One More Clue.



It is now harder than ever for him to tell the difference between what is real and what is part of the dream. It seems to him that the images that she shares with him are becoming more complex , the messages contained in the images more convoluted. It is a warm sunny day here, although he can’t feel the warmth, the air still seems cold as he follows her through the alley’s of Pleasantville. He calls to her but she doesn’t answer, finally he catches up to her in the alley next to the drug store. The air becomes colder now.
“Jennifer please wait.”
She slowly stops and turns to face him. Daniel Vickers approaches the beautiful young girl, and she doesn’t move.
“You have to tell me what happened to you sweetie.. I’m flying blind here.. There’s so much that I-”
She smiles.
“You will know why you Daniel soon.. Very soon.”
He bends down and slowly extends his hands to her, his fingers barely touch her hair when the tall dark figure appears suddenly from behind her and wraps its arms around her waist and begins to pull her into the shadows. Daniel grabs hold of her wrist, and tries in vain to pull her free from it. Slowly the shadows begin to take her and as he feels his bare feet sliding along the cold wet surface. He knows that he can’t save her, her wrist slips free from his grasp, and as he falls He sees it from out of the shadows towering above her, a white cowboy hat. He can feel her voice again.
“The answers are in the book Daniel.. Find the book and you will find the answers.”

Calling Miss Watson.



It is 6:00 am in Pleasantville. And Daniel Vickers finds himself standing next to the phone booth nearest Spencer’s hardware store just a half of a block from Main street. He ruffles through the pages of the phone book that dangles from a chain attached to the booth. He stops at the W’s, and slowly moves his right index finger down along the column of names. He pauses to look up to see if Sharon Milner has met with success in finding them some quarters to make phone calls with. Finally he sees her as she turns the corner and moves along the side walk towards him. The look of discomfort on her face almost draws a smile to his lips.
“Well.. Good morning again sunshine.. I trust you found some quarters?”
She thrusts the small pile of coins into his waiting palms, as she makes a small uncomfortable grunting sound.
“There.. That’s all I could get.. Thank God that this shit hole has a twenty four hour 7- 11. Who would have thought that we would both have the same piece of crap Cell phone and both batteries would be dead at the same frickin time.”
He pauses to study her through the soft plume of misty breath emanating from her lips. She gives him a irritated look, and jerks both hands up in frustration.
“So? Did you find any names?”
“There are seven listings in Pleasantville for the name of Watson. Two of them are male.”
“Ok.” she tells him. “But here’s the drill sweetie pie. If anyone answers. You can’t say ‘Did You have a daughter named-’ you have to speak of her as if she’s still alive. They may not know what happened to her Dan. We have to be respectful. You may only get one shot at this. I have a feeling in my gut Danny. Its going to be her Mother that we find.”
He tries the first three numbers. The two males have no idea what he’s talking about. The third is a woman that remembers reading the name of Jennifer Watson in the newspapers about five and one half years ago, but is not a relative and doesn’t have any knowledge of that particular family. He looks down at the remaining quarters, and then turns to Sharon Milner.
“Four left..”
He drops two more quarters into the slot and dials the number for Miss Angela Watson of 334 Rivercrest drive. A middle aged female voice softly offers him a hello.
“Hello? Umm. Miss Watson? Ma’am.. You don’t know me, but I have to ask you an important question, ma’am please don’t hang up.”
He fumbles to find the right words, when he just comes out and asks the complete stranger on the other end of the conversation if she has a daughter named Jennifer who has been missing for five and one half years. But it is when he can almost feel the pain in her voice that he knows he has found Jennifer’s mother. She reluctantly agrees to meet with them and gives them directions to the Watson residence.

The Reason.



The house is white and is surround by a slightly faded picket fence, and has neatly manicured shrubs that outline the small stone porch that leads them to the front door of the Watson residence. He pauses to catch his breath as Sharon Milner takes in the surreal scene. She nods, and Daniel rings the door bell. almost immediately they are greeted by a very slender well groomed middle age woman with long blond hair, who offers them a seemingly forced smile and lets them into her home. At where Daniel tells her the whole story about the dreams and all of his vivid images of her daughter, and she sits patiently and surprisingly collected as she listens to Daniel Vickers tale.
A silence falls over the room as he finishes the whole story. She doesn’t ask them to leave.
“Mr. Vickers.. I don’t know you.. I don’t know why or how you can describe my daughters image so vividly. Now let me tell you my story. I have known for- well.”
She pauses.
“Since the very beginning really.. I know my daughter is dead.. And I also know that someone.. Somewhere.. did a terrible thing to her.. And that person is still walking amongst us free as a bird. And now here you are.. Out of the blue. A complete and utter stranger to me.. And you say that you have seen my daughter in your dreams.. And she has asked you to come here from god only knows where.. To do what Mr. Vickers?”
He stands looking at her.
“To find out what happened to her.. Miss Watson.. I don’t expect you to believe me.. Hell.. I can barely believe it myself. But I know I can’t rest until I figure this whole thing out.. I- no.. we, came all of the way from Beaumont Miss Watson, all because your daughter asked this of me , she wants justice, and whether anyone believes me or not, I have to find out what happened to her. Because the longer this goes on Miss Watson, I can’t do this simply because she cries out for justice.. I have to do this because she deserves justice.”
A curious look comes over the face of Angela Watson.
“Beaumont..” she says softly as if talking to herself. “Jennifer’s father lives in Beaumont. I haven’t heard from him in years.”
She rises and offers them a cup of coffee as he wanders over to a wall of pictures. It is there that he and Sharon see the first real images of young Jennifer Watson. Angela brings them the coffee and Sharon Milner thanks her as she pours Daniel and herself a cup.
“Danny? Sweetie The coffee is ready.”
Silence.
“Danny?”
He turns to face them, his face slowly turning slightly pale.
“Miss Watson?.. Who is the man in this picture? The one standing with you in front of the Victorian?”
She walks up beside of him.
“That man Mr. Vickers?”
He slowly Nods.
“Why That’s Jennifer’s daddy.. Evan.. Evan Daniels.”
He turns to face her fully.. The color slowly coming back to his face.
“Miss Watson.. This is going to sound crazy to you.. But I now know why your daughter contacted me.”
She blinks giving him a blank stare as Sharon Milner now appears at his side.
“Miss Watson.. The man with you in that picture… his name was Evan Vickers not Evan Daniels. I know this because he was my father.”

~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2008.~