Chapter 2

Leaving Frank in the car would have been cumbersome, and possibly troublesome, so they decided to head to the supermarket first. The drive to the supermarket was rather uneventful. Allen was quite glad for the peace of the trip, and the calm that accompanied it. Too often in the past year or so, life provided little chance for rest, peace, and calm. Allen greatly hoped that the bustle that had been so predominant in New York City would be slow to return.

"Darn those people," muttered Mary, rousing Allen from his reminiscing. They watched as a quite healthy, wealthy looking woman got out of her expensive car which she had parked in the last open handicap space.

Allen felt an echo of ire as Mary tried to find two spaces open next to each other. Delving a little into her memory, Allen found that Mary often encountered this, and had grown almost accustomed to it now. It amazed Allen again just how well people adapt, especially to misfortune.

'That used to upset you greatly, Mary, ' Allen proposed, musingly. 'Yet now it only mildly annoys you. Why is that?'

Mary let out a sigh that echoed the futility Allen felt in their heart. 'I used to get upset about it, and call the police every time, demanding they come out and issue a ticket. Far too often, though, the person would be gone before the police would get there. They'd take the license number, but without fail they'd say that since they didn't witness it, and since there were no other witnesses coming forward, they couldn't send a ticket to that person.

'On the few occasions where I confronted the rude person, they seemed scared at being confronted, and embarrassed for me making a scene. They'd walk away, or mutter an apology and then continue on life as usual for them. So no matter what I did, I couldn't make a change, I couldn't make a difference.'

'Perhaps we can make a difference now, Mary, ' suggested Allen. 'I do have some small abilities in influencing peoples' minds and emotions, remember?' There was a smile in Allens tones as he prompted Mary to remember when they met.

'Yes, I remember, ' responded Mary, chuckling. 'I also remember that it took a while. Would we be able to do something about it just passing by them?'

Allen pondered that statement, casually making sure that Mary could feel him pondering to know that he wasn't ignoring her question. 'No, I don't believe we could make any lasting change just by passing her in the store. It would require some close proximity for a somewhat extended duration. The best we could do when passing her in the store is make her feel really guilty at seeing you and make her remember that she parked in the handicap stall.'

Mary shrugged her shoulders. 'It's about as much as I could ever do. If we could make them feel a little more guilty and make them remember the stall, then there's a chance they'll chose not to park there next time, I suppose.'

'Very well, ' said Allen. 'When we encounter her in the store, I shall show you how we can heighten her feeling of guilt and how we can prompt her memory of the stall. I warn you that it might not be a strong feeling or memory, especially if she doesn't feel any remorse for it.'

Having found a stall, parking and getting out occupied Mary's attention for a few minutes. Allen basked in the warm sun striking their skin as they prepared to exit the car. Maybe it wasn't going to be such a bad day after all, weather wise. Allen watched curiously as they unfolded the wheelchair and put a long pole with a flag attached onto the back of the chair before they exited the car.

'What is the pole and flag for, Mary?' asked Allen, perplexed.

'We had to park far away from the store, and there are a lot of cars around us. Being in a wheelchair makes me--er us--hard to see. I use the flag in the hopes of not getting run over or hit by a careless driver in the parking lot.' The tone of Mary's thoughts indicated just how she felt about careless drivers.

'That is a very practical and intelligent approach, Mary, ' Allen said proudly. Proud he was, too and again, for having chosen his host well.

Apparently, he let his emotions spill a little and Mary picked up on them, for he felt themselves blush.

'Allen, I'm just woman who has to think a little differently. I'm no more special or needy than anyone else. I'm just a woman.'

Mary's humility made Allen proud again, though he focused on not spilling that over so much again. Well, just a little spilt. They both decided to focus on the task of getting into the store without any accidents; a task made much easier by Allen's observations of the thoughts and proximity of those around them.

This task, he opened up to Mary a little bit on, to make her aware that through him, she too can know these things. He'd practiced subtlety a lot on doing this, and his practice was paying off. No more was it a mental assault to one unused to this sort of awareness. Now, it was more like a sunrise; slow, gradual input onto senses that one didn't know one had. Allen liked sunrises.

By the time they reached the storefront, Allen could feel Mary listening with her mind. A soft bubbling of awe wafted through their heart as Mary learned what it is to hear someone else's emotions, and to know that someone is "about that far" and "over that direction." Mary stopped inside the airlock just to listen.

'Mary, should we just be sitting here? People will stare, ' Allen prompted. 'Perhaps we should find an excuse for sitting here while you acclimate.'

This shook Mary a little out of her reverie, and they wheeled over to the stand that holds all the advertisements and coupons. They grabbed one and opened it up, not really caring what was on the page. Allen took a moment to make sure they were looking at it right side up, then went back to watching Mary listen to the world through new ears.

'It's so... amazing, Allen.' Mary's thoughts were full of wonder at the new sounds she was hearing, her mental voice holding a note of teary joy. Much like Allen's method of communication to Mary however, it wasn't really sounds, but the concept fit well. Allen let most of volume of information come through, but filtered out the actual thoughts of others, fearing Mary would get engrossed in other peoples' problems.

Allen watched Mary's focus flit from person to person, stopping here to bask in the happiness of a baby being held by its mother, pausing there to feel pity over a teenager's depression. Distance muted the emotions, much like distance makes it harder to read a sign, but there were enough people entering and leaving regularly to keep Mary occupied for a few minutes.

Mary shook herself mentally, and decided that was enough playtime. They needed to get back to shopping. Allen tuned down the input a little bit to help Mary focus on the task of grocery shopping, and Mary mentally thanked Allen for the extra focus it allowed. She actually looked at the advertisements and coupons now, pulling a pair of small scissors from her purse to clip the ones she wanted to keep.

They were finished clipping coupons and were getting ready to enter when the woman who had parked illegally strolled out of the inner doors. Allen over clocked Mary's mind, essentially slowing down time. Making sure Mary was watching mentally, Allen sent a finger of their mind out towards the other woman's mind. Connecting, it was easy to push the concepts of a car, and a handicap spot into her and have her mind return the corresponding memory. Then, Allen mentally tapped on her attention to have her acknowledge their physical presence.

Allen returned Mary's mind to 'normal' speed to let the other woman catch up mentally, but focused their environmental awareness on her emotions. When they noticed the feeling of guilt start to peak out of its shelter, Allen sped up Mary's thoughts again. Reaching out again, this time Allen stroked the feeling of guilt, making it bigger and bringing it closer to the surface. He felt Mary wanting to make it even bigger, but cautioned her that it could traumatize the woman and make her get into an accident. Mary relented and they left the other woman's mind. Time resumed.

The rich looking woman stood staring at Mary for a couple of long seconds, a deep blush creeping up her neck and into her face. She let out a squeak of "I'm so sorry," and she hurried out the door, almost dropping her bag of groceries.

Allen felt Mary's satisfied smirk on her face and was about to bring up the vengeful emotions Mary was feeling, when Mary's own embarrassment over those feelings quenched them. Allen then shared in Mary's now contented smile, reminded yet again that he'd chosen a good person. Allen checked again how much information was filtering to Mary through their shared sense of others, to make sure she would be able to focus on others. While he was checking, Allen decided he might as well check on the rest of her well being as well. He was surprised to notice that she was mildly aroused, and traced that back to the rich looking woman. Mary had found her long legs striking, and had admired the way her breasts shaped the silken blouse. 'Very interesting, ' Allen mused to himself.