Moon - New Moon Part 33

"Okay," she said in a small voice.

"Don't beat yourself up over it."

"I keep wondering what else I'm going to do."

"Nothing!" An idea struck him, and he walked across the kitchen. "You can find out more about our world from television."

"What is it?"

"Moving pictures that companies send through the air."

She gave him a doubtful look.

"Sit down."

"Why?"

"It might startle you. Some people are startled because it's so bad." He laughed.

"That's a joke I don't get," she said, as she dropped into the nearest chair.

"You will. But maybe not right away."

He picked up a remote and pointed it toward the small television on the kitchen counter.

When the picture sprang to life, Rinna gasped.

"It's okay. It's normal here." He peered at the screen. It was an MTV video.

"What are they doing?"

"Dancing. I hope. Let me find you something you'll like better."

He pushed the up b.u.t.ton on the remote and found a decorating show where a designer had swooped into a couple's life to resolve the differences between her taste and his.

Rinna stared at the picture as though he'd opened up a window into another universe, which, in a way, he had.

She looked from the screen to the device in his hand.

"What's that?"

"A remote. Or as my nephew calls it, a turner. It changes the channel. Changes the sound level." He demonstrated, then put the remote on the coffee table. "I'll be back. I need to get some stuff."

He wanted to sleep downstairs, in case they had to make a quick getaway, so he went to gather blankets, which he spread out in the family room.

When he came back, he saw that Rinna had changed the channel.

Now her breath was shallow as she watched a drama. Moving closer, he saw that it was a cop show, with a hostage situation.

"s.h.i.+t!"

Her head jerked toward him. "What?"

"That's too violent for you."

Ignoring the comment, she gestured toward the screen, "The man is going to kill that woman," she breathed. "He wants them to give him an airplane."

"It's just a story. A cop show. It's not real."

"But it must happen in real life, or they wouldn't have gotten the idea."

"Not often."

"Like people don't often rob stores?"

"People watch police shows because they're dramatic," he said, wis.h.i.+ng the world were a safer place, for Rinna's sake.

"What's an airplane?"

"A car that flies," he snapped as he took the remote away from her and searched the channels. Apparently she read his body language because she didn't ask any more questions about the hostage situation.

He found an I Love Lucy rerun. The one where Ricky and Fred try to be housewives and burn the pattern of an iron on their s.h.i.+rts-among other disasters.

"Men want to act like women here?" Rinna asked when he came back from making up a bed on the rug. "They want to stay home and do the housework?"

He laughed. "Not usually. It's just a joke."

"You have dramas and jokes."

"Yes. Comedies. And reality shows where people eat... worms."

She grimaced. "Why?"

"For money. And to show they have guts."

"Oh." She shook her head, then looked up and saw that he had made a bed on the floor near the fireplace.

"I want to sleep down here. So we can make a quick getaway-if we have to. It's not a real bed, but it's probably more comfortable than the cave," he said, he said, as he started walking around the kitchen, wiping all the hard surfaces.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Wipping away our fingerprints."

She walked to a kitchen counter and stared. "I can't see them."

"But the cops can use a special powder. So we have to wipe them up."

"Okay." She helped, and when they'd finished the first floor, he wiped down the bathroom and the drawers where he'd gotten clothing.