ha cha cha

Not that that was too much of a deduction, of course. 

“Oh — you know the Minister?” She tilted her head. “You sent me a whole file about him. It was quite thorough, you know. A whole list of allegations against him that were rescinded… is that something you’re working on?”

It definitely wasn’t Squire material, but perhaps Toby had been doing a longer investigative project in his downtime. For all her many, many (many, many) faults, Hearst-Pulitzer didn’t mind them taking on freelance projects, so long as it was something that they would “never ever” publish in the Squire. And a deep dive on a politician across oceans and continents seemed to fall in that bucket. 

He had sent her a file? No he hadn't! Why would he have done that?

For a moment, paranoia crawled up out of the gutter and made his stomach turn. Had the Minister found him? All the way over here? It probably couldn't have been all that hard, since Toby hadn't changed his name or anything, and it was printed on any of the stories he wrote or pictures he had taken.

But then how had he gotten to Ms. Shiftwell?

That was where the fear promptly stopped dead. He had too much good faith in his co-worker to think that she could be bought out by someone to be doing anything like that.

Woosh, he seriously needed to get a grip.

"Oh! I'm sorry about that, I must've sent the wrong thing your way," he said, ducking his head sheepishly to readjust his glasses. "But nah, nah, yeah. It's, um, it is something I'm working on. Have been for awhile, actually. It's just a personal project, nothing official. And certainly not for here, you know! I doubt anyone in this town even knows the guy." He paused, then gestured toward her, "Except for you, now. And maybe the one other Aussie I've heard in Castle Suites."

Another pause. More awkward than the first as he seemed to search of where to navigate.

Oh well. He wasn't the first and he wouldn't be the last. She'd learned that lesson well.

But since she had a full three inches of height on him even without the low heels she was wearing at the moment, it was easy enough to get ahold of the book.

Coming closer she plucked it off the shelf and handed it over, glancing down at the title. "Interesting choice."

At the end of the aisle, she caught a glimpse of Nick leaning against the counter, one eye on the both of them even as it looked like he was reading. Well that was something.

Toby took a step back as she came forward to get out of her way, but watched with grateful anticipation. He smiled when she presented it to him, taking it into his hands to admire the cover and turn over to glance at the back as well. This ensured that he was completely oblivious to any outside observations of their interaction, too preoccupied.

"Nah, yeah? Have you read it?" he asked, looking back up at her with open interest. "A friend recommended it, and they've never steered me wrong."

In terms of representation, I will say that much of it is dated by today's standards. But you're right, Sidney films tend to show a lot more Magick and Magicks than many other contemporary films, especially considering how groundbreaking the animated style was. It's part of why those films have lasted so long for so many children. I'm glad that you were able to discover a little of that for yourself and that you had fun with it.

I will admit, your comment made me laugh. Here in Swynlake, we still have elements of that favoritism and loyalties, undoubtedly. I think that's human nature to a degree. But it doesn't change the fact that even those favorites are people who would never get to perform in a musical otherwise. Everyone in our show is someone with a different day job who gets to take a break and make art in a new way.

Oh the protest was a little sad. Two people, one of whom clearly didn't want to be there, with signs complaining about prom. I feel a little bad for the man leading the protest, but I can't say I'm sorry it didn't work.

I did go and I had a lovely time! My partner and I were able to take the evening together which is rare these days and we danced for most of the night. Plus this time there was a beautiful wall of stars with people's memories from the dream, so it was fun to read through those."

All the best, CranberryShortcake

Dear CranberryShortcake,

I appreciate your good faith in all of the people involved with putting on the production. A bit of drama is to be expected from a theater, I suppose.

That does sound rather sad. I would feel bad for someone who felt the need to do something like that, and to only have one other person stand beside them and for you to describe them as being reluctant to do so. It makes me curious as to the intentions behind protesting the event. If there were serious concerns to be brought up, I'd imagine more people would have stood with them. Was it just a sort of personal vendetta against the event, you wager?

That's great to hear, I'm happy to hear you had a good night out. I was looking at photos of the decorations, and I was very impressed. I've known this, since being here for the end of the year celebrations, but this town doesn't mess around on dressing the place up. Or themselves, for that matter.

How have you been lately? Life treating you well? I know we're still in the thick of summer, are you enjoying the weather or looking forward to it cooling down?

Have a good day!

The man took it for granted that the bag was misplaced then, did he? He assumed no sort of ulterior motive or nefarious goings-on afoot? Well, admittedly the disguise of a child's bag was a good one, it seemed every inch like it could have been left behind by some absent-minded kid or busy parent.

But Basil's mind was a sewer; he had seen all sorts of things disguised artfully in ways you would never expect.

"Carefully," he confirmed, looking back up at the man, his gaze black and intent. "You never know what might be in there."

@toby-determined

He had already started reaching for the zipper but froze at the warning of caution, only his eyes moving to dart up to meet the other man's from behind their corrective lenses. They widened a fraction as his imagination took hold of that and darted back to the bag.

Slowly, he began to peel open the zipper. Once it was open enough for Toby to peer into, his brows arched. Curiosity took the place of fear and he pulled until the zipper had reached the other end, his hands moving to separate the opening further.

A faint glow could be seen projected onto his face, reflecting off his glasses, gently changing from one cool tone to the next.

"Huh," Toby said, then looked up at the other man, and Toby (the dog). "It erm– I mean, apart from the regular looking school supplies, I think someone's lost their crystal ball." A beat. His expression wrinkled as he looked back down. "I didn't know they gave them out to ankle biters."

This was not unusual. They often emailed after hours. That was the nature of the job. Especially now that Toby had wisened up, Holley found herself collaborating with him more. They were trading drafts and Holley had been expecting to see Toby’s write up of Besydus’ annual rose gardening festival.

Instead, she found a file about some Australian politician.

She’d meant to email him back, telling him he’d sent over the wrong file but — well, Holley was curious. Very very curious.

Especially when it looked like this file was a smaller piece in something bigger. Holley knew an investigation when she saw one. She wondered what Toby was up to…

When she got in the next day, she was relieved to find that Hearst-Pulitizer’s door was closed (ie; she did NOT want to be disturbed) and that Toby was already here and gabbing on about free time. 

“Oh that’s lovely — I’m behind on some transcription for a bigger piece — say,” she turned her chair to Toby, “what’s this about a Malcome Brooks?”

Toby gave a distracted hum in response, half focused on his computer screen as he tried to read the subject line on an email.

As soon as that name was put into the room his person went still. Only his eyes moved, flickering up to peer straight ahead as his brain had to shift gears completely in order to start making sense of why that had just come out of his colleague's mouth. When he couldn't seem to think of anything, he turned to face her, too.

There...there had to have been a reason she was asking about the Minister, right? Toby had told the Squire about his memory problems, but he hadn't gone into details. How could he? He didn't remember anything about what had happened and there was no proof that Brooks had anything to do with it. As far as he knew, the police in Melbourne had probably been told to fridge that case for the foreseeable future.

So, how did Miss Shiftwell know to ask about him?

Or was this some random question about home town politics and Toby had missed a major update about what was going on back in Victoria?

Perhaps it was a little bit sad she still structured her visits there around when Nick was working and Al was not. But it was simply easier to avoid the issue, and she hadn't seen any reason to change.

As always, as soon as Jess walked into the Comic Barn, she swung towards the comic section. She liked to pick up the new editions of whatever series she was currently reading, but there were often some new ones that often cycled in. Plus she wanted to see about exploring the kids section a little for Avery.

She had just stepped in between the shelves when she caught sight of Toby and frozen slightly.

It was fine. This was fine.

"Do you need a hand?"

Toby was taking another moment to look at the shelf, just trying to get the lay of the land before he went to go get someone with more natural height or access to a step-stool of some sort so he could lead them back to the right spot. That's when the voice filtered in through his brain's workings, making him turn his head to see who–

His posture straightened at the sight of the person at the end of the aisle.

Which was a strange occurrence for someone like him. He hardly ever got star struck anymore, that illusion having long been broken when he'd had the chance to meet a long admired author. With the additional bonus that he had met this woman before, spoken to her, borrowed her pen. It was sort of shameful, wasn't it? To be acting different in her presence only after he had witnessed her on stage, as if that changed the amount of respect he had for her– except it didn't, it moreso had changed the amount of respect he thought she should be giving him.

Which was none. Given her history in this town and his own reputation. Not that they had ever crossed direct paths. (That he knew of.)

He stared for a few seconds too long, but did not notice this because in Toby didn't know the difference, thinking people knew he was just observing them. That wasn't weird to him, given his profession. And his general awkwardness.

I will admit, my favorite movies tend to fall more into the category of movies that let you have a good time over ones that make you think too much. I can do a little thinking once in a while, but most of the time I'm looking to relax.

Fantasia is a slightly more unique film for Sidney. They took classical pieces and had their animators create a story to them so its more a series of short films to classical musical. The original can be a little slow for some people, but I enjoy it a lot. Plus it is perfect for her age considering its mostly moving colors to music that only lasts for a few minutes at a time.

When it comes to the theater, its more a question of availability. Besides, I think the joy of community theater is that people who don't get to perform very often get the chance to step into the spotlight.

Perhaps that is the case. No one should go to an event they aren't interested in. But Swynlake's formal dances are unlike the experience anywhere else. I hope one day you explore it at least once just out of curiosity. Or perhaps you'll have someone to experience it with.

All the best, CranberryShortcake

Dear CranberryShortcake,

I write this to admit that I did not watch Fantasia in full and only watched a few of the sequences that are on YouTube (after parsing through the music artist of the same name's videos), but I see what you're saying as far as it being both slow but stimulating at the same time. I was also surprised with the amount of Magicks represented within it given the time it was made, though I wouldn't be able to comment on some of the depictions as to whether or not they were good or bad representation. What I will say is that the animation was very beautiful and the dinosaur sequence was rather cool. It is pretty fascinating to see what sort of story the people putting them together could come up with just based on the sounds of the music and what the composer was trying to get across without the visual medium initially.

That's an interesting perspective! From what I've observed of community theater, which was in a different place entirely to Swynlake so take this with a grain of salt, is that it had a lot to do with favoritism or loyalties. Which ran both ways, in that they picked their favorites but also refused to cast others out of spite. I guess by your comment that it's different here?

I appreciate your encouragement! I did kick myself for not going when I heard there was a protest outside. While I'm sure the dance itself was wonderful, I would have liked to see someone protesting it and understand why. Did you go? And did you have a good time?

Have a good day!

Toby was not one would call a Type A personality. He didn't color code his notes or have the need for everything to be a certain way, but he was largely an organized individual. More so when it came to everything on his computer since that was where most of his work got done and the last thing he needed was a file getting lost in a drive because he forgot where he put it.

That being said, when deadlines were a-plenty and a small publication like the Squire was a bit short handed that meant he had been a liiiiittle sleep deprived recently. There was just so much going on with all the summer activities and ground to cover!

So, last night, he may have attached the wrong file to Miss Shiftwell. Not that he noticed, since as soon as he had been able to click Send he had shut down his laptop and went to bed himself.

What was on this file? Well, it had been one of the files he had in his Minister Malcome Brooks folder regarding some of the connections he had found between the politician and multiple allegations placed against him for various reason, only for said allegations to be recanted later on due to lapses in memory.

Oblivious to this, Toby had come in the next day without a worry in his mind about it. As he waited for the computer to wake up, he set his bag down, picking out the little SD card case he had to start uploading the selected and edited photos for the latest issue. He looked up when he heard someone else come in and brightened when he saw his colleague.

Despite a year having passed on this half of the hemisphere (as far as he could presently remember, anyway) he still found it strange for it to be summer. He was used to the middle of the year being cold and a little bit miserable. This was around the time when the day would lull people into a false sense of not needing a jacket, only for the chill of night to snap them with frost coated winds. But that had already passed around here, making way for warmth and, today at least, sunshine.

It was just after mid-day, meaning said sunshine was causing all the pavement and brighter stones of the buildings to light up. It was hard to look at, almost like a white screen in the dark or opening the fridge in the middle of the night. Toby had nearly smacked himself with the door to the Comic Barn trying to get in with his eyes squinted behind their corrective lenses.

"Well, I can't think why," Basil mused, as he watched the way that Toby glanced up at him for permission to stand up once again and begin sniffing all over the little backpack with his tail wagging eagerly.

"But it seems like it must have been the case. Did you see anyone around here before you who might have dropped it?" Basil asked the other man, whose name he didn't have the slightest clue of. What he did have, however, was a mystery - however small and insignificant it may be.

@toby-determined

Toby (the human) held the backpack lower so that Toby (the dog) didn't have to stretch to reach the bag with his sniffer, happy to witness the dog at work. He shook his head, glancing up to the dog's owner before casting his eyes around them.

There could have been a number of suspects. School wasn't out for the summer break yet, but kids were always coming and going from the park in the afternoons. There were plenty of them running around in the grassy area now, or sitting with their parents or baby sitters on blankets, enjoying the clear weather.

"I've only just sat down, though," he admitted, turning back to the dog's owner. Toby looked down at the bag, "Think they'd mind if we open it? See if there's a name written anywhere?"

Wow, what a lovely movie! Thank you for recommending it to me. It took some effort to find it, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. It also sent me down a rabbit hole of looking up information on the moon landing, so I would call it very effective that way as well.

I didn't know that I needed convincing on the important of old films, but you've convinced me. I had my nephew over with my foster daughter the other day as my turn to babysit, and I ended up showing them the old Sidney movie Fantasia. We'll have to work up to the Kid when her attention is a little better, but they enjoyed all the colors and the music, so we'll call it a good start. Luckily my neighbors are also a fan of old movies so I think we'll be able to give them a good grounding.

I don't always participate in the play, but I will this year. I find it interesting to help behind the scens, although I don't usually go for a major role. It lets me get to watch all the action while still participating in it, so it feels like the best of both worlds.

Prom can be a lot of fun, but I understand that dances aren't everyone's favorite. But June is always full of different events around town. A lot of our businesses do something special for Pride month, so there is a lot to explore. I recommend going to Chapter Three for their readings. If nothing else, its a good excuse to pick up a new book.

All the best, CranberryShortcake

Dear CranberryShortcake,

Good to hear you liked it and that it inspired you to learn more. I enjoy movies like that, too, that sort of stick with you after and opens up the gates for little pockets of information that you might not have found before. Or that just, in general, stick with you after viewing in some capacity. I do like the ones that are there to let you have a good time for however long the run time is, but they only stay with you for so long.

And that's wonderful! I don't think I've ever seen that film. We weren't a big Sidney household when I was a kid, so a lot of their movies slipped me by and I just haven't gone back to watch any of them. Not that I think animation is supposed to be entirely a medium for children. There's just of movies to get through, and especially now that I can't remember anything that I might have already seen in the past few years.

That's nice. I've never worked on anything in the theater aside from being an audience member. It seems like an impressive feat, putting one on. Lots of moving parts. Is there a reason you don't try for a major role in particular? Not one for the spot light or just the commitment and availability?

I feel as though I said this in previous emails (more that I remember re-reading it than I do typing it first hand) but I didn't really grow up with fancy school dances like a Prom. We had formals, but those were much different. If I went, I think I would be as out of place now as I was back then.

I saw that at the book shoppe! I'm always looking for an excuse for a new book, so I'll have to give it a go. I also love poetry, so I will look forward to stopping in to hear some spoken aloud. Thank you!

Have a lovely day!

"What do you choose to read?"

Toby understood that perspective– in fact he'd just been reading someone's opinions about how, in recent years, it felt like everyone was having to create series or 'universes' in order to get anything published. It wasn't a new thing, per-say, since whole works had been broken up in to serialized publications back when publishing whole works was a risk! It was quite interesting, the way the trends ebbed and flowed.

He went to ask more, but she turned the conversation over to him.

"Oh, um, anything really," he said with a shrug. "I love writing and any story, so I'll give anything a go! I've got at least three books on rotation at any given moment. Most recently I finished, Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols & Other Typographical Marks by Keith Houston. If you like books about books, it's a good one! Though I know non-fiction isn't everyone's favorite."

"Toby?!" Basil called, breaking into a light jog with a caustic sigh as he strained his eyes to try and spot where the dog had got to this time. "Oh come on buddy," he chastised, mostly to himself. He should have seen the warning signs, when Toby suddenly started sniffing and staring off into the distance like that. He'd got a scent of something. Exactly what, Basil would have to find him to know.

"There you are!" He cried, seeing the dog pawing at someone's leg rudely. "Toby! Sit! Stop that-" He ran over, slipping the leash back onto the dog's collar.

"I'm terribly sorry," he said, shaking his head as he looked up at the person apologetically. "He got a scent of something and then just was off-"

Toby (the human!) blinked at the feeling of something touching his leg, pulling his camera back from his face to peer down to find– "Oh. Hello, there."

A very beautiful looking dog had their paw against his leg, as if trying to gather his attention. Or maybe move it? He picked it up and bent over to see that there was something under the bench he was seated on, just behind where he had stashed his camera bag. He'd have to rearrange himself to get to it, but– then someone was saying his name.

Toby (the human) sat back up properly, watching the man approach. Sit, he told him. But...he was sitting...on the bench...

Only then the man was apologizing and speaking about who Toby (the human) could only assume was the dog. Before he could think to make a comment about that he nodded, pointing, and stood.

"Yes, I think he was trying to get to..." He rounded the bench to get down on his knees and grab the bag. It was a small backpack and quite colorful. Probably a child's. Toby (the human) popped back up and presented it to the dog. "Was it this?"

There are some things about my school days I miss, but all in all I'm happy to be an adult. I have so many more choices these days than I did back then. But I suppose that's partially because my childhood was rarely worry free. Plus even back then I hated having to wake up early in the morning for class haha. But hopefully between our wishes and her family's, she'll enjoy school and do much better than I did.

I'll apologize for not warning you about the chocolate cravings. Its true, I almost always have to make a batch of truffles if I don't already have some on hand after watching the movie. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I appreciate your warning about the cursing. I'm not particularly worried if she decides to swear, but she's just at the age where she's repeating a lot of what she hears and I know other parents are strict about these sorts of things so I might as well give it a few years. I ended up watching it on my own and I had an incredible time. That's going into my list of movies to rewatch regularly.

You're right about the importance of older movies, but its a strangely unpopular opinion these days. I think its assumed that if its old, its boring because we've done bigger or more bombastic things since. Some of my favorite movies from that time are things like Some Like It Hot (1959), Born Yesterday (1950), and The Kid (1921).

In the meantime, are you looking forward to any of our summer events? It's always exciting when the play gets announced.

All the best, CranberryShortcake

Dear CranberryShortcake,

I'm glad you liked the movie! It's a right classic in my house. If you liked it, then maybe you'll also like The Dish (2000). It's made by the same team, writers and the director, and it's got Sam Neill and Patrick Warburton in it. I always think of it as a summer film, so it'll be coming into the annual rotation soon enough.

It is strange that people could ever view the first foray into film making to be boring, but you're right. People will have seen newer movies first and will have grown used to the language of film, so if they go back and watch the first pen strokes of that language it's nothing to sniff at. Ironic, then, when people are looking for entertainment in the way of large stunts when Buster Keaton's run of those will quite literally never be replicated the same way. Even more impressive to think on since he didn't have anything to reference or look back on for guidance. The same for any of these movies, like the child acting in The Kid (1921) is phenomenal! No wonder he grew up to become Uncle Fester. But no one had a frame of reference for how to teach a child to act on film, it was all being transferred from stage performances.

I would say that I am looking forward to the summer events! I was here for the majority of them last year, but I think I was still too new to really understand what all was going on. Always happy to see a play! Though I don't remember particularly liking the movie this years musical is set on, but maybe it's been adapted to be more enjoyable? I also didn't attend the big fiasco that was Prom, but I doubt I'll be going again this year.

What about you? Do you participate in the play's production or just a patron?

Have a good day!

"Honestly its a romance book. Interconnected stand alones. So you can read them by themselves but I love reading them all together in the right order. I saw this one clip for the third book so I guess im in for the long haul. Plus I just found out one of the books released this year with another coming out next."

He might not have been interested but Sylvia judged no books.

Toby tilted his head, having to squint in order to read it at the distance he stood. He didn't recognize the title, but that wasn't really a surprise. There were so many books in the world, one could hardly be expected to be familiar with all of them! Especially someone who couldn't remember a good chunk of time and whatever books might have come out during those years, like himself.

"Wow, sounds like you're set for a while," he smiled. While it was true that he wasn't necessarily a common reader in the romance genre, he also held no judgement– Toby loved stories and he thought people should be able to enjoy whatever they wanted, so long as it wasn't harming anyone.

"Do you usually like long series?"

She didn’t want to be self-righteous about this at all. But there was a small part of her that wanted to scoff and say yes, and launch into a tirade about ethics in journalism. 

However, Holley knew that wasn’t the right thing to do.

The right thing to do, she knew, was to extend a hand. That’s what the RAS was all about. Helping people who needed it, of course. But also helping people who wanted to change. To atone. 

And apparently, Toby Determined was one of those people.

“You would’ve,” said Holley, slowly. “Even before it was mandated, you did. But I suppose Hearst-Pulitzer’s positive affirmation only encouraged it. The more stories that fit her vision, the more compliments — and then the more she pushed.” She pressed her lips together. “You… did buy into a lot of it. Though, if you’re seeing the light, then — well, I’m very happy to welcome you to the light side,” she inserted the Star Wars joke in an effort to lighten (ha ha ha) the mood.

"Stone the crows," he breathed, but with umph since it was so jarring to hear about himself being described like that. Because what the (excuse his language) fuck had happened to him that had made him give up the morals he'd possessed. Or integrity.

It suddenly had him re-thinking this whole mission to get his memories back, scared of becoming that person again. He didn't want to be someone who wrote those sort of things for no other reason than to please his boss. That wasn't why he'd become a journalist or a writer at all. And, sure, he loved it when his stuff got a thumbs up or nod of approval, but that was because he was human. Didn't everyone want some sort of gold star from someone on their work? He wrote to connect to people, it was one of the only ways he had ever been able to.

That was entirely different than intentionally digging into people's private lives and writing about things that weren't the public's business for the sake of being the teacher's pet. How had any version of himself forgotten that? Or believed any differently?

What an empty and lonesome building.

"I didn't even know the door would be open to this one."

Toby pressed closer to the window, nose scrunching as he squinted out at the quiet violence of the change in weather. How the trees in view shuddered, the rivers forming in the crevice between street level and the sidewalk that was sweeping away any loose debris along with the water flow.

He glanced at the stranger briefly and then looked at the door, giving a little sheepish, airy bout of laughter.

"Ah, yeah– it's not usually. I'd left it opened while I was in," he said, gesturing to it with a fidgety point. "Good timing, I reckon."

Seeing as that topic of conversation had run out (at least to him,) he searched for another. He looked back to her, eyeing the books. "What're you reading?"