Running on Sunday

Roger in the Brown Shed

It doesn't take long for Robert to make way through Elnie's house following her through every room like a bright blur except for one room which only has light at the entryways wherein Robert follows Elnie's silhouette in the alternate entryway leading into a large library with lamps on, down a few steps into a splitting corridor, toward a hallway with coats and a large storage chest, outside in a garden of decorative bushes shaved as well as sculpted stones, into a corner of a shiny brown shed where Elnie's giggle shrieks, "Here we are." She closes her eyes for a moment, inhales then exhales before opening them again, "Glistening," Elnie runs her hands along the frame of Roger, "I make sure to give Roger a weekly routine check up inclusive of cleaning-- all the works." She taps all four of Roger's crossbars, "These are split crossbars. I can move them around and reposition them." She pops one of the crossbars with a wrench from a near table and dangles a portion of the crossbar at Robert observing with wide eyes and raised brows, "See? I'm thinking of getting more adjustable crossbars. They don't have the automatic ones with smaller pieces that switch on the go depending on preset commands kind of like setting gears for crossbars yet." Elnie reattaches the crossbar, runs the middle finger of her left hand along the frame tapping six cranks at different height levels able to rotate 360° about the frame with their chain routes and chain wheels, "Roger's saddle rotates and the handlebars fold in so I can ride in any direction and switch my seating position without any inhibitions. That's the reason the chain wheels are set at different levels and I use a bit more chain. Each chain route activates in accordance with its operating crank. If another crank is in use, the others lock until I make an adjustment." Robert's eyes widen more as his jaw drops and Elnie continues tinkering about Roger, "I'm a pretty skilled rider. It's not a simple task to switch footing on a two wheeler without handlebars hence the reason Roger has four wheels and a fairly large frame. I can maneuver my feet along the crossbars and frame to maneuver well. Check this out." Elnie lightly presses a button underneath Roger's seat: slim metal arms extend from about Roger's frame and intertwine above Roger's saddle. Elnie fits between the metal arms to sit and rotate on Roger's saddle. She giggles at Robert, "See, I can flip and roll adjusting." She points at round bumpers extending and retracting from the frame and crossbars. "These help me manage Roger's bouncing direction. It took a lot of practice but I'm really good at moving through extreme turbulence with Roger tumbling about." Elnie resets Roger and pets his handlebars. "You'd never know by looking at him." Robert feels a lightness in his stomach,

"Roger has a lot of nifty tools. How much impact can he take in each area including your weight inside?" Elnie pats Roger's saddle as she responds,

"I installed an impact vibrator in every portion of Roger that leads to a major impact vibrator that helps Roger bounce and roll more efficiently while negating certain pressures so as to sustain his best form." Robert's eyes dim in half-belief as he questions Elnie,

"Roger is uncrushable?" Elnie giggles,

"If there's room to bounce and roll. Otherwise, it'd take the force of two mountains collapsing on Roger directly in the center of them to cause Roger's gears to implode then explode." Robert smirks squinting,

"Is that intentional?" Elnie smiles, proud,

"Necessary as I'd need about seven minutes to remove myself from Roger and equip the boosters hidden, well, stored behind the chain wheels which can propel me at 100 miles per minute in a straight direction then discharge me approximately 30 miles a minute after disengaging after two and a half minutes at full capacity which is enough time to escape from between the center of two mountains along a radius of 310 miles attempting to crush me. Plus, Roger's explosion should be enough force to essentially hold the mountains in place, as though Roger is actually still there, for another two to three seconds before a complete collapse which only helps me buy more time. Of course, the larger the mountains the less time so I never overly consider that factor in that situation all too much." Robert clears his throat looking at Elnie as though all disbelief has been eliminated,

"Wow. How'd you install everything into Roger?" Elnie smiles,

"You'd be surprised at Ont's skills especially if you can get hands on or pay for anything he talks about. I haven't seen him in a while though. He must be busy." Robert groans reaching for his phone. Elnie tilts her head at him with an inquiring gaze as though sensing Robert's urgency, "What's up?" Robert hears Cally's voicemail without a ring. He hangs up. He looks stern at Elnie,

"May we go for ride around Lien? I have to check on my friends." Elnie nods smirking,

"Okay, let's be on our way. Maybe next time we can ride together. For now, let's just go on your bike." Robert nods as he walks around the outside of the house toward the front of the house behind Elnie: they set up on Sophia and Robert begins pedaling toward Lower Lien.