Oh Great - I Caught A Story Virus

Dr. Zaius has tagged me with a Splotchy story meme:

Here's what I would like to do. I want to create a story that branches out in a variety of different, unexpected ways. I don't know how realistic it is, but that's what I'm aiming for. Hopefully, at least one thread of the story can make a decent number of hops before it dies out.

If you are one of the carriers of this story virus (i.e. you have been tagged and choose to contribute to it), you will have one responsibility, in addition to contributing your own piece of the story: you will have to tag at least one person that continues your story thread. So, say you tag five people. If four people decide to not participate, it's okay, as long as the fifth one does. And if all five participate, well that's five interesting threads the story spins off into.

Not a requirement, but something your readers would appreciate: to help people trace your own particular thread of the narrative, it will be helpful if you include links to the chapters preceding yours. Splotchy

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The Apple

The bus was more crowded than usual. It was bitterly cold outside, and I hadn't prepared for it. I noticed that a fair number of the riders were dressed curiously. As I glanced around, I stretched my feet and kicked up against a large, heavy cardboard box laying under the seat in front of me. (Splotchy)

I couldn't believe my eyes. Surrepticiously, I tried to establish, without giving it away, if anyone else had seen what I had. For ten years I had been looking for that box. What looked like an ordinary cardboard box to most contained something most precious. Only by the small golden "P" was I able to identify what I was looking at. (Freida Bee)

My heart leapt into my throat with anticipation as my mind leapt to the inevitable conclusion as to the origin of the box, and so I decisively leapt to my feet to claim my newly found, long lost prize! Quick as a bunny I tucked the precious box under my arm and rang the buzzer to get off at the next stop. I could feel the warmth of the regurgitative quasi-pietic spandrels right through my jacket as my long lost apparatus' sinusoidal vaneshaft quietly trilled, "pocketa pocketa pocketa..." Finally, the missing device was mine once again! (Zaius)

At this point, I should describe the marvelous device contained in the box. When I was just a little lad, my daddy brought me a toy he'd made down at the lab. Joe Bethancourt wrote a song about it:

And now, once again I have my marvelous toy back. I have no idea how they caught it, but my son is going to be so excited this Christmas! (ThoughtCriminal)

I now infect the next chapter on: Jon the Intergalactic Gladiator and Dr. Monkerstein.