Blue - 1. Chapter 1

There is no reason to like me, but no reason to dislike me. I am just one of the millions. There is a beat to life, a heartbeat, a drum beat. A pat on the back that speeds us up and slows us down and turns it all upside down. And lets us rest in sleep. Would it not be splendid to be this beat, this spark down in the core of all this frailty. My name is Clinton, Ellis Oliver Clinton. Call me Eli, only grams calls me Oliver. Remember this, I can curse you.

 

That was a joke, really. I am very careful with curses. But this is not a joke. I am a Spark.

 

You know how you are suppose to live in the moment. Not me, I am always off to the side considering the moment. Let there be peace in my heart and forgiveness in my soul. And a pizza in my near future… later tonight. I am smiling, composed. Joy is my breath, in and out. I could be happy, I had the will to be. I opened my eyes again. He was still here. I knew he would be.

 

Must I forever explain. Even to myself. I knew I was different long ago, when I turned my blankie into a blue puppy, who I immediately christened… MINE. Well, I was only… just turned four, so maybe it was my mama who knew I was different. And maybe it was mama who named my blankie a blue mutt or just plain, Blue, as he came to be as time passed. Then, I only knew that I could not give my blankie up as my mama wanted me to. So I dreamed. I was running away with my blankie to prevent it being stolen in the night by the blankie thief my grams had told me about. When little boys turned four, the blanket thief would come in the night and snatch away his blankie forever and forever and the boy would have to grow up. Well, I knew I was smarter than any blankie thief, that was for sure, you betcha! So I wished as hard as I could in my dream that my blankie would always be there running by my side. I think Grams was tickled pink by my actions. Mama, well, I think she had reservations. It sounds complicated but really isn’t.

 

Oh dang it. I just remembered I am supposed to have dinner with my mother tonight. Thank be, that grams, has a date. As a side note, there is no profound profanity or oaths or curses in my daily vocabulary. Learned that the hard way at a younger age. Yes that sounds vague and complicated but really it isn’t.

 

I was sitting behind my desk… in my office… all grown up I was telling myself… contemplating running away again. Ty Cross was sitting and then walking and then sitting and then walking in my office as well. Ty was a semi-famous face and a quasi-successful model and a rotten actor. And a pain in the ass. His fifteen minutes of fame were up fifteen minutes ago. My dog, Blue, doing a better job of being all grown up… was lying on his mat on his side of the long office watching Ty; his eyes going back and forth, stopping and then doing it all over again.

 

“I just need to find the right role.”

 

I’m not counting Ty as my ex. Maybe, if he was really my ex, I would be more inclined to be paying attention. What do you call your first time with a villain ? Great sex is what Ty called it. What do you call a one night stand… wait an unexpected pounce, that you didn’t know was a one night stand ? I call it my first time. Cringe. Ty just melted me like butter, spread me around on toast and left crumbs in my bed. I shot sparks all over the place, thus the beginning of Ty’s unexpected career. But that is just part of this mess I call my life.

 

 

How did I end up in this morass, where my decisions and advice profoundly affected others. It was visceral, this gut feeling, but it is who I am. I knew what I was and what I was capable of. Simple enough it started with that dream long ago. But this particular mess, it started with a pet finding service. A small ad to find any pet, alive or dead, or the service was completely free. Guaranteed. All that was needed was the Pet’s name, description, a pet hair or two, or scales or something. Really all that was needed was my awareness of a missing pet. But the clients feel more comfortable if they believe they provided the information that leads me to their pets. Pet location information only was 100.00. Local pet recovery was 200.00. Out of state recovery was 250.00 plus expenses. To some that was outrageously expensive, to others it was reasonable. I always new immediately if a client was serious and whether to accept the case. I almost always knew immediately if the pet was alive or not and if they were safe or in danger. I also knew when to simply give helpful advice, the kind that would enable the owner to find his own pet if he made the effort. This little business along with my other talents kept my tuition paid and my modest expenses under control. I thought of myself as a dedicated, academic dabbler obsessed with the bizarre and the absurd. This is a long way of saying that one of my pet cases changed my fate.

 

Usually, I could make all the arrangements for a case on my phone with a quick follow up for clues. Sometimes a client would insist on a face to face meeting before they would hire me. Most of my business had become referrals though. But, Serena Storm was the first client who insisted that I come to her residence immediately. Now, that very minute. It was life or death.

 

Serena Storm, quite the “star” back in the day. Never won any awards… never even nominated, but everyone knew who she was and everyone had a favorite movie or scene or a piece of dialogue of hers in their never to be admitted memory banks. I was no exception. For me it was a song and dance she did. Not really in the film, it was part of the credits at the end of the film. Her character has a nervous break down at a funeral and tries desperately to sing a tribute to the departed. The song isn’t in the movie but comes after the end with the credits. The performance is wild and disjointed. Sad, miserable and full of humor. Profound. You are watching this and laughing and crying and completely amazed. The song but of course, Over The Rainbow.

 

Arriving at Ms. Storm’s home was like being in a movie, come to think on it. There is success and then there is Success. I had no idea she could have the kind of wealth this estate screamed from the gates thru the park of a yard to the massive “château”.