The Life of Oddley - Episode 3

Greetings, people, and welcome to the third installiment of "The Life of Oddley".  The last two installiment haven't received much praise, but I'm hoping that Oddley and his adventures will catch on.

Last week, Oddley was in trouble with Newshow over the $3,000 that was owed.  Oddley had only 30 days to pay up.  As it looked bad, in walks the lovely Willow, a sex-crazed blonde with only one thought on her mind.  She manages to catch Oddley and bed him for a night.  However, before she does, she manages to answer Oddley's problem concerning his debt by directing him to a science lab. 

There, he meets Dr. Roberta Milner, who's in the market for a assistant and reminds Oddley of his one-night stand.  Oddley gets the job at $1,000 a week plus bonuses.  However, he must get out of working at Easy-Mart, so he talks Mr. Randall into giving him three weeks of vacation, just enough time to pay off his debt and then return to his job.

On his first day on the job at the lab, Oddley is called to assist on an experiment done on a muscle man to test a new formula for the space program to increase muscle.  The formula works but Oddley takes advantage of the fact the muscle man is tied up and insults.  However, this causes the muscle man to get angry and soon manages to free a hand to choke Oddley...

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With no way to voice myself, I tried hand signals to get Dr. Milner's attention but she was too involved with her clipboard. It's around then that the lack of air ruins my memory but I do know that Dr. Milner did notice my state and get the muscle man to loosen his grip on my neck.

"Thanks." I remember saying.

"Oh, dear. I guess this serum increases negative emotions in the subject." she said.

"I was helping, besides." I said, rubbing my nearly-broken neck.

"I guess we'll have to try again." she said.

"Let me help you." I said, making a rush to the table.

In my rush, I hit the table with some force and some of the beakers did a jump in the air, releasing some liquid into the air and onto Dr. Milner, leaving her a collection of various colors and such.

"Oops." I said.

"Oh, no. Now I'll have to de-con." she said, walking away from the table with a run.

I then followed behind with some speed, following her to an area of the labs marked "de-contamination showers" I only read that line after I was some distance in the room. It was pointed out once Dr. Milner noticed my presence.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Following you. I'm only doing my job." I said.

"I need to de-contaminate myself." she said.

"Well, go ahead, doc." I said.

"It'll required me to undress." she said with nervous voice.

"Go ahead. It's nothing I haven't seen before." I said.

"I'm asking you to leave." she then said.

"Are we embarassed?" I asked.

"I just don't like people seeing me... undressed." she said with a whisper.

"Don't worry. I'll look the other way while you wash and rinse." I said.

"Promise?" she said to me.

"Sure." I said as I turned away from her.

Of course, curiosity got to me and as I heard the rustle of clothing being removed behind me, my head turned just enough to catch a peek of the sight behind my back. Dr. Milner soon got down to nothing and I saw that she was nicely built for her size. I then turned back to avoid being spotted as she got into one of the stalls in the room.

"So, this is where scientists get clean." I said.

"That's right, Mr. Mitchell." she said as she turned on the water.

"Call me Oddley. You haven't call me that since I met you." I said.

"I'm a scientist. I must avoid informal associations." she said.

"I'm really a people person. I trust others by their characters, what I can see of it." I said.

"That's a bad thing to me." she said.

"Not to me." I said.

"Can't you be quiet. I'm nervous enough trying to shower with you in here without talking." she said.

"Okay." I said.

I then started to whistle a tune. Soon, the tune turned to humming and the humming turned into lyrics, which I began reeling off the tongue with ease.

"I don't need music." said Dr. Milner.

"I think music is very helpful. I have a good singing voice and don't wish to waste it." I said.

"Well, with me like this, I don't need any sign of others looking at me." she said.

"Really? I think you're good to look at." I said.

"How would you know that?" she asked.

"Because I've been in the next door stall for the last minute or so." I said, alerting her to my motion.

"Look away!" she screamed as she did the cover-up routine.

"You didn't object when I got here." I said, looking over the divide between the stalls.

"I'm very upset when people see me nude." she said.

"You've got a nice body. It triggers something in me." I said.

"Feelings of sexual lust?" she asked.

"No, feelings of memory, like I've seen that form before." I said.

"Where?" she then asked.

"I have no idea. It's slow in coming, pardon the word." I said.

"You're forgiven." she said as she uncovered herself.

"If we're gonna spend time together, we must get to know each other, even if you think it's worthless." I said.

"I'll admit it, you look familiar to me, too." she said.

"Then we're not strangers." I said.

"Could be." she said.

"I'll leave you to your wash." I said as I walked away.

That was one of the weirdest moments in my life. I'll never forget Dr. Milner's form, neither. The rest of the day was spent going over chemical after chemical, mixing and unmixing. By the time the end of the day came, I was ready to go home. However, my day wasn't over, for as I arrived at my door, I saw Newshaw.

"Good evening, Oddley." he said with a sneer.

"Hello, Newshaw." I said.

"I've been looking for you, Oddley." he said.

"You have? That's good to hear." I said.

"I checked the store and they said you were on vacation." he said.

"I am." I said.

"I thought you went into hiding and I was hoping to catch you in the act." he said.

"If you must know, I'm on my way to paying my debt to you." I told him.

"How?" he asked.

"By working at a science lab, $1,000 a week, plus bonuses." I said.

"Are you kidding me?" he said.

"No, I'm not. In a month, I'll have your money." I said.

"You know, you can still give me a date with your sister to cancel your debt." he said.

"I've decided to leave my family outta this." I said.

"I hope you're telling the truth, so I'll see you in 30 days with my money." he said before he left.

I then made my way inside my apartment. After the long day I'd had, it was nice to come home. As I was beginning to settle in, I heard a knock at the door. Quickly, I made my way over to the door and opened it to find Gilda.

"Good evening, Oddley." she said.

"Same to you. Please come in." I said as she did so.

"I came here to see how your first day at the labs went." she said.

"It went as well as it could." I said.

"Is that all you can say?" she asked.

"Well, I almost died today." I said.

"You did?" she said.

"I'll tell you one thing, I will never insult a muscle man ever again." I said.

"That's interesting." she said as she took a look around my pad.

"This is my home. This is where I spend much of my off-work time." I said.

"What's that on top of your TV set?" she asked, pointing to my unusual rabbit ears on my set.

"That's my super-receiver. A mix of hangers and foil, it can pick up signals from up to 200 miles away." I said.

"How did you come up with this?" she then asked.

"Trial and error, mainly error." I said.

"Listen, I want to tell you something." she said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I want to invite you to attend my brother's weekly rehearsal at my house with his band." she said.

"Well, nice of you to invite me. I'll be there." I said.

"It's on Saturday at 2:00 pm. Be there." she said.

The next day soon arrived and I went to my second day at the science lab. As I entered the lab of Dr. Milner, I could see her going over some paperwork. I wondered to myself if I could keep up my routine for a second day.

"Good morning, Mr. Mitchell." she said as she noticed my entry.

"And a good morning to you, doc." I said.

"I hope you're ready for another day of science." she said.

"I hope so. Science is turning out to be very interesting." I said.

"That's nice to know, Mr. Mitchell." she said.

"I told you, call me Oddley." I said.

"I prefer a formal addressing." she said.

"And after I saw you in the buff yesterday. I've had dates that ended like this." I said.

"I don't care about your dating life." she said.

"If I'm gonna be working here, I would like to work as friends." I said.

"That may be your idea of working, but it's not mine." she said.

"I can tell that there's a warm person under that whole scientist thing." I said.

"Just help me with mixing a new serum." she said, walking up to one of the tables.

"I guess we can work like this." I said.

"Hand me that bottle over there." she said, pointing to an area with many of them at her table.

"Right, sir." I said, walking over.

Quickly, I grabbed a bottle of strange-colored liquid from the collection at Dr. Milner's table and handed over to her with ease. Dr. Milner then looked down at the bottle and quickly tried to hand it back.

"Take this away." she said as I took the bottle back.

"Why? It is what you wanted, right?" I said.

"I don't ever want to see that again." she said.

"A scientist having an aversion to a bottle? This is a note for modern science." I said.

"It's not the bottle, it's the stuff in it." she said.

"What's in the bottle?" I asked.

"It's... nothing." she said.

"Tell me." I said.

"Just get the bottle I asked for." she told me.

"Not until you explain this one." I said.

"It's... a rejected serum." she said.

"The muscle-building stuff?" I asked.

"That's what I mixed it for." she said.

"But what happened?" I asked.

"I decided to test it... and I found it was something different." she said.

"What was it?" I asked.

"I found that it... increases sex drive." she said.

"This stuff is a aprodashiac? Interesting." I said.

"The ultimate one. It turns one into a nymphomanic." she said.

"What did you test it on?" I asked.

"Myself. I don't remember much after that but I don't wish to experience it again." she said.

"Then I'll just put this back." I said, doing that action.

"Thank you." she said.

"Say, how much is a proper dose?" I asked.

"Of what?" she asked.

"That sex drive stuff." I said.

"A teaspoon does the trick." she said.

"Thank you." I said.

"You're not gonna drink it, are you?" she asked.

"If you're right, I wish not to. If you want my opinion, you should market that stuff. You could call it nympho-drops." I said.

"Just hand me that bottle right there." she said, pointing the correct one out.

"Here you go." I said, doing my task.

"Thank you." she said.

Let me tell you, that stuff that Dr. Milner hated caught my curiosity. A liquid that can turn someone into a nymphomaniac? That was interesting enough to me that, when Dr. Milner was busy, I took that bottle and poured some of the stuff into a small medicine bottle. I left that day with bottle in hand.

As I was driving home, my mind decided that I shouldn't keep my new find with me. I decided that I should give it to Gilda. I went through and remembered the address she gave me when she invited me to her house for the rehearsal. Once I remembered it, I then roamed around until I found it.

"Good evening, Oddley." Gilda said to me as I entered her home.

"The same to you, my dear." I said.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I know we've only been friends for a week and a half but I decided to bring you something." I said.

"What is it?" she asked.

"This." I said as I produced the medicine bottle from a pants pocket.

"What is it?" she asked again.

"It's... a new serum I've been asked by Dr. Milner to test." I said.

"How does it work?" she asked.

"It... improves your love life." I said.

"Why are you giving it to me?" she then asked.

"Because... Dr. Milner told me to test it on a woman and report back the results." I said.

"I guess I could test it for you." she said.

"Not now. Test it whenever you feel like it." I said.

"Thank you." she said.

The next day came and I went to work with the tune "Wildwood Flower" stuck in my head. I must have whistled that tune a dozen times that day. It annoyed Dr. Milner, who I took was not a fan of country and western music. At the end of the day, she was getting used to it a little.

Then it was Friday and I decided to ask Dr. Milner for the next day off so I could attend the rehearsal. She thought it over and decided that I could have the time off, if I didn't bring the "Wildwood Flower" back to the lab. I agreed but I must admite, I had my fingers crossed behind me.

Then it was Saturday. At around 1:30 pm, I left my apartment and made my way over to Gilda's house. When I got there, I found Gilda making some food for the group.

"Hello, Gilda." I said as I entered.

"Hello, Oddley. Ready for some music?" she said.

"I am." I said.

"How did you get time off from work?" she asked.

"If I promised not to bring a tune on my mind, I could have the day off." I said.

"That's you all over." she said.

As I was preparing to answer that, a knock came at the door. Quickly, I rushed over and opened to find four guys, carrying musical gear.

"Which one of you is Gilda's brother?" I asked.

"I am." said a man with a blonde mod cut and clothes to match.

"Then I'm Oddley Mitchell." I said.

"Tuck Tucker." he said as we shook hands.

"Is that your real name?" I asked.

"No, it's Owen, but only my parents use it." he said.

"Then Tuck it is." I said.

"Hello, Gilda." he then said.

"Hello, Tuck." she said.

"Well, we need to rehearse." he said as he lead three other guys into the house.

"Please set up." she then said.

And so they did. They did so for the next twenty minutes, just moving stuff in until their equipment was all in place and ready to be played. I saw a guitar, an electric organ, and a drum kit, all looking nice. I also learned that the group's name was the Pickadillies, and that was the spelling they had written on the bass drum.

"We're ready to rehearse." said Tuck.

"If you excuse me for a moment, I must freshen up." said Gilda.

"I wish I could." he said as she left the room.

"Until Gilda comes back, why don't I be your audience?" I said.

"That will be good enough." said Tuck as he headed over to where the equipment was with the rest of the group.

"First, I would wish an intro to the group." I said as I took a seat on a couch facing them.

"Okay. On that Gretsch Country Gentleman is Aaron Lewis. On the organ over there is Stan O'Reilly, and on those drums is Ray Goldman." said Tuck.

"And I guess you're on the one on that bass." I said.

"It's a Fender Jaguar bass." he said.

"That's a good model. Now, I ask the band to play." I said.

And so they did. They quickly launched into a redition of "Last Train to Clarksville". When Tuck began singing, my ears turned inwards, as his singing was a bit off key for a lead vocal. Stan provided harmony and his voice was better for the task. Halfway through the number, I'd had enough and decided to stop it.

"That's enough." I shouted, bringing the song to a stop.

"What's wrong?" asked Tuck.

"For one thing, my ears are ringing from the way you played the tune, which was great." I said.

"What else?" he asked.

"The way you sang was a little off." I said.

"I suppose you could sing better." he said.

"I can. I pride myself on my singing voice." I said.

"Then take the mic and give us a listen." he said.

"Okay." I said.

It was when I got up to the mic that I realized that I was being given a chance to show off my voice. Quickly, I remembered the lyrics and gave the band I felt was a good enough signal, which it was for they began playing. I then let loose the words the best I could. After a few lines, I heard Stan doing harmony along with Tuck.

Those two voices proved to be very good at the task. The band then showed off their musical ability on the song's bridge. I marveled at it until it was time to resume singing, which I did and found that these guys were just the musicians I needed for the band I've always wanted.

"You guys are great." I said.

"No, you are." said Tuck.

"How so?" I asked.

"Your voice is great. I mean, none of us can sing like that." he said.

"I knew that." I said.

"Say, how would you join our group?" he then asked.

"I've been waiting to hear that for ages." I said.

"Are you in?" he said.

"Yes. Now, let's play." I said.

"What shall we play?" asked Aaron.

"A little of my favorite band, the Byrds. 'Feel a Whole Lot Better'." I said.

"We know that." said Tuck.

"Then let's rock." I said.

And rock we did. Over the next hour, we did song after song. With each one, I got better along at singing with the group. Before I knew it, Tuck called an end to rehearsal and I watched them pack up and leave. When the band was gone, I had a moment to reflect.

I was now a member of a rock band. I was now traveling in musical circles. I then wondered if they were up to a task to learn the songs I knew best: country music. It was a sound I'd felt was coming into style and I had a chance to get in on it. After five minutes of reflection, I heard someone come into the room.

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It is nice to see Oddley avoid death itself.  It's also nice to see Oddley have a dream of his come true but I wonder who's in the living room with Oddley?  You'll have to find the old-fashioned way, by checking in next week to see who it is. 
 
Next week, Oddley's living room visitor makes him inside the closet but also gives him the best idea ever, one that might lead to a bigger advanture then Oddley has ever known.  That's next week, Thursday, August 25th, at 2:30 pm.
 
Until then, this is John Maxwell saying, if in times of hardship, you can hold your head above the crowd, you'll be taller than anyone else...