John Lockfry sprang up from the chair and again transformed into a woman. She sat down at Karoz’s table and poured herself another glass of wine.
“This is what *always* happens,” Bendy complains again from her shoulder. “I haven’t been fed in 2 weeks!”
Sunklands 