Birthday Wish

Written by argonaut :: [Thursday, 30 March 2006 04:35] Last updated by :: [Thursday, 15 May 2014 15:50]

“Bad kitties!”

Cindy stood, arms outstretched, at the edge of an enormous slab of rock that rose high above the clearing, dangling a saber-toothed tiger by the scruff of its neck from each hand. Her auburn hair was long and loose, and she was clad – just barely – in a cloth of leopard-skin.

Damn, she looked sexy. And to think that a few moments ago, seeing the tigers prepare to pounce, I had nearly said the exit-word that would have ended the sim.

Cindy gave the enormous felines another vigorous shake, then let them drop to the ground ten feet below. They slunk off into the forest, their tails between their legs, to seek their dinner elsewhere. Cindy sprang high into the air, landing gracefully a few feet from the spot where I had stumbled.

“You’re hurt,” she said, looking at the gash on my shin.

“It’s nothing – just a scrape.”

Stooping, she lifted me effortlessly from the ground. “It will be dark soon. You can rest in my cave …”

The cave was snug and cozy, thickly carpeted with animal skins and warmed by a pine-log fire. Standing in its ruddy glow, Cindy let her leopard-skin fall softly to the floor. My loins stirred with desire as I watched the mesmerizing interplay of firelight and shadow on the contours of her body.

Now she lay alongside me, taking me in her strong arms, as the stars twinkled frostily in the velvety blackness beyond the mouth of the cave …

* * * * *

When I woke up a few hours later, the LED display inside my visor was flashing “PROGRAM OVER.” I raised the visor and looked at the alarm clock on the bedside table. 3:04 A.M. Carefully, trying not to wake Cindy, I removed the visor and set it down beside the clock.

Cindy stirred sleepily in my arms. “Happy birthday, sweetie,” she murmured.

“Well, it’s three o’clock on the morning of the 23rd,” I replied, “so technically it’s no longer my birthday – but thank you, darling.”

“So? Did you like your present?”

“Best … birthday … ever,” I said emphatically, kissing her, and I meant it.

“Well, you’ve always been so sweet about letting me pick the sims I like. So when you said that all you wanted for your birthday was for the two of us to share an ubergirl sim – well, how could I say no?”

“How was it for you?” I asked. “Did you enjoy it?”

“Mmmm. It was different, I’ll give you that.”

I was tempted to ask if she’d like to rent another ubergirl sim sometime, but I decided not to press the issue so soon.

“You were wonderful,” I said. “Very convincing. And you sure looked good in that tight little leopard-skin. You should wear that to your office on the next casual Friday.”

“Very funny. Only if you’ll stand up in front of your students wearing that loincloth.” She nuzzled my shoulder, then yawned. “Good night, birthday boy.”

“Good night, my darling ubergirl.”

* * * * *

I had a department meeting that afternoon, so Cindy was making dinner. She was bustling about the kitchen, smiling happily, humming a sprightly tune. When she saw me standing in the doorway, she rushed over and stood on tiptoe to give me a long kiss.

“What’s the occasion?” I asked, grinning. “My birthday was yesterday.”

Blushing, Cindy began twisting my necktie around her finger. “All day long at the office I kept thinking about last night,” she said. “Remembering what it was like to be so strong and invincible – it made me feel … sexy. Really sexy.”

“Didn’t I tell you?” I said excitedly.

“So I was telling my friend Janet about it at lunch,” she went on. I must have winced, because she added hastily, “Oh, don’t worry – I didn’t give her any intimate details. But it turns out that she and her boy-friend rent ubergirl sims all the time.”

“You don’t say.” I tried to keep my tone casual, but I was wondering how Cindy would feel about a foursome – and whether Janet was the tall blonde with the pony-tail.

“So …” She looked up at me, grinning sheepishly. “I stopped at MediaMax on the way home and picked up another ubergirl sim. Janet says it’s one of her favorites.”

“Terrific!” I beamed. “So, uh, which one is it?”

“It’s a surprise,” she said. “The lasagna will be ready in twenty minutes. I’ll toss a salad; you set the table and pour the wine, okay?”

* * * * *

Cindy and I were sitting up in bed, finishing the bottle of Valpollicella I’d opened before dinner. She leaned across me and set her empty wineglass on the bedside table.

“Ready, darling?” she asked.

“Ready.”

We kissed. I turned off the light. We adjusted our visors, and I heard a click as Cindy pressed the “PLAY” button on the sim-box.

Then I was standing beneath a smoke-darkened sky, beside what had once been a highway, but was now a jumble of broken asphalt, rank with weeds. The twisted frames of automobiles and trucks were strewn across a crater-pocked landscape, and off in the distance I could see the smoldering ruins of a city.

Hmmm, I thought. This appeared to be some kind of post-apocalyptic Mad Max setting … but where was Cindy?

Then I heard Cindy’s light, musical laugh high overhead. I looked up. Naked, hands on hips, chest thrust forward, Cindy was hovering in a standing posture about twenty feet up in the air. Slowly she descended until her feet were just about level with my eyes.

“Cindy?”

She snapped her fingers. A thunderclap rang in my ears, and a shock wave knocked me off my feet.

“Presumptuous weakling!” she giggled. “Puny male! Kneel! Kneel before … Empress Ria!”

Oh, shit, I thought … and then I realized something.

Cindy hadn’t told me the exit-word.