“Connecting The Dots” by Andrew Hazell 1 “Wait up Tim, you’re walking too fast.” Tim is excited to be out in the desert for the night, but his girlfriend, Jessica, isn’t so sure. Tim is a professor of Astrophysics at Purdue University. He rarely gets out to Arizona to look at the stars, instead he spends his days gazing at papers to mark. It is his first-time taking Jessica out to star gaze and he couldn’t be more excited. 2 A hooded man walks past a dim street light. His shoes leave uniform ripples in the puddles. His ripped jeans, that are too long for his legs, are soaked up to his ankles. The man peels back a banana he just pocketed from an LA CVS. He pushes a cart filled with his only worldly possessions. He’s leaving the downtown area and is passing through the rich part of town. 3 “Would you like a refill sir?” “Yes Bob, bring me a margarita, and two more for the ladies,” Clarence says captivatingly. Clarence lays poolside most of his nights. His LA house is his favourite of his four. Clarence is a venture capitalist; he has made his fortune investing in startups from a young age. He is clever, handsome, and has a way with people. He was born in the suburbs of London, England. He was an orphan and never knew his parents. He managed to battle his way to the top of his class just to drop out of high school in order to move to New York. 1 “Come on Jessica, we’re almost there, just a couple hundred more meters” The moonless August night brings a slight chill and as they arrive at the top of the mountain. They stop and take in the view as if seeing the stars for the first time in their lives. “This is amazing, I have been waiting so long to finally be able to come out and see this. Can you point out any constellations, Jessica?” Tim asks. “Not really,” she replies reluctantly. “There is Orion, with his belt. There is the big dipper, and the little dipper.“ “Oh cool.” “But wait, the little dipper has an extra star, that’s not supposed to be there.” “You mean the one that’ moving?” 2 As he passes the last streetlight the man senses a disturbance in the air. He can’t put his finger on it exactly, but something isn’t right. The wind picks up, a few leaves spiral in a tornado-like fashion. The man checks behind himself, as if he were checking for a tail, he senses his old military reflexes kicking in. 3 Last week Clarence completed the building of his ships that would not only colonize the inner and outer solar system but pave the way for interstellar travel. Clarence raises his hand holding his peculiar shaped glass, as Bob, his butler, pours more margaritas. He lays his head back and closes his eyes. He finally reaches a moment of peace in his long day when he hears screaming.
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