The Anthology of the Escapadeist

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I open the door to the shower in the basement; finding the two girls.

“Welcome!” I exclaim.

“Hi!” Adagio responds.

“Do, do you live here, or do you own the place?” Sonata inquires.

“I guess, you could say; that I live here, yes!” I respond; “I am only too happy, to see a new face here!” I respond.

“So, you do not mind us hiding out here; while the weather is raging, outside?” Sonata inquires; “At least, we can stay here over the night!” she considers.

“If I mind?” I giggle; “Of course not!” I continue; “As a matter of fact; I would love, for the two of you to stay!” I offer.

“It appears, we really were lucky; finding this building as we did, in the middle of this storm!” Adagio puts forth.

“Out there, you were on your own!” I point out; “I love company; but out here in the middle of nowhere, and with this thrice damned weather-front?” I conclude.

Of course, I had been alone. One is always alone, even in the middle of the crowd. Sometimes, I choose to go to this place; in the vain hopes of being alone; and escaping that dreary loneliness, that can only be found in the middle of a very large crowd.

This time, for once; I had struck gold, in the form of these two girls and their currently estranged companion. How could I, but invite them in with open arms; offering the shelter, they so desperately need right now?

“If you girls like, I guess we could just stay down here; but I think, a snack or something to eat would feel better!” I offer; “I could always fetch something; for the three of us, if you eel better down here?” I suggest.

“If you have something to spare, and don’t mind sharing; I guess we can accept, and now as you mentioned it, I am hungry!” Adagio concedes.

“We have been walking down the lonely road, for hours; nothing to eat, and then this foul weather stomped us, on top of everything else gone wrong!” Sonata adds.

“Something to spare?” I giggle, bemused; “I have more than enough, for the two of you to feast upon, while you are here!” I explain; “I am not used to visitors, out here; considering this is basically the middle of nowhere, after all!” I continue.

“Of course, these girls do not know who I am; considering they are missing something, and I was never one to reveal my true identity in the first place!” I ponder.

I could sense the loss, of the dear pendants they had been forced to give up; even if I could not put a finger as to what it is they had lost, or who they were. Maybe we are in effect, on equal ground here; neither knowing who the other is, and both currently needing a little bit of company.

“How about Hamburgers, with Fries?” Adagio suggests.

“Sounds delicious!” Sonata responds.

“I guess I could fix that, if you want; though it would be convenient, if you followed me up, so you can choose the extras!” I offer.

“I guess, I could follow you up; since you are already going up, to prepare the food, for us!” Adagio concedes.

Naturally, the building has taken far worse weather than this; even if we can’t know, how bad it may get before it is over.

“Okay!” I put forth, as I step out of the small room; heading up, towards the kitchen.

I notice the two girls following me; albeit a bit hesitantly, even considering the situation. I can understand the hesitance, on their art; considering their situation, and the fact that we never met before.

After the flight of stairs, I lead them into the kitchen. Everything is spotless clean. Can’t say, that I enjoy clutter; but I enjoy the feel, of the clean space. How could one prepare food, even for oneself; if the kitchen is not clean, and in perfect order?

“That’s the fridge!” I point out; Help yourself to the extras, you want for your hamburgers!” I point out, as I indicate the fridge.

“Okay!” Adagio responds, as she moves towards the fridge.

I open the freezer, extracting large hamburgers and a bag of fries. Once I have found what I need, I close the door behind myself.

Now I turn the stove on, preparing to fry the hamburgers. With the stove on; I pour up the oil into the fryer, before I turn up the heat; waiting for the oil to reach the optimum temperature, for frying the fries.

As the frying pan is heating up, I start putting the bacon on; since I wanted a few for my hamburgers. Hamburgers, not just any old regular burgers, mind you.

I spread some salt, onto the bacon; then pull them out of the pan, just as they are getting a bit crispy. Now I continue to fry a few more bacon.

As the oil had reached the optimum frying temperature; I pour the fries into the frying, waiting for them to become crispy.

As I fry the bacon, I watch Adagio picking the bread; while Sonata is picking an assortment of vegetables, cutting them into size for the hamburgers.

Once the bacon are all done, I start frying the hamburgers. I manage to get in a full six hamburgers into the frying pan, watching them fry.

“Love the smell!” Sonata exclaims.

“It is the smell; of a meal, well prepared!” I put forth.

“No mere fast-food!” Adagio concedes.

I notice Adagio is preparing the vegetables on the respective bread-bottoms. Once I had fried the hamburger and taken them out of the frying pan, she places one burger on each bread. She then places the middle onto the hamburgers and place more vegetables on top. The final hamburger goes on the top.

Now I take the fries out of the fryer; before I pour them into three bowls, one for each of us.

“I guess this will be the best meal we have had, in a very long time!” Sonata points out, with glee.

Now each of us carries a plate, with our respective double Hamburger.

“If you like, we can go downstairs now!” I offer.

“Yes!” Adagio responds.

“I would still feel more comfortable, in the basement; considering the weather, outside!” Sonata fills in.

“I guess, I could not blame you; considering the weather, we are currently having!” I concede.

“These are hamburgers, we don’t even need a table!” Adagio points out.

With that, I lead them down, into the basement once more; carrying my hamburger and the fries for the three of us. I notice, how they follow me down; just a few steps behind, but not close enough for us to trip and fall down the flight of stairs. That certainly would have been both painful, and embarrassing enough.

“On second thought; this is the perfect time, for us to tell one another stories!” I point out.

“Telling stories is fun, and we don’t have anything better to pass the time!” Adagio agrees.

“I really hope, you have an interesting story; to capture our attention, and pass the time while we are down here!” Sonata points out, as she had cleared the flight of stairs.

“I do have a few stories; that just may capture your imagination?”I offer.

“While I know, we do not need a table to enjoy the hamburgers!” I ponder; “I still enjoy having a table, to place the bowl of fries!” I consider; as I am leading them into a room, with a fitting table.

Once I had closed the door behind us, I place the bowl on the table.

“This room is furnished quite comfortable!” Adagio concedes; as she is sitting down, in one of the seats of the rather plush sofa.

“It is perfect, for times like this; when I have company, like this!” I point out, in response.

I close the door, behind us; before I sit down in the next seat. Sonata soon finds herself, sitting on my other side, with her hamburger in hand.

“This seems as good a time, as any; for you to start off, telling the first of your stories?” Sonata suggests.

“Yes, please tell us a story!” Adagio echoes.

“Okay, here goes!” I respond, as I take the first bite of my hamburger, watching them enjoy the meal with me.

“This story, is about a girl who loves going out on the Friday afternoons!” I explain; “She has a roommate, of course; who could not escape the fact, how her roommate loves to go out!” I start off, explaining.

“Two girls, living together; just like us?” Adagio inquires, after she had taken another bite of her hamburger.

“Yes; I guess you could say that, if one of you liked to go out?” I agree.

"I will just make a few quick breaks, for a bite or two; but here goes!” I offer.