The Professor Universe Store

Whenever things slow down at work and no one's around to notice, I slip off to the supply closet to sniff the purple marker. That is where I find her.

When my head is full of fumes her face appears very close to mine, faint freckles swirled across her cheeks and over the bridge of her nose, like stars in the day-time. She kisses me.

"Come to the Professor Universe Store with me".

"But-- I'll…" I sigh, trying to think of the word, "… be shy."

She smiles and takes my hand, "Come on, they have every Professor Universe toy ever made."

The Professor Universe Store does have every Professor Universe toy ever made. It's set up like a vending machine, the little figurines and vehicles sit in clear compartments, you just choose the one you want and press the button and out it comes.

"Look they even have Roscoe's tank from the Ice Planet story." She says as she takes the tank out of the open compartment. But I'm not really interested in Professor Universe anymore.

"That's great, hey can we go somewhere else?"

She is always fascinated by the toys, and cannot be coaxed into leaving the Professor Universe Store before the fumes fade and leave me back in the Merry-Go-Round Vault.

My job is to test the horses, to ride each one in turn to make sure they're safe to ride.

Sometimes my wedding ring falls off (my fingers are getting skinnier all the time) and in order to retrieve it, I have to dismount and walk past where the sad-eyed man stands and watches me all day. 

Everyone calls him "the Boss".