Nap and the Mammoth Undertaking (conclusion)

(originally posted 5/23/2023)

The next morning the man who typically occupied the unnecessarily shadowy office in Washington D.C. walked into his office and froze. Something was different.

His assistant materialized next to him. “Something’s different” said the man who typically occupied the unnecessarily shadowy office in Washington D.C.

“It was one of the cleaning staff. They were new. She opened the curtains before I could stop her. I didn’t want to spoil your vacation with the news.”

“I trust she’s been re-assigned?”

“She has. It won’t happen again.”

The man who typically occupied the unnecessarily shadowy office in Washington D.C. replied with a curt “It better not.” Although later he’d wish that he said “See that it doesn’t.”

“Welcome back sir.”

Nap turned his head on the pillow and gazed at the glistening and exhausted woman lying next to him. Madonna, sensing he was looking at her, turned her head to meet his gaze. She waited, ironically with baited breath, to hear what sweet nothings were about to pour forth.

“I’ve been thinking about that Oofnik guy” he began. She rolled and faced the other way.

“You know that Arkhum Asylum place I was talking about?” Madonna did not answer.

“Well, it got me to thinking about the Joker… the guy Batman is always fighting. His name to be specific. In a deck of cards the joker is the most powerful card. Most of the time it’s not even used in games. But when it is, it’s the card everybody wants. The thing is, it’s only as powerful as whatever card it is representing. It has no value unto itself. Even a pair of jokers is just a pair. It only wins when it teams up with other cards.”

Madonna continued her impression of a woman in a catatonic state.

Nap mulled over the implications of this observation when it came to Oofnik. Whether or not he could dig up an overarching point to it. He completely missed the opportunity to examine the analogy in respect to himself and/or Madonna. “Interesting name for a villain then huh? The Joker.” he asked the motionless body next to him.

She grunted.

He felt he’d better step up his game.

“Did you know that the full name of Arkham is the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane? Before it was used in DC Comics it appeared in the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. Bet you didn’t know that.”

If Madonna could have taken back her previous grunt she would have.

Nap continued to fall.

“And what we students of history always learn is that the human being is a very complicated contraption and that they are not good or bad but are good and bad and the good comes out of the bad and the bad out of the good, and the devil take the hindmost.”

― Robert Penn Warren