DRAGON CON DAY 2

Today has been all about missed connections. From not being able to connect to the interwebs to not being able to connect with a stupid bus, it’s been one giant day of not being able to connect, even within our own group. Let’s start at the beginning. The alarms went off around 6 ish …. Far earlier than any one human who is on vacation should be getting up. One of our crew arrived last night and had to pick up her badge and we wanted to be there right at 8 so we could get good spots for the parade at 10.  Last year we watched it on TV at the hotel mostly cause Saturday’s at Dragon Con are just …. Well ….. stupid. All the locals turn up on Saturday for the parade and have day passes which creates this gridlock of people throughout the area. With SEC football playing this weekend, the Falcons playing this weekend (well yesterday) and many other things happening in the Atlanta this holiday weekend Saturday becomes a cluster of people and not all are nice. We were talking earlier today about how the last 3 years everyone has been really nice and really inclusive and this year there is this underlying layer of …. I don’t know how to describe it …. Like you know one wrong move and it  could all just pop off with very little warning. We have since decided that this is due to the number of people here for the first time with a feel of entitlement that they have not earned yet. This is the biggest crowd ever for Dragon Con and it’s been very clear that Dragon Con, and the host hotels in general, haven’t been prepared for it. I mean some of these hotels have been beyond trashed and I've felt really bad about it.

Photos from today’s parade can be found on Golden’s twitter account, some of my favorite pictures from today can be found below.

  

 

  

This is the BEST parade hype man in the world. He'd find random kids in similar costumes, and bring them together, below is his "Footlong hotdog" :D he really made the waiting on the parade to get to us time go by fast. He was having as much fun as we were. At one point he pulled a tiny Storm Trooper out into the street to help him hype up the crowd. The kid had so much fun it was awesome to watch. Volunteers for Dragon Con are just the best. 

   

 After the parade, we went through the vendor hall which is several floors of all the things to buy, look at, and see. Stan Lee was signing merchandise today at the Vendor Hall which made the people like 15 deep instead of the usual 10 deep. Dragon Con PSA #1 --- I get that we all cosplay and love dressing up in awesome things we have created but can we all agree that there is no place for that shit in the Vendor Hall. I mean if you have on fairy wings that took you 6 months to create and go into the Vendor hall and they get messed up that’s on you. Don’t bitch people out cause they brushed up against your stuff in the 2-way-2foot hallways of the Vendor hall.

Anyway … using the technique taught to me recently by the boss man has made my panic attacks this year very minimal. I’ve nearly had a few but was able to beat them back down and focus on my breathing and made the panic attack not seem so bad. I already texted him thanks for that. While in the Vendor hall our crew of three often became a crew of two as one of us would wander off while someone stopped to look around. At one point I just left the vendor hall and texted my crew saying I was at the elevators, take your time, as I sat in my awesome chair.

After the vendor hall is when the missed connections came full circle. We waited on a Shuttle Bus for nearly an hour before saying screw it and called Uber. Uber has been our savior this trip which has been great but also sad. The last few years the Dragon Con Shuttle was one of the best parts of the Con, those drivers were awesome. This year we can't even get the drivers to stop let alone have a conversation. It's been real disappointing. We know the Green Line exists cause we caught it on Friday but haven't seen it since. Like it's some Yetti in Sasquatch territory. Like we know it exists but no one believes us because we have no documentation of it. We stood there with two ginger haired young ladies and got really angry when the Purple Line bus, which we had decided we were getting on cause Green Line had said screw it and gone to get a samache, drove by waving at us like we were just saying hi, when in all actuality we were saying, “Hey jerkoff stop your bus so we can get on it!” It's not like we were trying to flag them down in the middle of the street we were at the Dragon Con Shuttle Bucket but he didn't give a damn. We finally called Uber and I felt bad cause we had to leave our Ginger friends behind. I accidently clicked the small car (as I always do having a small crew) and we wouldn’t all fit. I really felt like an asshat. I can see their hotel from my hotel so we could have made it work …. But yeah they have their own cell phones and life and can make shit happen if they need too right!? I do hope they made it home and are not still down there waiting on that bus.

The temperature this year hasn’t been too bad there’s even been a few instances of “I’m cold” uttered from someone’s mouth, and it might have been me. Usually the weather is so hot here it’s suffocating. I reserve the right to bitch about the weather later if I want to but for now know it’s starting to feel like Fall.

Saturday ended with us having dinner at Hard Rock and by dinner I mean we ate food sometime after 10pm, then walking to the Marriot to watch all the pretty and hang out. We saw DJ MC Chris do his thing, an impromptu dance party, lots of naked, and even a couple who I’m pretty sure said screw it getting back to the room is too far let’s do what we have to do in the middle of a room like no one could see them. Bless them I hope they had protection. If one has a Baby at Dragon Con do they have to name it after the hotel?! We rolled back into the hotel around 3 am as Day 2 flowed into Day 3.

Happy Con

Marcy
Golden
M

A Royal Musical Journey – conclusion – original fiction

This isn’t the post I had planned for today, yes that’s right I’m really trying to get back into this blogging thing. However I finally got the Haley and Michael’s story out of my head and onto a screen. I thought I’d wait and post it tomorrow but decided life is short …why wait?! So here it is … the conclusion of this Royal journey which I realized while doing this that each “main” character has been a focus on each story which is kind of cool. The first one Dreams,Music, and the Royal family was from Kate’s point of view, the second Connections was from Harry’s, the third A Royal Welcome (my favorite) was from Shannon’s and this one is from Ryan’s point of view (a four part story...who saw that coming ha!). That was a happy accident and I hope it didn’t make it too disjointed.

If you want to read from the beginning links to the other stories are in the paragraph above. It’s not necessary to understand the story but makes it more fun.  I must restate how odd it is that I’ve even chose this as my “muse” I don’t know Shannon or Ryan and I certainly don't know any of the Royal family, heck I've never even shown a big interest in the comings and goings of the Royal family, yet I find myself thinking about this story long after I’ve left the keyboard. I hope Ryan and Shannon don’t think I’m crazy, I doubt that the Royal Family even knows I exist.

This one ended up longer than I had anticipated and I’ve actually cut a lot of it out so stick with me if you can. So anyway …. Here it is …. Enjoy

A Royal Musical Journey

Ryan never gets tired of stepping onto a stage, never gets tired of watching the love of his life standing nearby singing her heart out, never gets tired of the feel of a guitar in his hands and knowing that he can make it do things others only dream of. It was a New Year’s Eve show, something they said they wouldn’t do as holidays are for family, but when Hoda calls you say yes … principles be damned.

They finished their song during the New Year’s Eve festivities and sat down to talk with Hoda and Kathie Lee for a few moments as part of their year-end special and as most of their interviews of late tend to do the conversation turned to their involvement with the Royal Foundation and their most successful fundraiser to date. They showed a montage of the event and Ryan was instantly transported by the memories made in those two weeks.

It started with Ryan watching Shannon walk down the hallway of Heathrow Airport on the arm of the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry carrying Ryan’s bag behind them. Ryan wanted someone to stop and take his picture, where the hell are the paparazzi when you need them he thought. The Prince of England is carrying my bag for goodness sakes someone take our picture!!!!

“Man you guys sure know how to pack light.” Harry said as he walked behind Kate and Shannon.

“Shannon’s bags are somewhere between here and the States. The airline is looking for them, those are mine.” Ryan informed him as he carried his other bag filled with his clothes. 

“Man, two weeks in a single pair of jeans is not going to be fun! However, Kate loves a good reason to shop we might end up with an afternoon just the boys. Actually, that sounds fun!” As they walked out the door of the airport and up to the car.

Harry handed over Ryan’s bag to be placed in the trunk then climbed into the car behind everyone else. Once again Ryan looked around and no paps in sight. Part of him was bummed yet he was also oddly impressed they just walked out of a busy airport unnoticed with two of the most recognizable royals.

“Did Shannon tell you they lost her luggage?” Harry reported as he settled into his seat.

“We were talking about it on the way to the car, I can find her something in my closet for lunch and then we’ll find something for tomorrow night.”

Shannon didn’t want to bother them with this, “It’s ok guys, I’ve got a jacket in Ryan’s bag and can manage I’m sure they will find it soon!” She was slightly freaked out about wearing the Duchess clothes which were always so beautiful.

“We don’t have time to do a shopping run today, but we’ll make time tomorrow if the bag hasn’t turned up yet. We can’t have you meeting the Queen in jeans and a T-shirt now can we?”

Ryan noticing that the idea of meeting the Queen was freaking Shannon out decided to change the subject, “So when do we get to meet these amazing kids we have heard so much about?” he asked glancing over at Harry.

Harry looked a little startled, “A select group will be at the lunch today and others will be at dinner tomorrow night. This weekend we’ll have a less formal “meet and greet” where you’ll really have an opportunity to connect with them.”

Sitting on one side of the car while Kate and Shannon were on the other side Harry started to relax some into the seat. “This event has been exhausting. Don’t get me wrong I’m excited about it, but every time we turn around there’s someone trying to turn it into something that it’s not; from artist, to the kids, and even some of the sponsors, and don’t get me started on the parents. You guys are the first group picked up that hasn’t demanded something, a better hotel, a better timeslot, first pick of the kids they want to work with, some have even asked to get out of working with the kids. Everyone is acting like this is their own personal concert, even the local groups. Frankly it’s starting to get on my last nerve.”

Shannon looked over, “That’s awful, I can’t even put into words what this event means to us, not only cause it allowed us to get to know you guys, but it’s giving us the trip of a lifetime and an opportunity to share our music with a new group of people. Whatever you need, whenever you need it, we’ll be there.”

Harry smiled at her, “We might just take you up on that, I have to warn you a few are already big fans.” Kate grinned, “Harry won’t stop playing the EP at every single event and meeting we’ve had with the kids and volunteers.” Ryan looked at Shannon, this was indeed a fairy tale that he hoped never ended. 

The next day Ryan was standing in the siting room at Buckingham Palace waiting for Shannon to come back downstairs and wishing it would be sooner than later. They were the first to arrive for tonight’s dinner so that Shannon could borrow an outfit from Kate and Ryan felt uncomfortable about being in the room alone almost like he snuck in there. Something about the room and the quiet made him think he’d get in trouble any second and sent back to the car. He stood to walk around the room just to have something to do and was admiring a painting of a beautiful garden when a voice behind him started him.

“It’s even more lovely in person.”

Ryan turned around to see the Duke of Cambridge standing there in a suit that had a little stain on the shoulder. “I bet it is. This painting is amazing too tho.” He reached out his hand, “By the way I’m Ryan, um… Mr. Duke sir”

The Duke laughed “Call me Will everyone else does. My brother and Kate have been so excited for you guys to get here they have talked of little else for over two weeks.”

“We can hardly believe that we are here, Shannon keeps asking me to pinch her! I can’t believe that she’s upstairs borrowing some of Kate’s clothes, thanks for letting her do that. She said she’s really going to feel like a Princess tonight.” 

“HA! Don’t mention it, Kate was especially excited to play stylist for the evening. It’s not often she gets to dictate what someone else is going to wear, well other than me that is. She says picking out a suit gets boring cause the only thing that changes is the tie!”

“Speaking of your suit did you know you have something on the shoulder.”

Moving to a nearby mirror to examine his jacket, he starts rubbing it with a piece of ice from a glass handed to him, “The kids were going to be in bed when we finished tonight so I popped in to say goodnight before I came down.” After fussing with it for a few minutes, “How’s that?”

“Much better. Besides isn’t that basically a dad badge?” William laughed and nodded. Ryan couldn’t believe he was having a normal conversation with the future King of England like they had known each other for years, he decided to take advantage of this moment. “I have to ask you this cause if I don’t I’ll regret it….. Are Harry and Kate really fans or I mean I don’t mean to be crass but I just can’t help waiting on someone to walk up and say the jokes over get out and that would kill Shannon!”

William laughed, “Ever since Kate heard your music she’s been singing it, when she’s cooking, when she’s rocking the kids to sleep, when she’s working out, she has played that EP so many times if it were a record it would be ruined. I have never seen my brother nervous to contact someone and his biggest fear is you guys would turn him down. He’s not used to hearing the word no. Did you know that he and Kate sang We’ll Always Have Mexico to my Grandmother and she is the one that decided you and Shannon needed to sing it not Harry and Kate? They worked on that song for several weeks and she loved it but not coming from them. If you all left now I think they would both go with you!” he said with a smile.

Ryan didn’t know what to say and didn’t have an opportunity to speak as William pointed behind him causing him to turn towards the door. The most beautiful thing he had seen since their wedding day was walking through the door. He didn’t even excuse himself just walked towards Shannon unable to focus on anything or anyone else in the room. “You look amazing!”

“I’m scared to death I’m going to ruin this dress” Shannon said unable to hide the smile on her face. In this dress, she was radiant.

“Honey it’s not the dress, I’ve seen dresses, this dress is garbage without you in it!” Shannon playfully hit him in the arm “Don’t you dare let Kate hear you say that!”

Harry walked up behind Shannon, “He’s not wrong!” winked and walked off.

The rest of the night was a blur of activity and both Ryan and Shannon were surprised that once the evening began and they both relaxed they realized this was exactly where they needed to be. After an amazing dinner there was a small get together that included music and dancing. They met a 12-year-old who had been writing songs since she was 8 and had recently recorded one in a real studio thanks to Prince Harry. She was excited about this opportunity as she wanted to learn how someone got involved in the music industry. Ryan told her it was all luck and hard work but mostly luck. They made plans to get together soon to talk more about the industry. They met another artist from Paris who was looking to move to the states to be the next “Lady Gaga” and hoped to use this event as a platform to do that. It was a 16-year-old however that stole Shannon’s heart.

The young man was standing to the side of the room alone and so Shannon walked over to say hi. The young man told her that his name was Josh and he played guitar. Shannon said she and her husband played as well and started talking to him about some songs they both knew. The boy confessed to Shannon that he felt like he was an imposter and didn’t belong there. Shannon told him she was sure that wasn’t true and that she looked forward to hearing him play. He perked up after that and she sat with him for a long time just watching the room. At one point, she even asked Josh to dance with him. She didn’t realize that Kate was watching from the other side of the room with a huge smile on her face. She didn’t notice that Harry too had noticed what she was doing. None of that mattered to her. She wanted to make this young man comfortable so he could enjoy this evening like everyone else.

On their first totally free day of this trip, Ryan and Shannon arrived at Kensington Palace early that morning the girls were going to go shopping, since Shannon’s bags still hadn’t arrive and the boys were going to do what boys do. Kate was waiting when they walked in and she immediately grabbed Shannon’s arm and headed right back out the door. William was standing in the hallway and yelled towards the door as it closed, “Ok have fun bye!” then he turned to Ryan, “Guess they are in a hurry. Have you eaten breakfast yet?!” They started to turn towards the kitchen when the door flew back open, and Kate rushed up to William gave him a hug and a kiss said bye and left again. Ryan laughed, “guess she forgot something!”

Ryan followed a now blushing William into the kitchen which was filled with activity as the kids were sitting at the table eating breakfast with Ryan guessed the nanny fussing over the baby.

William turned back to Ryan as he took a napkin to clean George’s hands, ”Harry will be here shortly, we figured while the girls were running around we’d do the same.  I thought we could start with a ride around the grounds, show you that garden we talked about last night. It’s not hunting season so no hunting but we’ll still find something to do.”

That afternoon Ryan, Harry and William returned to the Palace exhausted, cold, tired, and hungry. They must have ridden every inch of the estate. Ryan was glad the rest of the day was free as he needed a few minutes to recharge. He didn’t think he’d ever get the picture of ridding across a pasture with William, Harry and George (in Harrys Lap) watching the beautiful scenery around him. They hadn’t planned to take George but once he heard horses were involved there was no way he was going to be left behind. Hearing George laughing from Harry’s horse made bringing him completely worth it.

A little while later Ryan was sitting in the living room of Kensington Palace alone. William had taken George upstairs to get him down for a nap, Harry had run off to make a phone call, and the girls were still shopping. He was almost asleep after the days actives when Harry walked in and sat down in a nearby chair.

“Sorry we left you alone down here”

“No problem, please don’t feel you have to entertain me, if you have something else you need to be doing. I know this is a hectic time for you.”

“yeah that’s why I’m enjoying the excuse to just …. Sit.”  He leans back in the chair stretching out and Ryan realized how tall the young man was as well as how tired he looked.

A few days later it was finally time for Haley and Michaels to take the stage. Shannon and Kate had a surprise for Harry that Shannon had told Ryan about that morning.

As the notes for We’ll Always Have Mexico started to play Ryan faked getting choked up. Kate shoved Harry out onto the stage, and Ryan ran off to look for water as Shannon shoved a microphone in Harry’s hand. She nudged him and he started to sing. Kate and Ryan were off on the edge of the stage laughing and clapping as Harry looked up towards the Queen, Phillip, Charles and William who were all laughing obviously in on the surprise. Harry fell into the song and he and Shannon nailed it as Ryan walked out with a closed bottle of water thanking the Prince for helping him out.

Shannon asked William and Kate to join them on stage, he had come down to close out the festival. Their new friend Josh walked out from the other side of the stage and said “At the afternoon meet and greet you guys held prior to this event Shannon, Ryan and I wrote this song as a thank you to the Royal Foundation for all that they do.” Ryan walked up to the third microphone and said, “We’d like to play it for you now if that’s ok.” Kate had tears in her eyes and mouthed thank you to Shannon who was putting her guitar away so that Ryan and Josh would play while she sang. Harry was also blown away by this gesture and he has never seen Josh so outspoken and excited on a stage. He usually hung back and avoided any part of the spotlight. It was truly a perfect ending to a very successful event. This was exactly what Harry had wished for when he and Kate first had the idea for a benefit like this. 

Ryan was snapped back to the conversation before him when Hoda asked about the most exciting part of the trip, Shannon said meeting the Royal family, Ryan said, getting to know the kids the foundation helps daily and seeing Shannon in one of Kate’s dresses. Shannon’s bags showed up the day after her big shopping spree with Kate but said there was no way she was returning anything they bought even if it meant she’d never be able to buy clothes again to make up for it. It was truly a trip of a lifetime and Ryan couldn’t wait until next year’s benefit and hoped they’d be invited back if for no other reason that to see how Josh was doing and to try and talk him into playing on their next record.

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Well there you go…besides one of my 2017 goals is to write more and they say whatever you do on New Year’s Day is what you’ll do all year so here’s hoping that’s true.

I’m pretty sure this story is done as I’m not sure where to take it from here so now it’s time to find a new muse. I hope you all enjoyed it, I hope Haley and Michael’s isn’t calling a lawyer for a restraining order for me, cause I really do love their music and I really hope this is going to be their year. I can’t wait to hear more from them, if you haven’t already check out their website below:

Website: http://haleyandmichaels.com/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/haleynmichaels

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/HaleyandMichaels/?fref=ts

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/haleyandmichaels/

Have a great 2017 everyone! I can check one thing off my New Year's Resolution post ! :D

Marcy

(@beaslma)

Thankfulness Challenge - Day 21

Social media is pretty great, it allows family members who live in different parts of the country to feel like they are sitting right next to one another, it allows high school and college friends to remain close after graduation, and it allows people to connect to their favorite shows, celebrities, and fellow fanatics. No matter where you live you can find someone out there with similar interests and thoughts as you.

However social media can also be evil ….. spoilers for shows you want to see but aren’t home yet …. Movies you want to see that you didn’t get to the theater yet… people who feel it’s perfectly acceptable to say anything they want because they are behind a keyboard.

I like to think the great things about social media far outweigh the bad, it’s just that the bad can sometimes be really really bad. Typically when you hit reply to someone’s post it can go the following ways: you never hear back from them, it starts a short conversation (that sometimes leads to longer conversations and a follow), or a nasty reply that you then get to ignore or acknowledge.

I’m a big fan of the “block” I don’t use it often but there are times when it’s necessary. When your timeline fills up with junk to the point you miss the actual conversations that make you log on to your social media to begin with it’s time to use the block. I’ve never understood the need of people to use this medium that is supposed to connect us and bring us together to spread negativity. For the record I've also found that those people tend to get even madder if you don't respond ... which makes me happy so BRAVO internet for bringing it back around to me.

So today I’m thankful for people that use social media and the internet in general to bring positivity and happiness to other people. A dear friend, @kyfurneaux started a movement called Make Someone’s Monday or #MSM for short thinking that everyone could use a little boost on Mondays. A little spark to get their week started off right, or just a reminder of their awesomeness as they transition from a weekend to a workday. So as you go through your weekend, and see posts by your friends make mental notes for people you might want to send a #MSM to. It could be as simple as #MSM @theonlygolden I hope you have a great week … or #MSM @bratmom I hope your son is feeling better or even a #MSM to a friend starting a new job.

Whatever you do take a moment on Monday and spread some love, some positivity, cause let’s all face it the internet is full of a ton of asshats and somehow they never seem to have internet connection problems. One of the amazing things about the universe I guess.

-marcy

PS Ky has recently written a book ... she's a Hollywood stunt woman and is awesome and fantastic and her book is too ... here's the link, check it out. ... http://www.amazon.com/Superwomans-Survival-Guide-Conquering-Unexpected/dp/1628736623/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1416626749&sr=8-1&keywords=ky+Furneaux

I am writing, part II !!!

I’m not really sure where this one came from. It’s one I started writing a while ago and revisit it from time to time. I update it/add to it and then save the file and move on. Today I decided instead of just closing the file and walking away I’d post it here and see what happens.

I always thought this one be the one that would “turn into a book.” Who knows … maybe there is still time… 

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"Trying to connect"

Karen Stevens loved her job. She liked to watch her students learn and love watching them figure out new things on their own and knew when to back off and when to shove them in the right direction. She was a dedicated teacher; one her student’s trusted because she did whatever she needed to do to make sure her students succeeded. Sometimes she took students home for a nice home cooked meal and a night of conversation that revolved around their lives for a change. Other teachers often came to her for advice and she was always at every PTA meeting.  Many of her students had parents that didn’t have the time to spend with them or frankly didn’t care so she felt it necessary to be their voice.

For this, her students flocked to her; students who didn’t get her for a teacher would

beg to have their schedules changed so they could say I have Mrs. Stevens for English. Even students that she didn’t teach first hand knew her and came to her room to talk or get help for assignments. She never turned anyone away. Not when the bell rang and it was time for her next class. Not when it was nearing 7 and her husband was waiting, and not when the bell went off in her head saying she should. Mark was a bell ringing kind of guy.

She noticed him standing in the door, but she had learned that if they wanted her help they would come in and ask for it. She tried not to glance up, but instinct got the best of her. She realized that she had never seen him before, but she had heard about him. One teacher said he had killed a student at his last school. Another said it was his uncle. She didn’t know who to believe, but if he needed her help he would get it just like everyone else in this school.

“Hi! Do you have a minute?” he said as he finally entered the door. “I’m Mark and your Mrs. Stevens aren’t you?”

“Yes I am, how can I help you?” She sat up straight in her chair with a huge smile that showed all of her front teeth.
“Well I just moved to this town. I didn’t want to come here. At my last school I didn’t learn much except how to win a fight. I have this assignment that I don’t think I can handle, but I was told you might help me.”
“I’ll try. What’s the assignment?”
“We have to write a story of our life quite frankly my life is not something I want to put on paper. So I don’t know how to start this paper.”
“That’s not really a problem. You just moved here and no one knows about you. If you wanted, you could make up the story of your life.”
“Your saying I should lie?”
“No” she giggled, “Not lie…just be….creative. The parts you don’t want to tell stretch the truth a little bit. For example if you were say arrested and that is what you don’t want to tell anyone, say I was sent away to live with relatives.”
“What makes you think I was ARRESTED” he interrupted.

She blinked once at him like she had been slapped. Yes, she had assumed he had been arrested, not just because of the stories she had heard, but the way he carried himself. He wore nothing but black had really shaggy hair that didn’t give off the impression that it knew soap and water. He had on an old leather jacket. It was at least eighty degrees outside why else would he wear it unless it had gang ties. She herself was wearing a sundress and still thought it was hot.

“I didn’t mean to assume anything about you. Trust me I know how it feels to have someone be judged before they are known. I was just trying to think of something that is so bad you may not want people to know. Please … I really wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings.” Trying to get back on his good side. It was getting late and she wanted to get home, but had a feeling this guy needed her help more than Bob needed his dinner. Like so many other times Bob would have to sit second to her job.

“What are you talking about knowing how it feels to be judged I bet no one has ever looked at you and thought anything other than what you are?” He said getting annoyed with this teacher who wasn’t anyone he had to be nice too yet continued to talk to her.

Karen answered by picking up a picture of Bob off her desk “This is my husband.”

“So he looks like a little prep too.”

"See you just judged him without knowing him. My parents did what you did, but they didn’t see him as a prep. They saw him as a troublemaker. He works at a garage fixing cars and they thought he did not “deserve” me, but they hardly knew him. I did everything I could to convince them and while they have accepted him it’s still very uneasy and no one feels comfortable at their house.” She starred at the picture for a minute or two lost in thought and put it back down.

Trying to change the subject, she looked at him “So tell me what is it that you don’t want to discuss in your paper,” His face tightened “I mean I need to know what the problem is before I can help you.”

“Well. . . the thing is . . .ARGH!  I don’t want to be here!” he yelled.

“No one is forcing you to come to my room.”
“Not just your room, this school, this town. I want to go back home!”
“Well why did you move here?” He said nothing just continued to inspect his shoes. “You don’t have to answer my questions if you aren’t ready. Let’s start easier, where did you move here from?”

He sat in the student desk slumped over holding his head up with his hands. Tears started to form and his body shook as he tried to hold them back. Lifting his head seemed like a chore.

“OK here is my deal. . .” he paused for a minute to regain his composure. His mouth opened to begin “Mrs. Stevens!” they both jumped a mile in the air. “Mrs. Stevens” the intercom said for a second time.
“Yes” she said still trying to catch her breath.
“Will you come by the office before you go home?”
“Sure”
“Hey….I’ll let you get to the office I’m not sure if I am ready to do this anyway.” Mark was semi relieved to be let off the hook.
“Mark you were going to say something please go ahead. The office can wait.” Her eyes pleading none of her teeth were showing this time. He paused, and then returned to his seat.
“Ok see here is the thing I know there are a lot of rumors going on around here about me, but none of them have the story completely right. Yes, I am here against my will, I mean if I had my choice I wouldn’t be here, but everyone decided it was for the best. A few months ago my . . .” he started to break down on her again she reached for a Kleenex “I’m sorry this will actually be the first time I say this out loud. My uncle killed himself about 3 months ago he was like a . . . he was a father to me. Everything I have done was to make him proud.”

“My town is small, everything I looked at reminded me of him. The little diner he would take me to, the park where we would sit and talk for hours, and of course his house. It seemed to follow me everywhere ‘cause every time I would turn around I would be in front of it, like my feet didn’t get the message that he was gone. My mom just did not care she would try sometimes, but it always seemed really forced like she would rather do something else. I guess you could say I freaked out on her, but after losing the best person that ever walked into my life I think it was warranted.” He stopped and looked to her for approval.

“Mrs. Stevens” the intercom interrupted for the second time that day.

“WHAT!” she said in a forceful, but respectful tone.
“Your husband is on the phone again and says he needs to speak with you.”
“Tell him I’m with a student and that I will call him when I am finished. Thank-you” to show that this conversation was over. She returned her attention to Mark  “Please continue I’m sorry about that.” This time no toothless smile; no smile at all just an honest look of concern for a student.

“So anyway my mom she just couldn’t handle it so she shipped me out here which I guess is ok. It’s a better school and a better neighborhood, but I have nothing to remind me of him here. Which explains why I’m wearing a jacket in the middle of a heat wave.” He said with a smile as she nodded. “He gave me this. He had one just like it and I loved it. I would go to his house and curl up on the couch with it as a blanket. It was so smooth and it was not like anything I had ever seen before. For my thirteenth birthday he gave it to me, it was big back then too.”

She could not tell if he was talking to her or if he was talking to the jacket. He sat there stroking the jacket as if remembering a moment with his uncle. She glanced above his head to the clock, no wonder Bob called, it was getting close to five and when she was going to be late she would at least call him to let him know.

“So what’s the problem why can’t you just write about your uncle he seems to have been a positive influence on you?”

“I failed him. I did everything I could to stop him and I couldn’t. I failed him.” He started crying again.

Karen’s maternal instinct took over and she kneeled over to him and hugged him trying to comfort as best she could. “Mind if I ask why he did it?” Not letting her go he spoke over her shoulder. 

“He had this girl. . . she didn’t know what she had. He was a great man he just well he had a hard time with money. It wasn’t like he didn’t try he just couldn’t seem to make ends meet. She left him and he fell apart. I told him he needed to stay to see me become the man he would be proud of one day. I begged him and I told him I loved him; nothing worked. I told him I would never forgive him now I don’t feel like I can.”

“Your uncle wouldn’t want you to blame yourself. Usually when people get to that point there is no point of return. Please don’t take this the wrong way but he probably didn’t even hear you.” He let go and pulled back from her.

“But . . . he told me he loved me too he had to have heard me.” He started again to cry,  “How the hell am I suppose to write a paper on this if I can’t even say it out loud. I don’t want some teacher to look at me all sappy for the rest of the year. Which is why I am talking to you about it, unless I want to, I never have to see you again.”

“I have an idea … how about writing about the great things you and your uncle did. Write about the diner and the park and especially the jacket. That is a great story.”

She told him as she reached for a sheet of paper 

“Ok you have the diner, the park, and the jacket those can be the three paragraphs for the body and then all you need is the introduction and the conclusion. For the intro you could tell them about your uncle. Like is he your dad’s brother or your mom’s brother stuff like that. In the conclusion you could just sum up how you felt about him.”

“I don’t think I can do that in just one paragraph.” As he glanced at his watch,

“Do you mind if I . . . oh crap I didn’t realize it was so late I’m sure you want to get home. Why didn’t you stop my rambling?” He said as he started to gather up his things.

“Don’t worry about it. We can work on your conclusion together and then we call it a night?”

Bob knew where she kept the frozen dinners he could take care of himself and she could stop and get something on the way home. Dinner was not the problem. Once again it would be a single hard taco for one at the dinner table while he selfishly gripped about teachers pushing their work on her. He would not want to sit through the story of Mark and she wouldn’t bother him with it. She learned a while ago it was a waste of breath.

It took them another hour to finish the conclusion. He seemed happy with it, but did not think it completely wrapped up his feelings for his uncle. It was getting time for the janitors to lock the building for the night. He told her thank you and headed for the door never looking back. She packed up her things and walked out to her car. As she started to crank it she saw Mark ride by in his old beat up Ford; the thought of following him came and went. Deciding it was a bad idea she drove home hoping that Mark would again appear in her room another day.

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So there you go … what do you guys think?!

-Marcy (@beaslma)