Chapter 7

Yames said bye to the waitress, who was now walking to another table with a late night meal for someone, and made his way out of the diner He stepped out side and saw the dingy black motorcycle parked next to the diner, "Must belong to the guy inside," he thought. There was a blue bandanna tied to the handle bars of the bike. Yames had started to become worried at the amount of blue object he had encountered in the last 48 hours. "Have I always seen surrounded by this much blue? Why have I been noticing it so much recently? What had happened the other night when I woke up in my bed with the cuts?" Yames was at a loss. His stomach felt empty from the coffee. He walked back to the apartment. It was now 2:30 a.m. and no one else was out on the streets.
Yames awoke to the jarring sound of a football announcer screaming into his microphone while the Falcons made a touch down. He looked up at his celling in disbelieve, "How could anyone listen to their television that loud." His body is soar and he does not feel rested. Then it occurred to him, "What time is it!" He look over at the clock it was 12 p.m. we was supposed to be at work four hours ago. He races out of the bed and begins to run towards the shower. While he shuts the bathroom door he catches another glimpse of the clock. It was indeed 12:03 p.m., but the clock said saturday. "How can that be? Yesterday was Monday so today is Tuesday." He begins to run a fever. "Whats has happened to the last week!" He looks in the mirror and sees it. He has a large blue triangle tattooed across his chest. He smashes the mirror in a fit of rage. Knuckles bloody he returns to his room for some pants and a shirt.
He runs out side almost being hit by a man on a motorcycle. Someone had mindlessly parked their car in the middle of the parking lot. He runs all the way to Dina's praying the whole time that waitress would be there. He opens the door and sees that she is indeed there taking some ones order. She looked up at him in a startled manner.
She and Yames had known each other for a while, but they were not the kind of friends that went to each other in their time of need. When she looked up Yames realized, "What am i doing? Storming in here?" This does not stop him though he runs over to her.
"We have to go. I need to talk to you."
"What? What are you talking about I am at work. Can't we talk later?"
"No. Look I need help. I think I need help. You are the ONLY person i know please come with me."
The people at the booth look at Yames like hw is some kind of junkie high out of his mind. The waitress agres to come, but she would need to go back and let Dina know. She was not sure that she knew what she was doing, but something in her told her that she had to go.

Chapter 6

After work Yames headed to Dina's. Once a week he always found him self over at Dina's. He never made a conscious decision to go there, but for the past few years it had become a habit. He sits down in on of he booths by the windows and looks out at late night Watershed. Today was his late day at work. He was responsible for making sure that all the reds came through, and he had to separate out the occasional blue. He looked out the window still wondering about what had happened to him. He could no explain the bumps and scrapes on his body, the cold sweat, the woman in blue on the train, or the man from the news paper.
The waitress came over, called him darling. He ordered a coke and lit his cigarette. He slouched down in the booth and began to think. He couldn't connect any of the events.
The waitress walked back bye. She refiled his coke and sat back down with him for her smoke break. No one else was there so she was in no rush. She lit her special had rolled cigarettes for as long as he can remember she had been smoking those. The ones with blue filters. He liked her. She was one person that he knew. They weren't really firends, but they had perty much had conversations weekly for the last two years.
"What are those scrapes on your arms?"
He slowly brushed his sleeves down and told some lie about getting hurt on the job. He couldn't say that he didn't know. How strange would that be. Who does not remember getting scraps the size of bannas on their arms. She only half believed him, but she let it go. Someone else walked in the door, and she had to go take care of him.

Chapter 5

Yames looks up. He felt as if the entire carnival was staring into him. The man in the blue robe was there. Staring. Yames was now the freak. He was the man in the blue robe. He pushed through the crowd running as fast as he had ever run before. He was sweaty. It was winter. everyone was closing in around him. All he wants to do is escape this place. "I am the man in blue," he screams. In his haste he knocks into the carnivals fire breather. The carni stumbles and blows a ball of red fire into the food trailer causing a massive grease fire.

Chaos.

Yames wakes up in his bed. His sheets stuck to his body from his sweat. He notices that he is slightly sore, but he can think of no explanation why. He puts on some pants and makes his rounds to his neighbors doors to look for any forgotten news papers. He grabs on from the same neighbor that received Bonsai Weekly. He went back to his room, and sat down to the paper. On the front page was a story about a massive grease fire at the Watershed Heights Carnival. He thought for a while and wondered why there would be a Carnival in Watershed Heights. The story was accompanied by a picture of what looked like a savage man running through. He could not recognize the man any better than he could recognize anyone. He flipped through the rest of the paper, but nothing caught his attention. He had to get ready for work.

Work.

On his way home he sees a woman in blue. He feels a shutter down his spine. The woman looks excited to see him. She immediately walks over to him and says that what he did was amazing. He has no idea what she is talking about, but her blue hat is really beging to unnerve him. All he can think about when he sees it is that guy down at the park who wears a blues robe, and pretends he is a wizard.

Chapter 4

James stays in for the rest of the day. The rain was here and there was no point in going out. He looked around for the issue of Bonsai Weekly that he took from one of the other tenants. He thumbed through it for an hour then closed his eyes.

The subtle blue light began to creep through the windows the next morning. He ignored this que and rolled over and kept on sleeping. "It's sunday. No need in waking up." Three or so hours passed and finally he made a move to get up. He moseyed toward the shower, and his morning routine had begun. With his coffee he read an article entitled Why the Earth Is Not Like a Pot. He had no intrest in bonsai trees or even gardening, but ever since the T.V. went out he had been picking up any literature he could. In the back of the magazine there was an add for a city carnival. "Why would a carnival ever come to Watershed Heights? There are no kids here. Well actually I might go. Am I the reason that the carnival came to Watershed Heights?" He sipped the last drop off coffee and moved towards the door. He was going to the carnival.

The carnival is set-up in the vacant lot between the animal shelter and the old cinema not far from Yames' house. He straps on his boots and walks out the door. When he shows up to the carnival he is shocked by sea of people in attendance. As he walks around he sees faces that he wants to think are familiar, but he knows that they are not. "I need to meet some people," Yames thinks to him self and slightly mumbles under his breath. "Look at me. Talking to my self. This is getting real. I becoming that man in the park. The man that wears the blues robe, and conjures spells on people. I am lonely. I dont want to meet people. I want to meet people. What should I do?"

Yames looks up and a crowed has gathered around him staring.

Chapter 3

It’s mid-day now, and Yames is heading for the door of Dina’s Dinner. He was satisfied. Food is satisfying. He was still curious about what was happening back at the house; between his upstairs neighbors. You never really knew with them. Always something.

He walked down Kush Lane, “What a lame street name.” he thought, toward the auto shop. He was going to meet up with his friend Kenny. Kenny and Yames had been child hood friends and it was not until last year that they had become reacquainted. Now Yames had a routine of going over to see how business was on his day off. Yames continued toward the shop at a leisurely pace. Dina’s had a special power of slowing you down a little after you had eaten there. He look up at the sky. Clouds seemed to be moving in. They sort of looked like mountains; the same mountains he dreams about.

He gives the door to the shop a tug. Locked. “Strange,” he thought, “I am pretty sure that Kenny said that he would be here. Well actually he did not say that, but he never did. He is simply always here.” Yames Tried the door again. Still locked. He thinks about giving a knock, but he know it is in vain. The door would be unlocked if he was there. Yames looks back to the sky; the clouds seem to be moving in very quickly. The clouds were dark, not mean or anything, but rain was on the way.

Yames gets a move on he knows that know one is here. All of the sudden two cop cars and and ambulance come barreling by heading towards Watershed Heights. Yames is unmoved. After years of living in a place like this one gets used to the noise. As Watershed Heights comes into view Yames sees the flashing lights of the ambulance and a few cop cars out side. A mass of people crowd the entrance. Yames picks up the pace. He is interested. Is that bad? Once Yames gets to the mob the rain clouds have turned this day dark. Someone is dead. “I already knew that.” He walks past the mob. As he is walking in his eyes meet with someone in the hall. He has seen him before in the apartments, but he seemed to stand out know even in the chaos. But, as soon as Yames realized the connection had been made the person rolled their eyes and moved on.

Chapter Two

The next morning Yames woke up slowly with the sun. It was Saturday so there was no work. He laid in his bead for a time staring at the cottage cheese celling, but not too long. He had never been one for the long sentimental moments. After a few seconds he gathered his thoughts and climbed out of his bed. His room was orderly, not overly orderly, but compared to the what he had seen of other rooms, he would consider his room orderly. Ever since he was a child his mother had told him, “Order helps to restore life.” Yames liked order, and he stuck to it, hopping it would one day restore his life.
He walks around his apartment getting dressed for the day. He was about to head down to Deena’s for some breakfast. He was about to leave the house noticed some water dripping from the cottage cheese celling on to his floor.

“Damn kook up stairs,” he thought, “How old is she any ways? I have lived here for a long time, but she had always been here.”

He sometimes saw her out side of her room with her cloths on dripping wet. Simply standing there with no real emotion. The water continued to drip down the on to the floor, and then the banging began.

“That kid, whatever its name is, always knockin’ so loud.”

Yames considered himself to be a pretty nice guy, but some one thing that really set him off was the banging. All hours of the day. All days of the week that kid would be going at it, knocking away.

“I think her name Sh- Sh- hmmm... He realized that he did not remember her name.”

One day she had spoke to him; told him her name, but that was years ago. He decides to go upstairs and check out what is going on. See if he can put an end to that banging. By the time he gets up stairs he sees the kid and Sh- and some other stuffy lookin’ woman. He decides that he should. Nothing will be solved if he tries to move in here. He heads back down the stairs. He walks out the door of the building and walks on over to Deena’s for some grub

Chapter One

Yames looks out the windows of the Red Line. He looks at what would be a picturesque red sunset had it not been for the shabby city he called home obscuring the view.It was a deceiving sunset. It looked warm and welcoming, but in reality the air was cold and dry. The train came to a halt at his stop, stop 52, the end of the line, Watershed Heights. Where the white tiles on the ground had long lost the shine that they used to have so many years ago. He steps off the train surrounded by strangers. He’d lived here for close to fifteen years; still only knew two person, one of which was his landlord. It was not that he did not like people, but more so he did not like Watershed Heights. And, here the people seemed to become part of the surroundings; like the weeds on the top of the apartment. He knew one day he would have to deal with it, but not today. Not today.

It hadn't always been like this.

He walks across the street with little motive. There are no cars coming. He walks past the skeleton of what used to be the movie theater continues forward towards his apartment building. As he continues forward he remembers that it is Fall. Although no one would ever know it in this part of town, no trees any where in sight. But, this did not really bother Yames. Over the years the seasons, holidays, and birthdays had begun to run together; like the people. Watershed Heights is a hole, and all time, space, and light belong to it. In front of the door to his building was a moving van. New people. It was all he could do to keep him self from running up to the van and telling the people to keep moving.

“There is nothing here for you. There is nothing here for me. Go east. Go to the mountains. Get far from here.”

Yames had dreams of the mountains. He was not sure why. He had never seen a real mountain a day in his life. He had never been too far out side the city, but he had been having this recurring dream. The mountains called his name. He walked past the movers and begun the walk up the fie flights of stair to his room, room 541. While walking up the stairs he seemed to to see more people than he was used to. There seemed to be something going on. He was not sure what nor did he really care.

He reached his room, walked in, and sat down. Time to rest.