Valerie and Chris found themselves outside a small looking spa room. It had a wooden door with a glass window that gave a peek inside of what the room provided, two wooden benches in various phases of disrepair and a meter on the wall. Valerie assumed it told the oocupants how hot it was.
"I don't want to go in there." Valerie said. "Its got Termite bait all over it."
"It might just be a rustic outdoorsy look?" Chris said hopefully. Valerie gave her a "You gotta be kidding" look.
"I think that even in the boondocks, they got some safety guy running around." Valerie said as Chris tried to open the door. "See? It won't open. Its a smart spa, it knows its not good for humans and other creatures."
Chris got the door open.
"All right but I'm warning you, if you get splinters you are dealing with them yourself." Valerie said cautiously as Chris went in. Chris darted back out.
"Wow that was quick, now lets go blow some money." Valerie said backing away.
"There is a dead squirrel in there!" Chris said with an "Ew!" look on her face.
"Dead squirrel? I never knew they lived out here in Nevada." Valerie said looking into the room. "Crispy too." The squirrel was on one of the benches. The view from the door must have obscured it.
"Maybe he was out here to blow his nest egg." Chris proposed.
Valerie shook her head. "Birds have eggs, squirrels have nuts."
"Not this one, at least not anymore." Chris guffawed. She took her towel and wrapped it around the squirrel.
"What are you doing?" Valerie asked as she deposited the terry cloth wrapped corpse outside the door.
"I am still using the spa, come high water or dead squirrel." Chris said going in.
"But we only have one towel now." Valerie said. "Tell you what, I will go back to the room and the tv with one spanish channel on it, and you can sit in here and do whatever it is you do in a spa."
"We can share." Chris said opening the towel. "Beach length!"
"Ok." Valerie said after a minute. "But we didnt even bring a swim suit!"
"Its fine. Who will look?" Chris asked.
"Chris, you know me, a full believer in murphys law and you ask me that?" Valerie said with an eyebrow raised.
"You're right." Chris said. "But this is my last chance to live dangerously before I go straight into full-on motherhood. Brush your teeth! Eat your spinach...wipe your..."
"I get it." Valerie said holding her hands up. "All right. We'll do this. What the hell, no one else is around."
They ducked inside the spa and quickly changed. They deposited their clothes into the hallway a few feet from the dead squirrel.
"God that dead animal is more comfy than I am." Valerie said a few seconds later. "I never thought I would tell you this, ever, but your butt is cold."
"Its the bench." Chris said as she adjusted the heat with a control panel on the wall. "Fifteen minutes ok?"
"Its ok." Valerie thought. "Ten minutes would be better." Valerie bargained with her friend. She looked toward the door and thought she saw something bob by the door.
"What?" Chris said.
"Nothing. I thought I saw something." Valerie shrugged. The heat came on and floated over them as they sat.
Ten minutes later
"I need to get out of here. I'm gonna start looking like that squirrel." Chris said as she wiped some sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand.
"I think we're ready for the fork now." Valerie said in agreement. She went over to the door with her friend in tow, remember they had the same towel, and she popped open the door. She reached out with a free hand. "Where are those clothes?" Valerie said as she made a second reach for them. She edged to the outside of the door. She poked her head out.
"Sh.....!" She said muffling a swear word. "Our clothes are gone!"
"Gone what do you mean gone?" Chris said bumping against her.
"Gone as in the opposite of there." Valerie said. "And your butt is still cold!! You can't blame the bench now!"
"Hi ladies!" They heard a childlike voice come from the end of the hallway. They looked up to see the annoying freckled brat from earlier. "You looking for these?" He held up a bunch of their clothes.
"Oh you!" Valerie said moving out forgetting she had nothing but the towel and her equally naked friend. "I'm gonna rip your lungs out kid!"
"Catch me first!" He said dumping the clothes into a dumpster. He whipped a camera out of his pocket and snapped a picture. "See you around!" He said running off.
"Ah hell." Valerie said.
"I know." Chris said. "I think he got our worst side."
"I think he got every side." Valerie said wrapping the towel tighter. "Now what?"
"We try to get our clothes." Chris said. "Don't attract attention."
"Easy for you to say." Valerie snarked. "You once wondered what it was like when I lost my top at the pool and now you get to feel what its like."
"Its awfully drafty." Chris mused. She looked over at the dumpster. "Its only a few feet away. A few barely clothed people would barely attract attention." She said hopefully.
"Rationlization!" Valerie rolled her eyes. "Good job!" She said giving her friend a thumbs up. Her eyes grew wide. "Ah hell."
"What?" Chris asked.
"The dumpster is moving." Valerie said as she started to shuffle down the hallway. The dumpster was moving. Apparently while the two were talking a dump truck had arrived and now was emptying its contents into the back of it.
"Stop!" Chris yelled. "Hold it right there buster!" She said trailing bhind Valerie. They were moving too slowly. Chris started to curse herself for sacraficing a towel to a dead rodent.
"If I hadnt done that we wouldn't be sharing a towel." Chris said as they stopped. The dump truck was halfway to the highway by now.They decided any hope of getting their clothes was lost.
"If we kept our clothes in the spa we wouldnt be going through this." Valerie said. "Now what?"
Chris rubbed her head. Then she spotted an open whicker door. "In there quick!" She pushed her friend into an room. She reached up and turned on a light with an overhanging string. It was a linen closet.
"Grab a sheet." Chris said as she closed the whicker door. Valerie dropped her end of the towel and grabbed a dark blue sheet that had an even darker stain in the middle of it. She grimaced for a minute but knew she had no time to be picky. Chris picked a similiar sheet.
"This thing wont go all the way around me." Chris said as she pulled it tight once or twice.
"I think its the fitted sheet that goes with this one." Valerie said as she opened the door. Chris wrapped the towel around her waist as a fail safe. A few people went by on the sidewalk. Chris and Valerie looked at them, but then shrugged as they walked down the stairs. A few of the passerbys looked at them as they casually strolled towards their room.
"What the?" One man asked. "Are you part of a show?"
"Toga party at Stoneys." Chris said in a slight whisper. "And we're late."
"What room is it in?" The man asked.
Chris looked at Valerie. A thought grew in Valeries mind. She had seen the room that the brat kid had gone into after he dumped their clothes.
"Room 215. Ask for a freckled faced guy." Valerie said with a smile. "He may look like a kid but he parties hard."
Chris covered her mouth as a giggle escaped.
"Thanks." The guy said and walked away. After he was gone, Valerie and Chris bolted to their rooms.
After getting redressed, Chris crashed onto the bed. "Now I want to sleep."
"Think you want that other towel back?" Valerie asked as she brushed her hair.
"Naw, its probably got maggots on it by now." Chris said. Valerie laughed as she threw her brush on the bed. "What are you going to do?"
"I need to get out of this room for a while. Want to come?"
"No thanks. I've had enough excitement for today. And we are here for two more days." Chris reminded her. "Dont do everything all at once."
"Okay." Valerie said. "I think I saw a bar down the street. I think I might see whats up."
"Good have fun." Chris said as she rolled over. She was soon fast asleep.
"Don't wait up for me." Valerie said with a smile. "Its gonna be a long night."
The next morning
She didnt even remember going to bed, let alone what time it was. Valerie awoke groggy and foggy minded the next morning. She rolled over in her bed and looked at the clock. It was not quite noon. The clock looked strange, almost new. Perhaps Norman, the creepy hotel clerk Chris referred to, left it there during the night. Valerie sat up and rubbed her eyes. What she saw shocked her. She was sitting on a four poster bed in a huge bedroom. The bed was soft pink lace, and the top of it had pink ruffles that hung down slightly from the top. The rest of the room was in a lighter pink, almost a white color. There was the usual bedroom suspects, a bureau to put clothes in. A closet was spotted across the way. This one was sure to not have a smelly roll away bed in it. Valerie rubbed her eyes again.
"This is not my room." She got up and looked around. She encountered a full length mirror. She had a nightgown on. "This isnt my nightgown." She shook her head. She moved over to the bureau which had a pink phone and a bouquet of roses. She smelled them before she noticed a piece of paper on the top of the bureau. "This is sure as heck isnt my marriage certificate!" She said reading the paper. "Oh lord, what's happened now?"
