Hudson's Open Barn Door

Finally, Hudson and I had worked enough to buy a replacement part for the Danger Sled’s warp drive. After one more warning to Hudson about getting into trouble, I headed down the dusty road towards town. Curly kept away from us and we were starting to fit in. Because of this, I let my guard down a bit and let Hudson stay at the ranch while I was gone. I shouldn’t have done either.

“What are you doing in here?” a voice came from the behind Hudson.

“Huh?” the private turned and looked towards the opened barn door. Sunlight poured through it and silhouetted against the brightness was the shapely figure of Curly’s wife.

“I said what are you doing in here?” she repeated and stepped closer to him.

“I’m just,” Hudson began, then stopped. “Nothing.”

“Nothing? Really?” She stepped closer and looked at his hand. “You got something in there, what is it?”

“I said nothing,” Hudson tried to keep his hands away from her. She reached around him to try to grab his arms, her soft warm body pressed against his. Sadly, he relented and showed her the dead space mouse in his hand.

“Ew, that’s gross!” she sneered. Then she stopped and looked closer. “What was that?”

“He was my pet,” Hudson answered. “He was a space mouse and I named him George and he was the only one who understood me. Then he died.”

“That’s too bad,” she put her hands on his. “You’re a real sensitive guy, aren’t you?”

“I dunno. Kinda, I guess.”

“You’re really broken up about your pet, aren’t you?”

“Yeah,” he answered. “I like to pet pretty things. I like your hair.”

“Really? Do you… want to touch it?”

“Uh, I dunno…”

“Oh come on, ya big lug,” she prodded.

Hudson tentatively reached out towards her titillating tresses. “I shouldn’t. What if Curly finds out?”

“That jerk?” she sneered. “I can’t stand him. Because of him, I’m stuck on this Podunk planet. I was going to be somebody!”

“A contender?”

“No, you clod,” she laughed. “I was going to be a star. I was going to be in space movies, but then I married him. To tell you the truth, I’m glad you broke his hand. He deserved it.”

“Really?”

“So go on, touch it.” Then her voice got real quiet. “I won’t tell.”

Hudson’s face lit up as he touched it. “Wow, it is soft.”

“Mmmm, I like that,” she cooed. “Do you like it?”

“Sure do.”

“You know, I was thinking,” she changed the subject as Hudson held her hair like a puppy grabbing a sock. “You’re not from around here are you?”

“Nope.”

“So are you leaving any time soon?”

“Sure,” he shrugged. “As soon as Jon gets his ship fixed, we’re going to head out of this place. We’re gonna head to Throneworld to see the cute bunnies.”

“Bunnies?”

“Bunnies, you know, uh honeys. Good lookin’ women, like you.”

“Oh.” She got real quiet again. “You think you’ve got room in your ship for one more? I am so unhappy here, I just gotta get out and start fresh. I’ve always had a thing for guys in uniform.”

“Really?” Hudson squeaked then cleared his throat. “I mean really?”

“Oh yeah, maybe you and I could be something, huh?”

“Yeah sure, I—” He stopped dead in his tracks. “No, No I shouldn’t be near you. I don’t want to start no trouble.”

“Please?” she pleaded. “I gotta get out of here. This place is killing my soul.”

“No, I can’t,” Hudson took a step back, but his fingers were still entwined in her hair.

“Please, you have to, ow!” She quickly went from begging for a ride to complaining about his hand in her hair. “That hurts, let go!”

“I can’t!” Panic edged into Hudson’s voice. “It’s stuck.”

“Let go of me!” Her voice grew angrier. “Let go, you jerk!”

With a bead of sweat on his forehead and a flustered look on his face, the Colonial Marine tried to pull his hand free from the medusa-like locks of the woman’s coif. Throwing self-control out the window, Hudson tugged mightily and ripped his hand free, pulling a handful of strands along the way.

She squealed in pain, then tripped and crumpled to the ground. With cracking sound, she hit the barn floor in an awkward position.

“Oh no,” Hudson looked down at her twisted form. “Oh no.”

With panic still etched on his face, Hudson ran out of the barn and away from the ranch.