December 1 , 2005
Week 31 - Impossible Dreams 12
Episode 4
Lucy and Powell drive along a dark Long Island road. "I'm... um... I'm sorry I've been so grumpy," Powell says. The "Cosmoland" teddy bear rests on his lap.
Lucy sighs. "It's all right. You're tired. I know I certainly am. This has all been very difficult. Managing the company, fighting off my cousin, worrying about my father. And now, a relationship, on top of everything else."
"I'm, um, sorry if I've complicated your life."
"I don't mean it that way... it's just... it's a lot to juggle. Everything will get easier, after the board meeting. I'll finally have control of Lamont Energy and we'll be able to get my father some real help."
"Have you started to look for a doctor?"
"I've found a wonderful sanatorium, outside Albany."
"Albany! Um... Isn't that a little far?"
"He needs someplace quiet, someplace where the business world can't touch him." They pull onto a main road and pass a shopping center. "Look, there's a supermarket! You said we should come up with something for daddy, to trick him into feeling better..." She steers the car into the parking lot and they enter the store.
"It doesn't have to be anything... um, anything complicated," Powell says, as they walk past the produce section. "Just something... something so we could tell him we had a giant battle at a supervillain's headquarters and then we finally stole the secret antidote..."
"To cure 'the terrible plague,' I know. What about chocolate sprinkles? We could put a handful in a dixie cup or something, with some water?"
"I think we can do better than that..." They stroll through the toy aisle. Powell notices something on a shelf and he smiles. "Um... This could be useful..." He pulls down a colorful box illustrated with a picture of a young boy holding a beaker over a Bunsen Burner. "It's some sort of junior chemistry set... We can use the test tubes..."
They buy the toy, a small bottle of lemon juice and a pack of M&M's. Then they return to the car and pull away.
Powell presses an M&M between his fingers. It breaks apart into several tiny flakes. "All we have to do is crush a few of these into a test tube, add some of the juice, and... and voila, instant antidote. We'll tell him we got it from... um... from 'The Microbe Master', evil king of germs. Your dad'll be... he'll be in hog heaven!"
Lucy laughs. "Now I know the real reason you go out every night with Coyote Man." She pats his leg. "It's not about protecting him, or getting material for an article... You just do it because it's a blast!"