Episode 98

The Mutual Broadcasting System brings you another episode of Life in Hyperion.

Only two more to go until the 100th episode!

Today's episode: "The Temporary Parent", Part 2

Yesterday, we began our tenth serial of the series with storytime at the local library with Darlene, who has become a hero to the children of Hyperion.  Cy, still stewing over the departure of his father yesterday, comes for a visit and is taken in by the treatment Darlene gives the children, very different from the times she tried to ban them as a human iceberg.
As we begin today, a topic stews in Darlene's mind...

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"Cy, can I confide in you?" asks Darlene.

"I'm sure you can." says Cy.

"I've been reading to the kids for a while, and helping them." says Darlene.

"I know that." says Cy.

"And it's awakened some feelings in me." says Darlene.

"I get it. Your long-domant material instincts are alive and well." says Cy.

"I just wanna have a kid of my own." says Darlene.

"It would be a good step in your return to humanity to raise a child." says Cy.

"I just I could have one." says Darlene.

"Well, there are three ways to get one. One, you can go the usual nine months, either by man or sperm donor." says Cy.

"What's the second way?" asks Darlene.

"Just take one, and if you go that way, I'll alert Officer Grace to a children count in case one turns up missing." says Cy.

"And the third one?" asks Darlene.

"Adopt." says Cy.

"But I wanna a baby to hold in my arms." says Darlene.

"It's rare that an adoption agency has a child under six months of age." says Cy.

"But then what is a mother to do?" asks Darlene.

"You're not a mother yet, Darlene." says Cy.

"One day, I will be." says Darlene.

"Why the rush to motherhood?" asks Cy.

"Because I'm 30 and I have no children." says Darlene.

"My mother was your age when she had me." says Cy.

"And only you. Remember that, Cy." says Darlene.

"How many offspring are we talking about here?" asks Cy.

"A nice-sized brood. About three or four." says Darlene.

"Don't worry. If you stick with Thomas, I'm sure he can help you with that." says Cy.

"Me and Thomas haven't really seen each other for a while now." says Darlene.

"All relationships go through a cooling-off period. It's normal." says Cy.

"Has it happened to you and Joanne yet?" asks Darlene.

"We had a touch of it, but me and her are in it for the long haul, it seems." says Cy.

"You sound like your father." says Darlene.

"Long haul means more than my father." says Cy.

"Tell me you never felt the urge to roam." says Darlene.

"Maybe once, but I quietly buried it." says Cy.

"You talk about your mother and never your father. I feel something wrong with that." says Darlene.

"Just because you want kids doesn't mean you can adopt me as yours." says Cy.

"I never even got to see him this time and show him the melted me." says Darlene.

"Maybe he'll head back this way soon, but I doubt that." says Cy.

"You and your father should get along better. To me, you seem alike." says Darlene.

"I'm not like him in the least. I stay in one place." says Cy.

"Then why all the talk about Polly and her career. Sounds like you're looking for an excuse to leave." says Darlene.

"Perhaps I better leave here." says Cy.

"See you around... Mitch." says Darlene as Cy makes his leave.

Down at the police station, Officer Grace is sitted at a desk as she fills out some paperwork. Meanwhile, Officer Timmy walks over to where the desk is, adjusting his belt as he walks.

"What a day, I say." says Officer Timmy.

"Right that you are." says Officer Grace.

"The sun is out and about." says Officer Timmy.

"I can see it." says Officer Grace.

"Just another day in the city." says Officer Grace.

"Trying to be a poet, Officer Timmy?" asks Officer Grace.

"Very funny. It's our job to keep an eye out for crime." says Officer Timmy.

"Seems to be very calm today." says Officer Grace.

"Just a few days ago, we learned that a dangerous man had taken up residence in our town." says Officer Timmy.

"But Cy put a stop to that." says Officer Grace.

"I hear you're dating one of his co-workers." says Officer Timmy.

"His name is Phil." says Officer Grace.

"Is he a shady character?" asks Officer Timmy.

"He's a very nice man." says Officer Grace.

"Well, be careful, he might be a shady character." says Officer Timmy.

"With you, I can see Cy's paranoia about cops." says Officer Grace.

"The way he puts cops is the way a cop should be. They shouldn't let their feelings cloud their judgement, not for a second." says Officer Timmy.

"That paranoia comes from cops like that roaming the streets of New York City." says Officer Grace.

"Trust in cops should be kept as much as trust in a deity." says Officer Timmy.

"I'll never be like that, and I hope to God I never see your side of the coin." says Officer Grace.

"What side of the coin?" asks Officer Timmy.

"The unfeeling, by-the-book cop that cares more about the law than the people. Cy has a name for it, 'Sergeant Friday Syndrome'." says Officer Grace.

"The day I care less about the law, may I be struck dead." says Officer Timmy.

"Then I better have you transferred." says Officer Grace.

"What for?" asks Officer Timmy.

"So you don't stink up the place when you die like that." says Officer Grace.
 
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Tomorrow, Cy makes another important discovery, which leads to more important changes to those around him, as he always does when he makes discoveries, like Columbus.
 
Join us, won't you?
Yours truly, John Maxwell.
 
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