MY, O MYOPIA -- EPILOUGE ------------------------ The Enduring Man-Child (Registered User) My, O Myopia!--Epilogue It had been about a week since the conclusion of the Coffeehouse adventure with Yolei. Man-Child was back at his home, once again resolving to be a mature, responsible, no-nonsense adult. Accompanied by his faithful cats, Samson and Blue, he was picking fallen persimmons off the ground. "Mmmmmmm . . . persimmon!" he exclaimed, Homer Simpson-style. "H--hello? M--Man-Child?" The voice was somehow familiar, yet it did not sound exactly like any voice he had heard before. Turning around, who should he see but Yolei Inoue!!! "Oh, no!" he exclaimed. "Back for more, are you? Samson, KILL!!!!!" But Samson had once again bolted the moment he had become aware of a stranger. Man-Child sighed. "Blue?" he said. But he was too late. Blue had already galloped up to Yolei and fallen at her feet, looking up playfully and saying "WOW???" This was bad. He was vulnerable and this time he didn't have a wolf spider with him. Yolei stroked Blue's soft fur and then looked at Man-Child again. And, surprisingly enough, she actually looked quite timid. "M--Man-Child?" she said uncertainly, "I know you probably don't like me very much . . . and I really don't blame you . . . but I just wanted to come by and apologize for all I put you through, and to promise that it will never happen again." Man-Child could not believe what he was hearing. She certainly looked repentant and chastened. Could it be true? "You--you really mean that?" Man-Child asked. "Yes. Yes, I really do," she said, taking a few halting steps closer. "Mimi and Mrs. Brisby had a nice, long talk with me. They explained that it's very cruel to tease guys with our affections--especially poor homely guys like you who are starved for our attention." "That is very true," Man-Child agreed. "So, I wanted to apologize to you. I'm sorry." And she genuinely looked sad. "Well, I owe you an apology as well," Man-Child said, taking a few halting steps towards Yolei. She looked up, surprised. "Whatever for?" she asked. "Well, I've used you as the heartless, siren-like villainess in at least the past two story threads," he explained shamefacedly, "when I'm actually very fond of you." "You are?" she asked, her face shining. "Yes--yes I am," he said, blushing. "I think you're one of the most beautiful toon ladies there is, which is why I used you as an evil, heartless, siren-like villainess. I knew that In Real Life you would probably treat me like that." She took another step forward. "But this isn't Real Life, is it?" she asked. "No . . . by george, you're right! It's not!" he said. "Tell you what," she said, "I promise to appreciate your fanhood and never mistreat you again. And you???" "And I promise never to use you as an evil, heartless, siren-like villainess," Man-Child said. "Thank you," she said. "No, thank you." They shared an uncomfortable silence. "Man-Child, thank you for liking me," she said. "Who couldn't?" Man-Child replied, truthfully enough. This made her smile even more. "May I . . . may I come closer?" she asked. "Sure. I trust you," Man-Child said. And so she did. She stopped for a moment however, as if she'd just thought of something. "No, no wolf spider this time, not even as a broach," he said. "She sighed with relief and approached him. They both looked uncomfortably at the ground for a while. "Thank you for being such a faithful fan," she said. "Thank you for being such an appealing character," he responded. "Man-Child, is there anything I can do for you to make up for all the trouble I've put you through the past couple threads?" she asked. Man-Child thought a moment. "Yes, there is," he said at last, and reaching behind him he pulled out of nowhere (and please don't ask me how) Davis Motomiya. "Yolei, would you please consider liking Davis, at least a little bitty bit? I know the canon has you marrying Ken and that Davis is hung up on that Kari girl--though how in the world he could waste a thought on her with you around is beyond me." "Do you really mean that?" she asked. "Of course I do," he said. "Well . . . ? I know he's a moron sometimes, but I kind of identify with him, and I thought if you liked him just a little that I could experience your affection vicariously." Yolei took Davis from Man-Child. "I think I can manage that," she said, "I actually do like him, you know. That's why we fight all the time." "I'm glad to hear it!" Man-Child said, "though you really shouldn't do that. Whenever two people who really like each other feel embarrassed about it and try to hide their feelings by constantly fighting, it makes Pikachu very, very SAD." "Oh my, I didn't know," Yolei said, distressed. There was another uncomfortable silence. Then Yolei, still holding the hapless and ensorcelled Davis, spoke again. "There is something I want to give you," she said, "something for being such a dedicated fan. Do you mind if I . . . if I . . . kiss you?" Man-Child could not believe his ears, which felt suddenly very warm. "Oh, I imagine that would be all right," he said. "After all, your friend Mimi has already melted me into goo once with her unmerited, beyond-the-reach-of-any-mortal-male affection." "Well, this is different," she said, smiling. "This isn't unmerited at all. You've earned it by your devotion to me." "I . . . ::gulp!:: . . . I have???" "Yes. You have." Her voice was warm and sincere. And so she approached Man-Child, who seemed to be paralyzed, and bestowed upon him what she had declared to be a merited kiss. Needless to say, he melted into good again. But as it was autumn and the weather was cool, he soon returned to solid form again. But he was still very uncomfortable, without a clue as to what he should say or do now. Then it hit him. Of course. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He held it out to her. "'Simmern?" he asked her. "Thank you. I believe I will!" she said. She accepted the persimmon. And it wasn't a bit puckery. THE END ******************************************************************* Okay. So the adventure turned out to be short and ended rather abruptly, but people were losing interest. And hey--we actually finished one! This is the epilogue only from my character's perspective. This does not mean the rest of you can't conclude with your own epilogues from your own characters' POV. Thank you for your participation. The annual christmas story thread is next . . . right??? ------ 8-Bit Star (Registered User) A comment on this thread.... I should have said this earlier, but I couldn't follow the thread. It's about how, in the beginning, everyone was mentioning that glasses on a girl mean they're apporachable... I'd like to say... Glasses on a girl usually mean they're 10x Smarter than you, and that they've been on the internet way too long. --- Indy (MB Admin) Well, following the thread's not the real purpose... In fact, it can be extremely frustrating trying to follow it, since it's being written by so many people. The fun is in the creation of it, and letting the winds of creativity take our story's ship where it may. It's art in its purest form, simply there for all to enjoy. --- Julie (MB Admin) It is hard to follow threads. I was impressed with myself for managing to keep track of this one! Glasses on girls in real life might not make them approachable (the girls I know with glasses are generally engineers (!), though I really need to get a pair in case I don't feel like putting my contacts in ^^;), but glasses on girls in cartoons usually makes them more approachable-like, I think, because most girls who wear glasses in cartoons are still totally pretty, yet *usually* the fact that they wear glasses supposedly sets them off as "nerdy" or "not as pretty", which would, hence, make them approachable. (And for the record, while glasses on guys in cartoons or real life USUALLY don't make them look better, the right kind of frames can look VERY nice, IMO....) --- Karl (Registered User) It's an "internal logic" thing. Once a concept is built into a story, the rest of the story must grow to fit that concept. One popular concept in our Coffeehouse threads is *MFP* or magical female powers, for instance. Do females actually posess mysterious powers? It doesn't matter! In this story, they do. Do glasses make a woman seem more approachable? Same answer. If the story is to have any coherence at all, it must work within the rules set down in the first few chapters. The longer a story gets, the more rules pop up. The great thing about those rules though, is that they don't have to have anything to do with the Real World. I like that. PS: I, for one, find glasses appealing on a woman. I think she looks smarter, more likely to hold up her end of a conversation. Less likely to expect me to know how to dance. That sort of thing... B^D (Big grin, with glasses) ------