Grab a cold one from the bar, it's on my tab tonight. Am I crying in my beer or celebrating? You decide.

I found my first bike on a Friday night in April, and the only thing that stopped me from buying it right then was the knowledge that I'd have to hurt Kenny if he ever did something like that. I went home, and I told him I'd found a bike, and wanted him to see it. I knew I was going to buy it, but he still wasn't so sure. We got to RTM just after 9:00am on Saturday morning, and by 9:30 I owned a bike. I was a little surprised when Neil tried to hand me a spray bottle after I'd signed all the papers. "What's this?" I asked, but he wouldn't say. He just told me that I'd know what to do with it. I didn't want to look dumb, so I just said, "yeah, okay" and took the bottle from him.

Kenny got to ride George first, I didn't have a license, hadn't taken the MSF class, and had no clue how to ride a bike. Time passes, I take the MSF class, and get my license. I get in a couple of short rides, and for some reason, I'm always compelled to spray George with the solution in the bottle. I don't know what it is, but I can't ever leave the yard until I've used it. October comes, and Biketoberfest arrives. I want to ride over, and Kenny agrees. I spray my bike down, I have to do it, it's an obsessive thing. We get to Smiley's, and I can see some of the bikes have a shimmer to them, sort of a green glow. I start to get scared, I've heard stories about the slime, but then I realize that when it reaches out to George, it seems to be pushed back. It can't get a hold on him, and I feel safer somehow. The mist in the bottle must be slug repellent, I'm protected!

We get off the bikes and start wandering around, chatting with the people we know, and meeting new people. It gets later, we all get hungry, and decide to head out for some food. We all fire up the bikes and head for the loop. Some of the bikes in the pack begin to shimmer brightly, and I worry, a little, but still the glow is pushed back by the protective coating on George. Hawgeye roars past me on his bike, and I realize my mistake almost immediately. I should never have let him in front of me. The green glow surrounding his bike intensifies, becomes unbearably bright. I'm shielding my eyes, trying to maintain, when suddenly a mist of green slime envelops me and my bike. At first I'm resistant, and start weaving in an effort to shake it, but slowly, gradually, I stop weaving and become one with my slime. The bike begins to move more easily for me, dancing effortlessly around curves, and roaring fiercely full speed ahead.

A pleasant evening is spent with friends, and after a detour to Melbourne we arrive home on Sunday. I am in denial, "no, that wasn't really slime. It must have been that Zone that everyone talks about." I'm still pure, unsullied by slime, there's been no secret message passed to me, no secret rituals performed in underground caves. I remain in denial for several months. Then, it happens. A message in the inbox, and suddenly it all becomes clear to me. I wasn't strong enough to resist, and have been assimilated!

At first, I try to deny it, but then realize the futility of resistance. I have made peace with my slimeyness, and don't know why I resisted it so vigorously. I am BS #192.

I haven't told Kenny yet, but I think he suspects something. He's started telling me how smooth my skin is... OOOPS, maybe we won't discuss that here . He doesn't know yet that in time, he too will be slimed. He *will* be assimilated, Slugs Forever, Forever Slugs.

Rosie
SENS, NEWT #7, BS #192