One Full Year

A piano plays in an empty club. The tables are all crowned with chairs, the stage is dark. The bar glistens, the floor glints with fresh wax.

A clock strikes five am, and a young man in rolled up sleeves takes a hearty draft of his drink. He grimaces, and shakes his head. He's sitting on the floor, back leaning up against the bar he just finished cleaning. The song echoes through the empty club. He closes his eyes and lets it echo through him as well.

"We did it, Cas. One full year." He hoists the remains of his drink at the stage, where the piano sits. The only reply is the mournful tune that comes out of the instrument.

He opens his eyes, and surveys the work of the last year. A beautiful establishment meets his eyes. Clean and new. The kind of place that he and Cas had talked about for years. His hands play on the wood of the bar behind him. Original. As old as the building itself. A concession he'd insisted on. It didn't quite match the aesthetic of the rest of the club but...

Well it was a talking piece at least.

And in the end it didn't really matter. After a year business was booming. Better than he'd hoped, better than anyone had expected.

"Told you we should keep the bar." He smirked.

The piano played.

The man sighs, and hoists himself off the floor. He takes the last of his drink, something expensive that he hates, and leaves the glass upside down on the bar. He walks over to the stage, and stares at the instrument.

Eventually the song comes to an end, and he unplugs the player piano.

"Thanks, Cas. Let's hope next year is even better." He smiles to the stage, with wet eyes. He walks out of the club, locks up and calls a cab.

A neon sign blazes in the darkness, welcoming people to Cassie's Club.

Rollercoaster

Having just come off the rollercoaster, after winning the biggest kewpie doll he had ever seen, Jack wobbled forward with the assistance of his young daughter.

"Whoof... too intense for me, tyke!" He said, hamming up his dizziness. The fairground coaster was tiny, small enough to pack up and put in a truck after all.  But the little girl had loved every second.  Which was a relief to Jack, considering it cost five bucks, each, to get on the thing.

"Can we go again daddy!?" She was jumping back and forth behind him, pushing him back upright as he wobble-walked forward.

"Are you kidding me?  I barely survived that once!  Your dear old dad isn't as young as he used to be, tyke." He smiled at his daughter. Something to distract her would be perfect now. "How about popcorn?"

"Popcorn!" She shouted and was off like a shot to the vendor booths.  Thank god.

When he caught up with her, he scowled at the signs. Popcorn: Five dollars for a small.  Sigh. Oh well, at least he could eat it without being cramped in a tiny little car. He put the kewpie doll on the ground next to his bouncing child. "Take care of Mister Fluffers for a minute would you?" She nodded enthusiastically.

He paid for their snack, and the two of them maneuvered their way to a bench to people watch.  Mister Fluffers sat beside them on the ground.

Cassie rapidly munched through her popcorn, creating a cloud of popcorn shrapnel all about her.  The birds will be happy later, thought Jack.  He smiled at his daughter.

They laughed at the clowns that came tumbling through, causing no end of trouble.  The looked on in awe at the obviously very wealthy cowboy, a concept that confused Cassie to no end.  There were so many people here at the fair, it must be the biggest one in the town's history.

A young kid walked up to the popcorn booth, waving off the attendants.  He was wearing a backpack slung over one shoulder, and had a trucker cap on pulled low.  He shuffled back and forth around the stand.  Jack smiled.  Probably waiting for his date to show up.  Oh, those were the days. Those were the days that sucked.  He put his arm around his daughter as she attacked her popcorn like a hungry beast.  He looked back up, and the kid was gone.  Maybe next time, champ.

But Jack's eye caught on the kid's bag, leaning against the popcorn stand. Huh.  Jack scanned the crowd, and found the trucker cap making it's way toward the exit.

"Stay put for a second honey, I'll be right back.  Keep an eye on Mister Fluffers huh?" Cassie looked him straight in the eye with an entirely serious face, and gave him a stiff salute. Jack smiled and headed for the bag.

"Hey kid!" He shouted in the direction of the rapidly dissapearing hat.  "You forgot your bag!" He hustled over, and picked it up.  It was surprisingly heavy for a little bag. What was this kid bringing on his date?

Jack took off after the kid, working his way through the crowd, all while trying to keep one eye on Cassie. "Hey kid!  You in the hat!" About a half-dozen people turned to look at Jack.  He shook his head, searching for the boy.  Before long he found himself at the centre of a sea of people, none of which were the rejected kid.  Jack shrugged and headed back to Cassie.

Mister Fluffers' face was covered in popcorn, and Cassie's bag was empty.

"He got real hungry Dad." She said, beaming. "But it's okay, I tooked care of it."

Jack smiled. "Good stuff, kiddo." He popped the bag on to the bench.  Maybe the kid put his address on the tag. Do people still do that?  Maybe they don't.  Kids are weird now, after all.  Kids are really weird.  Man... I don't want to know what this kid has in his backpack... it's probably like... math books, and meth, and... dungeons and dragons books... Jack shuddered.

He pulled the top open and looked inside the bag.

The kid wasn't nervous about his date.

The kid was nervous about the bomb in his backpack.