DON QUIXGUZZI
The Man From Mandello
Chapter I
The Dream
Waking from his doze with a start and looking up with bloodshot eyes, the Felix-the-Cat clock tells Don Quixguzzi the same old 2 AM story as its plastic pendulum tail sweeps to and fro. The fluorescent light hanging in the unfinished garage flares the dust on the screen with the You Tube video showing on the 'puter about some 80 year old guy surfing in the antipodes with his 60 year old wife and the beautiful extended family off the yacht.
A disapproving "Humph!" is uttered.
The greasy La-Z-Boy affords little movement, but he scrunches sideways and clicks the mouse around to navigate back to his current lines of interest. Back around to pull up a video with that one Kiwi ex-pat in Thailand who knows all the ins-and-outs and backstreets best avoided in a very interesting place. After a few moments Don Quixguzzi dozes off again, and has a dream influenced by the story in the video.
The Kiwi narrator in the video chatters on: "and here is a tiny tucked away temple amid the decadent and seemingly chaotic activity on the mean and dirty backstreets of this really extraordinarily virulent city. Lets have a look-see inside, why don't we, eh?"
Don Quixguzzi's mind wraps around this and he parts the bead curtain into the smoky temple with the Kiwi, like he was somehow projecting himself there in the temple, in the video, in Thailand. In a dim alcove there is a some kind of a golden statue, he steps closer. Now finding himself face-to-face and gazing into the ruby eyes of a Graven Statue; the lips begin to jerk awry as the idol speaks directly to Don Quixguzzi in a raspy tortured voice:
" Like, listen, man. Near Roswell you will find the Really, Real, True Truth, ya dig? Now GO!!"
Awaking with a start, he looks up at the Felix-the -Cat clock, he stares at the hands without understanding the time, but watching the tail swing to and fro...then the dream memory floods back into his mind.
Don Quixguzzi, the Man from Mandello ponders it seriously without resolution for a few moments, then dismisses it from his mind and goes inside, and letting the screen door slam behind him, goes to bed.
The next morning is uneventful: coffee, pop-tarts, take the meds...more coffee...look for eye-glasses...adjust the valves on the 73 Eldorado...watch the weather report... hear the mailman come by...put yesterday's shirt on...walk out to mailbox.
"Hey! I got a postcard!" he says out loud to himself, smiling.
Its a picture of a flying saucer landing in the desert.
"Welcome to Roswell, NM"
Flipping it over it reads:
"Dear Don,
I know its been over 50 years, but I'm single at last. I still love you! Come find me in Roswell!"
signed, "Dolly Elsinore"
Don Quixguzzi flushes with a sudden excitement on hearing from his long lost sweetheart.
"Dolly!" he shouts to the four walls "Dolly!"
"In Roswell!" he shouts again.
"Roswell?" he mutters to himself...the dream memory comes flooding back again
He begins to have a full on duplex conversation within his poor conflicted brain:
"The Truth? Now Dolly? Coincidence of the dream and Roswell? No, it can't be?"
Yes, No. Yes! it must be! It must be the TRUTH!"
" I have to tell someone!"
Don Quixguzzi, hops astraddle the Eldorado like Tom Mix, sticks the postcard down between the seat and tank, and no sooner hits the starter button than he is out the driveway doing like 60 to his only buddy's house.
Chapter 2
Nacho Honda. (Don Quixguzzi's only friend)
(Now its someone else's turn to write chapter two and so on...until we get to Roswell from wherever you want to start however you want to get there, just don't forget to take Nacho Honda along)
