As Sarah continued her drive home, an idea was brewing in the back of her mind. Jon and Karyn's attempts at communication had given her an idea. Like any popular girl, she had long been a proficient user of text messaging. What if she could find a way for her reluctant passengers to "text" her?
"Hold on, guys," she said. "I can't give you telepathy, but I think I might be able to give you another way to talk. At least for now."
Once she arrived home, she quickly ran to her room. Dropping her skirt and panties, she then grabbed her backpack and dug out a paper and pen. Drawing lines across the page, she split the paper into a neat graph. Then, she wrote out the alphabet, one letter per box. Below that, she wrote numbers 1 to 9 and a zero. Just for good measure, she put in punctuation and "space" box.
Sitting down on the edge of her bed, she laid the makeshift keypad at her feet. With that, she scooted forward to give Jon and Karyn a clear view.
Laying it on the floor at the foot of her bed, she sat down as far forward over the makeshift keypad. "Okay, that should do it. Unfortunately, only one of you can talk at a time. I'm going to point at "A." Then, whoever's talking will twitch to make me move to the right. When I hit the letter you want, you can um, twitch harder. I know it's not perfect, but at least this way, we can work it out. Ready?"
Both Jon and Karyn twitched to indicate yes.
"Okay, how about ladies first. Here we go." With her toe, Sarah pointed at "A." A twitch signaled for her to move to the right. Then another. Then another. The blonde had to smile. It was working! She had established communication!
The first message was simple: F U.
Sarah sighed. "I guess I deserve that. And I guess Jon agrees with that, too."
Jon twitched emphatically.
"Right. Well, now that that's out of the way, how about I ask you for ideas. Is there a better way for us to talk?"
Karyn: K E Y B O A R D .
Sarah mimed smacking herself on the forehead. "Duh! You think I didn't think of that? It's just that this is way more portable. But I guess at home I can set something up."
Some violent twitching from Jon caught her attention. "Whoops! Looks like Jon wants to talk now. Okay, Jon. Here we go."
Jon: M O R S E .
"Morse? As in Morse code? Ugh, sounds boring. I've never been interested in that kind of stuff."
Jon: T U B A D ! U R F A U L T ! I F U S O R R Y , U L E A R N !
Sarah winced. It was then she realized that her life would never be the same. She had been responsible for destroying the lives of two people, and now, her life would no longer be completely her own. The weight of her mistake hit her once again. "I-I'm sorry. You're right. This is too important. I'll do whatever I need to."
