Magic Fingers

Author : Matthew Reshonsky

Ariel groaned as John held her tighter on the motel bed. For a moment he was lost in the experience of her perfect-ness. The way that her body always seemed to fit the contours of his own with the perfect blend of softness to touch and hold. Over the last three weeks he had even grown to love the smell of ozone that always clung about her.

She breathed in deeply and he relaxed his hold. “So John, how was work today.”

“Eh, nothing much happened. All I could really think about was getting back here to you.”

“You’re the sweet but I know something had to have happened you’re so tense.”

This gave John pause, when he was with Ariel he always forgot about the world. Except today he had reason to be troubled. She must have sensed it, that was one of the things he loved about her the way she was always able to understand him.

“I caught the news feed; some Jack off politician is going to ban full force field holography making your job illegal.”

“They’re always trying to do that, don’t let it bother you.”

“Well the pundits say it’s going to pass this time, a broad ban on everything except medical use.”

“So we don’t have much time left, do we?”

“A week maybe two.”

She pushed her face into his chest a squeezed him so tightly that he was having trouble drawing breath and then she released.

He gently nudged her head back so he could look into her green eyes.

“I have something I want to tell you. I went and-“, he was abruptly cut off when she vanished. The all too familiar feeling of emptiness returned to the center of his chest that he was only able to push away when she was in his arms.

“Shit.” He reached over to the bed stand and counted the dollar coins left in the roll, only ten left.

He quickly slid them into their slot on the headboard when she reappeared.

“Anyway, as I was saying I went and saw an agent about putting a lien on one of my kidneys to see if was enough to buy a home unit and your program from the motel before the ban goes into effect. In order to get enough I’ll have to hawk my heart and one of my lungs too.”

“You can’t do that. What if you can’t pay them back on time?”

“I should be able to do it, I won’t be spending money here so that alone should be enough to make it on time, worst case scenario I’ll live on ramen for awhile.”

“Then you do love me.”

“What can I say, I have a thing for chicks with pink hair.”

“How much do you have left for tonight?”

“20 minutes.”

“So just enough for a happy ending.”

“As happy as it gets anyway.”