August 15, 2005
Week 16 - Impossible Dreams 3
Episode 1
Powell stands at a busy intersection, in a small Long Island town, talking with a primly uniformed crossing guard.
"You're not gonna use my name in your article, are you?" she asks. "I won't talk, unless you promise not to use my name."
"Uh..." Powell says. "I'm not even sure what your name is... They just told me at the police station that you were a witness to a Coyote Man... uh... incident yesterday. Could you tell me what happened?"
"If you don't use my name, I'll tell you my life story!"
"I'm just... I'm just interested in what happened yesterday..."
"All right, all right, I'm kidding!" She laughs and continues. "It was about two thirty, the beginning of my shift... I had just arrived at my post here... Some of the Middle School kids were gonna be let out in a few minutes, and a couple of 'em always leave a little early, right? So I have to be, you know, alert..."
"All right..."
"It's a big responsibility, you know... Those little kids get hurt by a car, who do you think'll be blamed? Me, that's who!" She points at herself. "And some of the drivers around here! Woo boy! They come speeding through the intersection like it was Nascar! It's a wonder we don't have fatalities every day!"
"Um... But what about Coyote Man?"
"It's like I was saying... I had just gotten here... I was still sort of settling in... And then this... This goofy maniac was standing here..."
"He... just appeared?"
"Well, my shift was just starting right? I hadn't really worked myself up into, you know, paying attention mode..." She lowers her voice. "Truth is, I was putting on my mascara... Don't write that, though..." Powell nods and she continues. "So, suddenly, this nut in a wolf mask is standing right in the middle of the crosswalk... He's not moving, nothing... just standing there..."
"In the middle of all the cars?"
"That's right... Not much traffic, that early, doesn't really pick up till later... There were a few vehicles, but they just sort of drove around him... So he pulls out this... I guess it was a walkie-talkie... He starts talking real loud into it, yelling really. 'Attention Justice League Satellite' he says." The Crossing Guard speaks in a deep voice. "'Attention Justice League Satellite! I am at the appointed coordinates! Ready for teleportation!'"