Abandonment - Part 10 - Final Instalment

I'm glad you're here. What took you so long? Ed's about to leave and wrap things up. Let's watch:

Seeing the Austin disturbed me. I felt like I was being watched. I felt paranoid. I felt an itch to get away PDQ. 

I closed the window, 

drew the curtains, 

shaved,

showered, 

dressed,

combed my hair, 

brushed my teeth,

put meds in my pocket,

found my old leather driving gloves and put them on, 

peaked out the window,

saw the Austin was gone,

held one of the papers over a light bulb,

saw some printing,

packed up the papers,

snuck out the back way, 

looked over my shoulder,

scuttled to the drugstore to buy an envelope and stamps,

looked over my shoulder,

got papers ready to mail,

looked over my shoulder,

bought snacks, 

ate snacks, 

looked over my shoulder,

rode streetcar halfway to Leslie's, 

got off streetcar,

looked over my shoulder,

found some out-of-the-way mailbox and dropped the package in, 

removed old leather driving gloves,

tossed gloves in trash can,

looked over my shoulder,

got back on streetcar,

rode to Leslie's stop, 

got off streetcar, 

looked over my shoulder,

bought some decent non-snack food at grocery, 

walked to Leslie's carrying groceries,

looked over my shoulder,

pushed Leslie's doorbell with my nose,

didn't drop groceries,

Leslie opened the door, took a grocery bag, and let me in.

I followed Leslie into the kitchen. We placed the bags on the counter. She started to unpack them. I saw the coffee brewing on the far counter and asked, "May I have some coffee?" I quickly remembered some manners and followed up with, "Would you like some?"

"No, I'm fine," replied Leslie and then added, "The mugs are in the cupboard over the coffee maker."

I walked over to the machine, found a mug, and poured some coffee,

Leslie turned momentarily to give me a look and continued, "I was talking to Mary on the phone and she said Markie used to belong to The Lone Trainmen."

"When was that?"

"She quit maybe a year ago. Mary said Markie was having arguments with people in the group and left."

"She's got a big layout in her basement. Maybe the lab didn't have what she wanted?"

"Maybe."

"Did Mary have any idea why Markie was parked outside my place this morning?"

"No."

Leslie was putting stuff away and it looked like she was getting some things ready for a meal. It was well passed lunch, but far from dinner, so maybe this was lunner ?

I wandered with my coffee into the living room. It had all the usual things: couch, two Queen Anne chairs, coffee table, tv. And something that wasn't usual: Adams. He was sitting in one of the chairs, but wasn't looking relaxed in its overstuffed magnificence. He was talking to a wall, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. And then there were his eyes. He didn't have any. His face had deep black empty holes where his eyes should have been. I put my mug down on the coffee table, sat on the couch, scrunched into a corner, and stared at him. I called Leslie to come see this.

Leslie came in, looked around, and then at me, "What's up?"

"You don't see him?"

"No," was her reply. She put her hand on my shoulder and continued, "Maybe you haven't had enough sleep?"

Before I could answer, her eyes were on the chair and she continued, "I see him now. He's talking to the wall. God."

She lifted her hand from my shoulder. "He's gone." She put her hand back. "He's back." She lifted her hand again. "I see what's happening."

Leslie walked around the coffee table and sat close beside me on the couch so that our sides and legs touched. I took a little risk and put my arm around her shoulder. Leslie moved in a little closer, then stared at the chair and said, "He's still talking to the corner, but I don't hear anything."

"Me neither."

"He doesn't have any eyes."

"That's new. He had 'em all those other times."

We sat there looking at him. He sat there talking to the wall. All was quiet.

Then he stopped.

And slowly turned to face us.

He spoke.

"Hello Ed. Hello Leslie." His Vaderian voice was gone. He sounded hollow and echoing like he was speaking from deep in a cave. "I think this is the last time we will be meeting. I feel I will be going on a journey."

I was frozen. My mind was blank. "Did you accomplish what you had to?"

"Yes, thank you for your help. I have done what I could."

Think. Think. Think. "Can you tell us anything? Why were you with Markie?"

"She followed you. I do not know why, but she might be troublesome." He paused for a moment and then continued, "Do not do what I did. Try to make things better if you can. We have limited powers and limited time. At least do not make things worse."

Leslie asked, "Where are you going?"

"I do not know."

Adams looked all around the room like he was searching for something. His unblinking eye holes were scanning everything. His gaze finally landed on Leslie.

She asked, "Will you be back?", to see if he had changed his mind.

"I do not know."

A few seconds after answering Adams disappeared.

Leslie and I continued to stare at his chair. We didn't move. He didn't reappear.

Leslie turned to me and asked,"Can you stay?"

"Yes."

THE END 

(or just abandoned?)

Abandonment was the fate of many, maybe most, streetcar and various types of electrified interurban light rail systems in Canada and the US in the 20th century. Basically, the onslaught of the automobile and sharp business practices did them in. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the various streetcar revivals that are happening in several cities. Things aren't looking good for Ottawa's new light rail system, what with the ongoing provincial inquiry and all. As this article in The Narwhal  states, "It's becoming a running joke in Canada's capital city: come rain or snow, the Ottawa Light Rail Transit (LRT) system won't run smoothly  - or at all." (A good summary of all the Ottawa LRT's woes are presented in this TVO article, Ottawa's colossal LRT debacle: A brief-ish history). As I've written before, the Ottawa LRT is basically a streetcar system in disguise, so maybe abandonment or a 21st century equivalent is in its future too .

This mini-series was called Abandonment as that's what I had felt I was about to do with the bigger series and its characters. Maybe they've run their course, maybe not, and if not, they need to seek new horizons. The series abandons Adams and the OSI, but if anything is in store for Ed and Leslie, well, time will tell. I don't believe that simply mailing incriminating documents to a high placed ally in an organization like the OSI could solve much of anything in the real world, so Ed and Leslie could still be entangled with OSI if they so choose. I don't think they will, but as I said, only time will tell.

P.S.: If by some odd chance you dropped in here out of the blue and are wondering what the heck is going on, you can find part 1 to Abandonment here.