Based On A True Story

I woke up at 6:30 am sharp. No, I didn't mean to, nor was there any particular reason for this. But what really did a number on my brain was the fact that I woke up completely awake. No grogginess, just crystal sharp alertness. It was very surreal. I went to the kitchen to get some water and then went to the bathroom. Just to do something, mostly. On my way back to my room, I noticed that my parents weren't in their room.

They were gone.

I looked around my home for a bit, but they had left somewhere. I went outside to look for them, with similar luck, and decided to pick up the mail. As I walked to the mailbox, I was quick to notice two things that really made me drift into wondering thought. The moon was still out and bright, surrounded by navy blue sky. And a significant number of people were out and about, not doing anything in particular. Just awake and moving. This made me feel as though we had all experienced this odd morning awakening. I could be wrong of course. (My parents had actually woken up early to drop one of my uncle off at the airport).

I went back to sleep and awoke around 10. My friend Patrick M. called me up around 11, and we made plans to meet up for lunch at El Torito, which was having a Sunday Brunch buffet special. After we ate, we just talked about random stuff. I told him about how I almost got scammed early this year, and he, in return, told me about the funny, odd, and alarming week he's had.

(I not only asked for his permission to tell this story, but also if I could exaggerate a bit. He said yes! I've decided on telling it like a Noir. Enjoy).

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The Big Pay Off

The name's Patrick Mathews, and it can be said that I was born cursed. One of them Chinatown curses, the kind with a nod and a knowing smile. "May You Have An Interesting Life." Heh. Got that right.

2010 has been a futuristic year with the same kind of problems that plagued years with simpler math. All the equations come down to money. And I could use a few dollars, these days. What's a graduated monster-making man with a shaky job sitch to do? So I grabbed a tray of letters and had a one on one with the world wide what-have-it. If you had an appetite to give out jobs that leaned on the odd side, but also a couple of dimes to rub together, then I had a hard time saying no.

I had a word with Craig and got on his list. Its a crowded dance floor, but at least the music don't change. I ignored my momma's advice and talked to a lot of strangers. One stranger, though, had just enough candy for me to try and sweet talk him.
He talked to me on a Monday, his name was Kalinski, and he moved fast.

"Mr. Patrick," he said on the phone, "I work with orphanages. I would like to hire you for your services. You will organize my day."
"Sounds good Mr. Kalinski," I drawled, "But just call me Patrick."
"Excellent," he replied, "And you can call me Kalinski."
"Is that your first name?" I asked.
"No," he said, "I will be contacting you tomorrow. Thank you and good day to you."
Kalinski was a man of few words and even fewer names.

Tuesday was the day that Kalinski called again.

"Mr. Patrick," he greeted me, "Do you have a criminal record?"
"No, sir," I replied, "I got away with everything."
"Hmm, yes," he answered, not nearly impressed enough with that joke, "Also, are you responsible enough to handle large sums of money?"
"Yes?" what else could I say?
"Good," he stated. The connection was dead before I put the phone down.

On Wednesday, the silence was deafening.

Thursday hit with a FedEx package and an e-mail, both from Kalinski. The message was simple and worrying: "Mr. Patrick. Please take this $2000 check and deposit it into your bank account. Then transfer that to the account listed at the bottom of this e-mail. I trust you will do this well."

Well damn. Dear ol' mom always wanted me to clean my clothes, but this wasn't the kind of laundering I think she had in mind. Heh. Interesting lives ain't all that great to live in.

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Yeah, that's kind of short, but what do you want? The story is only week old.

I later caught up with Aaron and Amy to finish off the First Season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It was good, and I can't wait to get them into Season Two. Okay! Until next blog...

-Nate

Nate Note: Holy crap, folks! One month of this mad little blog experiment of mine is down. Let's see if I can pull off 11 more months of these bad boys.