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SHORT FAT STUBBY FINGER STORIES PRESENTS:

EPISODE 4:

CHAPTER 2

Joseph moved the mouse across the pad; the cursor quickly making its way across the twenty four inch flat screen that sat on his desk until it rested upon the icon marked‘TX1258’.

Joseph then pressed the left hand button on his mouse.  The screen exploded in a kaleidoscope of colours and the computer’s modem whirred busily away as the enquiry made its way through the myriad of information and rubbish that littered the super highway that was the internet, until it reached the destination that he sought.

Options were offered: Joseph made his selection.  The kaleidoscope exploded again, but this time for but a millisecond.   Then a huge grey scorpion appeared on the screen, its long tail drifting upwards – well above the rest of its body -then bending forward until it passed over its own head – before suddenly striking downwards, the point of its razor sharp tail smashing into the imaginary ground in front of its face – and a massive explosion of red and yellow flame erupted across the screen and, in the darkest of black the screen could provide the word ‘SCORPIO’ became emblazoned in the middle of the fireball.

Immediately, the entire image receded simultaneously backward and upward towards the top of the screen, ending up stationary across the top of the screen, while beneath it appeared words that received Joseph’s immediate attention.

‘Today is a day of ultimate destiny for one lucky, or perhaps not so lucky, Scorpion.  For those born on the seventh day of the eleventh month, at one a.m., beware – because today, one of you, and that one alone, will be affected by the cosmos forces – your destiny is finally at hand. – but your day comes with a warning.   Be wary in all that you do, listen carefully to all that you hear, and be especially judicious in your dealings with all that you meet.   And most of all … be careful in what you choose to do and say – for your reaction will have a far reaching result – not just for you, but perhaps the entire world.

   Choosing right, however, will not make your future any easier than choosing wrong- the only difference in choosing right or wrong will be how many will suffer if you choose wrong.’

   “So this is it … my turn to be cool, to save the world.” Joseph laughed to himself, ‘Move over, Harry Potter … like, as if.   Seems like it comes with a lot of pressure … perhaps I will have to reject it and wait for a better offer to become a super hero.   ”

Joseph’s laugh was as much at the forecast as it was about his own use of the star sign when in reality he was never certain that he really knew the actual date and time of his birth.   But the laughter died quickly as Joseph’s mind once again transgressed backwards in time … to his upbringing in an orphanage.

The thought of his unknown parents saddened Joseph, but perhaps not as powerful an emotional loss as it may have been had he known them and then lost them.  He had been, supposedly, six months old when he had been taken to the Farm-Vale Orphanage according to the unknown middle aged man who had found him abandoned on a wild and rugged beach in some long forgotten part of the wild north.   Midnight?  Midsomer?  Middleborough?  Craigleborough … yes, he thought to himself, it was something like that.

Joseph had never journeyed to the strange, desolate part of the British Isles where he had been given a second chance at life.  He saw no reason to.   And, for reasons far beyond his comprehension, on the odd times he thought that it might be a good starting point to try and determine his family history and discover the reason for his being in that odd part of the world in the first place, his mind would totally reject the thought as a stupid thing to do and totally dismiss it …yet today it felt like his mind was telling itself it would be a dangerous thing to do … and that almost inspired him to actually go there … to live dangerously for once.

But the variation to his thought process meant little to whatever controlled his brain and whatever they called the village where he had been rescued – his memory of its name disappeared once again, forgotten so quickly it was as if it had never existed in the first place.

The space inside Joseph’s mind that had held the thought of something that had happened in childhood but a second earlier was instantly replaced by another oft thought question which was already in the process of being dispatched – almost before it arrived – dismissed without answer even faster than the previous thought – when something unexpectedly forced his mind to focus on it.   His mother was presumed dead and therefore unable to care for him… his father …?

   “Well,” Joseph thought remorsefully, “that is something I will, most likely, never know.”  The man who had brought him to the orphanage had told the staff the note that had accompanied the baby had been blown out of his hand and disappeared into the dark murkiness of the water that lined the pebble and muddy beach.

‘Blown away and gone forever’, he had said, ‘before I had a chance to read it all’, but not before the mother had said she was dying … she had but hours left, she had told him … and there were no other relatives … and it was imperative that he took the child to the Farm-Vale Orphanage.    The address for the orphanage was pinned to the child’s blanket along with a phone number which he rang immediately advising the receptionist of the situation and telling them he was on his way.   It was many miles from where the man had found the child.   He had left almost immediately with the child, but it was well after midnight by the time he arrived.

‘That was all I know,” he had told the orphanage receptionist, ‘I received a call telling me it was important for me to go to a spot about a hundred and fifty yards from the main foreshore at six that evening … there would be something for me to collect – then they hung up.  The voice was female, but I never knew who called, no name was given and they hung up before I could ask.  I have no idea how they knew my number, and even stranger still, when I tried to ascertain the caller’s number on my phone … there was no record of the call.  

   I assumed there must have been a glitch in the network, however, out of curiosity, I did what they asked of me and got the shock of my life when I found the baby.   It was fairly desolate, that stretch of the beach.  God knows what would have happened to the poor child had I decided not to go. 

    I had walked for miles and miles, every single day, for over six weeks, alternating the path I took from left to right or right to left as my mood took me.  I had a lot of thinking to do at the time and the solitude and calmness of the place made it a perfect spot for me to spend my days.  But in all that time I only ever saw one solitary person other than the staff at the resort … if that is what one would call a wilderness lodge comprised of six cabins in the middle of nowhere, all empty, with the exception of mine, and a manager’s quarters – and even that chance meeting was but once. 

   The woman, in her early twenties I would have thought.   Pretty little thing she was, but there was something different about her.   Perhaps a strange thing for me to say, but she had what I would call a magical aura about her.   I don’t mean I expected her to suddenly pull out a wand and cast a spell on me.   Turn me into a toad or something.   No, she was more like a sixties’ hippy.   One of those you see portrayed on the television in the softer rom-com shows.   Always smiling, ever knowing of your darkest secrets without revealing her knowledge to you, mysterious in her ways and always a step ahead of you … yet wearing an angel face that would warm the coldest heart … and usually did.  

   The type of unsolicited councilor, who can always extract the truth from someone, even when armed with nothing but a soft voice and just the right way to ask a question, then solve the problem for them by somehow making them work out the solution for themselves, or at least convincing them that they have. 

   You find yourself blurting out all sorts of information … information that you normally wouldn’t share with anybody if your life depended on it when you meet somebody like her.

    She spoke to me for perhaps ten to fifteen minutes and I found myself opening up to her about my problems, why I was in solitude at the wilderness lodge, telling her more about what had been worrying me than I could even tell myself.

    Call it coincidence, but two days after meeting her I was in the process of returning home – ready to deal with my demons as easily as ordering fish and chips and a large beer for my evening meal.   I really can’t remember what she had said, but it had worked.   My bill paid up I was packed and ready to leave the following morning when the phone call came.   Her magic had worked on me, but she never revealed anything about herself.   The way she had controlled things I don’t think I even had the chance to think to enquire some courtesy background checks on her.  Like a polite enquiry on where she came from … or what her name was.   I just opened up and let everything flow out.   A rather selfish act I realised in retrospect and I have been chastising myself ever since I found the young one.   But that was the way that she affected people.

   Whether or not she was the one that sent the note, I couldn’t say, though I did manage to make some enquiries about her from the staff before I headed off here, but they said they had never seen her, and had no idea who she was.  And they assured me that there was no other accommodation, private or otherwise for miles.   Feeling that I had no other choice I packed the child, still in its basket, on the floor on the passenger side and came straight here.’

   That was all that the orphanage had been able to tell Joseph when he became old enough to ask them about his past: not even his saviour’s name.  It had not been much of an answer, but it had been enough in the circumstances.  At least he was certain that life would not hold any surprises for him.  His father could come back into his life.   But he very much doubted that was likely to happen.  He assumed his father had either been dead when his mother had made arrangements for his future, or as he had not become involved in Joseph’s life for the past thirty four years and six months, Joseph doubted that he was likely to do so now.

Joseph was equally certain no siblings would turn up out of the blue either.

    ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘they would have ended up in the orphanage with me had they been there with her.’

Then he had a second thought, ‘Perhaps they were placed in care with somebody else … another orphanage … or perhaps even into a private house.   Maybe they are with a relative.   But if that is the case why didn’t they come looking for me?  If my mother had the foresight to make arrangements for me, surely she would have done the same for them, and with that kind of foresight she would have told them where to find me?’

Joseph thought about it for a second, before reminding himself that the man had told the orphanage receptionist that the woman appeared to be in her very early twenties and any brothers or sisters would have only be a year of two older than him if she was the mother … so it would have been strange to separate them at that age.

    ‘No,’ Joseph finally declared to himself, ‘I am an only child.’ as he dismissed the last of his stored up thoughts about his parents and moved his mind to the orphanage itself.

Life in the orphanage had been good, Joseph thought as his mind began to reminisce about his past life.   The organisation that supported the orphanage had been kind and helpful to both him and the other children.   The children had all got along with each other, and the orphans really liked all the staff members.

But there was something else Joseph wondered about whenever his mind wandered off into its current location … he couldn’t remember any single child being adopted.   There had always only been around twenty or so orphans at any given time, of different ages and sexes, usually arriving very early in life as Joseph had done, remaining at the orphanage until they reached university age when they would only return as a casual holiday boarder between terms and rarely seen again after obtaining their diplomas … but nobody was ever adopted … at least no one that he knew about.

There had always been in-fashion clothing and edible meals provided, popular presents at Christmas and birthdays supplied by the benevolent charity that supported the orphanage, or so he believed, and the same charity ensured they all had a good education and their university fees and books were provided for when the time came, as well as providing them with a generous weekly living allowance while attending university.

There had been no need for pocket money for the children prior to going to uni.   There were enough things to do at the orphanage including a heated swimming pool and a tennis court.   Television was provided, but time restrictions were placed based around the ages of the children, and completed homework was a strict requirement before watching television or a video for all students.

Trips to the village were restricted to fairs, Christmas carols and other similar events and the children were provided with spending money on those days, but never allowed to leave the orphanage on their own.   The orphanage was almost paranoid when it came to safety and security issues.   However whether they had good reason to worry about the welfare of their wards or not would be the subject of debate for years to come, but there had never been a child within their realm of care that had had cause to be concerned for their safety.

The children had no qualms about the restrictions, accepting the staff’s advice that rarely venturing into the outside world was for the best … while they were young at least.   Plenty of time after uni, they always said.

But there was something else that Joseph found hard to understand, the thing that been the main reason for this sudden burst of questionable memories … the orphanage had somehow known Joseph’s birth date and time of birth, but no other details of his birth – and he wondered sometimes it they had just made up a date up to fend of the authorities when the paperwork was being filled in.

One o’clock in the morning on the seventh of November could have just as easily been the date of his arrival at the orphanage as being the actual date of birth.  He could easily have been younger or older than six months when he arrived.   It was only the orphanage that would know how accurate their record was.   But he eventually decided, as he did every time the thought surfaced, that it was better to have a date –any date – than not have a special day one could call their birthday … and once again released a loud, exasperated sigh at the frustration that was the unknown background to his listless life.

The orphanage, or at least the orphanage’s mysterious benefactor, had continued to hold sway over Joseph’s life even after he had finished at the university and was let loose into the world with enough money to set himself up, complete with all the furnishings and other bachelor necessities, in the top half of a middle of the range apartment close to shopping facilities, restaurants and various forms of inexpensive entertainment not far out of London central.

This location meant he had public transport and taxis to get him to wherever he needed to go and that saved him the expense of buying a car and running it.  It wasn’t like he had any preference for long trips to the countryside or the beach on the weekend, nor did he think the car park trips to and from his place of business warranted the frustration of driving and the time it would steal from his day.   A car free life was fine with Joseph, and where he resided suited him down to the ground.

And he had never thought it necessary to question the continued assistance from his benefactors as he moved from the relevant security of the orphanage into the real world.   As far as Joseph was concerned, he had not asked for money or help in his move to his new life.   In fact he hadn’t thought about it in advance and when he had been advised of the financial and establishment help he was going to be given he was most appreciative of it.

When Joseph had attended university everything had been set up for him in advance, presumably, he thought, by the orphanage, or perhaps by the benefactor himself, if it was a he.   He didn’t think about the details, just happy and grateful that somebody was looking after him.   Accommodation, restaurant credit cards in the neighbourhood, accounts with a reputable tailor, a men’s clothing shop, hairdresser, and a yearly travel pass with the met.   Several local services plus taxi charges, accounts with various bookshops including the university’s and every single thing that would avoid him any stress over the four years he would be attending the university, with enough cash deposited in his bank account to cover every emergency that life could offer.

For some, the opportunity to do anything and everything that the money in the bank would allow them to do would have been a huge temptation, but Joseph had never ever thought that way.   The culture of both the orphanage and Grimshaw’s had been that one went to school to learn.   Anything else they wanted to do could be done when they had completed their learning.   Joseph had accepted that culture without question and that was his sole reason for going to the university … any other benefits that he was fortunate enough to receive was simply a bonus.

He had been allowed his own choice of courses and had chosen a continuation of his studies of ancient supernatural events throughout Great Britain and Europe with his friend Professor Smith for his secondary choice.   An opportunity he could not resist when in his final year at Grimshaw’s Professor Smith was unexpectedly offered the chance to specialise in this subject at the same university that Joseph was due to attend the following year.   For his prime course Joseph had chosen business studies which had been recommended to him by both Grimshaw’s and the orphanage.

No catch had come with the financial assistance he had been given for the four years that he attended his final years of education, and none was attached to his time-to-spread-his-wings bursary following the completion of his university courses.

But this was not to say that some pressure had not gently been placed on him to accept a position at Johnson’s Import and Export.   Joseph’s present job had been offered to him immediately after he had finished university, however when Joseph suggested it all sounded rather boring, not quite the type of job that he would have preferred, that he would much rather find something that could help him continue with his interest in the supernatural and unexplained events it had been suggested during his interview that the benefactor had suggested him for the position and perhaps he was honour bound to follow their advice … to at least give it a try for a couple of years.

The suggestion had not been slammed down on him – it had been more of an extremely gentle reproach of his hesitation in accepting the position.   A clarification of how nice it would be of Joseph to make the benefactor know that the time and care that had been invested in him was going to have such a happy ending.   His mentor would be so chuffed to see a fruitful ending to Joseph’s formative years concluding in a well paid position where there was every chance in the world that Joseph could work his way to the very top of the company in a relatively short time.   Not a guarantee, of course, but a very likely scenario if the benefactor’s judgement of Joseph’s capabilities was anything to go by.

The prospects of what appeared to be a promise of progress in a safe environment gave Joseph cause to consider the offer, but he still felt uncertain that it was what he wanted from life.   Deep inside his heart Joseph really felt that chasing his dream of being a full time investigator of the mysterious unknown was his destiny.    Defrocking ghosts and goblins, investigating the possibilities of werewolves or vampires in the neighbourhood, debunking supernatural legends, and perhaps even occasionally being forced to accept the unacceptable – this was what he truly wanted … and the confliction was tearing at him constantly.   He knew he really did owe the orphanage and its sponsor everything, equal only to what he owed the man that had delivered him to the orphanage in the first place, and had thus saved his life.

Joseph was in a quandary and he was fast becoming frustrated with his own indecision whether to repay a debt, or please himself.   He finally came to a decision that it was his life: his future that was being messed with and he was about to respectfully reject the company’s offer.   He was not attempting to be selfish, but he felt he had more to offer the world than just another grey suited clerk at a desk pushing data into a computer and dealing with disinterested warehouse clerks in regards to his customer’s missing containers laden with socks, jocks and women’s knickers, when an old memory resurfaced unexpectedly inside his perplexed and aching mind.

Joseph’s mind wandered back to the day he had started school at Grimshaw’s and the wonderful friend he had made there all those years ago.   And when his mind finally let the memories roll back into time … he turned and smiled at the interviewer and agreed to take the position with just one condition … ‘Should the need for him to be somewhere else sometime in the future, somewhere where he was needed for as long as it was necessary, but unable to explain  … the firm would make no attempt to prevent his leaving, his position would remain in place without penalty and he would be able to return to the position he had occupied before his temporary absence, unless it was proven beyond doubt that he was in fact … dead.   He would ring in on the day the special leave was required, ask for the legal department manager, refer him to code seventeen which referred to employee contracts and simply utter the word, ‘Grimshaw’s.   No questions would be asked and he would advise the firm when he was returning to duty’.

Joseph had been surprised not only by his own request, which had come out of his mouth without any understanding as to its origin, not only by the fact that the interviewer had immediately agreed to his strange request, but what really surprised him were the words contained in his reply … words that still rung in Joseph’s head to this very day.

    ‘Your benefactor would expect nothing less from you, Joseph,’ the interviewer had replied in a bemused tone, ‘in fact that exact condition has already been inserted into the contract.   How did you know about code seventeen?   Perhaps you are both blessed with clairvoyance.’

Joseph did not reply and the interviewer did not pursue the matter.   All Joseph could do for several, long, disbelieving seconds was stare at the interviewer – then as unexpectedly as the words that had emitted from his tongue had been, his mind seemed to him to give way to relief that his request had been accepted, and his face re-contorted itself into a huge smile.  Then he and the interviewer shook hands and Joseph signed the agreement.

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