Rorschach's Journal, May 13th, 2009

Rorschach's Journal, Wednesday 3:10pm

A beautiful day, at last, in the DC area. The weather is dry, sky blue, temperature moderate. I hoped that crime would be down too, but knew that it never would be.

Spent the morning looking through the usual trash bins. Managed to find a few useful items. A bent fork. Straightened and cleaned it would be useful around the house. Found an odd earring. Gold colored with come clear stones. Not sure if any of it was real, but put it in the pocket as well. Who would throw away diamonds, after all?

Found the latest issue of a local visitor's guide. That would serve me well for making my rounds, to know where all the tourists go so that perhaps they may be inclined to offer donations.

Lastly, some coupons for cat treats as well as for jello cups and some kind of wine. I left the wine coupons. Didn't drink. Dulled the senses. The jello would be a good treat, however.

Managed to stop in local soup kitchen for a bit to eat. Didn't make it a routine, just that lately I hadn't been eating all that much. Still been saving the remains of the $1000 that Shari gave me. I have about $800 left after vet bills and pet supplies. I hoped to use that money to travel across country, if Daniel wanted a visit.

Speaking of Daniel, decided I ought to check my email at the library. Hadn't been in a while and though I am eager to check it, I hadn't wanted to make it a habit. I had heard that email and the computer was addicting. I could see that the computer was a valuable tool; I just hadn't wanted it to suck me in. I wondered if Miss Dorian was in today.

I made my way to the Library as usual, wandered in and checked my sign at the desk. Dorian wasn't there. I thought to ask for her, but to what end? Small talk? There was no sign of her, not even her easy laughter from the back area. So, I made my way to my preferred computer and sat and logged in.

Upon logging onto Yahoo mail quickly revealed three messages. One from Shari updating me on her progress. All was well. She was throwing a party in a couple of weeks and asked for my presence. Not sure it was wise; however, I endeavored to think about it.

The other two were from Daniel. I smiled slightly for a moment and opened the older one. What assaulted me was a letter that looked to be pages long. For a moment I questioned my decision to contact him, however, Daniel was always an eager and forthcoming friend. I wondered if I had enough computer time to read the entire letter!

It started out: "Dear Rors, oh my God! It is you! How've you been? Where are you now? I've missed you! Why haven't you contacted me sooner?"

"Your phone number didn't work." I grumbled under my breath at the screen.

"God so much has happened since I last saw you, what was it, 8 years ago? 9? The kids grew up! They're off to college now! You'd be so proud of them, Rorschach, they really matured once they hit 16 and really hit the books. One is studying Law and the other is studying Zoology. A chip off the old block, if you ask me."

I paused from reading that, I wondered if his son was going into ornithology, something Daniel had always wanted but never managed.

"I even went back and got my Masters! You guessed it, Owls. What else? LOL! So anyway, Laurie divorced me, Rors can you believe it?"

For a moment I sat back in my chair and snorted under my breath, "Yes, I can believe it". I never really trusted her, not since the whole boyfriend hopping she did back in the 80s. Found Daniel right away and instantly got involved. I frowned. She had a God and didn't appreciate it. I simply was wondering how long her time with Daniel would last if a God wasn't even good enough. I wondered a moment what would have made her want to leave. I leaned forward and continued to read.

"I know you don't like her, Rors, even though she did defend you to John last time back in, what was it 2000? But still I figured you'd be surprised. Anyway, she told me I was too focused on the crime fighting and the Owls. I really can't believe it because she was totally into the owls and the crime fighting there for a long while. But I guess when Wally got involved with Owls too she drew the line. Didn't help that that is his focus for his Zoology degree. Now Wally wants to get into crime fighting as well…actually so does Danny Jr. and Laurie just flipped out. God, how can a woman be so damned conflicted about something is beyond me? And the crime fighting with her, she drives me up the wall. She'd say 'I hate it, I love it, Mom forced me, I want to do it, we're a team, you forced me to do it.' God help me, I still love her, Rors, but you know, she won't even talk to me. She's hooked up with some celebrity or something. I forget which show he's on, American Idolatry or something like. Not a major celebrity or anything, just the host, I think. Ryan Oceancrest. Have you heard of him? Anyway, it's kind of a May September thing and the whole Cougar relationship. She's still pretty hot!"

I sat there, at my computer, my cheek resting on my hand as I continued to read. Daniel was prattling, actually.

"She just said one day, 'I can't take it anymore, Dan', which was a surprise to me because we hadn't really been fighting much lately. I guess she just kind of got bored of me. You know me, I'm kind of a simple pleasures guy and I like beach walks and nice dinners and hanging around the house reading and I guess that wasn't exciting enough for her. Why did she marry me in the first place if that's not what she wants?"

"Um, because she's a whore." I commented at the computer screen.

"I know what you are probably saying, that she's a whore. And I don't think you're right, it's not as cut and dried like that, but I'd say that Laurie is the kind of person who will never be satisfied with anything. I just hope that she doesn't decide to be with me because I'm her last choice or that she's exhausted her excitement, you know? I don’t' want to be the left overs. In all these years I've decided that I deserve better, you know?"

I looked at the time on the computer clock and then continued to read.

"So anyway, with and without Laurie I made a few trips around the world. I've been to a lot of European countries, my favorite one was Italy. So beautiful! And I've been to some South American countries and I've been to Japan. Met up with some people who were crime fighting out there. It's not banned outside of the United States, so it was a lot of fun. It's amazing how the crime rate is so much lower everywhere else. At least, Thank God Veidt is still in jail though, huh?"

My time for the computer was nearly out so I started to read more quickly.

"That's kind of the major stuff in a nut shell. Say I'd love to hear from you, old friend. Or should I say young friend, huh? You're younger than me now. Must be nice. But then again, I guess being exploded and in limbo wasn't so much. Anyway, here's my number 310-555-0634. Call me any time, you can even call collect!

Your friend, Daniel."

"Whew" I said as I closed the email. "That was long." I uttered and then opened Daniel's second email.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I was so busy talking about my stuff that I hadn't asked you, what are you doing these days? Are you still fighting crime? I heard rumors that there was a mask operating in DC, and I figured it was you. New Frontiersman kind of hinted at your return, but it was really vague. I noticed they're reprinting your journal! Wow what times, huh? Anyway, let me know, maybe sometime we can get back together and make a run out in Archie for old time's sake. Daniel."

I blinked at the screen. Daniel had always been talkative. I was not surprised to see that it hadn't diminished in his 60s. I also was not surprised to hear of Laurie's departure.

I would have to think about a length response to Daniel's questions. I simply returned an email to him, "Daniel, thank you for your letter. I use the computer at the library and do not have enough time currently to respond, however, I will respond in a few days with details of my life as well as perhaps give you a call. Your friend, Rorschach."

As I suspected, he wanted us to meet again. At least now I knew he was amenable to the idea. A moment later, I checked the computer clock. My time had expired, so I signed out and made my way to the front desk to collect my sign. All the while thinking of Daniel and his lengthy excited letter.

Onward to a cup of coffee, the newspapers of the day and home to James. Tonight would be a good night for a 'walk' as well.

For now, Rorschach