March-Tempo di marcia

         The party had long passed, and already Chloe was hard at work. She had received the details regarding her case a few days ago from Vale. Picking up a folder, she opened it and began to read.

         Scott Foster, she thought. What an interesting name. It sounds very familiar.

With that, she began to read Scott's history.

* * *

         In Avon Park, it was about three thirty in the afternoon. Nestled not too far from the main roads was South Florida Community College, where Scott Foster attended school. At this point in time, his classes were over for the day. He wandered to the student parking lot, completely oblivious to all the girls ogling over his aesthetically pleasing form: 6' 3", a little stocky but with some definition. This didn't matter to him; instead, he dwelled on the recent events in his seemingly nonexistant love life.

         About a week ago, his girlfriend of nearly a year confessed that she was a lesbian and dated him to keep her sexuality from her parents. This had left Scott feeling betrayed. Why did you use me like this? he had asked her. Why, Jamie? Why? Now he felt as if he had no ability to make any girl happy. With that thought, he got in his car and began to head out to Donaldson Park.

* * *

         "He is a journalistically inclined student," Chloe read aloud. "Currently, he's finishing the credits needed for Associate's degree in journalism. He will then be heading out to the University of Tampa."



         Worriedly, Kirsten watched Scott head to Donaldson Park. She had seen this happen too many times to count.

         Great, she thought. He's going to try to off himself again.

         It was not her call to prevent his suicide, so she sent an urgent message to Luke's palm, hoping that Luke could stop Scott in time.



         Chloe, meanwhile, continued to pour over Scott's file. Now in the behavior section, she read the information that Kirsten and many others already knew. Though Scott had a good disciplinary record, he had a lengthy history of self destructive behavior. Chloe grew increasingly worried as she read over his drinking, drug experimentation, self mutilation, and suicide attempts. He had a few steady girlfriends, and it was at these times was when he was the least destructive. However, after each breakup, something went awry. The last break up with.....Gabriella had resulted in a trip to the hospital after a self injury spree. Chloe decided to check the Updates section to see if there had been any more recent self destructive behaviors. Flipping to Updates, she saw nothing past December 2002. He had gotten a new new girlfriend named Jaime around then, but nothing else was mentioned.

* * *

         Scott sat on a bench along the beach. The wind generated white caps on the inland lake and tossed Scott's hair, which he had uncharacteristically forgotten to slick back. He felt over the pockets of his pants. At one point, he smiled and reached into the pocket, retracting a switchblade. Upon removal, he examined it in the sunlight. The knife was well sharpened but had lost its luster over the years. Still, Scott had a dangerous affection for the knife.

         "Ah, Vernon," he said to the knife, "you've been more faithful than any woman has ever been to me."

         He stared at the knife some more. Then, he moved the blade to his arm.

         "DON'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

         Three voices shouted, but Scott saw no one. Turning around, he came face to face with a stocky black man with a white scraggly beard.

         "Damian!" he yelped in surprise. "What in the..."

         "Scott, how many times are we going to go through this," the black man asked.

         Scott hung his head in shame and let go of the blade. "Jaime," he whispered.

         At that, Damian sighed in exasperation. "Scott, you've got to learn to deal with these things. Nothing is ever stable."

         "I know that, but...people must think I'm crazy talking to thin air."

         "Now, Scott, I made myself visible. We angels do so if need be, and in your case, I appear a lot more than what is considered safe."

         "Right, but as I was going to say, I just want a woman to love me forever."

         "And if you opened your eyes for one goddamn second, you'd see that many females would like to shack it up with you. Maybe out of them, you'll find someone that will love you eternally."

* * *

         Kirsten watched the conversation. Her demand for Scott not to carve his skin must have been echoed by Damian and possibly Luke. Hopefully Damian could talk Scott out of this jam, but lately it had been difficult for him. Guardian angels only have certain powers, and if Scott tried to hurt himself again, Damian would be powerless to stop him. It would fall into Luke's hands to keep him on Earth. As Kirsten debated the repercussions of Luke having to handle Scott, a soft rapping on the door could be heard.

         "Come in," Kirsten said without looking up.

         At that, Chloe opened the door and entered the room. She saw Kirsten staring at what looked like a plate of blue glass. Approaching Kirsten, she saw the two beings on Earth having a discussion. However, the room was silent.

         "What's going on, Kirsten?" Chloe asked.

         "Well..." Kirsten hesitated. What could she say? After all, she was watching a life that Chloe would be changing. Wait a minute! Maybe this could help Chloe in her mission.

         "What?" Chloe prompted, waking Kirsten from her reverie.

         "Oh! Um, that's the guy you have to get a wife," Kirsten said.

         "I figured that much," Chloe said. "What's going on in this scene?"

         "Well, Scott is getting talked out of the eighth suicide attempt in two years."

         "By whom?"

         "Damian, his guardian angel."

         "Oh. Has he ever had to pull one of those 'It's a Wonderful Life' stunts?"

         "Thankfully no."

         "Well, that's good."

* * *

         Meanwhile, Scott and Damian sat on the bench. Damian held Scott's knife as Scott sobbed.

         "But Damian..." Scott croaked.

         "No buts, Scott," Damian chided. "We've been through this too many times. I know how much Vernon here means to you. That's why I'm taking it. I don't want you attempting suicide ever again."

         Finally, Scott sighed. "Fine."

* * *

         "Scott tried to kill himself again?" Chloe asked.

         "Mm-hmmm," Kirsten hummed.

         "Why did he do it this time?"

         "Is that why you came here? How would you have known?"

         "I didn't know that he was attempting at this moment. I was actually hoping to see if anything was missing from the Updates section."

         "Got his file?"

         "Standard procedure, according to Vale."

         "So you don't use the incorrect method...well best of luck to you on that one."

         "Gee, thanks. How many suicide attempts is that?"

         "Third one this year."

         "Great. I'm gonna have some serious fun with this friggin' case. Thanks, Kirsten."

         "You're welcome, Chloe."

         With that, Chloe left Kirsten to watch the resolution of Scott and Damian's discussion. As she walked back to her little cubicle at the Dome (where she and the other love minions worked at various times throughtout the day), she contemplated what she would do about Scott. Since he seemed suicidal, it appeared necessary to find a way to boost his thoughts. Not having her Method Book with her, Chloe opted to not figure out she could alter his thought processes. After that, how would she handle him?

         This is going to require some inside advice, she thought.




         Later that night, Chloe was still reading files. She was now digesting some information about the girl, Maya Burkhalter. She seemed to be more stable from what Chloe was reading. What worried Chloe, though, was the fact that Maya was still in high school. True, she would be graduating in a matter of months, but the school issue still concerned Chloe.

         "How am I supposed to set a high school girl up with a suicidal college boy?" she asked herself.

         "Patience," a voice came from the entryway of Chloe's cubicle.

         Chloe turned around. "Edna!" she yelped.

         "Don't be so surprised," Edna said.

         "You...you startled me."

         "My, you're startled easily. We're going to have to work on that."

         Chloe hung her head in shame at Edna's remark.

         "Don't be so ashamed, Chloe," Edna continued. "You are way sensitive. We love minions can't be so damn sensitive."

         "Sorry," Chloe whispered.

         "Silence, child!" Edna gently chided. "Now let's see what kind of a situation you have so far."

         "Not a good one. Scott is extremely voliatile."

         "Oh no, not the suicidal ones. These are the hardest to pull off. Why, oh why did Vale give you this type of case?"

         "Why don't you ask him? He wouldn't say anything to me."

         "But he should know better."

         "Why do you say that?"

         "With suicidal subjects, even if you get them together with someone, it almost always requires some sort of maintenance and loads of help from the other departments," Edna said. "Plus, as you saw when you went to see Kirsten today, it requires the guardian angel to practically stay on Earth till it's subject's death. The risk of self destruction always exists, even if the subject marries and has tens of kids."

         "I see," Chloe mumbled. "Scott attempted suicide again today."

         "With a knife?" Edna asked.

         "On the nose."

         "That eliminates our traditional weapon, if you will."

         "Bow and arrow?"

         "Please! Those became obsolete in your planet's 1960s. We use dart guns now to make a subject smitten. However, we don't use them on those with self injuring tendencies."

         "What do we use?"

         "Serums, dusts, subliminal imagery, devices like that. If the subject doesn't respond, we sometimes use darts."

         "What would be best for Scott? From what I can gather, we can use darts on Maya."

         "Maya should get a light dart, but we need to worry about Scott first since he requires a lot of work."

         "Okay. Well, how 'bout it? What should Scott get?"

         With that, Edna and Chloe began to make plans for Scott's transformation. As they worked diligently, a small white cat walked by and lay down by the doorway. Though it appeared to be sleeping, it was actually eavesdropping. At one point, it began to emit a complex series of meows.

         "Satan," it roughly meowed. "Chloe's getting Scott a new companion."

March (Morris Dance)