The Thirteenth Story: Banana in the Sky Part 1
Title: Banana in the Sky Part 1
Word Count: 2,463
Prompt:
Authors note: I did have two to post today, but word ate my first one :( :( So there's only this one for now. This one was too long to be all in one post, so I'm cutting it in half :)
“If I threw this hard enough, do you think it would stay up there?”
Colleen laughed, staring at the banana in Jason’s’ hand.
“What? You say the weirdest things.”
“Come on, think about it!” He shaded his eyes, looking up at the clouds. “If you could just break out of the atmosphere what’s to stop if form just floating there forever!
“It would just float away.” Colleen shook her head. “Even if by some miracle you did break the earth gravitational pull, which if highly unlikely by the way, it wouldn’t just float in the atmosphere. It would float away.”
Jason stuck his tongue out.
“You’re no fun Colleen. Just dream a little!”
“Why would you even want to have a banana hovering up there anyway?”
“Because I could.”
She shook her head again and stood up, stretching out the kink in her back.
“You’re crazy. Did you know that?”
“Yeah.” He pushed himself off the grass and grabbed her from behind. “But you love me.”
“You wish.” Colleen gave him a shove, but laughed as he kissed her. “Loser.”
Jason staggered back, hand over his heart.
“I have been mortally wounded! I shall never recover!”
Colleen rolled her eyes.
“You are such an idiot.”
“I am not!” He leapt to his feet and began dancing around on the grass. “I’m the king of Sweden!”
“Are you ever serious about anything?”
“No!” He pulled her to her feet and began dancing her across the park.
Colleen shook her head and pulled away.
“Idiot.”
He grinned again, flopping them both back onto the grass.
“Who do you think would win in a fight, a shark or a grizzly bear?”
Colleen laughed.
“How could that ever happen?”
“It doesn’t matter if it could happen or not! Okay, imagine some crazy magical land where a shark and a bear could live together without either one dying, who do you think would win in a fight?”
Colleen shook her head.
“Uh, I don’t know...”
“I think a bear, for sure.” He lay back, looking up at the clouds. “It could just grab the shark and pummel it.”
Colleen laughed and stood.
“You’re hopeless, you know that?”
He winked.
“Would you want me any other way?”
She flashed him a grin as she began to walk away.
“Hey, where are you going?”
“Home. I have a bunch of stuff to do today.”
“Will I see you tonight?”
“If you’re lucky.”
***
“I think I may have figured it out.”
Colleen glanced at her clock and groaned.
“Jason, it’s three am.”
“I know, but I had to tell you...”
She rubbed a hand over her face and tucked the phone into the crook of her neck.
“Couldn’t you tell me in the morning?”
“No! I’ve been working on this all night, and I think I finally figure it out!”
Colleen sighed.
“Figured what out?”
“The correct trajectory for putting a banana in orbit.”
She groaned and resisted hanging up on him.
“What the hell Jason. You woke me up to tell me about some stupid banana?”
“It’s not just about bananas! I’m proving the existence of heaven!”
Colleen just gaped, wondering if it was her sleep muddled brain that made him sound so crazy.
“What?”
“Heaven. Because if a banana can hover above the clouds then other things could too! Like pearly gates and St. Peter and harps and things. If I can make this work I can prove that there is life after death!”
“Jason, it’s thee am, I’m tired, and you sound like a God damn lunatic. I’m going back to bed.”
“No, wait, just listen!”
“Goodnight Jason.”
***
“Colleen? Hello! Are you even listening to me?”
“Huh?” Colleen looked up from her bubble tea and gave Sarah an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”
“Jeeze Col, what’s the matter with you today? You’re not usually that spacey!”
“Sorry.” She yawned, rubbing her eyes. “I’m just really tired.”
“Why?” Sarah winked. “Jason keeping you up all night.”
“Yeah. And don’t smirk at me, it’s not what you think.” She sighed. “He’s been calling me in the middle of the night all week. He’s got this stupid theory about how to get a banana in space.”
“A banana?” Sarah frowned. “Is that just a really terrible euphemism?”
“No.” Colleen threw a napkin at her friend. “Though I wish it was.”
“Well shit! Have you called him on it?”
Colleen shook her head.
“No. Every time I’ve seen him he hasn’t even brought it up. I mentioned it once and he laughed at me, asked me why I was still thinking about the stupid banana. Sarah, I don’t think he knows he’s doing it!”
Sarah frowned, looking at Colleen over her glasses.
“Okay, that’s really weird. Do you think maybe he’s calling you in his sleep?”
“It’s gotta be something like that.” She tucked a strand of long hair behind her ear. “I don’t know, I’m starting to get really worried.”
Sarah frowned.
“Well, why don’t you record him tonight? Then maybe you can play it back for him and convince him to get some help.