“Night in the Alley”

By: Linear Ranger

It had been a long and hard day for Ryan and Slimer. They had gone through over one hundred applicants for the Secretary and Accountant jobs, with no success. That was until Ryan had just about given up. Two high school seniors showed up and asked about the jobs. Once Ryan interviewed the two, he realized that they were exactly what he was looking for. He hired them on the spot and instructed them to be at the Firehouse the very next morning for a grand tour of the business.

Now Ryan and Slimer were in much better spirits. Ryan looked up from his empty dinner plate and glanced at the clock on the wall. The clock read six forty-five. Ryan thought for a second, while Slimer took the plates and licked them clean, literally. After the spook had completed his version of dish washing, Ryan asked, “Hey Spud, how about we go bowling?”

Slimer stopped for a moment and thought to himself, then he nodded and said, “Okay boss.”

“Good,” Ryan said. He glanced down and noticed the plates cleared of food, but now covered in green slime. Ryan looked back at his supernatural pet and said, “Do me a favor. While I go and get my bowling ball, put these dishes in the dishwasher. Sorry spud, but your method just isn’t that reassuring.”

Slimer started gathering the plates as Ryan headed up the circular staircase in the center of the second floor. Once on the top floor, Ryan went into his bedroom, which was completely clean, as always. Over to his wardrobe cabinet, Ryan went, and opened the doors. Inside the antique clothing container were a number of red clothes plus other sport t-shirts. Ryan fumbled through the bottom of the wardrobe for a few moments and then announced to the empty room, “Ah ha! Found you!” He then pulled out a bowling ball bag, which was both black and red in color. Ryan dusted it off a bit and checked inside to make sure the contents were still intact, and they were.

He took the bag and placed it over on his bed and then returned to the wardrobe, this time for something more comfortable to bowl in, than the somewhat dress attire he was wearing. He pulled out his normal stand-by red jacket, black shirt, and of all things, red pants. After a few minutes, Ryan was changed and ready to go. He grabbed the bowling bag from the bed and headed to the fire pole located near the wardrobe in the room. The lights were flicked off quickly and then Ryan took hold of the pole and down he slid. His feet reached the main floor of the Firehouse in no time. Once down there, Ryan called up to Slimer, “Okay Slimer, turn the lights out up there and let’s go!”

This was quickly followed by the sight of the lights going off and the green spook flying downstairs, flying over the staircase that is. The two made their way to the front doors, turned out the remaining light, exited the building, and locked the doors.

Since this was a night for just relaxation, they didn’t take Ecto-1, instead they took Ryan’s red convertible, sports car which was parked outside. Once inside the vehicle, and they both buckled up, they were off for the town bowling alley. On the way, Slimer turned the car radio on and cranked the volume up. The song was now playing and booming out, since the top was down on the car. Ryan and Slimer then proceeded to really get into the song playing. “Get up on ya feet now, gonna rock the place. Can’t ya see the smile on my face? Give it to me high, give it to me low. Give it to me, here we go. Get up on ya feet now, gonna raise the roof. Can’t stop now we’re coming on through. Yippie-i-a, yippie-i-o. Get up on ya feet now!”

All during the ride to the bowling alley, both Ryan and Slimer enjoyed themselves by bobbing their heads to the music and, at times, dancing in their seats. Of course this lead to some very strange looks from other drivers, not to mention the sight of a green ghost buckled into a car, dancing, and singing. But none of this stopped Ryan and Slimer from taking pleasure in just having put a stressful day behind them.

After about five or six miles, they arrived at the Harbor Hills Lanes, the local bowling alley. The two got out of the car, and Ryan took his bowling bag out of the backseat. They entered through the main doors to find a half-full alley. Friday’s weren’t really their busy night; that was mostly on the weekends. Ryan and the Spud went over to the counter to pay for a lane. When they got to the counter there was no one there, so Ryan rang the bell located next to the cash register. A man in his late fifties, with balding hair, walked up to the register to answer, though he was not paying attention to who was standing waiting for service.

“Yeah, what can I do for ya tonight,” the man asked. Ryan noticed that the gentleman still hadn’t noticed Slimer, so he responded, “I need one lane for two please, Mr…” Ryan looked at the gentleman’s nametag and finished, “Mr. Trig.” The man began pressing buttons on the cash register and said, “Okay that’s one game for two. That will be twenty dollars. Do you need any bowling…” Mr. Trig stopped now because for the first time he looked up and saw Ryan standing there and Slimer floating next to him. He did not finish his statement, but instead got angry and said, “What is THAT THING!”

Slimer being insulted crossed his arms and let out an “Hrumph.”

Ryan stayed calm and said, “That is the other bowler.”

Mr. Trig shook his head violently and said, “Oh no! You’re that Ghostbuster Freak aren’t you?”

Ryan shrugged his shoulders as he replied, “Well Ghostbuster yes, but as for freak, I guess that’s a matter of opinion.”

“That thing, whatever it is, isn’t allowed in here,” Trig said in defiance.

Ryan looked back at the doors, then over Trig’s shoulders and said, “That’s funny, I don’t see any ‘No Class Five Free Roaming Vapor Ghosts Allowed’ signs”

Mr. Trig mumbled some unpleasant words and then answered, “I don’t care. I don’t believe in ghosts and you are not welcome here.”

Ryan rolled his eyes, took his billfold out, pulled out two one hundred dollar bills, placed them on the counter and said, “Here, I think this will cover everything and we won’t bother anyone else. We’ll take the far empty alley over there.”

Ryan was pointing to the empty alley that was farthest out of view. Mr. Trig glanced at the money, snatched it quickly, put both bills in his shirt pocket and said curtly, “Fine.”

Ryan nodded his head and said, “Thank you.” Then he and Slimer went to start bowling, though Slimer did manage to give Mr. Trig a raspberry as he floated off. They got to their designated alley and Slimer went to find himself a bowling ball. While he did this, Ryan took his bowling shoes and ball out of the bag. Of course, in keeping with Ryan’s pattern, the shoes and ball both had unique red and black color schemes. Once Ryan had his shoes changed, Slimer returned holding a green bowling ball that matched his green slime. Ryan looked at the spook and said, “Cute.” But Slimer was right back at him as he noticed the complete red and black set and gave Ryan a ‘look-who’s-talking’-look.

After the two were done poking fun at one another, they finally got down to the business of bowling. The two played the first five frames, and amazingly Ryan was losing. Slimer, for a creature not having any legs and being made of ectoplasm, was wiping the floor with Ryan. The Spud had scored a forty-five to Ryan’s thirty. After this halfway point, Ryan turned to the ghost and said, “How? Just how!”

Slimer had a pleasant grin on his face, rolled his eyes, and said, “Dunno.” Before Ryan could say anything else, Slimer’s stomach intruded. So with that hint, Ryan answered before Slimer could ask, “Don’t worry, I’ll go get you some nachos.” Slimer’s only reply was the licking of his lips.

So Ryan went back to the main counter and got in line. There was one person ahead of him who was also getting some food. After this person paid and went on their way, Ryan approached Mr. Trig. Again, in his usual manner, Mr. Trig was not paying much attention to those who were at the counter. Ryan decided to catch his attention with saying, “Hi ya, Smiley.”

Mr. Trig looked up and saw Ryan with a wide grin on his face, but the attendant reacted worse than Ryan expected. Trig suddenly turned white as a sheet, began pointing behind Ryan, and stuttering, “Ga ga ga ga gho gho gho…”

With this Ryan figured it was just Slimer behind him making frightening faces at Mr. Trig. So Ryan rolled his eyes, and began turning around, expecting to see the spook. However, instead of seeing his green ghostly friend, Ryan saw a different ghost. It was purple, wearing a bowling shirt, and was throwing an ectoplasmic bowling ball right at Ryan and Mr. Trig. Before the projectile could hit the two, they managed to duck down, when the ball hit the brick wall with a thunderous boom. With this, everyone in the bowling alley began screaming and running for the doors.

“You’ve got to do something,” Mr. Trig pleaded to Ryan, who was still ducking down on the ground.

Ryan turned to look under the counter to see the still-terrified Trig and said, “I thought you didn’t believe in ghosts!”

By now, the bowling ghost was rampaging throughout the establishment. Mr. Trig was starting to get to his feet to run and said, “I don’t care, you’re the Ghostbuster just get rid of it!” With that, Mr. Trig was one of the last people to leave the alley. All that were left were Ryan and Slimer.

In a brief moment of calm, Ryan located Slimer hiding under a table and called out, “Slimer!”

The Spud was able to poke himself out from the table and avoid being hit by a slimey bowling pin. He flew over to where Ryan was under the counter and said, “Yeah boss.”

Ryan reached into his pocket, got his keys out, handed them to Slimer, and said, “Go out to the car and open the trunk. In there you’ll find a spare Proton Pack and Ghost Trap. Get them and then bring them back in here to me. I’ll cover you while you get out.”

Slimer gave a salute to Ryan, indicating he knew exactly what to do. Ryan then commanded, “Ready… GO!” With that, Slimer began flying to the doors to slime his way through. The bowling ghost however did notice him and was about to attack him when Ryan’s voice rang out, “Hey, big and ugly!”

The purple spook turned around to see Ryan making faces at him. “You think you’re so good, try and strike me!”

The ghost began throwing slime covered bowling balls and pins at Ryan. In response, Ryan started running to dodge each missile, while saying, “Why do I get myself into these things!”

This gave Slimer the chance to escape out into the parking lot. He flew as fast as his ectoplasm could carry him. Once at Ryan’s car, Slimer pressed the button-marked trunk, on the key chain keypad. The trunk opened slowly and revealed the spare equipment, just as Ryan had indicated. Slimer grabbed the pack and trap, slammed the trunk back shut, and headed back for the bowling alley.

Meanwhile, Ryan was continuing to taunt the ghost, but was beginning to run out objects to duck behind. The ghost noticed this as well and threw a ball at Ryan’s feet causing a small ecto-explosion. This threw Ryan against the nearest wall. Before the ghost could finish Ryan off, a loud whistle came from the entryway. Ryan and the bowling ghost looked at the entry to see Slimer with the Proton Pack in one hand and the Ghost Trap in the other.

Slimer spun around a bit and then threw the Proton Pack directly in Ryan’s direction. Ryan jumped up from the floor, caught the pack, strapped it on, and powered it up in record time. He pulled the Proton Gun from the pack and pointed it directly at the purple specter, which was the frightened one now. “Let’s try this little tango again, shall we, Ryan said. Ryan fired the Proton Stream at the ghost, but missed by just inches. The ghost was able to slime his way into the drinking bar of the bowling alley, and Ryan quickly followed.

Once inside the poorly lit bar, Ryan was carefully walking around with the Proton Gun ready to fire. He made his way over to the bar and cautiously leaned over to look on the other side. However, the ghost was not down there. As he was coming back up, Ryan saw in a mirror, mounted on the wall, that the ghost was behind him and had just thrown another explosive ball. Ryan turned, ducked, and fired the Proton Gun again. The stream would have hit the ghost, but he had started out of the room by the time Ryan fired. The Ghostbuster got back to his feet and ran out the door and back into the alley. He spotted the ghost and before giving it another chance to fly, Ryan fired the Proton Gun directly on the ghost. The stream hit the ghost dead on and had him wrapped in mid air. The ghost was moaning and yelling in anger and a bit of pain. Ryan took a few steps, adjusted the Proton Gun to get a better hold on the ghost, and called out, “Slimer! Throw the trap!”

Slimer came flying out of where he had been hiding and threw the Ghost Trap. It landed right under where the bowling ghost was being held. Ryan glanced down and saw that Slimer had laid the pedal of the trap right next to his left foot. So Ryan stomped down on the pedal and activated the trap. He stopped the Proton Stream as the Ghost Trap took over. The ghost was pulled into the trap and, on his way in, the ghost yelled, “I’ve been framed!”

After those words the ghost was completely sucked into the Ghost Trap. Ryan and Slimer went over the to device, Ryan picked it up, looked at it and said to it, “Oh spare me!”

Outside, everyone was all gathered together wondering what was going on inside. Their questions were soon answered as they saw Ryan emerge through the doors raising the, now smoking, Ghost Trap up in the air with his right hand. The crowd erupted in cheers and applause. Slimer flew off behind Ryan with his bowling bag and its contents. Ryan walked past the crowd and was soon approached by, a still-in-shock, Mr. Trig.

“Di-di-di did you get it?” Mr. Trig managed to ask.

Ryan just smiled and answered, “Yep, he was a bit of nuisance, but no big really.”

Slimer then returned and handed Ryan a special pad of printed paper. Ryan took the pad, handed Slimer the trap, and said, “Thanks Spud.”

Ryan pulled out a pen and started filling out the paper quickly. After a few seconds, he ripped off a copy of one of the sheets and handed it to Mr. Trig. The man looked at it in confusion and looked back at Ryan wanting an answer.

Ryan grinned and said, “That’s your bill.”

Then Ryan noticed that Mr. Trig had not removed the two hundred dollars from his shirt pocket that Ryan had given him at the start of the evening. Ryan quickly picked the two bills out of the mans pocket and said, “I’ll take this as your first payment.”

Then, he and Slimer started heading back to the car, leaving behind a completely confused and shocked Mr. Trig. On the way, Ryan said, “Come on Slimer, I think we’ve had enough relaxation for one night.”

The End.