Jim's smile faded. Watching his girlfriend as an animated cartoon had been fun at first. But that was before he realized that she was standing in the middle of the street. Worse than that, a steamroller could be seen coming up behind her.
Sharon hadn't seen the vehicle, and just stood there in her Victoria's Secret bra and panties, looking confused. "Sharon!" Jim shouted at the screen. "Get out of the way!"
Sharon didn't seem to hear him, and he watched in horror as the steamroller got closer. Just as it got right behind her, the girl turned. The scene changed to show her from the steamroller's "point of view." As Jim had seen in many a cartoon, the girl reacted in shock, throwing her hands up to protect herself, as a menacing shadow fell over her. Again, the scene changed. This time it was a overhead shot of the steamroller rolling down the street. At first, Sharon wasn't visible. But as the vehicle rolled out of the scene, the girl could be seen laying in the street under it. First, her feet, followed by the rest of her. Her hands were still up, foolishly trying to stop the roller's progress. Of course, they hadn't been able to, and Sharon had been pressed flat onto the hard pavement of the street.
As Jim looked at his flattened girlfriend, the picture faded. Again, the words "PROGRAMING COMPLETE! SELECT NEW CHANNEL?" appeared on the screen. Slowly, Jim turned back to where Sharon had been standing with a sigh.
The girl was back. The girl was no longer a cartoon, but a real person again. She was, however, flattened out in the same position that she had been on the television -- hands up, shocked expression. She looked like a cardboard cutout you'd see in a display at the store. With no means of support, the flattened girl fell over backwards to lay unmoving on the floor.
Fri Apr 21 05:59:36 2000