BLOG 3 - The Adventures of David and Lea Part One

The Adventures of David and Lea

Part One – Mind Breeze

Every other Sunday David and Lea went to the Midland library for the Bi-Weekly Pilgrims of Science Fiction Club meeting. David, thirty-one had been going to BWPSFC for almost seventeen years. Lea, twenty-six had been attending for almost six years. The meeting took place in the library conference room, or as the BWPSFM members called it their sietch, a reference taken from the novel Dune. When the practice of using the term sietch, which refers to a secret meeting place, actually started nobody can say for sure other then it began sometime before any of the current members had joined. It is thought that the BWPSFC began shortly after the release of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1969, almost forty years ago.

David was tall, thin and most people, when looking upon him, were reminded of tall grass being blown by a gentle wind – nobody had ever mentioned this to anyone else, probably because the realized it sounded nuts, so everybody seemed to think that it was just them. Perhaps this subconscious visual representation was due to the slight curvature of David’s body. Either way, people seemed to hear a subtle breeze in their head when in David’s presence, again this went unspoken.

Lea in contrast was short and heavy set. She wore glasses and let her hair, as she was fond of saying, do what it needed to do. When looking at Lea head on most people were reminded of a large skittle. This may have had just as much to with her fondness for shirts and tops that were, without fail, some sort of primary color, as well as for her rather perfectly round shape which was slightly thrown off by her head and legs, which distorted the illusion of a skittle by a small margin. Lea was not grossly overweight just really really round and yet she still managed to be successfully cute even with her skittle-like appearance, therefore breaking every rule of what people usually found attractive. Lea was a bit of a mystery this way but then again who doesn’t like skittles.

Today’s meeting was to plan the details of the annual reenactment of The Battle of Arrakis, another Dune reference, an event which had begun sometime before anybody could remember. David sort of felt that the group relied too heavily on the Dune novels but dared not speak of this out loud knowing that it would be thought upon as heresy by many of the other members. David had always been afraid to admit openly that he did not fully understand Dune, which was sort of a shame because if had he would of learned that within the BWPSFC he was not alone with these feelings.

David actually did enjoy the reenactment each year but was disappointed that he had ended up playing Fedaykin Number Two, otherwise known as a Freman Death Commando, which meant basically he ran across the sand with Fedaykin Death Commando Number One screaming “Maud’Dib”. In the novel thousands ran across the desert but the BWPSFC only have twenty-three members so the event understandably had to be scaled down a bit. David had played Fedaykins every year and had hoped to eventually get to play one of the major characters but as of yet that had not happened. Lea on the other hand always played Chani, Maud’Dib"s lover, which was a great part. The part of Mau’Dib”, the main role, always went to Luke the leader of the club. Luke was born Rene Willimas but legally changed his name to Luke after seeing Star Wars for the first time in 1977. He considered changing his last name to Skywalker but chickened out in the end, a fact that from time to time results in some teasing from the others for not going all out. Luke still considers proving them all wrong and going all out and getting his last name changed once and for all.

David always drove Lea to and from the biweekly meetings; according to Lea driving made her violent and unpredictable, two qualities that nobody wanted to contribute in bringing out in her, mainly because the idea caused great fear in most. It was generally agreed that it was best for everybody not to get Lea excited. On the ride home David was feeling particularly grumpy due to, once again, not receiving a major role in the annual Battle for Arrakis reenactment.

“I need a cheeseburger,” stated Lea as a matter of fact.

David did not respond, past memories of running across the dessert screaming, “Maud’Dib” filled his head. He continued to drive through town his eyes straight ahead his hands at ten and two. He drove absently through the suburban streets past the Wal-Marts, Rite-Aids, and countless other mega stores of the universe until he pulled into a McDonald’s unsure of how he had arrived there.

***

Lea and David sat on the edge of the pier eating their dinner. Lea sucked down the remains of her chocolate shake while David absently ate his McNuggets. Lea let out her grossest belch to get David’s attention but he once again failed to respond. She of course had picked up on the fact that something was bothering David but knew from years of experience that asking him wouldn’t do any good. He would discuss it with her in his own time. So the two sat, in silence, at the edge of the pier and watched the sunset while Lea let out an occasional belch.

From time to time she thought she heard a subtle breeze blow but then felt she must have been mistaken because she felt no wind. Then she would occasionally turn from the colored sky and look upon David, belch, and remind herself that it was just him getting into her head.