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scott_sanfordJenny visits the coast this week!
Jenny stepped out of infinity and onto wooden planking. Thankfully she let the large fire extinguisher drop to the boards. She’d landed on a pier sticking out into the ocean, of the amusement park variety rather than the cargo handling type, with people here and there but not very crowded. For a moment she thought she saw a bald man staring at her but when she looked again he was gone. Maybe nobody had noticed her unorthodox arrival.
Looking around she spotted a white bench nearby that looked promising. She hefted the fire extinguisher again and hauled it over to the bench, where it would be out of the way and less conspicuous.
It was… afternoon, maybe? The solid grey overcast didn’t give any hints. She checked her watch against a nearby clock tower but the two were completely different, and she didn’t know if either one meant anything here.
It seemed she had a little while before anything interesting happened so she leaned on the railing of the pier and gazed out at the beach, enjoying the view and the sharp seaside air. She could see straight down the beach stretching away into the distance, with a line of buildings on one side and the open ocean on the other. A few people were out on the stoney beach, haunted by seagulls. It was a nice place. It had the feel of a quiet seaside town, where nothing much ever happened and not even tourists caused much trouble.
Jenny could feel that another Jenny lived here. If anything it was too comfortable, too homelike; every bit of the beachfront looked familiar and she knew she’d remember streets and buildings that were out of sight, if she let herself. It was like wearing someone else’s bra.
“Fire!”, cried a voice farther along the pier, quickly echoed by others as awareness spread.
And there was her cue. It was show time.
She stepped back under cover next to the bench, hopefully hidden from casual view by the crepes booth beside her.
“Fire! Pier’s on fire, ya wankers!” A woman ran past shouting British obscenities and Jenny’s heart lurched; she couldn’t have named the butch chick but that one was too close to her other self. If her friend was here, odds were she was too...
Jenny took a deep breath and let herself know. She was here and she was right over there and she’d be coming past herself any moment now…
She picked up the extra-large extinguisher, with one hand on the top handle in hopes that her arm would obscure her face.
Sounds of running footsteps on wood announced them and just as they got close Jenny stepped out from behind the crepe stand.
“Fire extinguisher!”, she shouted, holding it out to be seen and grabbed.
It was, and she stepped back as the locals rushed past her. She could see herself within the group, wearing a jacket with a furrier collar than she’d choose, running next to the man who’d grabbed her fire extinguisher.
And then another man with her looked back over the heads of the others and locked eyes with her for an instant. He gawked comically.
“Er, Jenny? Who’s that?”
Oops. Things had been going so well, too.
She backed up more, hoping to be out of sight between booths offering junk food and tourist tat.
Her friends would be busy fighting the fire - the local Jenny’s friends - and she should be long gone before anyone had time to wonder where the fire extinguisher came from.
The locals seemed to have the problem under control, so she figured this was a good time to get out before she made any more awkward questions for her local self. Ordinary folks got twitchy if they saw a bunch of Jenny Everywheres all show up together.
She focused and stepped forward into infinity. The world fell away around her and the last thing she saw was a bald man intensely staring straight into her eyes.
Oops.
Jenny stepped out of infinity and onto wooden planking. Thankfully she let the large fire extinguisher drop to the boards. She’d landed on a pier sticking out into the ocean, of the amusement park variety rather than the cargo handling type, with people here and there but not very crowded. For a moment she thought she saw a bald man staring at her but when she looked again he was gone. Maybe nobody had noticed her unorthodox arrival.
Looking around she spotted a white bench nearby that looked promising. She hefted the fire extinguisher again and hauled it over to the bench, where it would be out of the way and less conspicuous.
It was… afternoon, maybe? The solid grey overcast didn’t give any hints. She checked her watch against a nearby clock tower but the two were completely different, and she didn’t know if either one meant anything here.
It seemed she had a little while before anything interesting happened so she leaned on the railing of the pier and gazed out at the beach, enjoying the view and the sharp seaside air. She could see straight down the beach stretching away into the distance, with a line of buildings on one side and the open ocean on the other. A few people were out on the stoney beach, haunted by seagulls. It was a nice place. It had the feel of a quiet seaside town, where nothing much ever happened and not even tourists caused much trouble.
Jenny could feel that another Jenny lived here. If anything it was too comfortable, too homelike; every bit of the beachfront looked familiar and she knew she’d remember streets and buildings that were out of sight, if she let herself. It was like wearing someone else’s bra.
“Fire!”, cried a voice farther along the pier, quickly echoed by others as awareness spread.
And there was her cue. It was show time.
She stepped back under cover next to the bench, hopefully hidden from casual view by the crepes booth beside her.
“Fire! Pier’s on fire, ya wankers!” A woman ran past shouting British obscenities and Jenny’s heart lurched; she couldn’t have named the butch chick but that one was too close to her other self. If her friend was here, odds were she was too...
Jenny took a deep breath and let herself know. She was here and she was right over there and she’d be coming past herself any moment now…
She picked up the extra-large extinguisher, with one hand on the top handle in hopes that her arm would obscure her face.
Sounds of running footsteps on wood announced them and just as they got close Jenny stepped out from behind the crepe stand.
“Fire extinguisher!”, she shouted, holding it out to be seen and grabbed.
It was, and she stepped back as the locals rushed past her. She could see herself within the group, wearing a jacket with a furrier collar than she’d choose, running next to the man who’d grabbed her fire extinguisher.
And then another man with her looked back over the heads of the others and locked eyes with her for an instant. He gawked comically.
“Er, Jenny? Who’s that?”
Oops. Things had been going so well, too.
She backed up more, hoping to be out of sight between booths offering junk food and tourist tat.
Her friends would be busy fighting the fire - the local Jenny’s friends - and she should be long gone before anyone had time to wonder where the fire extinguisher came from.
The locals seemed to have the problem under control, so she figured this was a good time to get out before she made any more awkward questions for her local self. Ordinary folks got twitchy if they saw a bunch of Jenny Everywheres all show up together.
She focused and stepped forward into infinity. The world fell away around her and the last thing she saw was a bald man intensely staring straight into her eyes.
Oops.
<- Back to part 4 or forward to part 6 ->
The character of Jenny Everywhere is available for use by anyone, with only one condition. This paragraph must be included in any publication involving Jenny Everywhere, in order that others may use this property as they wish. All rights reversed.
