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Show "Are you clean?" she said. Not answering, I looked back at the Oldsmobile, but now it was just another car parked on the street. The woman wore an oriental robe over a two-piece swimming suit. She seemed glad to see me, and came at me talking. "Now, let's have a look at those jeans," she said circling. "Put them on clean this morning?" I had. "How apropos." She stepped onto the ramp, opened the door of the dream car, and then jumped down. The robe billowed. "You will have to take off those shoes." I bent down and snapped the laces of my P.F. Fliers. "Don't take them off now. As you're getting in." She had just gotten out of the pool. On her robe, there were large, damp areas where the garment had rested against her wet skin. The robe was a topographical map of an unknown but prosperous country. For the first time, I knew the impulse to travel. I scampered up, climbed in, and with my feet dangling outside the open door, she reached up and pulled off my shoes. I swung my legs in and she slammed the door shut. "It's a shame Wally's out of town. You could have gone for a ride." The transparent top provided an immediate and decisive effect. The interior was upholstered in white fur, and all appurtenances were either clear plastic or chrome. I grabbed the transparent, visually elusive steering wheel and squinted down an imagined road. The speedometer measured speeds of up to two hundred miles per hour. Staring at the gauge was thrilling. I felt that I was resting on the convergence of speed and light. I felt that I was about to take off, to zoom away. Thrilled, I threw my head back to look up at the sky and the seat, which was adjustable like a recliner, gave way. Quite suddenly. I was horizontal gazing upward. She poked her head in the window, reached in a pushed a button on the dashboard. The seat slowly rose back to vertical. "Wally, hasn't gotten all the bugs out." Leaning against the door, her elbows resting on it, her face close to mine, she explained to me what the gauges measured, what the buttons controlled, and all the luxurious features. She told me she thought the interior |
