The dinner at Doctor Cooper's that evening turned out to be a fantastic time. The food was great, and the company, especially Jeanie, more than pleasing. Mike marveled at the difference between the supervisor's large, beautiful apartment and his own efficiency just down the road....even the soft and colorful furnishings there looked almost new! Cooper even had a conference room in the back of his home for business meetings. His kitchen proved to be small, but extremely neat for a single man's, and Mike guessed it must be taken care of by the maid service provided for high ranking government personnel. He felt comfortable there, nonetheless, and the friends talked and joked all through dinner.
Mike was thrilled to discover some of Dr. Cooper's most prized possessions were an old console stereo kept in almost perfect condition, and, a collection of records from the late 1960s and 1970s era. "Good old rock and roll!" he called the music, and it all sounded so ancient! It got Mike to remembering an photograph he saw as a child of a then ancient record player called a "gramophone," which sported a large horn-shaped speaker on its top. He enjoyed the music, all through the dinner, and hoped he could remember some of the tunes.
Mike was very musically inclined, it seemed like he was always whistling or humming wherever he went when he was in a good mood, and he could read music, or play a tune by ear on his old guitar. He couldn't wait to try some of the ones Dr. Cooper had played him, when he got home. It would take a while, though, to dig through all the clothes and junk at the bottom of his livingroom closet to find his prized instrument. Mike had never been a good housekeeper.
Everyone left Cooper's apartment around ten p.m.. For a change Mike was SO tired that he took the shortest way home through the underground tunnel and quickly made up his sofa bed. He even amazed himself by changing into some blue pajamas he had packed away in the back of a drawer. It was his custom to sleep naked, or just in his underclothes, but as Mike thought about it a moment, he DID seem to feel a certain chill in the air that radiated even into his livingroom.
"I guess winter's coming after all!" he said, aloud. He laid down, snuggling under the covers, and almost drifted off to sleep, but was startled awake by a feeling that someone was hovering over him, and tugging on his exposed left sleeve.
"Oooooooh!" he moaned, disgusted that his most deserved rest had been so rudely interrupted. He suddenly knew what the unseeget his art supplies from the kitchen table. He sat back down on the edge of the bed,n "visitor" wanted, and quickly went to get his art supplies from the kitchen table. He sat back down on the edge of the bed, making a mental note