Chapter 3
It was 8:00 a.m., Sunday morning, and the thoughts of Kathy started to slip away from Josh's mind and were replaced by the train set display.
After his breakfast cereal, Josh drank his coffee from the couch in the living room in a tee-shirt and boxers. He stared at the free entrance ticket into the Blaine Fisher's Old Western World Train House. Josh jumped up from the couch and headed to the bathroom.
An hour later, Josh headed south on the Florida Turnpike for West Palm Beach.
Later that morning, Josh parked in the parking lot and went inside the Fisher mansion.
He entered the mansion foyer and saw Anita working behind the counter.
"You're back!" Anita called out and looked extremely happy to see Josh again.
"Yeah, one of your employees named Charlie gave me a free pass to visit the train set again," Josh replied while he walked over to the counter with the free entrance ticket in his hand.
"Why don't you keep that ticket for another day? Today's entrance into the Train House is on me," Anita said when Josh handed her the ticket.
"Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," she replied with a warm smile.
"Thanks," he said while he shoved the ticket into his back pants pocket.
"If you want, that offer to show you daddy's inventions in the basement is now available," she said with a loving smile.
"I really would love to, but after I see the train set again, I need to head back to Orlando. Tomorrow is the start of another week of work," he said.
Anita was disappointed again but hid it well behind a smile. "I understand," she replied.
Anita watched while Josh walked to the rear door of the foyer and stepped outside into the courtyard.
Josh walked through the courtyard, where a few guests were enjoying the sunny Florida day and the beautiful flowers.
He didn't notice Anita at the foyer doors at the mansion watching him with interest while he entered the Train House.
Josh stepped inside the Train House, where our other guests were checking it out.
Josh noticed Charlie Fisher walk out the right exit door with Sara Cooper, the girl that also visited the train set yesterday. He didn't think anything about it and started looking over the town of Paradise.
Josh noticed that the miniature people were in different positions in the dirt streets of Paradise.
He walked down the left side of the set and checked out the vegetable garden and cow pasture.
He headed toward the forest and heard a low humming sound coming out from the wall behind the mountains. He didn't think anything about it while he looked at the lake and noticed that the wagon and the miniature people with buckets were gone.
Josh walked down the walkway and headed to the desert area.
He then walked and checked out the mountains and saw a wagon with a horse outside the cave.
Then Josh saw a miniature man and woman with blonde hair standing just outside the cave by the wagon. He didn't think anything about it while he turned around, walked down the walkway, and headed toward the town of Paradise.
He walked back to the walkway by the main entrance and stopped to look at Paradise.
He could hear the faint sound of a piano playing in the saloon, a sound he didn't hear yesterday. That's cool. He thought to himself, thinking about the music coming from the saloon.
He also thought he smelled the faint smell of steaks emitting from the restaurant.
How ingenious! He thought while he looked at Paradise and believed Blaine Fisher even provided sounds and smells to make Paradise come alive.
Josh spent ten minutes checking out Paradise and enjoying the sounds and smells.
"You came back," Charlie's voice was heard.
Josh looked and saw Charlie while he walked down the walkway from the other end where the right exit door was located.
"Yeah, and thanks for the free pass," Josh replied.
"You're welcome. So, what's your name?" Charlie asked while he walked up to Josh.
"Josh Bryant."
"I'm Charlie Fisher, and my brother built this train set," he said.
"Wow, I'm extremely impressed," Josh replied while he glanced at the set and watched while the train bellowed out puffs of black smoke, and whistled while it rolled through the forest and headed toward Paradise. "I could stay here all day and watch this set, but I have to get back to my crappy life in Orlando," Josh added.
Charlie's ears perked up and knew this was his cue to pry. "What's wrong, my friend?" he asked and faked a look of concern.
"Well, my true just dumped me for another man, and I hate my job with a passion," Josh replied and looked sad.
"I'm sorry to hear about that," Charlie replied and patted Josh's shoulder to show his support.
"I sorta wished I lived in a town like Paradise," Josh said while looked at the old western town.
Josh and Charlie watched while the train stopped at the train station in Paradise.
Charlie looked around and saw that the other four people were on the other side of the set by the mountains. The coast was clear, so he leaned closer to Josh. "I'll let you in on a secret. You know, this set is magical. And when I say magical, I mean it's magical," Charlie quietly told Josh.
Josh's ears perked up and looked curious. "What?"
Charlie inched closer to Josh. "There's a portal that transcends you into another dimension," he said quietly to Josh.
"Another dimension? What do you mean?"
Charlie looked around to make sure the other guests were not near them. "I mean, this set will come alive in this other dimension," he told Charlie in a lower tone.
Josh looked at the set in awe. "You mean a real-life old western town?"
"I mean a real peaceful life in loving the western town," Charlie replied.
"Man, I wish I could find a new life in a town like Paradise," Josh said while he looked back at the town.
"The sixty-nine kind-hearted people who live in Paradise are folks that don't have any family here in this world and want a new life where they'll be respected and loved," Charlie told Josh with a warm smile.
"My parents are deceased, and I was a lonely child. I have some cousins, but haven't seen them in over twenty years," he said while he continued to look at Paradise. "I could live there," he added with a smile.
Charlie placed an arm around Josh's shoulder. "Your new life in Paradise costs twenty thousand dollars."
"Twenty thousand dollars? That's a lot of cash," Josh replied and looked a little worried about spending that amount of money.
"You told me how your life sucks. So why not live in a beautiful permanent vacation like Paradise? You can live in a place where the women treat you with love and respect. You can live in a place where you no longer have to pay for a room or for food," Charlie replied.
"How do I know you're not trying to swindle me?" Josh asked, bluntly.
"I'll give you an introductory tour for forty dollars, and you can see for yourself that I'm trying to swindle you," Charlie replied. "It's payable after we get back. We'll come out where the wagon is parked at the cave," Charlie added while he pointed at the cave.
Josh looked and saw the miniature wagon by the cave in the mountain. He nodded in agreement as his curiosity peaked.
"Follow me, my friend," Charlie told Josh.
He followed Charlie while he walked down the walkway and left the building using the right exit door.
Josh followed Charlie to the side of the building to a door with a cipher lock and an "Electrical Hazards – Do Not Enter" sign.
Charlie punched in a code into the cipher lock, and a click was heard. "Enter," he said while he held the door open for Josh.
Josh entered a room, and Charlie closed, and the door automatically locked.
Josh looked around the room and saw it was full of numerous sizeable electrical control panels full of gauges, switches, and different colored lights, a computer monitor with keyboard, and a "Main Power" switch by the door. There was a strange low-frequency hum that emitted from all the electrical equipment.
There also appeared to be miles and miles of wires that ran from those electrical control panels to the roof of a glass booth.
"Wow!" Josh said while he looked around the room.
"This electrical room controls the train set and operates that glass booth that is the portal to the magical dimension of Paradise," Charlie told him.
Charlie walked Josh to the glass booth and opened the door.
Josh stepped inside the booth and closed the door.
The booth only had room for four people, and Josh saw a keyboard by a flat-screen monitor near the door.
There was a rear door of the booth, and all Josh saw was an eerie blackness on that side of the booth.
Charlie typed in his password then a "Paradise" program window appeared. Charlie clicked on the "Transport to Paradise" radio button, and another page appeared that looked like a control panel. Charlie used the mouse and did a sequence of clicking on buttons, typing in settings, and flipping switches.
Bright lights filled the glass of the booth like fireworks.
A whirring sound filled the inside of the booth.
The entire booth vibrated.
Then psychedelic colors filled the glass of the booth.
The glass booth started spinning.
Josh and Charlie cringed in pain while the booth spun.
The spinning of the booth dissipated.
The psychedelic colors in the glass dissipated.
The vibration of the boot dissipated.
The firework lights from the glass dissipated.
There was silence, and Josh looked around the booth a little dazed. He looked at the rear door and saw walls of a cave with lit torches outside the glass booth.
Charlie opened the rear door with a whish. "Come, my friend," he said.
Josh stepped out of the booth, and Charlie joined him.
They walked through the cave where kerosene torches were embedded in the cave walls.
Josh and Charlie walked out of the cave.
Josh looked around and stared in awe at the desert.
"It looks exactly like the train set!" he said then saw the wagon with the horse. But the horse looked alive but had a plastic look about it, as did all the horses in Paradise.
"I told you this place is magical," Charlie replied with a pat on Josh's back.
Josh looked up, and the sky looked so blue and real with the sun in the 1:00 p.m. position, and then he looked curious. "How come I can't see the guests staring down at us? I mean, they would look like giants," Josh asked while he looked all over the sky for some huge heads looking down at them.
"We are not in a magical dimension," Charlie replied.
"Ah," Josh replied while he continued to stare up at the sky.
The train whistle blew from the desert.
Josh saw the train while it rolled down the track and headed toward the cave.
"There's the train, and it's just like the one from the set!" he called out all excited.
"That's the one," Charlie replied and got a kick out of Josh being so excited.
Josh watched while the train rolled down the tracks and turned and headed in the direction of the Indian camp.
"This place is magical," Josh said while he watched the train roll down the tracks.
"Now, like I said, if you want to live in Paradise, it costs twenty thousand dollars. That seems like a lot of money, but someone has to pay for running the town," Charlie said.
Josh thought about his statement for a few seconds. "When you put it that way, it doesn't seem like that much money," Josh replied.
"How long do people normally stay here?" Josh curiously asked.
"This place has been home for most of the residents for the past year," Charlie told him.
"What if you wanted to leave?"
"Well, we've had a few people leave. We will prorate your money if you leave during the first two years. After that, we don't offer any full refunds because of the cost of running the place."
"That's understandable," Josh said while he watched the train way off in the distance head toward the Indian camp.
"And you taste of Paradise is over," Charlie told Josh and motioned that they should venture back into the cave.
Charlie and Josh walked back through the cave and walked to the glass booth.
Charlie opened the door to the booth, and Josh stepped inside.
Charlie stepped inside the booth and closed the door.
Charlie typed in his password then the "Paradise" program console window reappeared. Charlie used the mouse and did a sequence of clicking on buttons, typing in settings, and flipping switches.
Bright lights filled the glass of the booth like fireworks.
A whirring sound filled the inside of the booth.
The entire booth vibrated.
Then psychedelic colors filled the glass of the booth.
The glass booth started spinning.
Josh and Charlie cringed in pain while the booth spun.
The spinning of the booth dissipated.
The psychedelic colors in the glass dissipated.
The vibration of the boot dissipated.
The fireworks lights from the glass dissipated.
There was silence, and Josh looked around the booth a little dazed. He looked at the front door and saw the numerous electrical panels inside the electrical room.
Charlie opened the front door, and Josh stepped out of the booth.
While Charlie closed the door of the booth, Josh removed his wallet and removed $40. He handed it to Charlie, who shoved it in his pants pocket.
"What do you think?" Charlie asked Josh.
"I think I want to live in Paradise," Josh replied with a huge grin, thinking he found a better life.
"Okay, be here at high noon on Tuesday. Anita at the counter can show you our unique gift shop where you can buy some western attire appropriate for living in Paradise. Bring your twenty thousand dollars in cash in a cloth bag. And no weapons or electronic devices are allowed," Charlie told him.
"Why cash and no electronic devices?"
"Because electronic devices, checks, or credit cards didn't exist in the old western days. We want it as authentic as we can make it," Charlie replied.
"That makes sense," Josh said.
Charlie placed a hand on Josh's shoulder with a warm smile. "We'll be your loving family and don't tell a soul about this land of Paradise," he said, then chuckled. "Even if you did, nobody would believe you and think you went loony after we deny everything," he added.
"I won't," Josh replied.
"Good, now, you can bring other cash for deposit in the Paradise National Bank for buying toiletries items and other small stuff. And don't worry, it's safe there in that bank," Charlie said with looked sincere.
"What if I wanted to return here for a couple of days to sell my house or take care of some other business?"
"That's not a problem, as lots of people come back for a month for that particular reason. But if you don't check back in with Anita after a week, we assume that you don't want to return and we'll prorate your refund by a couple of days," Charlie replied.
"That sounds reasonable," Josh.
"Well, go home and think it over, and like I said earlier, be in the foyer at high noon on Tuesday. We only have an opening for one more individual. And if you decide to join us on Tuesday, use the entrance that states "For Employees Only," and you can park your car in that lot," Charlie said, then he walked Jason to the door.
He punched in the cipher code he opened the door and stepped outside with Josh.
"Take care, my friend," Charlie said, then he went back inside the electrical room.
Josh walked back through the courtyard and headed to the mansion.
He entered the foyer and headed to the counter.
Anita's eyes lit up when she saw Josh walking to her counter.
"Did you enjoy your second visit?" she asked with a gleam in her eyes.
"Yes," Josh replied, then looked to make sure nobody was close-by. "Charlie told me that I could purchase some western attire from you," he quietly asked.
"Ah, you went on the special tour," she replied with a wink. "Follow me," she said, then placed a "Be Back In 20 Minutes" sign on the counter.
Josh followed Anita through the foyer, down a hall to a locked door. After Anita unlocked the door, she escorted Josh into a room where men and women's old western clothes and hats were on display to be sold.
An hour later, Josh spent two hundred dollars on cowboy boots, cowboy hat, jeans, western shirts, cloth bag, and an old western suitcase.
Anita was in heaven knowing that Josh would live in Paradise while she reached in a drawer of the counter and removed a form.
"Have this application for Residency in Paradise filled out when you return on Tuesday," Anita said and handed Josh the form.
Josh took the form and looked it over. "Okay," he said, then walked to the front door.
The drive back up the Florida Turnpike was filled with happy thoughts of living in Paradise.
Back in his home, Josh thought about Paradise all night while he watched old western movies on his DVD player.
Josh woke up at 7:00 a.m. on Monday morning and was raring to prepare for a new life in Paradise.
After Josh showered, ate his Chocolate Lucky Charms and drank a few cups of coffee, he opened up his cell phone and punched in a number.
"George Branson," he answered the call.
"George, Josh Bryan. Listen, I need to take care of some important business this morning. I'm going to take four vacation hours. I'll be in after lunch," Josh said into the cell phone.
"First of all, you're late for work. Second, you know company policy on advance notice for vacation hours. Besides, I need status on your program at 10:00," George replied and sounded a little pissed.
Josh looked at his cell phone and got a smirk. "Like I said, I'll be in sometime after lunch," Josh snapped back.
"No!" George yelled back.
Josh disconnected the call with another smirk, got up, and walked out of the kitchen.
Later that morning, Josh headed to his SunTrust bank and moved sixty percent of his money into a three-year CD. He was planning on staying in Paradise for three years and thought it would have a nice little nest egg when he returned. He also got thirty thousand dollars in cash, which took a while for them to gather.
He then headed to the post office and placed a stop order on all his mail. He told the post office personnel he would return in a couple of weeks to pick up his mail.
It was 1:15 p.m., and Josh went to work, and instead of heading straight to his cubicle, he decided to visit Kathy.
Josh started to enter Kathy's cubicle but stopped by the entrance the second, he heard Paul's voice.
"So, you and Josh are no longer an item?" Paul asked Kathy.
"We're finished. He's too boring for me and won't amount to much. Not like you, with all your high flying adventures," Kathy replied
Josh wanted to run in there and give Kathy a piece of her mind but decided she wasn't worth the words.
He walked away and headed to his cubicle.
After Josh sat at his desk and powered up his computer, George Branson stormed inside the cubicle.
"In my office now," George barked out then stormed out of Josh's cubicle.
"Whatever," Josh said quietly in a smartass tone to himself while he opened up a Word file on his computer and started typing out a letter.
Ten minutes later, Josh walked into George's office.
"I said I wanted you in my office now!" George yelled at Josh.
Josh walked up to George's desk with a smirk. He slapped a letter on the desk in front of his boss. "I quit," Josh said with another smirk.
George was a little stunned while he picked up the paper and read Josh's letter of resignation.
"But," he said, then stopped the rest of his words when he saw Josh leaving his office.
George rushed through the office area and went into Josh's cubicle. It was empty, and Josh was nowhere to be found.
George rushed to the side of the building, where windows provided a view of the parking lot.
Later that night, Josh was in his kitchen and ate a huge dinner since he wanted to eat most of the food he had in the refrigerator. While he ate, he filled out the application for a Residency in Paradise and looked forward to beginning his new life.
After dinner, Josh started securing his house, then his cell phone rang, and he removed it off his belt.
"Hey, Ricky," he answered when he looked at the viewfinder.
"What is going on with you? I heard that you up and quit today with no advanced notice?" Ricky replied from the cell phone and sounded concerned.
"I really need a change in my life. They would probably fire me anyway once they found out I was so far behind on my Ford software program," Josh replied.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to leave the area for a while and try to start over with a new life."
"Where are you going?" Ricky curiously asked.
"I'm heading out west," Josh replied.
"Arizona?"
"Yeah," Josh lied.
"Stay in touch. I'm also getting tired of my job, so maybe I'll join you someday," Ricky said.
"I'll be back in a few months to sell my house, and we can talk about that then," Josh responded.
"Well, good luck, my friend, and we'll talk when you return," Ricky said.
"I will," Josh replied, then he disconnected the call.
He returned to securing his house for his trip to Paradise.