Mungo McClure - Colorado Knox

COLORADO KNOX

Mungo McClure

Published byMungo McClure at Smashwords

Copyright 2010Mungo McClure

SmashwordsEdition, License Notes

This ebook islicensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not bere-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to sharethis book with another person, please purchase an additional copyfor each person. If youre reading this book and did not purchaseit, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please returnto Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you forrespecting the hard work of this author.

COLORADO KNOX

Chapter One

That morningAOL was running slow, so Marlene Knox went outside and gazed at thegazebo. The Hutchence property bordered hers and Marlene could lookright in through the snaggy hedgerow and see the gazebos long bluecanopy. While the stand-up gas-heaters and boxes of hot rocks weregone, the tents roof was still there from the wedding a week ago.The snow hadnt killed it or anything - but a winter wedding it hadbeen, and somehow the phrase a winterwedding made Marlene want toshiver.

It wascertainly one freezing 7am - and the very idea of the party thathad been there made Marlene a little more fiercely aware of cold than the icy scenewould by itself suggest. A winter wedding. Yes, those were words tochill. Profoundly deaf since before she was born, Marlene had aspecial relationship with the words and phrases in her head, andlike her website, all her words were carefully curated andcompletely and utterly her own. A winter wedding indeed. As lovelyand as doomed and as strange as her, Marlene Knox, 26 years old andan administrator in the Colorado public schools system - alsoproprietor and sole subject of OhHappyMe.com, which was somethingshe kept at home.

Chantel, the Hutchence girl whogot married, was about Marlenes age but they had never beenfriends. She was a big bully and a worse bitch and Marlene had infact always totally hated her - but Marlene, her brother Jeff andAunt Christine had all been invited to the wedding party becausethe parents were okay. The parents were at least neighbourly. Jeffhad some business with these bikers out of Oakland that didnt looklike it would ever be over, so he didnt show - thank God - butMarlene and Christine rolled out the battered Knox flag for acouple of hours, just so Marlene could see the poor fool whosnagged that skeeze in an ill-tempered breeze... a winter weddingindeed.

The groomsname was Derek Napier and Marlene found him kinda cute for someonewho worked for the government. At the party Marlene had been, asever, dressed in cool, nice clothes (an itinerary of all I75 items- Calvin, Tommy, Tims - being maintained along with their sizes, onOhHappyMe.com, and kept separate from the 27 intimates ofVictorias Secret providence). Anyway Marlene knew shedlooked super-nice that evening, and she fancied that Derek who was all dazed andfazed and baby Im amazed (and who wouldnt be?) had shown her afrankly scandalous smile when theyd met. It didnt matter Marlenewas deaf. It was probably too loud to say much in there anyway.They danced a little and that was super nice and this Derek wasjust the cutest guy, but then Auntie Christine had needed hermedication, needed it bad - so it very quickly became time to go. But beforethat, the gazebo had indeed seemed just a little magical - thosebig heaters keeping the dancing area warm while all beyond wasfloodlit snow. A private weather zone like at the end of that moviewith Jeff Bridges being the alien. As her aunt began to go quietly,inevitably bezerk, Marlene took one last look at Derek, standingthere, the poor thing - little knowing that he was on a one-wayticket to the gas-lit labyrinth of bitch Chantels rotten, hatefulheart.

The gazebo was so sad and emptynow.

A winterwedding... a winter wedding... and who, Iwonder is out there for this young dreamer of the Coloradosnowlands?

Marlene Knox - she rhymes, sherocks.

Oh happy me!

Marlene drew a good hot bath andonce more checked AOL while the water was running. Hurrah! Up andready for action - her homepage. It opened on the great pictureJeff took of her in that red silk dress looking 100% American piewith the fleet just in town, and next to that scrolled the updatedweather report for Colorado, the world headlines courtesy of USAToday, and the careful, serious note that this site was not in anyway for minors - no way. Forbidden. From the counter there had beenabout two dozen hits on the site last night and Marlene checked heremail. Arty, Twaine, the pervert from San Francisco, a couple ofnames she did not recognise and one which was just a number. AndDerek.

Derek.

www.dnapier@fbi-usgovt.com.

... oh, my! He used his workaddress. From his HONEYMOON! Oh my, oh my, oh my. Suddenly full ofwomanly spells and power, Marlene rushed back to check the water -fine! Then she ran back and clicked on Dereks message;

Marlene - can I just say what adeep pleasure it was to meet you at my wedding (!!!). Ha! Ha! Ha!Crazy. I keep bugging my wife the Big C (was that reallysigning-shorthand? I dont think so - you ARE outta control...) forstories about you. I heard about your folks and your aunt (SO SOSORRY) and can I just say how much I respect you and all the goodwork you do and hey youre a pretty neat mover too - I hope Chanteland I and You wont ever loose touch!

DEREK ;-) okay outta here beforeI get killed - X!

Yes! Marlene made a throat-noisethat asshole Jeff once described as T-Rex Touchdown and clapped herhands in front of the glowing screen of messages - one of whichcame from a place that was just a number.

Well Derek couldnt write wortha damn, but the winter wedding had laid a very pleasing little eggindeed. Handsome, doomed Derek Napier of the FBI, no less - andperhaps Jeff wasnt so dumb not to turn up.

Oakland bikers indeed - that boyloiters as a listless rascal of the wheel-hot blacktop, as I spinmy own spells beneath gazebo lights and cyberspace pathways...

Gasp! I feel loves soft longpoetry petal-pressed upon me.

The bathroom. Marlene got naked,hit the suds, the loof, the foam crocodile and trusty adjustableshower head - and soon this bathtime was the kind of bathtime hersubscribers liked to read about. Still a little soreness fromJeffs psycho pal Luther, but the pictures came out good nbrutal, and thats bucks in the bank - so so-what?

What-so-what-what-what-what!

Enjoy...

Marlene Id like to

DELETE/BLOCK SENDER

Bitch - You a filthy shamelesssinner cripple whore

Oh - la!

DELETE/BLOCK SENDER

MK - Whats up? Im anindependent documentary film-maker

DELETE/BLOCK SENDER

Dear Marlene,thank you so so much for the dreams and the energy and the sheerdepth of wonderful content contained in your site. Im a girl likeyou and its great to see that Im no different (lets be frank,Im talking about the down-there deal) and I love you love youlove you. I live on a farm and all the boys here are jerks or worseand I get so lonely and frightened and love your pictures - younormally make a note of, like, everything and I want to know whereyou got that dress in the picture Pretty in Pink because its solovely. Just like you. JENNY - ps I am not a lesbian - yet - ha!ha! ha!

Ha! Ha! Ha! to you too, babe -warm and happy from the bath Marlene made a throat noise whichasshole Jeff called Mao Fucking and put that nice message away withDereks and all the others that showed that her work on this bitterEarth was not entirely in vain.

Back to business

Dear Marlene at Oh Happy Me! -how do i know that if i give you my creditcard number to look atthe fuck-pics you wont skiv me?

Skiv?

Marlene frowned and pulled outher trusty Websters - skiv, skiv, skiv... ah, ha! Then wrote;

Because I promise I wont.

Very best wishes

Marlene

The pervertfrom San Francisco - bless. Then her two old special-school friendswhod spread their wings, and were now doing so well - but stillwith some time for lilMarlene whod stayed behind to help thespecial kids when otherwise she couldve been an astronaut (yeah,right!). Just girlstalk and because it was a holiday morning andthe house empty, Marlene had plenty of time to reply. Made herselfa coffee. Wrote some more to the gals - about Derek! Who else?Derek the g-man who she may one day rescue, Colorado Knox-style,from the Temple of Doom that was marriage to uber-bitchromance- assassin Chantel Hutchenson.