Got up on time but then ended up delayed by a cat who thought my potted bay laurel tree was a scratching post. The bay was successfully defended and although the cat seemed disappointed, it was not harmed. It did lurk waiting for me to go back into the house so I used the garden hose as a weapon. He got wet but ran, hopefully he is now too traumatized to go after the larger plants on the patio. I have no illusion about winning the war against the feral cats, but I will call it a slight victory. But on to the mornings writing prompt. Are you ready? Excellent, let’s go.
This is one of those prompts where I kind of want to set the timer for another fifteen so I can figure out why this man is in town. I like the image of him sort of arriving in this quiet town when it is not so quiet though.
Friday, August 4th: Marvin watched the spectacle.
Marvin watched the spectacle. It was, he had to admit, something to see. During daylight the parade wound through the small downtown, circling. It started on West Mullins turned onto Main Street and went until Main Street teed into Garrison. They then turned onto Garrison and then took a sharp turn onto Broadway to complete the long oval. After they did a pass on Broadway, they continued out of down town and massed in the parking lot of the high school stadium.
There were far more floats pulled by pickup trucks then he would have imagined. The celebration seemed almost frenzied as though those performing were determined to prove something. He just wasn’t sure which. In fact he wasn’t entirely certain what holiday was being celebrated. During one of the brief lulls where the current float and it’s accompanying dance squad passed his position by but the next one had a small gab before it reached him, he looked to the man standing next to him.
The man was flushed with good cheer and a little too much alcohol. Dave hoped the alcohol would help keep his questions from sounding strange.
“Is it always …like this?” he asked.
“Oh no,” the main replied with a shake of the head. They haven’t had a homecoming parade for two years now so they have kind of gone over the top for this one. Usually they only let the senior class make floats, but this year every class plus every student group has something.”
“I see,” Dave replied. The next float reached them. This one seemed to be chess themed and was accompanied by the drum section of the marching band.
“Betcha never saw a chess club float before,” the man next to him yelled. His grin was wide and he waved enthusiastically to those on the float.
Dave nodded in agreement but the man was no longer looking at him. He went back to studying the float and those passing him by. Those participating seemed determined to make up for lost parades as well as to fear that next year’s might be cancelled as well from the intensity with which they performed.
The small town crowd was equally enthusiastic and determined that if parades were cancelled in the future this would go down as the best parade ever.
Eventually the last of the floats passed him by. The sun was going down and he thought of heading back to the small house he rented just the other day. His new companion looked at him as he started to move.
“Aren’t you staying for the fireworks?” he asked.
“Fireworks?”
“Yeah the fourth of July got rained out as did the back up display day so the mayor decided to add them to homecoming since he didn’t want to store them all year. He was worried the damp winter storage might cause them to fizz out and not put on a show next year.”
The last sentence was said as a stage whisper, as though Dave was being passed confidential information. The man even gave him a conspiratorial wink.
“That so?” Dave replied. He soon realized leaving was not possible and he was swept along with the crowds to the fireworks display.
Ten til Midnight 