The taxi drove its way through the streets of Stepford as Buffy and Dawn sat back in the plush, comfortable backseat with their new friend, Charmaine, and listened to the picturesque woman give them a tour of the town. The music filled the interior of the car and Buffy let it flow over her. She let it relax her. A tranquil grin began to tug at the corners of Buffy's mouth and she thought how nice this was to have someone drive her around Stepford. How she could just let go of all the stresses in her life for once. It felt nice to Buffy. She looked out the car's window and saw that they were passing what appeared to be a school.
"The Stepford school system is the best in the country. I can assure both of you that all of the children in Stepford achieve the highest grades in their selected subjects," Charmaine continued her speech. Had Buffy and Dawn been in a clearer frame of mind, they would have wondered why the shapely woman that had befriended them sounded more like a tour guide rather than a mere citizen of Stepford. Yet, the music, along with the constant sound of Charmaine's voice, kept the girls from thinking that hard about what was happening.
"...And best yet, we offer a most friendly coed atmosphere at all levels of education. From Elementary School, which we happen to be passing, all the way up to the prestigious Stepford Academy for our middle to high school-aged boys and girls. I think that would be absolutely wonderful for a pretty young woman like yourself, Dawn. Don't you think?" Charmaine cooed, batting her extra-long eyelashes, expertly curled eyelashes at Dawn. In turn, the younger Summers girl turned her head lazily to look at the stunning redhead. Almost immediately, Dawn found herself lost in the gorgeous woman's green eyes. She was fascinated by every detail. How they were lined with dark, smokey eyeliner, how they seemed to sparkle with slight mischief at the innuendo of a girl like herself spending time with her male Stepford counterparts.
A twinge of excitement surged through Dawn's body at the very thought of herself having Stepford counterparts, and it stopped her from responding to Charmaine. The very thought of having male Stepford counterparts. As in, Dawn Summers could be a true Stepford girl. This new exciting concept somehow appealed to her. Her fuzzy and fatigued mind still struggled for a response, but her eyes had grown wide at the very idea. Finally, Dawn stopped the struggle of finding the right words that seemed to elude her and instead, she let her head fall back into the plushness of the car's seat and she let out a quiet moan.
Buffy, meanwhile, looked absentmindedly out the window of the taxi. Her eyes never focused on anything in particular, and whenever something did catch her attention it was fleeting. Her mind swiftly lost hold on the thought. She had even only half-listened to Charmaine's one-way conversation with Dawn. The music dominated her senses and fogged her mind just it had her sister's. That was until the sight of a young boy and girl playing together on a swing set at the Stepford Elementary School floated past her view. Buffy's brow furrowed in confusion. The two children had been wearing what she could only assume were the male and female versions of the school uniforms, but that wasn't what had bothered her about the image. Rather, it was the way the two had been swinging.
The two children were in perfect unison as they swung back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. There was no variation in their swing. No deviation from their synchronization. Also, Buffy could have sworn that the pair had been staring straight ahead, not once speaking or even acknowledging one another's presence in the slightest.
The Slayer felt she had to be wrong, though. It was just too surreal. Plus, she hadn't seen the children clearly for all that long as the car had driven past. Buffy blinked her eyes a few times and stared straight ahead as she let the music yet again wash over her and she heard Charmaine continue her tour guide-like dictation. Finally, Buffy, like Dawn before her, nuzzled her head back into the headrest and she allowed her mind to relax.
A cheerful, content feeling took hold in Buffy Summers as she realized that her misgivings on what she had seen at the school playground had to be all in her head. She had been wrong. After all, she thought to herself that everything was fine.
To Buffy, everything in Stepford was fine.