tired, post-trini fff

so i got back from trinbago on saturday and crashed and burned and missed knol's b'day because i was exhausted, but late last night and this morning i had to try because i missed last week's (fff#9, with storm) due to my trip...
so it's rough, but it's here, set up by jj, over in purgatory:

“I had no idea that’s where that goes.”
“well you’ll be no help at all if you don’t even know that much.”
she’s right, of course, which is why i’m making conversation, rather than an effort to assist in the installation of the new plutonium breakout. i’m wisely leaving that to the expert (and at this juncture, i hope for her expertise even more than she does).
i’m still not sure why she thinks i should be a part of this, but then, nothing about our association thus far has been what i’d call ordinary.
we met while simultaneously chickening out of hot-air-balloon rides (stranger the longer i know her)- her husband and my wife, respectively, apparently had had lesser expectations of our respective desires to stay alive, and unexpectedly found themselves flying away together while we waved tinily and with relief from the ground- and found ourselves kissing madly by the time our spouses returned.
this illegal kissing wasn’t on anybody’s itinerary for the day, and we were all somewhat taken aback, but it was obvious that something had to be done.
brief explanations were made, more satisfactorily from the perspective of the kissing parties, i’m sure, and we were off. some might say we were hasty, but there was no going back from whence we’d come.
since taking off together, in the 2 weeks i’ve spent in her company we haven’t had what i’d call a normal or quiet day. she’s both addictive and exhausting and it seems i’m chasing her dragon without a single lingering look back.
but over the past 3 days things have turned scientific on me, as i find myself subjected to endless testing of a device that she claims sends me time-traveling, but which merely makes me temporarily invisible, during which time she thinks i see other eras but can’t bring the memories back with my body, and i simply visit her bedroom and go through her diary and other personal items. the tingling that accompanies my return to visibility helps a lot with my not ruining my secret window into her brain. and after 3 days of snooping, i’m aware that i need to remove myself from the current situation, since it’s apparent that she has no idea what she’s doing. and i don’t dare tell the truth about becoming invisible, for fear she’ll want to do more experimenting along those lines and not be able to bring me back after messing with her various variables.
so while she installs this plutonium breakout thing (and really, shouldn’t they teach children in school not to play with plutonium? isn’t it one of the more dangerous elements of the periodic table?) i’m patiently awaiting my next and last invisible episode so i can slide out the door while she paces and waits for my return from 1492 (her idea, not mine). while i might miss the possibilities that invisibility affords me, i’d rather be alive than a victim of some faulty calculation on her part, since it appears that she is indeed, crazy.
as i stand here now, preparing myself for my silent departure, i feel oddly like i should at least leave a note, to say i’m running off.
i find myself telling her i’ll be right back (because i’m not sure if i’ll be invisible long enough to write a note and make it out the door) and heading to the bathroom, where i empty my pockets and find half a green crayon, some loose change, a slightly used tissue (crunchy in one corner), a grocery list that i hope my wife had been able to remember, a lipstick i hope she hadn’t needed, and the blank back page of the diary i’ve been reading.
i’d use the lipstick on the bathroom mirror, except i think it’d be weird, because any woman would instantly know whether it was her lipstick or not, and you’re supposed to use the lipstick of the homeowner in these cases, aren’t you? and besides, what if she has to pee before i get in the invisibility/faux-time-machine?
ok. so green crayon butt it is then:
“dear satya, i’ve enjoyed our time together- the tiger episode, the hash, the dead sea, your grandmother- but i really must go. i realise that running out on my wife with so little explanation was wrong and unfair, and i should at least go back to allow her to shout at me properly, now that the shock has worn off. thank you for allowing me to take part in your experiments, but i think you should try 1492 yourself- columbus was never my favourite part of world history. maybe we’ll see each other again in the future. sincerely, duane.”
beautifully timed- i hear the hum of the machine, so she’ll be calling me any second now...

walk good.