Zana

Vivid

Velvet stops telling the story.

His brain snaps to attention.

The line of Vivid is kicking in.

It's incredible.

Genius really.

Invented by a fourteen year old boy in his bedroom and downloaded the world over.

A mash up of topsy-turvy nursery rhymes, read by a parrot, mainlined through headphones and terribly addictive.

i-Tunes deals the thirty second sound bytes of neuropoetry for just $1.79 a hit.

It feels like a rapid succession of brain rockets screaming through your head, leaving luminescent trails of sparkly ideas and shiny creativity.

Or as New Scientist magazine so eloquently put it, 'It literally made your mind explode into a state of vivid imagination'.

Sophia's wired too.

She is also crying.

Velvet leans over and gently wipes away the tears that descend like fallen angels from a heavenly blue sky.

He always feels a little guilty whenever she gets upset.

The trouble is, sadness suits her.

She wears it well and Sophia never looked more beautiful than she did tonight.

Even the music matches the magic of the moment.

'Cry Me a River', by Julie London, purrs through hidden speakers.

A slow running river of molten honey.

Like a drunk conversation with Kitty.

Late in the evening.

Under a full moon.

The club is in lock down as it is every midnight.

A golden rule created and strictly enforced by its vampish and wonderfully mad owner, Gamma Wild.

A cult siren.

She wanders, no, prowls, with the Moon Girls in her wake, through the crowd that resembles a bag of licorice allsorts emptied on a table.

Velvet watches as the party girls flirt and flash their garters to attract the attention of the blind cocktail waiters.

Who put their total trust in the paws of a dog.

Little French Bulldogs to be precise.

Clever canines, with colour corrected eyesight, making it possible for them to spot a pink garter at twenty paces.

Guiding the cocktail waiters to their customers.

Sophia taps him on the shoulder.

"Does this story have a happy ending, Velv?"

He relights the dreadful cigar and speaks softly.

"It all depends on whether you see the glass half full or half empty."

Sophia shudders.

The Vivid is working.

She grins and quickly replies.

"And that all depends on whether you are pouring or drinking."