Mozaxian Night Skies Ch.1-The Interveiw

1

         Robert glided through the skies (if they could be called skies),flapping his arms like a bird. Black surrounded him.It was unclear if the ground resided nearby.  Actually it was unclear if there even was an up or down, or side to side. Besides the darkness all that could be seen were power lines. Copper veins that came from nowhere.

         As he soared through the skies he realized that he had boxed himself into a cage of electrified wires.  Robert felt like a fly on an inevitable course for a spider web. The net began to close in around him. Escape looked futile. Then a light appeared from far away, a gray light. It grew like a light shining through a cracked door in a dark room.

         Music drifted out of the opening, a familiar tune. The melody held him captivated so much that he didn't realize that the wall of wires was only seconds away. He finally noticed, but he barely had time to cringe before the magnetic pull of the electricity yanked him against the webbing.

         Then he woke up to the sound of his phone alerting him of an incoming call with the same familiar song from his dream. He rolled over and detached the phone from the charger.  Then he selected answer from the screen and spoke, "Hello."

         "Uh, hello?" the rough,East Texas voice on the other end of the phone said.  "Is this uh...Robert...Robert Scott?"

         Robert was a tall, slightly overweight man.  With the exception of the gut he had been growing over the last five years from eating one too many damaged ice cream bars at work, he was in pretty good shape.  His hair had receded about as far as it would (or so he hoped), and his dreams of fame and fortune were long ago dead.  After thirty-four years, two children and one on the way he decided it was time to change careers.  It was finally time to get his head above water.
         
         For fifteen years Robert had broken his back stacking and unstacking boxes.  Emptying those same boxes onto shelves only to have them pulled right back off again.  Straightening up aisles of rations to perfection only to have some rude, inconsiderate piece of crap ransack it.  For fifteen years he had smiled and kissed the asses of thousands of these people who he'd much rather see crushed by the cardboard baler in the back room.  These people forever robbing him of the sense of a job well done, a sense of accomplishment.  Well NO MORE!  From now on his work would be appreciated for years, maybe even decades to come.

         About a year ago Robert went to the local college, got his GED and signed up for an electrical course.  The class consisted of basic electrical theory, wiring and understanding of "The National Electrical Code".  After coming in at the top of his class, he had found his true calling.  No more telling everybody he met that he stocked groceries for a living.  He was officially an electrician!  Well, not quite officially.  There was one major factor missing.  A job in the field.

         Robert didn't recognize the number on the caller ID and whoever it was asked for him by name.  This could mean two things:  a bill collector or somebody calling about a job.  The first was not likely.  Earlier this year he was forced to file bankruptcy and since then all of those calls had stopped.  So maybe, just maybe this was the call he'd been waiting for.

         For over a year now he had been studying and learning all he could about getting into the electrical trade.  Working full time at the grocery store, going to school nights, barely sleeping and playing "Daddypants" in between.  After all that hard work was it possible that it was about to pay off?  Robert had a feeling it was and answered the man on the phone, "Yes, this is he."

         The voice on the other end continued, "This is Mike Austin at Prodigy Electric. Are you, uh...still looking for work?"

         "Yes sir, I am." Robert responded.

         Mike was silent for a moment as if he'd forgotten what he was talking about, so Robert asked, "Would you like me to come in for an interview?"                                                     

         "Yeah, Yeah,  let's us do that.  How does uh..." Mike paused for a few seconds to check over his calendar. "How does uh... Monday at uh...nine o'clock do for ya?"

         "It does me just fine."Robert replied with a slight hint of a country boy twang in his voice.  "I guess I'll see you then.  Thank you very much.  Have a good wee-"

         "Whoa!  Whoa!  Whoa!  Son," Mike cut in, "don't ch'ye want to know  the address?"

         Robert was so excited about the call that it had slipped his mind.  "Oh yeah!  I guess that would be pretty helpful, huh?  Actually, are you guys online?" Robert asked.

         "Yep, jess type in Prodigy Electric.  We're the only ones by that name in Texas,  shouldn't  be hard to figure out from there.  Alrighty then, we'll talk at ya later, have a good weekend.  Bye-bye now."

         "You do the same, thank you.  Bye," and the call was over.

2

         "I got an interview fo-or a jo-ob! I got an interview fo-or a jo-ob!' Robert sang as he danced into the computer room of his house.

         The woman seated at the desk turned around and smiled.  "WHAT?" she screamed in disbelief, "are you serious?  When?"

         "Monday morning, nine o'clock."

         "That's great!  See I told you someone would eventually come to their senses." Lisa told him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.  Her big, beautiful, brown eyes looked deep into his and she continued, "And you said that it wasn't going to happen.  I knew it would."

         Lisa was Robert's wife and the greatest thing that ever happened to him. When Robert had met Lisa he was an unmotivated drug addict and a drunk.  At the time he had been content with living at home with mom and dad getting drunk, getting high, playing video games and surfing the web for the best free porn sites.  Three years later they were married with a place of their own and a bun in the oven.  Robert finally had to clean up his act, hang up his paraphernalia and grow up.  Without Lisa's support and confidence in him he'd have never gotten out of the hole that his life was.

         Lisa was twenty-nine and grew up in a military family.  This strict upbringing kept her feet planted firmly in reality.  Growing up with discipline and harsh consequences made her the glue that held their relationship together.  When there was a problem she faced it head on and defeated it with logic and reason.  Robert however, was a different story.  Whenever difficulty arose he quickly turned tail and escaped to the safety of his own head.  There he would wait for all his problems to go away by themselves.

         Now ten years later he was a completely different person thanks to Lisa, and had no regrets about it.  Looking back at his old self was like reading a stranger's biography.  He was a family man now.  He was about to have three beautiful daughters' and he wanted to do everything he could to give them the great life they deserved.  If the man he was ten years ago had known Lisa would help him become a responsible adult he would have run like hell at the first sight of her.

         Lisa quickly turned away and dropped into her desk chair.  She spun around to face the computer so fast that her long black hair fanned out and she began pounding on the keyboard.  "What's the name of the company?"

         "Prodigy Electric."

         "We should look them up, see if they have a site."  Lisa said.  "I want to see what kind of company they are.  See if it's worth your time."

         "The guy said they were online.  Said they were the only ones in Texas." Robert said and took a seat in the rocking chair beside her.

         "Here we go.  Prodigy Electric L.P., Fort Worth, TX." She said and clicked on the link.

         The page that came up was black with yellow letters.  Below the name Prodigy Electric was a picture of two men in protective gear and big shit eating grins.  The two men were working on a breaker box.  There was a brief history of the company below that explained how they had been in business for over thirty years.  Prodigy had been involved in the construction of many projects old and new.  Projects varying in size from small business buildings to hospitals.  They appeared to be very experienced, Robert was impressed.

         "Here we are." Lisa said and selected the section titled current projects.  A short list comprised of three locations and three sets of beginning and ending dates.  Two of the three were schools in the Dallas area scheduled to be finished within the next couple of months.  He desperately hoped he wasn't being hired for these.  Traffic in Dallas was the equivalent of a hot spike in the rectum.  The third was a high school in Fort Worth that had just begun two weeks ago.

         "I bet this is the one." Lisa said "Tremble High in Fort Worth."

         "Really?" Robert was surprised.  "My mother went there in the sixties only then it was called Central High or something like that."

         This thought stung a little.  The death of his mother was still fresh in his mind even though it had been almost eight years now.  The overwhelming guilt and feeling of sadness, the knowledge that he was never going to be able to talk to her again. The horrible images of her loving face that he had known since birth, decaying away.  The pieces of her sewn together and thrown in box underground.  These disturbing thoughts and many more like it still ran through his brain on a weekly, sometimes daily basis.

         In hindsight he could recognize the early signs of her waning awareness.  Losing her keys, forgetting people or misplacing the details of her youth.  Mostly just little things.  At the time they didn't seem like a that big of a deal to Robert.  Hell, in those days he had a hard time remembering things that happened five minutes ago.  He had been late into his teen years and deep into his many addictions.  Just a few years later his mother had already begun her rapid deterioration.  On some days she couldn't even recall what year it was.

         At the end she had abandoned almost all lucidity and had even started hallucinating.  Robert believed these hallucinations played a large role in her death.  She would chase little creatures around the house and wander in search of 'Him', whoever the hell 'He' was.  Robert and his father would have to drive around for hours to find her.  They would find her walking along the road or sometimes at parks hiding in the shrubs.  She always seemed to be heading in the same general direction.

         The day she died Robert had thought he could handle taking her shopping alone.  He had been wrong.  She had seemed pretty coherent those last few weeks, so he thought it wouldn't hurt to go into the restroom for minute.  One quick pick me up to help get him through the rest of the day wouldn't hurt, or so he thought.  When he came out she was gone.  That was the last time he had seen her alive.

         Her last escapade ended badly at a place called Z-Boaz Park.  There had been some tracks that ran along the edge of the park.  She'd walked in front of a train and was cut in two from her left shoulder to her right hip.  Apparently parks near trains were a bad idea.  Who'd have thought.

         "Hey!" Lisa said, snapping him out of his trance. "Are you okay?  You kind of zoned out for second there."

         "Yeah.  I'm fine I just...just..."

         "Your mother again?"  She interrupted in a sympathetic tone.

         "Yeah.  Sorry.". He took a deep breath and shook his head." You'd think I'd get over it by now, huh?"

         "No.  For Christ sakes, she was your mother.  It's okay."  She said softly.  "What's not okay is you constantly blaming yourself.  She seemed okay that day and you couldn't have known she'd get that far.  I don't give a damn what your dad thinks."

         "Yeah, I guess, but..." and he stopped. Robert wanted so much to admit the truth that he left her alone while fed his addiction. That she might still be alive today if he hadn't been so damn selfish. How could it not be his fault.

         "Stop it!  You need to stop blaming yourself.  I love you and I can't stand seeing you do this to yourself every time someone says mom.  It's going to kill you!"  She finished.

         "Okay.  I'm better now." Robert said with an exaggerated smile on his face. "Now let's have happy talk now!"

         Lisa looked a little frustrated. "Okay.  Fine.  We don't have to talk about it anymore, right now."  Her face lit up and she said "I know!  Let's get you brushed up on your job interview skills, since it has been like fifteen years."

         "OOOO!  That sounds like fun."  Robert replied with a tone of sarcasm.

         Lisa turned back to the monitor and started typing on the keyboard.  She found a web site called Nail That Job.

         "Here we go." She said and clicked on the link.  She scanned the page and started reading, "Let's see.  Practice what you're going to say, be on time.  Really, you think?  Turn cell phone off, blah, blah, blah.  Don't flirt with the interviewer.  You hear that?' and jokingly glared at him.

         "I'll try," Robert replied, "but I can't make any promises.  He sounds old and you know me and hot old men!"

         "You're a sick bastard, but I still love you." She finished reading. "Have goals, ask questions and above all MAKE EYE CONTACT!"

3

         "How d'ya do?  I'm Mike Austin.  Good to meet Ya." The man said as he entered the dim lit lobby of the office building.  Robert shot up out of his chair and held out his hand.  He gave him a strong firm handshake and looked him directly in the eye.  Mike had only one eye!  The other was artificial and stared slightly toward the ceiling.  Robert wasn't quite sure how to proceed with this unexpected dilemma.  There were no tips on the Nail That Job web site that covered this scenario.  Which one was he supposed to look at?  Was it considered rude to stare at the bad eye? He almost panicked, but in the end Robert decided it wise to give both eyes equal attention.

         "Hi, how are you?  It's a pleasure to meet you, I'm Robert Scott." He said shaking Mike's hand.  Mike released his grip, stepped back and looked him up and down.

         "Hell son, You're overdressed." He said and looked at the two other men in the waiting room.  The two men were dressed in tee-shirts and jeans.  Mike himself was wearing the same.  Robert was beginning to feel a little like an ass.  He was wearing a button down shirt with a tie and slacks.  He was definitely the oddball here.

         "Well, I do try to go that extra mile sir." Robert cleverly replied and cringed inside as the flood of cheese spewed from his mouth.

         Mike smiled and said "Good!  Good!  Now, that's what I want to hear.  C'mon back." He turned and headed down the hall, Robert followed him to an office at the end of it.

         They entered the office and Mike offered him a seat.  Robert sat down as Mike shuffled through a pile of papers on his desk.  The office was filled with trophies and photographs from dirt bike races.  One picture was of Mike, considerably younger.  He was dressed in riding gear and holding a helmet under his arm.  With him were two teenage boys that bared a strong resemblance to Mike.  Robert noticed both of  Mike's eyes were looking forward.

         "Well, well.  Let's see here, Mike said looking at the paper he had found in the pile, "you been at your current job for fifteen years!  Now, that's impressive.  So you haven't had any experience in the field before?"

         "No sir.  The only experience I've ever had was helping change out plugs, lights, ceiling fans and little things like that at my grandparents rent houses.  Plus what I learned at the course I took at the college.  It was all pretty much book work.  Lots of book work.  Now I'm ready to put all that knowledge to the test." Robert responded.

         "Well, you'll get your chance." Mike assured him.

         Roberts eyes went wide. "Wh-what?  I mean, does that mean I got the job?"

         "Yep!  Jess so long as you check out,". Mike held up Robert's resume, "and you  pass a drug test and criminal background test.  I s'pose you'll have to give a notice to your job?  When ya ready to start?"

4

         "Friday!  That's awesome!  What did Harry say?"  Lisa asked.

         "Not much really.  I just told him how it was going to be." Robert exaggerated. He was pretty shocked about it.  I told him he's gonna have to find someone else to be his bitch now."

         "So, you put him in his place, huh?" Lisa asked jokingly.

         "No, not really." Robert confessed  "There were a lot of things I wanted to say to him, but I was nice.  I didn't think it was a good idea to burn that bridge just yet in case this job doesn't work out."

         "Oh my god!  My wittle baby's so grown up!  I'm so proud of you!" She said.

         "Gee, thanks.  Now, if I could only get out of these diapers I'll be doing great." Robert said and smiled.

         "Girls, come here!" Robert called down the hall.

         The sound of two sets of little feet came pattering down the hall.  Two young girls came running in the room.  The oldest one stopped at the foot of the bed looking nervous.  The youngest climbed onto the bed where Robert and Lisa were sitting.  She jumped on Robert's lap and her knee connected his crotch as she came down.  He had become used to this kind of abuse since he became a Daddy Jungle Gym.  He almost didn't feel the pain anymore.  Almost.

         "What Daddy?  Are we in trouble?" Asked Zoey, the five year old.

         "Nooo." Robert said in a low, silly voice. "I said I got a new job as an electrician! That means I get to work with electricity and make things!  Cool, huh?"

         "COOOOL!" the girls said in unison.

         Zoey climbed up on to the bed and squirmed in between everybody.  She hugged and kissed Lisa's stomach.  Then she started talking to it with a squeaky, high pitched voice, "Hi baby!  How are you doing in there?  Are you growing?  Is it dark in there?"

         Morgan, the three year old joined in too.  This encouraged Zoey to increase her volume  and it soon became a competition to see who was  the loudest.  Robert and Lisa looked at each other with a look of annoyance, excitement, exhaustion, shock and joy all rolled into one.  Robert yelled over the duet of squawking, "OH MY GOD!  I CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THIS TIMES THREE!" and he smiled.

         Robert stared at these two embodiments of joy and beauty, then he smiled.  He remembered how only a few years back he couldn't stand little booger eating brats.  The thought of what they would all eventually become appalled him.  But the second he found out he had one of his own growing inside of Lisa he couldn't wait to watch it flower and bloom.  The world became beautiful, shiny, and new again.  He couldn't believe the lengths he would go to secure only the best life for these little creatures.  His once self absorbed life now belonged to these cute little bags of feces.  The thought of a life without them was unbearable.

         "Okay monkey girls. Kiss your baby sister night-night it's time for bed." Robert sang and scooted to the edge of the bed.          

         "OO!  OO!  Shoulder ride!  Shoulder ride!"Zoey demanded.          

         "Daddy I want a pi'ee back wide!" Morgan said with a huge smile.

         "Okay. All aboard the Daddypants Express!" Robert announced.

         The girls kissed and hugged their mommy and her tummy.  Then they climbed aboard their father.  Zoey climbed onto his shoulders.  Morgan wrapped her arms around Roberts neck and held on as tight as she could.  Then they galloped across the hall to the girls room.  He dumped Zoey over the guard rail of the top bunk.  Robert knelt and Morgan slid off and jumped into the bottom bunk.  He sang them some songs, tucked them in and kissed them good night.

         Lisa and Robert lay in bed talking for a while.  There were things to do before he started his new job.  Things to sort out.  Insurance papers to go over, tools to buy, repairs and maintenance around the house, an endless list.  He was about to start working almost sixty hours a week in triple digit temperatures.  Most likely, he wasn't going to be up for much else afterward.  They turned out the lights and did one more thing that needed to be done, then the two went to sleep.

5

         Robert got out of bed early the next morning.  He got dressed and headed down to the nearby home improvement store.  He had a list of tools he had received from Mike.  The list included wire cutters, fish tape,  a voltage sensor, and a variety of other items used in the electrical trade.

         After he found all of the tools he got a few things that weren't on the list, but implied.  Robert found a black and brown tool belt and a bag to match it (heaven forbid he walked onto a construction site with a belt and bag that didn't match).  He also found some nice work gloves, a headlamp, and great deal on batteries for it.  Robert was a kid in a candy store.

         When he was finally done he went to the checkout line.  The lady behind the register had a salt and peppered mullet.  Despite her harsh looks she was surprisingly friendly.  Mullet girl finished scanning everything and Robert said good-bye to his last vacation check.  He paid and headed home to play.

6

         The next day when Robert came home from work he started getting his things ready for his new job.  Like a kid on Christmas morning Robert sat on the floor opening all of his toys.  He was carving his initials on all of his tools with an engraving gun.  He didn't want any mix up at his new job.

         Robert was giddy, he had tools!  Finally he had tools!  All of his life he had wanted a large collection, but he'd never had a reason to buy them.  At last he had one and he was actually going to get to use them.  He couldn't wait to get some dirt on them.  Not too much, just a little.  Just enough to show that he was a man that could fix things.  No more relying on other people to do it for him.  He was now "The Man"

         After Robert was done engraving his tools he situated them in his tool belt.  He put the ones he didn't think he'd use as much into his bag.  He even had an extra pocket to put snacks in.  Just in case he got hungry he would always have an emergency stash.  Robert tried on his gear.  He walked around the house to get a feel for them.  The belt felt extremely heavy, even for his size.  The hard hat felt awkward, he never was much of a hat kinda guy.

         Robert knocked on the bathroom door, then he burst in.  "Did someone call an electrician?" He said in a deep, manly voice.  Then he did a little stripper dance.  Robert was not exactly rhythmically inclined, that being the case, he closely resembled a dancing clown simulating masturbation.

         Lisa peeked out from behind the shower curtain and laughed.  "OOh baby that's sooo hot!" she said in a sexy voice while fighting off laughter between words.  "You're such a goofy ass!  So, how does it feel?"

         "Okay, I think.  I'm not real big on the hat, but I'll get over it."

         "I think the hat is hot." Lisa said as she slowly closed the curtain and continued. "You're not nervous are you?  Only one more day as a Stocker Boy!"

         "No, not nervous, terrified.  I can't  believe I'm starting a new job!  Not just a job but a skilled trade.  This is crazy!  I hope I don't blow it."

         "You'll do great.  You're good at everything you do, now stop worrying about it." She opened the curtain slightly and looked at him.  "You're a hard worker with a good work ethic, they'll love you."

         "Yeah, I guess." He said as he peeped into the shower with a grin.  "Well, as much as I am enjoying the view, I should probably go before my tools start to rust. It's steamy in here."

         "Thanks!" She said and  looked flattered.

         "I'm going to find something to fix and try to get my mind off of it." Robert said. "It's driving me crazy thinking about it."

         "Try not to hurt yourself.  I love you."

         "I love you too.  See you in a few." As he stepped out into the hall in search of a project.

         He wandered the house looking for something he wanted to fix.  He saw an electrical outlet on the kitchen counter and got an idea.  Robert looked down at his tool belt and pulled out his voltage detector.  He pushed  the button on the top of it and the tip lit up green.  He stuck the tip into the plug and it changed to red.  The crimson light pulsed quickly and beeped repeatedly.  This indicated there was electricity flowing through it.  He withdrew the meter. The tip of it turned back to green and the device went silent again.  He repeated this several times.

         In red.
         Out green.
         In red.
         Out green.

         Robert laughed liked a mad scientist and moved on to a cord.

         A light switch.
         A light bulb.
         The television.
         Another cord . Then he began to probe the wall for hidden wires.  A few feet above a socket it began to flash and beep again.  Robert giggled and continued searching for things to test.

         After about ten minutes of playing with his voltage detector he got distracted by his drill.  He held the drill beside his head as if he were holding a gun.  He gripped it with both hands and the bit pointing toward the ceiling.  Robert stood outside of his bedroom signaling his imaginary S.W.A.T. team.  He burst through the door with his drill pointed forward and scanned the room for his pretend  suspect.

         "Clear." He called out quietly, so as not to wake the girls from their afternoon nap.

         He proceeded down the hall, bypassing the girl's room where they were sleeping.  He stopped outside the bathroom where the shower was still running.  Robert considered going in but, decided to leave Lisa to her "me time".  Then he moved on to the future baby room and repeated his dramatic entrance.  Only this time instead of calling the all clear, he aimed his drill at a large hairy creature!  The beast was three and a half feet tall.  Its fur was bright yellow and on its head was a giant smiling face.  Robert grabbed it by one of its outstretched arms and threw it face first to the floor, holstering his weapon as he did.  He stuck his knee in it's back  and pulled the stuffed animals paws behind him.  Then he picked the lion up and slammed his face against the wall.

         "Where you running to pal?" Robert inquired in his best New York cop accent.  "Huh?  What?  You weren't running from us.  What, you just getting a little exercise.  That's it, right?"

         "What?  Oh, you didn't do nothinc'." He said and slammed it against the wall once more, as if it were resisting.                                                                      

         "Why don't you save it for the judge-" he stopped and noticed Lisa leaning against the doorway in a towel and shaking her head.

         "You are such a tard." She said rolling her eyes and walked away.

         Robert put the lion back on the wicker chair it had been sitting in and composed himself.  He drew his gun again and continued, in search of a new mission that his mind could conjure up.