The Bar at the End of the Universe

Like so many little girls, young Leslie Knope spent her Presidents' Day holidays reading biographies of her country's historical leaders and playing Special Leslie Knope Presidents' Day Trivia with her father.

Well, maybe not like so many little girls. But as she still holds the day in high esteem, every year Leslie holds a Presidents' Day Jamboree for the children of Pawnee, which in better times included a full marching band and special songs about being politically active even before you could vote...

... and in leaner times, like this year, has meant cookies and coloring in the foyer of City Hall.

(There are still sing-alongs, too – it's just that instead of a marching band, she has Andy. But his enthusiasm can usually rival a marching band.)

The Bar appeared as she was leaving her house, which means a few minutes later, Leslie is stationed at a table, which is piled with plastic containers filled with sugar cookies in the shape of American Flags and the Bill of Rights, two tubs of markers and crayons, and stacks of several booklets, including an illustrated guide to U.S. presidents, coloring books with images of important Presidential acts (visible images include FDR speaking into a radio microphone and Richard Nixon shaking hands with Zhou Enlai), and sing-along sheets.

Amidst all this, Leslie has a plate of waffles nearly buried in whipped cream, a mug of coffee, and a stack of blank paper. On one piece, she appears to be sketching a woman's face.

Leslie Knope from the Pawnee Parks Department usually finds that there are two sides to her job: taking initiatives to improve her city, and making up fixes for the problems that always come around. While she loves the first one more, most of her job is usually about the second: some days, her fixes are brilliant, thoughtful compromises that work to permanently and effectively resolve the issue at hand.

And other days, Leslie adopts thirty-two cats and dogs until she can find funding for an animal shelter.

It may be apparent from the fact that she's holding a bag of cat litter in one hand and a grocery sack filled with plastic bins of dog biscuits in the other which day she's having right now.

On the other side of the door, Leslie had just pulled up in the driveway outside Ben-and-Andy-and-April's house, several sacks of dog food still piled in her backseat. When the door to the bar opens, she's looking at the floor, attempting to balance the bags she's carrying while stopping a stray cat (or possibly pig) from trying to get out.

"Hey can someone help me with the –"

And then Leslie looks up.





Eyes very, very wide, she mumbles, "Yowza."


[ooc: Open until I say otherwise.]