[Ro]

Woo hoo! It’s time for a never-ending story! If you haven’t been in on those before, here is how it works:

• I start a story on the message board
• You add something to the story by adding a post to the string.
• You must wait for someone else to add another piece of the story before you post again.
• You can not add two posts in a row. If you do, it will be counted as one post so there isn’t a point to doing it. It won’t help you pick up any more chances to win the game.
• NEW RULE ADDED: You have to add a real addition to the story - something that moves it forward and then leaves it hanging. If you add a one word post or a post so short that it has the effect of cutting the story off, I'll delete yours so that the story can keep moving along.
• You get one chance in the drawing to win the Grand Prize for every addition to the story you write. The Grand Prize will be a $25 Gift Certificate to the Scrap Girls Boutique AND Syndee Nuckles will design a Collection Super Mini for you! (You’ll get to work with her to determine what you would like it to be like and you’ll get it for free, of course.)

-------
Here is the beginning of the story:

Soda pop gave the Pete a certain amount of clout.

He carried it about in the gigantic mug and filled it to the brim each morning with Pepsi. Pete refilled the massive vessel two or three times as the day progressed and became agitated if he was cut off from his supply.

Everyone could see the soda affected his personality. Each day, as the mild manner engineer entered the building carrying his cup, he slipped into his cubicle so as to avoid meeting people’s eyes. By noon, buoyed up by sips of Pepsi, he went to the cafeteria for lunch. By the end of the day, he was able to look at the object of his heart’s desire, LaWanda, without turning as red as a sunburned cat’s belly.

This, of course, was his daily pattern if Pete was keeping his soda pop addiction under control. If he wasn’t, well… then it was said slurping from his cup made Pete braver than he should be. At least, this is what everyone told each other after that day because no one could quite explain that hot, muggy afternoon in July…

…“Did you hear about LaWanda and Ron?� the mail boy whispered to the office assistant, “I understand Ron has been pressuring her to go out with him. And Stan – the big boss - has not been the same since Ron was hired. In fact, the rumor is…�

“The rumor is what?� a voice growled right in the mail boy’s ear, right before its owner grabbed him by the belt and held him up in the air.

“Put him down right now. I insist.�

Ron laughed at the beautiful by his side and said, “Oh, you insist?�

“Yes, I insist. If you don’t, I’ll tell Stan that you are being a thug. He’ll fire you�

Leering at LaWanda, Ron laughed. “Stan…Fire me? I don’t believe you are keeping up with current affairs. I am in control of things around here these days.�

LaWanda, eyes flashing with anger, slapped the large man on his cheek. Roaring with anger, Ron threw the inconsequential mail boy aside and grabbed her arm.

Suddenly, a loud soda pop burp was heard and …

[watmuzzer]

Ron began to apologize profusely. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he said getting on his knees before LaWanda. "I don't know what came over me. I'll never let it happen again"

LaWanda rubbed the bruise he had made when he grabbed her arm. "Don't let it happen again," she said as she stormed away.

Ron looked around nervously, trying to assess the damage. No one else had seen what happened. He rushed back to his cubical for another boost of courage (mug of pepsi). He thought to himself, "I'd better be more careful. My whole plan depends on nobody else realizing that Stan........."

[Becca]

"...is someone I've known for many, many years. We can't let our history together be discovered at the office!"

After Ron gulped down another mug of Pepsi, he left for the day. As he was walking out of the building, he caught Stan's eye and shivered at what he saw in the depths of Stan's glare.

Ron was about to hail a cab, when LaWanda walked up from behind. "Wanna share a ride? Where are you headed?"

[FrugalByDesign]

Ron was stunned. Was this HIS Lawanda asking HIM to share a cab? The same Lawanda who had just slapped him? The one he had left a bruise on? Oh, that bruise... What was she up to? Why would she be NICE NOW? Had Stan told her the secret?

He had sworn not to. Sworn on a stack of bibles not to. Sworn on his mother's life and his grandmother's grave NOT TO TELL ANYONE.

What if he had broken that promise just to get an "in" with Lawanda. or worse yet, to have something to hold over Ron's head.

All these thoughts flashed through Ron's head in a split second. He knew he had to say something - Lawanda was waiting.

"Yes, I'll share a cab with you as long as we can stop by...."

[teeransone]

...the 7-11...I need to pick up something (they were having a sale on his brew.)"

Ron thought to himself,"I have to be on my guard...LaWanda can make me say just about anything. I look into those violet eyes and BAM! I'm telling her all my secrets!"

Meanwhile, the cab driver was maneuvering through the rush hour traffic like a maniac. LaWanda was jolted almost into Ron's lap at the sound of screeching wheels and crumpling metal.

Hajii, the turbaned cabbie shouted, " What are you doing you son of a sheep thief!" as he jumped from the cab.

With throbbing head and wide eyes Ron realized...

[Lyn Warnock]

...that he had a lump the size of a grapefruit on his forehead. LaWanda was sprawled on the seat next to him from the force of the stop.

He could hear Hajji, the cabbie, outside yelling at the horse and buggy driver who had pulled out in front of him and caused him to smash right into a mailbox.

Ron knew that this was going to take awhile. He was worried, as he glanced at LaWanda, that he was not going to stop himself from letting the whole "Stan Plan" slip out.

The could hear the police sirens in the distance. A crowd had formed and it looked to Ron like they were stuck. Ron turned to look at LaWanda and said...

[FrugalByDesign]

he was bleeding. There was blood all over his shirt - staining from the top of his right shoulder well down to the middle of his chest. Where was this blood coming from? His head? No... He felt around his neck with his left hand, not yet realizing that he couldn't move his right arm. No pain, no blood, no nothing. In fact, with all this blood, why wasn't he in PAIN?

He looked at Lawanda - her eyes were as big as full moons - her face white as a sheet and her mouth - oh, those lips - was trying to form words but nothing was coming out.

"What?!?!? WHAT!?!?", Ron cried, but all Lawanda could do was point.

Ron looked down at his right side, and there, sticking out of his shoulder was a...

[boots]

"Ron looked down at his right side, and there, sticking out of his shoulder was a... "

Straw from the gigantic mug he filled with his brew. He had hidden the mug inside his baggy pants so LaWanda wouldn't know! He was bleeding everywhere but he had to get to the 7-11 and fast before he spilled the beans about ....

[mommy2twins2]

rather large chunk of the cab's roof, which appeared to be cutting into his arm at the shoulder. If he pulled his shoulder free he could bleed to death! He franitcally looked around the cab for his "liquid courage" but he noticed that his peripheral vision was getting fuzzy. Oh no! Tunnel vision could only mean one thing he was about to...

[Risa]

Quote

Preface: I believe "Pete's" the "soda guy", not Ron, please correct me if I'm mistaken (I've read it over and over). So I'm going to begin the thread again using "Pete". I hope that's okay???

Everyone turned to watch as Pete suddenly arrived on the scene sporting an expression that was surprisingly unfamiliar. In one quick swoop both LaWanda and the mail room boy were safely out of harm's way and Ron's arrogant laugh was swiftly replaced by a look of confusion as Pete stood on his chest defiantly…yet somehow "mesmerized".

[FrugalByDesign]

have one of his "spells". NO!! Not in front of Lawanda! She would NEVER understand!

How long had he had these spells? Since he was three, four? His first clear memory of one was when he was four. He was playing in the yard on the swingset. The next thing he knew, he was lying on the ground, dirt in his mouth, and a huge stick by his side. There was evidence of a struggle all about him - the grass was torn up, his clothes were in shreds, and he had a huge black eye. Yet he felt strangely powerful - like something terrible had happened but he had not been hurt by it. It was the first time he felt that he might be "untouchable".

Snapping back to reality, Ron thought "Untouchable??? This blood means I'm very, very touchable. Someone better touch me real quick - like a doctor - and fix this!"

Lawanda had dashed from the cab, screaming for help at the top of her lungs. The cabbie thought she was just another lunatic fare, until he caught sight of Ron in his peripheral vision. He too, tried to flag down help as Ron struggled to remain conscious from the loss of blood. He just couldn't hold on. The next thing he knew...

[Lyn Warnock]

he woke up in the hospital. He couldn't move, couldn't really remember what had happened at first. Then he looked up and saw a woman looking down at him, concern written all over her face.

"Oh Ron, I'm so glad you're awake, we were all so worried about you!" She reached out and touched his face. He was glad for the comfort, but still was trying to figure out how he got there and who she was.

"Who are you?" he asked. She was sitting next to his bed. "Who am I? You don't know who I am?"

With that she ran from the room calling for a nurse. She was shocked by his memory loss.

Once the strange woman was gone --he didn't know it was LaWanda, the woman of his dreams -- he closed his eyes and took a mental inventory of his body. "Yup, it's all here...and why am I craving a Pepsi...."

[FrugalByDesign]

On the other side of town, Pete plopped a frozen dinner in the microwave and pushed the START button - much harder than he had to to activated the spinning wheel inside. He wasn't really hungry but what ELSE would he do with his time? He was still stewing over watching the exchange bewteen Lawanda and Ron on the sidewalk outside the office. He figured Lawanda was telling the bastard off - how DARE he grab her so hard that he bruised her! Pete was SURE that's what was happening until...

"What the .....? What are the two of them doing getting into the same CAB? Lawanda looks like she got in that cab WILLINGLY! How could she??? She must KNOW how I feel about her."

It doesn't matter that she doesn't have any interest in him. It doesn't matter that she has obviously avoided him. It doesn't matter that people in the office think he's a wuss... It only matters that she WILL be his. She WILL.

"Where is she right now? Is she still with HIM? What are they doing? He better not lay a HAND on her! He'll have to answer to ME! So help me...

[Kara]

He promptly forgot about his frozen dinner in the microwave. Overcome by jealousy and fearing the worst, he decided that he needed to act if he was going to save Lawanda from Ron. He put his jacket on, took a swig of Pepsi and rushed out the door.

[Mandiannie]

When he got down to the street from his 5th floor apartment he abruptly stopped just before crossing the street. What was going on! Why did the 7-11 across the street have a "going out of Business sale" sign in the window? When had that happened. He rushed over to get some answers. It was at the moment that he walked into the 7-11 that he realized that he had forgotten all about LaWanda and what she might be doing and it dawned on him that the love of his life wasn't LaWanda it was that infernal Pepsi addiction that he had. "I have to learn to control this habit" he mused to himself, but while I'm here I might as well have another one to get me through 1 more won't hurt he reasoned to himself. "Maybe the fact that this place is going out of business is a blessing" the voice inside his head told him as he looked around for the manager.
Finally he spotted the manager but just as he was about to talk to him someone jolted him and he spilt his entire pepsi right ontop of the manager head. Looking quiet shocked the manager looked up and yelled.....
"

[Fran98765]

"Why did you cut down on your Pepsi consumption? I am going out of business because you stopped shopping here! And you're paying extra for spilling it on my head!"

Ron mopped up his spill, bought another case of Pepsi and slowly walked back to his apartment to find...

[celebrate2spirit]

Oh my...oh no...it was happening again....this bizarre time/space warp he had entered again...some moments he's sure he is himself...Ron, the shy Pepsi guzzling creative genious afraid of his own shadow, terrified to let anyone know his true feelings...and then poof...his reality fuses and morphes and the next thing he is aware of is being someone very familiar to him...too familiar...name of Pete! The only thing familiar about the two existences is the infernal never ending need for his precious Pepsi...and of course, the shared feelings for LaWanda...

He stands in a stupor, gazing around the apartment, trying to figure out what is happening to him, trying to figure out who he really is and what world he belongs to...jarring him out of his caffeine fried and fuzzy state he realizes the phone has been ringing....

Uncertainly, he answers "Hello, Pete here"....

[FrugalByDesign]

"Pete, Lawanda here. I needed to talk to someone and I didn't know who else to call. I'm at Memorial Hospital with Ron. We were in a cabbie accident, and Ron was badly hurt. He's not remembering who he is, who I am, nothing! Now remember, he's the only one who knows anything about the Benson project - well, he WAS the only one who knew anything about that project. Now NO ONE knows. If that project isn't handled properly, we could all lose our jobs! I don't think it's in anyone's best interest that Stan find out about this yet - maybe we can come up with a plan before he finds out."

"So ol' Ron has lost his marbles, has he? Isn't that rich?" says Pete.

"PETE!" wails Lawanda. "FOCUS! I CAN'T lose my job, I just CAN'T!"

Pete starts to see that he may have a chance to be LaWanda's hero - and how many brownie points would he get if he DID become her hero??? He's still dreaming about that new hero suit when LaWanda yells into the phone "PETE!! Are you listening to me? I said..."

[Lauri]

you need to get to the hospital quickly.

"Anything for you LaWanda. We can't have people losing their jobs". Pete grabbed his keys and headed for the door, when his phone rang again.

"I am on my way" Pete answered.

"Pete its Stan, we have a problem...

[Ro]

... I have found out that you have been putting fake quarters in the Pepsi machine again. I am considering suspending you for 2 weeks."

Pete took a big gulp from him cup. "Now, Stan," he stammered. "Can't we work out a deal? You know that you need me because I'm your best developer. Besides, you and I have an arrangement."

Silence briefly rang on the other end of the telephone before the shouting came. "Pete!" Stan yelled. "I have told you repeatedly not to bring up the time when we..."

[FrugalByDesign]

Pete's heart sank. "NO NO NO!!! You aren't stealing my hero status from me. NO!". As much as he wanted to SAY that, he just swallowed hard, and said "What's that?" Stan's voice sounded so... calm... for there to be a "problem".

"I can't find the key to the supply cabinet and the copier is out of paper."

"WHEW!" The sigh was long, hard, and loud.

"Pete, what's the problem? Don't you know where the key is, or what?"

"Stan, I think it's on a magnet hook on the side of the cabinet, with a tag on it that says "Suppli Cabinet". Don't let the mispelling of "Suppli" fool ya! THAT'S IT!"

"Thanks, Pete. See ya on Monday!"

Pete hangs up the phone, and dashes to the door - LaWanda is waiting for her hero!- only to be confronted by...

[Lauri]

Confusion. Total confusion. What was going on? Why couldn’t he think straight? What was going on? He needed to make a list. A list of what though? A list of what he knew.

Pete rummaged through his cluttered desk drawer, pushing aside Pepsi coupons, photos, bills, until he found a spare piece of paper and pen. At the top of the paper he wrote:

FACTS – What I know…

My name is Pete Grounder.
I am an engineer.
I am addicted to Pepsi.
I am infatuated with LaWanda.
Stan is my boss.
Ron also likes LaWanda.
Stan has acted different since Ron was hired.
Ron thinks he is in control at work.
Ron grabbed LaWanda today and bruised her.
Ron has also recently become addicted to Pepsi.
Ron & LaWanda were in an accident while sharing a taxi today.
Ron is now in the hospital with memory loss.
LaWanda called, she needs me. The Benson Project needs me.
The 7-11 is going out of business.
Lately I have suffered from some bizarre type of confusion.
And now Stan has called.What was that about keys. There is something more to this.

“Think,� Pete thought, “clear your head.� Pete licked his lips; he needed a drink, another Pepsi.
“NO,� he almost yelled out loud, “all this trouble started with this Pepsi addiction.�

Pete read over the list again – something was nagging him, teasing his subconscious – his eyes darted to his Pepsi mug. It was emblazoned with the logo from the Benson Project. He remembered when he got the mug – they had just announced the mysterious project.

Only two people got a mug him and Ron.

“Ron?â€� As his mind cleared he remembered more –

Stan gave him and Ron those mugs - just the two of them. “What was it Stan said when he gave the mugs to us?â€� He couldn’t remember. “Wait!â€� Pete thought. “Something isn’t rightâ€� he said out loud. LaWanda was in the meeting also and she made sure to get a photo of me and Ron with our mugs.

Pete kept running all the thoughts and images through his head, piecing together little, seemingly insignificant things. All of a sudden he remembered the photos in the desk drawer. He opened the drawer and there on top was the photo. He looked closely at it, studying it. What was that it the background?

[celebrate2spirit]

Meanwhile....LaWanda sits and stares pensively at Ron lying there in his hospital bed...he keeps mumbling to himself...who am I??? Why does the name Pete keep popping in and out of my consciousness???? Am I Pete????? I don't think I'm Pete....I don't know...doesn't sound right but then again...what time is it??? Does anybody REALLY know what time it is? Does anybody REALLY care about time??? About time???

LaWanda sits confused...waiting for Pete to arrive, getting more and more impatient pondering over the day's events and feeling the anxiety build about what she will do if she loses her job...hoping maybe, just maybe, seeing Pete can snap Ron back into this reality and out of whatever place he seems to think he is in...

Oh the far reaching devastation that will be created if Ron doesn't snap out of this...he holds the secrets...so many lives will be destroyed...the Benson project hangs in the balance...

[FrugalByDesign]

Pete flags down a taxi. "Take me to Memorial and STEP ON IT! I've got a damsel in distress to save!"

" Hey, man, who the heck you think you are , man, talking like that, man, SUPERMAN?"

Pete is irrated by the cabbie's sneer. What does he know? Stranger things have happened. This is his chance and he's gonna take it - all the way to the top. LaWanna will drop to his feet, in awe over his power, his strength, his Superman underwear.

As the taxi screeches to a halt, Pete throws the cabbie the fare, but no tip. "That'll learn him to sneer at me - SUPER PETE!"

"Hey, that's not a bad name for a super hero, but will people think I'm 'Super Peat' - you know, like peat moss. Ewwww... I'm not sure I want to be known as 'Super Peat Moss'. Not cool. Not even a little bit."

Onto the elevator and up to Intensive Care. As the elevator door opens...

[Kara]

Pete stepped out, in a rush to find LaWanda. In his haste, he slipped on something wet ... there was a big puddle of Pepsi on the floor. Someone else with an infernal addiction to the stuff had apparently spilled their 44 oz. Big Gulp. As he came to his senses, he realized the irony of the situation ... that Pepsi, his one love, was keeping him from saving LaWanda, his second love. And how could he face her now, looking as he did?

[Mandiannie]

Slowly he got up off the floor and looked around for a bathroom where he could tidy up. Spotting on he jogged over to it and a few minutes later he stepped into the hallway looking a little better but still smelling slightly of pepsi.

"Oh well" he thought as he made his way to the room where Lawanda and Ron were.

He was ready to go into the room when it hit him. That "thing" in the photo of him and Ron was nothing more than a...

[TeaScrapper]

picture of the new project, a machine that dispensed food substitute pills. Secretly, Pete was hoping to make Pepsi the first pill dispensed from the machine, but he wasn't sure how his boss would feel about that.

As he was trying to locate Ron's room, Pete thought about his addiction and how he had come by it. It was all his mother's fault. While pregnant with him, she had stopped at a Naugle's fast food drive-up every single morning on her way to work and ordered a green burrito and the biggest Pepsi available. She would wolf down the burrito before she even got back on the freeway and had her Pepsi half consumed by the time she arrived at work. Luckily, they had a small refrigerator where she worked that she made sure was always stocked to the brim with chilled Pepsi bottles. As soon as she emptied that giant cup she got from Naugles she'd fill it to the brim again.

All day, she'd sit at her desk sipping Pepsi, and at the end of the day, before leaving for home, she'd make sure her cup was filled up again for the 30 minute drive home.

So it really wasn't his fault he was addicted, he was born that way.

Aww, he thought to himself, there's Ron's room and he turned in.

[goofyemt96]

As he began to knock on the door to Ron's Room, Lawanda was right there, she was opening the door as Pete said hello....Lawanda stood there in disbelief that it took him so long to find the room, she said " let me guess You ran out of pepsi and just had to find the closet place to get one" Lawanda knew Petes addictition to well... She only wanted his love and affection...she never thought she would compete over a drink. "Pete turns to lawanda, you know i love you!. This is not my fault, ohh really lawanda says " Yes its my mothers" Ohh sure blame it on the woman who gave birth to you" Just then the nurse comes in..

[Rose Ann]

…..And says that it's time to take Ron to get his CT scan. Lawanda and Pete wonder how much the nurse has overheard.

"Can I go with him?" asks Pete.

"Only relatives can accompany patients to the scan room. Are you a relative?"

"Um, well, uh, ah…."he stammered.

"Well?" the nurse inquired

Suddenly time slowed down for Pete. He wished he had his Pepsi so that he could calm himself down. "I have to think!!" he said to himself "What do I tell her? If I tell the truth, then Lawanda will never want to be with me. But how could I cover a lie about something so big?"

He saw Lawanda standing there with her pleading eyes and the nurse's mouth beginning to move again. He had to say something! He had to do it now!

The nurse began to turn around and to wheel Ron from the room.

"WAIT!" yelled Pete, with his heart in his throat, "I am Ron's……"

[FrugalByDesign]

"Second cousin twice removed" Pete lied. How could he speak the truth NOW in front of Lawanda? "I'm the closest living relative of Ron's".

"Well, that took you long enough to say!" Said the nurse. "Are ya hiding something?", she said, jokingly.

"If you only knew...." thought Pete, while he followed Ron - his bed gliding down the surgically clean hallways of the hospital.

"Wow, this place is REALLY clean", thought Pete. "Yeah, I know I'm in a hospital and all, and it HAS to be be clean. Look how people seem to really like 'clean", though. Hmmm... I want to be really liked - especially by Lawanda. Maybe my Super Hero name should be 'Mister Clean'. That sounds vaguely familiar....Hmmm... Kinda got a theme song going in my head..."

Mr. Clean gets rid of hate and crime
And thugs in just a minute
Mr. Clean will clean your whole city
And everything that's in it
Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean

"Hmmmm... that has potential... Gotta think about that one just a little bit more..."

Back at the office, Stan has found the key to the "Suppli" cabinet (who the heck would mispell SUPPLY? What kind of morons do I have working here?), and uses it to unlock the door. He reaches in to pull out a pack of copy paper, but, instead grabs a...