Maxima!!

TRACK 13: BUSY GIRL

Careful. Careful. Careful.

The screams, honks, and squeals of tires flooded Rosie's ears again. Like it mattered. One slow, gingerly step after another followed, as if she tiptoed towards the cookie jar for a midnight snack -- only in her case, she had to go through a long, winding network of highways. I'm gettin' the hang o' this, she thought, even when a nearby semi reminded her of the pair she'd trampled earlier.

Roads straight and curved, raised and low stretched on from horizon to horizon. One look to her left confirmed, and quickly, that downtown Santa-In still stood tall in the distance, from the towering Grand Central building to Pesadilla Park on the district's fringes -- complete, as always, by its whirling Ferris wheel. But she couldn't imagine herself riding it anytime soon. Instead, she focused on her destination: Wood Chucks, the home improvement megastore. It took everything she had to avoid singing the jingle.

Rosie came to a sudden halt and looked down, even if it meant she straddled a wide overpass. She didn't know if she caused the wreck below her, but she couldn't ignore it or the flames that spewed from an overturned car. Even if it took time to safely bend down and reach, she pinched the burning vehicle and snuffed out the fire. With that done, she plucked the piled-up cars from the road and inspected them for bodies. None in sight, thankfully; the drivers had vacated and stood on the sidelines, keen to gawk at the giantess who cleared the scene. "Is everyone okay?" she asked as she held a blue muscle car. "Nobody hurt?"

Those that didn't run and scream shook their heads.

Rosie gave everyone within a thousand feet of her a warm smile. "I'm so glad." She set the muscle car down with a pat on its roof, though it groaned from the pressure. "Take care, everyone," she said with a wave as she started off -- but froze, turned back to the overpass, and held up a finger. "Oh! Make sure y'all be careful on the road from now on, 'kay? It's rough out there." She clapped her hands together. "But don't get too nervous. Try listenin' to music if y'all need to calm down. Hot Zone's a good pick -- like their song 'Paradise Ditty'. Or a classic like 'Summer Blossoms'. It's different from their other songs, but it's worth it for --!"

She finally took notice of the onlookers that thoughtlessly gaped at her -- and the cars forced into a traffic jam by her wriggling toes. "Oh. Better get goin' then. Buh-bye!" One last wave followed as she headed off, and faster than she had before. Fast enough to forget she needed those deliberate, dainty steps -- and fast enough to leave her footprint in a grassy knoll. Even then, Rosie made it past all of those roads with minimal damage. It still left her at something around three hundred thirty feet, by her guess. She had the stylish threads to prove it; the sundress steadily transformed into a mini cocktail dress, with one shoulder gone and the rest a sneeze away from becoming a two-piece. At some point, she'd have to sew something new together. Somehow.

But she welded a smile to her face as she breached the shopping center's parking lot. Every step she took made the lamps rattle, and she set off alarms with one press of her heel. While customers scrambled and drove off, Rosie walked on until she reached Wood Chucks. Since the store didn't even reach her knees, she knew she had no chance of waltzing through the door. Thankfully, she didn't have to. Employees stood guard outside, armed with axes, hammers, shovels, and nail guns. One brave soul stood at the front with a chainsaw in her hands -- while a braver soul stood at the front with two axes.

Rosie crouched down. "Hiya," she said as she bobbed on her soles. "Can I get a hand? I was hopin' --"

The young woman with the chainsaw shook her head, and tossed her saffron ponytail about. "We don't want any trouble, ma'am. Just leave." The axe master on her right drove the point home as he shadow-boxed with his twin weapons.