The Story of Lisa
                    Part 1: The commute to work

     It was early in the morning when Lisa woke up. She pushed the
shade out of the way and peeked out the window, only to comment on the
snow that had fallen the previous evening. "DRAT! I'm going to be late to
work again!" Lisa worked in an office as a secretary to the Vice President
of Sales in a Fortune 500  company. Her commute to work left something
to be desired, but the paycheck was decent. She was a woman, in her mid
20's with shoulder length blonde hair with red hi-lights, sharp green
eyes and a perfect cupid's bow in the center of her upper lip. She was
about five feet tall with heels. While she could have studied modeling,
she chose business administration instead. As she would tell you herself,
"I'm too short to be a model." The cold of the day brought a sniffle to
Lisa's nose, while she was normally healthy, she did wake up a little
stuffy in the mornings.

     As she sat down to breakfast, she turned on the TV to get the
weather forecast. "It will be cold today with occasional light snow
flurries. Highs in the middle 20's." She clicked off the television and
started shivering, "Burr! It's going to be cold today. Why did I ever
decide to live here anyway?", as she turned up the thermostat.

     Lisa finished getting ready for work. Now comes the part she
dreads, leaving her nice warm, house for the arctic chill of January
weather. She hated brushing snow and ice off her car and she knew how
late she would be because of it but. It had to be done. As she was putting
the finishing touches on her make-up. She noticed a small tickle in her
nose. "Must be from the finishing powder," she thought. Her expression
froze as the sneeze took hold of her. She was powerless against it. Her
eyes, half open; her mouth barely ajar; her nose flared as she tried to
fight it; and with the force that sent her head bobbing forward in the
sudden release, she instinctively brought her hand up to meet the blast.
<sniff> "Glad that's over." She was glad to have sneezed at home, rather
than at work. She couldn't stand the though of people seeing her sneeze
in public.

     She walked to the door and began her routine to prepare for the
cold, icy wind that awaited her. She pulled on her boots, they were black
with 3" heels. Then she slipped on the camel wool coat and her black
leather gloves and proceeded out the door, locking the door behind her.
The wind whistled thorough the trees as she made her way to the car.
The frosty wind bit into your clothes and threatened to chill her to the
bone. Her boots clomped on the pavement giving a solid sound evenly
spaced deadened only by the small amount of snow that had fallen the
previous evening. Like a small horse, she clomped towards the car
through the dusting of snow on the driveway.

     She arrived at her car, none the worse for wear. Fumbling around
in her purse for her keys, she again reminded herself of the late hour
and her time pressured journey to work. Unlocking the door, she slipped
into the driver's seat and set the controls to full heat and full defrost.
She put the key into the ignition and started the car. "Thank Goodness,
It started on the first try." Her breath containing her words faded in the
cold atmosphere of the car. She looked around for the ice scraper and
the snow brush. Upon finding them, she stepped out of the car and
began the arduous task of clearing her car.

     The green Taurus roared to life, then began purring like a large
cat. She started with the windshield, cleaning off the snow. A brisk
torque of the wrist sent the powdery snow sailing into the wind and
occasionally right into her rosy cheeks. She arrived at the back of the
car. It poured forth its breath, like a living creature. The exhaust flowed
out in billows, not unlike her own breath. She pondered that for a
moment and then continued brushing. The fumes enveloped her boots;
stroking them, caressing them. All at once, she sniffed the gases of the
car's mighty breath and sneezed. Raising her gloved hand to cover her
mouth, the sound was a bit muffled by the sound of the engine. The
tickle began anew in the bridge of her nose. She tried to fight it,
rubbing her nose with her hand, but it was no use. The exhaust rising
up to her nostrils sent her to a sneezing frenzy. Her eyes squeezed shut,
her nostrils flared as the sneezes came in large, nasal, still feminine,
rounds of three. She dropped the snowbrush on the ground after the
first round. Again she drew in a breath only to have it explode through
her nose and mouth in a spray.

     Finally her nose released it's grip on her, and she could bend down
and pick up her brush. As she did, she noticed how the soft flowing
gasses contrasted against the black boots and the black gloves and the
camel coat she was wearing. Lisa was finally able to finish brushing the
car off opened the driver's door and threw the brush in the back seat,
almost knocking over the stuffed animal she kept on the back seat.  It
was a large cat that reminded her of the cat she had when little. Her mind
sped back to the comfort, love and warmth her cat gave her. Now she was
grown, and her land lord wouldn't allow pets. So she bought the stuffed
animal and kept it in the car with her as she was driving.

     Lisa slid across the leather seats, behind the wheel and grabbed
her seat belt. As she did, she noticed the smell of the coat. It smelled of
car exhaust and cold. Her former boyfriend, a mechanic, used to have
that smell most of the time.
She was again reminded of the pain of that relationship and sneezed
again. "Whew! I'm sneezing my head off today. 'Hope I'm not comin'
downd wit a code" Her nose had stuffed up. She took out a tissue to blow
it. It was an old tissue that had been in her purse for months. The dust
flew out and some of the particles landed in her nostrils. First she
sneezed into the tissue, then catching her breath, she blew her nose
hard.

     She put her foot on the brake and put the car into reverse. The
clouds of exhaust veiled her vision as she backed out down the driveway
to the street. All at once, she sneezed again while looking over her
shoulder. This was harder than the others and convulsed her body,
snapping vertebrae and twisting muscles. Her contorted face turned to
pain as her nerves received its message.

     She slammed the car into Drive and sped off to work in a white
cloud, gunning the engine past cold weather tolerance. Lisa arrived at
work only 5 minutes late. The rest of the day was uneventful.


                        Part 2: Coming home

     It had grown dark during the last part of the day and Lisa was in
the elevator coming down to the first floor. She always hated driving
home in the dark. The elevator car was packed full of people from the
office building, all ready to go home. The air was hot, thick and stale.
You could almost smell people's germs. Amid the coughs and sneezes of
the topcoat--clad men in the car, Lisa looked at her watch. "I've got to
get out of here! I need to go to the store-and-" Her thoughts trailed off
as the car came to a stop and the elevator doors opened. A blast of cold,
but fresh air invaded her nostrils. The air was tinged with the smells of
car exhaust and the street. She took a deep breath, washing her lungs of
the elevator air. Her boots clomped on the floor of the lobby. All at once,
she stopped, pulling her gloves on and securing her coat. She realized
she had to sneeze. "Oh No!" she thought, "Not here! Not NOW!" She did
her best to control it, to stifle it, but it came out anyway in a short nasal
release. She held to gloved hand tightly against her mouth, not wanting
any sound to escape. "God Bless!" someone said. Her face turned beet red
as she ran out the door.

     On the street, the cars and people were busily moving to their
indented destinations. Lisa slowed to a walk, her footsteps echoing on
the cold sidewalk. She rounded the corner and entered the parking
garage. Up two flights of stairs to her car. She had always been afraid of
not knowing where her car was, or having it stolen. The green Taurus
was right where she left it, safe and sound. Lisa turned to make sure the
way was clear, unlocked the door, and slid into the car. It took a little
coaxing to get the engine to start. She revved the engine to keep the
choke from dying. The white billows poured from the back. Lisa put the
car in drive and sped down the ramp, paid the attendant and sped away.

     As the traffic cleared out, Lisa could relax. She breathed a sigh of
relief to be out of the city. The roads were wet from the morning snow,
now the skies threatened more precipitation. As she approached a
stop-light, she noticed the tail lights of the car in front of her as it
slowed to a stop. She saw how the red glow of their brake lights engulfed
her. Lisa looked in the rear view mirror to see how traffic was flowing
behind her. She noticed how the red light accented the green of her eyes
and she could almost see the bridge of her nose in the mirror. As the car
came to a full stop, she noticed how the exhaust from the car in front of
her. It almost danced. Out of the chaos of the flow, she could see the
beauty in the soft, hot gasses falling into the cold air. The brake light
reflected the exhaust changing it from a graceful white to flowing red,
she saw how her gloves, now on the steering wheel, caressed her hands
with supple leather, keeping them warm and dry. They contrasted so well
with the sights and smells that came from outside. All at once, the
particles reached her nose. Her head tilted back, as her eyes closed
slightly. The skin of her face reddened as blood rushed to it, her mouth
open as she drew in a breath. The sneeze was strong, hard and
unexpected. She did not even have a chance to cover her mouth. The
spray coated the steering wheel and the front of her coat. It was followed
with another one and a third in rapid succession. Lisa looked up only to
find the light had turned green and the other cars had begun moving.
Shaken by her sneezing, she composed herself and continued towards
the store.

     The store was crowded, full of last minute weekend shoppers. Lisa
turned to face a long checkout line. Even though she had under ten
items, the line seemed to go on forever. "I'll never get home at this rate,"
she fumed. Anxious and impatient, she flicked the money at the cashier
and scooped up her change and stomped out of the store. In the time it
took for the automatic doors to open, she heard a quick set of wet
sneezes behind her. Lisa looked back only to she her cashier doubled
over in the throes of a sneezing fit. Frustrated at the apparent waist of
her attention, Lisa bundled up again and whisked herself out the door.

     The night air was cold, colder than it had been that morning. She
shivered in her boots and she walked towards her car. There was
another car waiting in the crosswalk, engine running, Lisa stepped
behind it. Walking through the other car's exhaust, she remembered as a
little girl, walking in the back of a car for the first time; her mother was
holding her hand, they were on their way to their own car. When she
first encountered the mist, she danced with glee in it. As she stood there
transfixed, the driver snapped her back to the present. "Hey lady, If
you're done staring at my car-" "Oh, I'm sorry." She said, "Nice car- "
She hurried back to her own car ready for this day to be over. Tired,
hungry, and embarrassed, Lisa slumped behind the wheel and shut the
door.

     With the groceries safely stored in the trunk, she turned to key
and the engine started. The overcast skies began shedding their flakes.
It was snowing again. Lisa felt a tickle building in her nose. She took
shallow breaths as her head looked skyward at the falling snow. The
anticipation continued only to be stolen away. The urge left as suddenly
as it came. "Oh, I hate it when that happens." <sniff> "Oh," she said,
rubbing her nose and sniffing again. "Come out! Come out, dot jus sit
tere!"

     Lisa arrived home just about 6:30. Not bad considering all she had
been through. The house was dark, but homey. Soon it would be filled
with the smells of dinner cooking in a warm inviting light. Lisa parked
the car and popped open the trunk. The car was still running with the
headlights on, so she could see. Her car would not permit the lights to be
on without the engine. She stepped out of the car and went to get the
bags.

     The snow crunched beneath her boots as she made her way to the
back of the car. Lisa bent over to reach the bags when the sneezing
started. One, Two, Three hard sneezes, she reeled back with their force
nearly slipping on the driveway. Again her breath was greeted by a
sneeze. Her eyes opening and closing with each in a strange sort of
rhythm. The exhaust still rising up to her already tired nose. She
sneezed another seven times-nasal yet very feminine. Some slightly
stifled, others much more open and free as her breath would allow. Lisa
closed the trunk, and made her way to the door of the house, still amazed
by the number of her sneezes. Setting the bags down on the porch, she
trudged back to the car, turned off the engine, locked and shut the
doors in an almost fluid motion. Lisa walked one final time through the
lightly falling snow to the house door. The key slipped into the lock,
turning the tumblers inside to the unlocked combination. The door slowly
opened, revealing the inside of the house. Lisa turned on the light and
closed the door, locking it behind her.