The original challenge for this one involved either the search for an elusive parking spot, or Road Rage. I had no interest at all in the latter, so I decided to make my story as light hearted as possible. Since, obviously, there wouldn't be much action, I included enough of my favourite characters for some decent dialogue. As for the punchline; well, I just couldn't resist!

Parking Lot Limbo

For a man born among the unspoiled hills and cliffs of the Highlands, there was nothing as ugly, as unnatural, as flat out wrong as a parking lot. On his third circuit of the sterile field, MacLeod thought to himself that he had never had this much trouble finding a place to tie up a horse. A car suddenly appeared in front of him; tires screeched as he swerved to avoid a collision. That was another thing he hated about parking lots, no one bothered to follow even the most basic rules of the road.

As if answering his own thoughts, a much younger voice grumbled a complaint from the back seat. "Who’s idea was this anyway? No one in their right mind goes to a Grand Opening; especially not for one of these Big Box stores."

"It could be worse; at least it’s not a mall."

Amanda, perched in the passenger seat, whirled around, unable to decide which of the men to glare at first. "And what exactly is so terrible about a mall?"

"Nothing, dear." The response was automatic, a self-defence reflex. Unfortunately, it wasn’t always successful.

"Don’t you dear me; it’s condescending. Besides, I can tell when you don’t mean it." During this minor confrontation, a little foreign car zipped into a space Mac had been aiming toward. Amanda shrugged apologetically, looking about as sincere as he had sounded moments before. Richie couldn’t keep himself from giggling, earning himself a double glare.

In one of her lightning quick mood swings, Amanda smiled, answering the original question; "This is Deb’s first book-signing; I just thought we should be supportive." Even as she spoke the words, she remembered her earliest years, when it had taken all of Rebecca’s persuasive skills to convince her that books were of any use whatsoever.

Duncan’s frustration level was rising rapidly; "We can chat when we finally get out of this Limbo; until then, keep your eyes open for empty spots." Both passengers obediently began scanning the aisles. Time became fluid; an eternity seemed to pass before Richie gave a triumphant whoop, pointing into the distance. The excitement quickly crashed as they approached their mythical goal: "That’s a Handicapped Spot!"

Richie gave a boneless shrug that was the speciality of young men; "We all have valid Death Certificates, how much more handicapped can you get?" He cringed under the weight of his mentor’s dark gaze. "Kidding, Mac; I’m kidding. What happened to your sense of humour?" Amanda’s muttered "You wouldn’t believe it" was too low to be heard. Unfortunately, Duncan had lost some of his playfulness when Fitzcairn had jumped ship.

They were starting to get desperate. Eventually, they were forced into the oft-maligned procedure known as "Vulturing": circling an area waiting for a vehicle’s brake lights to come on; or worse, actually following shoppers from the building all the way to their cars. Even those tactics were iffy at best, as they competed with much more experienced vultures. Twice they narrowly avoided collision when two cars raced for the prize of a mere few feet of open space. The Gathering seemed like child’s play compared to this.

Through it all, Amanda maintained a serene, ladylike composure; either she was supremely confident that they would find the coveted piece of asphalt, or she simply found it beneath her dignity to worry about such things. Pulling down the visor mirror, she paused to check her makeup, perfect as always. She slipped on a pair of designer sunglasses, though the sun was not particularly bright. This was becoming quite boring; something needed to be done. As the classic car approached the bookstore entrance once again, a perfectly manicured finger thrust out; "There, that one. Turn now!"

Duncan turned quickly, catching sight of an open spot that seemed to be waiting just for them. "How did you do that?" Amanda’s slim shoulders lifted in a move too graceful to be called a shrug; "Woman’s Intuition." Mac muttered a comment about thieves having sharp eyes, swinging the classic car into place, an eternal limbo of fruitless circling finally coming to an end. As the wheels rolled to gentle stop, the lovely lady pulled a scarf from her purse, artfully wrapping the silk around her distinctive dark hair, although the day was not overly breezy. She waited patiently for one of the boys to open her door; after all, one needed to maintain appearances.

As the trio walked the last few feet to the entrance of the newly minted Chapters, Richie spoke up one more time. "So, anybody know what kind of book she’s promoting?" Duncan frowned for an instant, but he hadn’t even bothered to ask. Amanda turned to favour the boy with one of her liquid smiles, not even missing a step, "Oh, the usual." MacLeod pondered the full implication of that casual phrase as he opened the door. He saw the massive crowd; an instant later, he noticed the banner over the small table—Welcome to Chapters: featuring Debra Campbell, author of Journeys from the Highlands.

Time, which had stretched out to infinity out on the lot, seemed to hold its breath. One woman turned around by chance, saw the new arrivals. A soft gasp sighed from barely parted lips; the sound spread like a wave as all eyes focused upon them. "Run!" Duncan cried, pushing a surprised Richie aside as he retreated the way he came. Fans swarmed forward, shocked into a stampede by the unexpected sight of not one, but two Series stars. Meanwhile, unnoticed in her simple but elegant disguise, Amanda forged ahead against the current. Picking up a copy of the aforementioned book, the Lady Rogue found herself first in line at the author’s table. "Silly boys, they should have known better!"


There is a fine line between an Original Character and the dreaded Mary Sue. Although Debra Campbell was well-developped, and had enough flaws and weaknesses to avoid MS status, I didn't want to show favouritism. So I needed to find a way to have a story be about Deb, without her actually being in the story. I found the perfect balance in this tale, if I do say so myself.
 
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