Part Seven: Our Hero Consumed

Snow Dreams
It started a little over a week ago. It was late, I was tired. It was warm enough that I had the windows open as I drove down the street.

And suddenly it was snowing.

At first I was certain there was nothing else it could be. And then the logical part of my mind pushed the sleep deprived slightly addled part of my mind off to the side and took over. I checked the temperature it was well above fifty. I looked around for trees or shrubs that could be shedding pollen or white petals. I tried to see if there was anything else the 'snow' could be. But there wasn't. And then as I watched the 'snow' grew thinner and soon began to give off an ephemeral glow. And as quickly as it had come, it was gone. There was no trace of it on the ground, neither dampness nor a chill in the air. Just nothing. And in the dark of the warm slow night I simply drove on.

It's happened twice since then. Each time a quick impossible storm. Each time a delusion which melted away into nothingness.

Mon-Daze: By The Power of Grayskull

"You've got to ask yourself that question though. What do you do when I become dangerous?"

"We won't let that happen."

"But..."

"Then I'll do what I have to do."

Everybody remembers He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Even if you were already old or not even born yet you remember He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. It aired on WNEW Channel 5 here in New Jersey (it actually came on a few years before WNEW became the flagship channel of Fox: WNYW Fox 5.) Lots of people remember that the next big cartoon on Fox 5 was the Rankin-Bass produced Thundercats. Rankin-Bass were the guys who did the old stop motion holiday cartoons and that god awful Hobbit cartoon in the late 70's. Very few people remember that the follow up to Thundercats was the Rankin-Bass produced Silverhawks featuring the voice of the late great Bob McFadden (He voiced Snarf in Thundercats and lived for many years in Leonia, NJ). Silverhawks never did all that well. It was about these astronaut types in the 29th century who were given metal bodies and hawk wings to stop organized crime in the Galaxy of Limbo. And in a lot of ways that explains why it never did that well. I only mention it because as I go back through my childhood I remember a singular and disturbingly traumatic incident involving a first edition Silverhawks action figure of the character The Copper Kid. It was this little copper looking action figure with a metallic finish. They were tough to find, so when I finally got mine I was thrilled. Then someone got yogurt on it, and it ate right through the copper finish like it was acid. I remember this because the weekend I got that action figure (and it got damaged) my mother and aunt took my grandfather to a Frank Sinatra concert and left us with my Godfather and his wife. They didn't have any kids, so they didn't really know what to do with us. I was six my brother had just turned four and in one of the most embarrassing moments of my childhood they made us take our bath together. This isn't something unusual with small kids at all, but at six I already felt (and often acted) like a middle aged man and to be forced to endure the indignity of bathing in the same tub as my little brother was mortifying. What's worse even then Tim and I fought like little bastards so they were afraid to leave us alone for fear I would drown the little fucker and thereby save my self years of annoying bullshit. They stood in the doorway the entire time we took our bath. Which just made the entire situation a million more times uncomfortable. Normal people don't remember shit like this from their childhood nevermind think about it on a fairly regular basis. I however am increasingly not normal.

Guttenberg Sunshine and The Mandolin of Terror

In the darkness filled with fear
when neither light nor happiness draws near
do you think of me?
do you think of me at all?

It was odd, but not altogether surprising, that when I went deep into the abyss last night I was saved by thoughts of someone I care a great deal about. What's surprising is that it wasn't who I would have expected.

Exeunt Part Six, Enter Part Seven: Our Hero Consumed

And so comes to an end Part Six. The end of this part has been a long time coming, and now that it's finally here I can say that I'm excited. And scared. And confused. And...well...consumed. I'm not sure now whether recent events were the climax of Part Six or if they simply sealed it off, leaving me to begin Part Seven with a bang. Things which are about to happen will either stretch the interlude between parts out to an unbearable (and likely dangerous) degree or get Part Seven rolling rather quickly. We will see, we will see.

And...uh...yeah, that's all I got right now. But it's about time I got something posted. So...here you go.