Perspectives VII:
A Hoelscher Carol
by Matthew Atanian
©2000 by Matthew Atanian and Jason Bertovich
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
Perspectives created by Jason Bertovich
A Hoelscher Carol
by Matthew Atanian
©2000 by Matthew Atanian and Jason Bertovich
Boy Scouts ½ created by Matthew Atanian
Perspectives created by Jason Bertovich
The Visitor
It was around Eleven o’clock that evening when John wheeled himself in through his door and shut it behind himself with a heavy sigh. He turned the chair around and looked back the way he had come, staring at the now closed door that separated himself from the rest of the world.
Why had he suddenly become so separated?
He dismissed the thought, and went to make himself something to eat. He hadn’t really eaten at the Christmas party. He hadn’t done much at the party, come to think of it, rather than take up space…
He made himself a can of Chef Boyardee (not gourmet eating, to be sure, but quick, easy, and cheep) and pulled himself up to the table to eat. He had gotten about half way through his ravioli when he thought he heard a strange noise in the distance…
Thump… thump…
Slow, steady…almost like… footsteps?
Shuffle…scrape…
What was that? Metal being dragged?
He quickly wheeled himself to the door and pulled it open. His eyes bulged open and he yelped in startlement when he saw…
…nothing. Not a sausage.
“I must be imagining things,” he told himself. He went back to his dinner.
Thump… shuffle… thump… scrape…
He dropped his fork. It clattered upon the table. He turned back to face the door.
Shuffle… thump… scrape… thump…
“Who’s there?” John called out. “I’m… um… I’m armed! Don’t come in!”
Thump… shuffle… thump… scrape…
It was right at his door!
Suddenly, the air in the room seemed to drop dramatically in temperature. John shivered, and noticed his breath turning into vapor as it escaped from his mouth, which was hanging loosely open in shock. Ambient noises, such as cars passing by on the street outside, slowly faded and vanished into nothingness. The only sounds that could be heard by John were his own breathing and a rhythmic sound he soon realized was his own heartbeat.
Then the noise came again… Thump… thump… shuffle…scrape…
Something appeared near the door… No, something was coming through the door! John stared, transfixed, unable to look away, as the figure entered the room.
The first thing John noticed about him was that he was blue… it was kind of hard not to notice. He looked very much that shimmering blue that Old Ben Kenobi sported after he had passed on, although this specter was missing the translucency.
He was an old man, to be sure. He looked very tired, very ragged, and very sad. His jaw was held closed by a bandage tied around his head, the knot up on the top. The last thing John noticed about him made John wonder how the blueness had been the first.
He was carrying with him a plethora of heavy chains, some with little boxes attached to them, some with other objects obviously intended to weigh the chains down. The chains were draped over him, not seemingly attached directly to him. It was as if he could leave the chains behind at any time, but didn’t have the will to do so.
He stood there, looking sadly at John.
John stood there, looking shocked out of his wits.
“You’re not real! Go away!” John shouted a few moments later.
The man reached up and began to untie the knot.
“You’re… you’re a figment of my imagination, that’s it!” John declared. “A piece of processed meat filling gone bad!”
The man pulled the bandage off and tested his jaw, moving it as if for the first time in a century. “Processed meat filling?” he asked some time later. “What ever are you eating, my lad? I think I preferred being a fragment of underdone potato!”
John blinked.
“Now then…” the man continued. “Do give me a moment… It had been a while since I’ve done this…”He took a deep breath, or at least the spiritual equivalent, and suddenly loomed over John quite menacingly. John shrank into his wheelchair.
“You will be visited this night by three spirits!” the main exclaimed. “Do you know why?”
John shook his head.
“I’ll tell you why! Look at yourself! You’re pathetic! You could be so much more.” He coughed. “I’m not quite as subtle with this as when I visited good old Ebenezer, am I?” he asked himself.
“Eb… Eben… ezer?”John stammered. “Who are you?”
“Why, my lad, I am Jacob Marley, of course.”
“That’s preposterous!” John exclaimed. “A Christmas Carol was just a book by Charles Dickens!”
“Just a book!”the spirit exclaimed in fury. His voice grew to abnormal volume. “Just a book!!! How do you explain my presence here, then? Oh yes, I’m just a piece of processed meat filling gone bad… Well, no matter. Weather you believe I exist or not will not change what will come to pass. You will be visited by three spirits. The first at the stroke of Midnight. The next at One o’clock, and the final spirit will come at the hour of Two.
“Pay heed to these spirits. They have important things to tell you. If you do not listen, the coast may be your soul…”
“Um… Mr. Marley?”
“Yes, my lad?”
“What is your connection to all of this? I understand why you visited Scrooge, he was your friend. Why me?”
“Your spirits asked me to lend a hand. They told me they had promised not to visit you for the rest of today, but wanted to give you warning before they did visit you.”
“I see,” John replied. He had a bad feeling he knew who these spirits were…
“Well, I must be off… I have a lot more eternal suffering to do, you know,” Marley said. “These little rests are enjoyable, but I can’t get too used to them.”
With that, Marley tied his jaw back up and headed out the way he had come…
After he disappeared through the door, the sound of his movement slowly faded, and the sounds of the outside world slowly returned. The temperature gradually rose, and John could no longer see his breath…
He looked at the clock. 11:25.
“Bah,” he said.“Humbug.” It had to have been his imagination.
He cleaned up his supper mess, washed up, and got into his bed.
But even though he closed his eyes, he never did manage to find sleep…
Suddenly, he opened his eyes. There was nothing there. He was alone. He glanced at the clock.
12:01 a.m.
He sighed in relief. It had just been his imagination. Note to self, no more Chef Boyardee.
John settled back down to try and get some sleep He turned over on his side and saw himself.
“Hello.”
“AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”John exclaimed. He bolted out of the bed.
The other John also got out of the bed, sitting up and getting to his feet in a leisurely manor. It was Shinji-John.
Why had he suddenly become so separated?
He dismissed the thought, and went to make himself something to eat. He hadn’t really eaten at the Christmas party. He hadn’t done much at the party, come to think of it, rather than take up space…
He made himself a can of Chef Boyardee (not gourmet eating, to be sure, but quick, easy, and cheep) and pulled himself up to the table to eat. He had gotten about half way through his ravioli when he thought he heard a strange noise in the distance…
Thump… thump…
Slow, steady…almost like… footsteps?
Shuffle…scrape…
What was that? Metal being dragged?
He quickly wheeled himself to the door and pulled it open. His eyes bulged open and he yelped in startlement when he saw…
…nothing. Not a sausage.
“I must be imagining things,” he told himself. He went back to his dinner.
Thump… shuffle… thump… scrape…
He dropped his fork. It clattered upon the table. He turned back to face the door.
Shuffle… thump… scrape… thump…
“Who’s there?” John called out. “I’m… um… I’m armed! Don’t come in!”
Thump… shuffle… thump… scrape…
It was right at his door!
Suddenly, the air in the room seemed to drop dramatically in temperature. John shivered, and noticed his breath turning into vapor as it escaped from his mouth, which was hanging loosely open in shock. Ambient noises, such as cars passing by on the street outside, slowly faded and vanished into nothingness. The only sounds that could be heard by John were his own breathing and a rhythmic sound he soon realized was his own heartbeat.
Then the noise came again… Thump… thump… shuffle…scrape…
Something appeared near the door… No, something was coming through the door! John stared, transfixed, unable to look away, as the figure entered the room.
The first thing John noticed about him was that he was blue… it was kind of hard not to notice. He looked very much that shimmering blue that Old Ben Kenobi sported after he had passed on, although this specter was missing the translucency.
He was an old man, to be sure. He looked very tired, very ragged, and very sad. His jaw was held closed by a bandage tied around his head, the knot up on the top. The last thing John noticed about him made John wonder how the blueness had been the first.
He was carrying with him a plethora of heavy chains, some with little boxes attached to them, some with other objects obviously intended to weigh the chains down. The chains were draped over him, not seemingly attached directly to him. It was as if he could leave the chains behind at any time, but didn’t have the will to do so.
He stood there, looking sadly at John.
John stood there, looking shocked out of his wits.
“You’re not real! Go away!” John shouted a few moments later.
The man reached up and began to untie the knot.
“You’re… you’re a figment of my imagination, that’s it!” John declared. “A piece of processed meat filling gone bad!”
The man pulled the bandage off and tested his jaw, moving it as if for the first time in a century. “Processed meat filling?” he asked some time later. “What ever are you eating, my lad? I think I preferred being a fragment of underdone potato!”
John blinked.
“Now then…” the man continued. “Do give me a moment… It had been a while since I’ve done this…”He took a deep breath, or at least the spiritual equivalent, and suddenly loomed over John quite menacingly. John shrank into his wheelchair.
“You will be visited this night by three spirits!” the main exclaimed. “Do you know why?”
John shook his head.
“I’ll tell you why! Look at yourself! You’re pathetic! You could be so much more.” He coughed. “I’m not quite as subtle with this as when I visited good old Ebenezer, am I?” he asked himself.
“Eb… Eben… ezer?”John stammered. “Who are you?”
“Why, my lad, I am Jacob Marley, of course.”
“That’s preposterous!” John exclaimed. “A Christmas Carol was just a book by Charles Dickens!”
“Just a book!”the spirit exclaimed in fury. His voice grew to abnormal volume. “Just a book!!! How do you explain my presence here, then? Oh yes, I’m just a piece of processed meat filling gone bad… Well, no matter. Weather you believe I exist or not will not change what will come to pass. You will be visited by three spirits. The first at the stroke of Midnight. The next at One o’clock, and the final spirit will come at the hour of Two.
“Pay heed to these spirits. They have important things to tell you. If you do not listen, the coast may be your soul…”
“Um… Mr. Marley?”
“Yes, my lad?”
“What is your connection to all of this? I understand why you visited Scrooge, he was your friend. Why me?”
“Your spirits asked me to lend a hand. They told me they had promised not to visit you for the rest of today, but wanted to give you warning before they did visit you.”
“I see,” John replied. He had a bad feeling he knew who these spirits were…
“Well, I must be off… I have a lot more eternal suffering to do, you know,” Marley said. “These little rests are enjoyable, but I can’t get too used to them.”
With that, Marley tied his jaw back up and headed out the way he had come…
After he disappeared through the door, the sound of his movement slowly faded, and the sounds of the outside world slowly returned. The temperature gradually rose, and John could no longer see his breath…
He looked at the clock. 11:25.
“Bah,” he said.“Humbug.” It had to have been his imagination.
He cleaned up his supper mess, washed up, and got into his bed.
But even though he closed his eyes, he never did manage to find sleep…
Suddenly, he opened his eyes. There was nothing there. He was alone. He glanced at the clock.
12:01 a.m.
He sighed in relief. It had just been his imagination. Note to self, no more Chef Boyardee.
John settled back down to try and get some sleep He turned over on his side and saw himself.
“Hello.”
“AAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!”John exclaimed. He bolted out of the bed.
The other John also got out of the bed, sitting up and getting to his feet in a leisurely manor. It was Shinji-John.
The Past
John stood by the side of the bed, using a small table for support, looking at himself standing on the other side. Or rather, looking at the being that was a cross between himself and Shinji Ikari. Or was it more himself then he cared to admit? After all, in the past, this had been him.
Shinji-John removed the ear-buds from his ears, turned off his small cassette player, and pocketed it. “Hello,” he said. “Sorry if I startled you.”
In the past, this had been him… In the past…
“So you’re the Ghost of Christmas Past, are you?” John asked as he pulled his wheelchair over. He tried to keep his tone civil, but there was still a slight bit of contempt to it.
“Well,”Shinji-John explained, “’ghost’ is not quite an accurate term in this case. After all, I am merely a quasi-physical manifestation of a hidden aspect of your inner psyche.”
John sat.“Quasi-physical?”
“Technically, I don’t physically exist,” Shinji-John responded, walking over to John, “but you are so convinced of my existence that…”
Shinji-John poked John lightly in the arm. John jerked back, startled. He had felt it!
John looked at Shinji-John in annoyance. Then he was startled once more. What startled him this time was not another poke, but that their surroundings seemed to have changed completely.
“I know this place,” he said a moment later. “This is… this is my old home in Seattle!” He grinned. “Of course! Christmas Past! How old will I be here, huh?”
“Ten,”Shinji-John told him.
Sure enough, a moment later a bundle of energy flew into the room in the form of a young John Hoelscher, followed by an equally energetic sister five years his junior. The pair were then followed by John’s parents, who obviously didn’t want to be up this early in the morning, but were happy none the less.
“Well,” his mother said, “let’s see what Santa brought this year!”
“Santa! Santa!”his sister Jane happily cooed.
His father was opening a trash bag, waiting to fill it up with the soon to be torn and flung wrapping paper.
His sister jumped at her presents first, and he soon followed. She beamed with delight at every doll she opened, and he did likewise with every toy gun or action figure.
The present day John smiled as he watched this, happy memories filling his heart. Yes, it was a typical Christmas as shared by many families… nothing special, really. Still, they had been fun.
“They were fun, weren’t they?” Shinji-John asked, echoing his thoughts. “You’d open all of your presents, and then you and Jane would run off and play with them. Later, you’d have a nice big meal together… A typical family Christmas.”
John nodded.
“But,”Shinji-John said suddenly, “not everything was happy this time of year, was it?”
Without warning, they were standing in a classroom. John recognized it as one of his old schools. They had jumped to a few days prior, it seemed… to his class’s Christmas party. All of his old classmates were in a state of jubilation, exchanging gifts and festive snacks.
“You’d grown up with your family, and they were accepting of you,” Shinji-John said. “However, you weren’t always comfortable around others.”
“Nonsense,” John protested.
“Oh? Who’s that in the corner?”
Shinji-John pointed straight over at ten-year-old John, sitting quietly by himself, his nose in a comic book.
“Good book?”Shinji-John asked.
“Must have been, if it kept me from the party,” John stated.
“Was it, now?”Shinji-John prodded.
John thought about it for a moment, and was surprised to discover something. He hadn’t thought about this day since… well, probably since when he had originally gone through it. Yet now, he found he could recall everything about it perfectly.
“No, it wasn’t,”John admitted.
“Then why not join the party?” Shinji-John asked.
John sat silently, not answering. Shinji-John waited patiently, until…
“Well, let’s move forward, shall we?”
Suddenly, it was eight years later, and they were in Kettering, Ohio.
John saw himself at eighteen, dressed in a smart looking dark blue suit with a red tie. He was being followed by his posse, and his girlfriend, Jen, was holding his arm in hers. A couple of the members of his posse jumped forward and threw open the double doors to the school’s gym, allowing John and Jen to make a grand entrance to the school’s Christmas Dance.
“Do you remember this night?” Shinji-John asked.
“Yes,” John said.“The school’s Christmas party, my senior year.”
“What was that on your face?” Shinji-John asked. “Is that a smile? A smile, on your face, in a social situation?”
John looked. Sure enough, the younger him looked happy.
There was music…
There was dancing…
There was gift swapping…
There were festive snacks…
And there was younger John, not sitting in the corner with a comic book…
In fact, he was the center of the party!
And then, as the evening began to draw to a close, the disc jockey began to play some of the slower songs. John held Jen close to him as they moved around the dance floor…
The John who was watching smiled in happy memory… until suddenly he remembered something else. He frowned.
“I can’t watch this.”
“Why not?”Shinji-John asked.
“I CAN’T WATCH THIS!” John repeated. “This isn’t my happiness. This is a happiness I got because of you three! And in the end, you three only got me PAIN!!”
The scene around them suddenly shifted once more. This shift left Shinji-John looking surprised, however… apparently, he had not caused it.
It was now a few months earlier.
John watched himself walk down the hall with his posse to either of his sides or directly behind him. A moment later a slightly younger boy entered the hall looking at a small scrap of paper, and then looking over at the lockers. The clique stopped for a moment and turned to look at him.
Billy, one of John’s friends, looked him over and spoke. “Hey, aren’t you that new kid that transferred from the private academy?” he asked.
“Um, yeah. I’m Joe,” he responded timidly and then looked over to John.
John looked back and felt the junior’s stare burn into him. There the junior stood with his navy slacks and dress shirt, and there John stood with his circle of compatriots. John looked back one last time and then turned to his friends.
“Cone on guys, we don’t have time to waist on him.” He then continued down the hall, soon turning a corner.
Jen walked up to him, a frown on her face. “That was kind of harsh, John,” she scolded him.
He laughed at her.
This had been the first time. It had not been the last. And while their relationship would last for a while, it ended shortly after the Christmas they had just witnessed.
“I was a jerk,”John said to Shinji-John. “I was a jerk, and I lost her…”
Shinji-John placed a hand comfortingly on John’s shoulder.
“I lost her, and I had to get away…” John looked up to see that the scene had changed once more.
“This is…!” John exclaimed.
“The Filene’s Christmas Party, one year later,” Shinji-John confirmed.
And there was John, a brand new employee at Filene’s Most of the employees were socializing with one another in what was a combination party / clean the store. (After all, the last minute Christmas Eve rush left the store in quite a mess.)
“How’s it going, John?” one of his coworkers asked.
“All right, you know? I don’t really know that many people yet.”
“Eh, give it time.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to sound discouraged. In fact, I was thinking of trying to meet that woman from the lady’s department.”
“Which woman? Tiffie?”
“No.”
“Leslie?”
“No, the other one.”
“Surely you don’t mean…”
John nodded.
“You can’t be serious! None of the guys dare to approach her! She’s like… like a goddess or something!”
John laughed. He laughed some more. Finally, he laughed a bit. “Well, no one will stop Lord God John!” He grinned.
“You’re weird,”his coworker said with a grin, “you know that, John?”
John simply nodded an affirmative as he went off in search of his objective.
After a few inquiries, John was told that she had gone for a walk in the mall. John left Filene’s to search for her.
The mall seemed kind of eerie, devoid of people. He had hoped that with no one else there she would be easy to find, but he had been wrong. It was a big mall.
Then he heard footsteps. He quickly followed them, turned a corner, and bumped into someone. Literally. They both fell to the ground.
It wasn’t her.
In fact, it was a guy.
“Hey, sorry about that,” John said. “I wasn’t expecting to run into anyone at this time of night, you know?”
The guy nodded.
“Come to think of it, what are you doing here?”
“I got stuck closing, and the store needed quite a bit of cleaning. I work over at the Electronics Boutique.”
“Ah. I work at Filene’s Name’s John. John Hoelscher.” He stuck out his hand.
“Jason Bertovich,” the man responded, taking John’s hand in a firm grip and shaking it.
“Glad to meet you. I’m kind of new to the area, you know? Just moved from Ohio.”
“What a coincidence,” Jason responded. “I just moved here myself. From Pennsylvania.”
“Hey,” John thought to ask, “you didn’t see a woman pass by this way, did you? Long hair, done in a ponytail? Asian? Bouncy?”
“Someone looking for me?” a third voice interrupted.
John and Jason turned, beheld, and smiled.
Shinji-John turned to his companion. “John, who would you say have been your closest friends for the past few years?”
John didn’t have to think before he answered. “Jason and Fenny,” he responded.
“And do you think you would have chased after her, if not for certain influences from within yourself?” Shinji-John then asked.
John found he couldn’t answer… He turned to face Shinji-John, but he wasn’t there…
And he was no longer in the mall…
He was back in his bedroom…
Shinji-John removed the ear-buds from his ears, turned off his small cassette player, and pocketed it. “Hello,” he said. “Sorry if I startled you.”
In the past, this had been him… In the past…
“So you’re the Ghost of Christmas Past, are you?” John asked as he pulled his wheelchair over. He tried to keep his tone civil, but there was still a slight bit of contempt to it.
“Well,”Shinji-John explained, “’ghost’ is not quite an accurate term in this case. After all, I am merely a quasi-physical manifestation of a hidden aspect of your inner psyche.”
John sat.“Quasi-physical?”
“Technically, I don’t physically exist,” Shinji-John responded, walking over to John, “but you are so convinced of my existence that…”
Shinji-John poked John lightly in the arm. John jerked back, startled. He had felt it!
John looked at Shinji-John in annoyance. Then he was startled once more. What startled him this time was not another poke, but that their surroundings seemed to have changed completely.
“I know this place,” he said a moment later. “This is… this is my old home in Seattle!” He grinned. “Of course! Christmas Past! How old will I be here, huh?”
“Ten,”Shinji-John told him.
Sure enough, a moment later a bundle of energy flew into the room in the form of a young John Hoelscher, followed by an equally energetic sister five years his junior. The pair were then followed by John’s parents, who obviously didn’t want to be up this early in the morning, but were happy none the less.
“Well,” his mother said, “let’s see what Santa brought this year!”
“Santa! Santa!”his sister Jane happily cooed.
His father was opening a trash bag, waiting to fill it up with the soon to be torn and flung wrapping paper.
His sister jumped at her presents first, and he soon followed. She beamed with delight at every doll she opened, and he did likewise with every toy gun or action figure.
The present day John smiled as he watched this, happy memories filling his heart. Yes, it was a typical Christmas as shared by many families… nothing special, really. Still, they had been fun.
“They were fun, weren’t they?” Shinji-John asked, echoing his thoughts. “You’d open all of your presents, and then you and Jane would run off and play with them. Later, you’d have a nice big meal together… A typical family Christmas.”
John nodded.
“But,”Shinji-John said suddenly, “not everything was happy this time of year, was it?”
Without warning, they were standing in a classroom. John recognized it as one of his old schools. They had jumped to a few days prior, it seemed… to his class’s Christmas party. All of his old classmates were in a state of jubilation, exchanging gifts and festive snacks.
“You’d grown up with your family, and they were accepting of you,” Shinji-John said. “However, you weren’t always comfortable around others.”
“Nonsense,” John protested.
“Oh? Who’s that in the corner?”
Shinji-John pointed straight over at ten-year-old John, sitting quietly by himself, his nose in a comic book.
“Good book?”Shinji-John asked.
“Must have been, if it kept me from the party,” John stated.
“Was it, now?”Shinji-John prodded.
John thought about it for a moment, and was surprised to discover something. He hadn’t thought about this day since… well, probably since when he had originally gone through it. Yet now, he found he could recall everything about it perfectly.
“No, it wasn’t,”John admitted.
“Then why not join the party?” Shinji-John asked.
John sat silently, not answering. Shinji-John waited patiently, until…
“Well, let’s move forward, shall we?”
Suddenly, it was eight years later, and they were in Kettering, Ohio.
John saw himself at eighteen, dressed in a smart looking dark blue suit with a red tie. He was being followed by his posse, and his girlfriend, Jen, was holding his arm in hers. A couple of the members of his posse jumped forward and threw open the double doors to the school’s gym, allowing John and Jen to make a grand entrance to the school’s Christmas Dance.
“Do you remember this night?” Shinji-John asked.
“Yes,” John said.“The school’s Christmas party, my senior year.”
“What was that on your face?” Shinji-John asked. “Is that a smile? A smile, on your face, in a social situation?”
John looked. Sure enough, the younger him looked happy.
There was music…
There was dancing…
There was gift swapping…
There were festive snacks…
And there was younger John, not sitting in the corner with a comic book…
In fact, he was the center of the party!
And then, as the evening began to draw to a close, the disc jockey began to play some of the slower songs. John held Jen close to him as they moved around the dance floor…
The John who was watching smiled in happy memory… until suddenly he remembered something else. He frowned.
“I can’t watch this.”
“Why not?”Shinji-John asked.
“I CAN’T WATCH THIS!” John repeated. “This isn’t my happiness. This is a happiness I got because of you three! And in the end, you three only got me PAIN!!”
The scene around them suddenly shifted once more. This shift left Shinji-John looking surprised, however… apparently, he had not caused it.
It was now a few months earlier.
John watched himself walk down the hall with his posse to either of his sides or directly behind him. A moment later a slightly younger boy entered the hall looking at a small scrap of paper, and then looking over at the lockers. The clique stopped for a moment and turned to look at him.
Billy, one of John’s friends, looked him over and spoke. “Hey, aren’t you that new kid that transferred from the private academy?” he asked.
“Um, yeah. I’m Joe,” he responded timidly and then looked over to John.
John looked back and felt the junior’s stare burn into him. There the junior stood with his navy slacks and dress shirt, and there John stood with his circle of compatriots. John looked back one last time and then turned to his friends.
“Cone on guys, we don’t have time to waist on him.” He then continued down the hall, soon turning a corner.
Jen walked up to him, a frown on her face. “That was kind of harsh, John,” she scolded him.
He laughed at her.
This had been the first time. It had not been the last. And while their relationship would last for a while, it ended shortly after the Christmas they had just witnessed.
“I was a jerk,”John said to Shinji-John. “I was a jerk, and I lost her…”
Shinji-John placed a hand comfortingly on John’s shoulder.
“I lost her, and I had to get away…” John looked up to see that the scene had changed once more.
“This is…!” John exclaimed.
“The Filene’s Christmas Party, one year later,” Shinji-John confirmed.
And there was John, a brand new employee at Filene’s Most of the employees were socializing with one another in what was a combination party / clean the store. (After all, the last minute Christmas Eve rush left the store in quite a mess.)
“How’s it going, John?” one of his coworkers asked.
“All right, you know? I don’t really know that many people yet.”
“Eh, give it time.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean to sound discouraged. In fact, I was thinking of trying to meet that woman from the lady’s department.”
“Which woman? Tiffie?”
“No.”
“Leslie?”
“No, the other one.”
“Surely you don’t mean…”
John nodded.
“You can’t be serious! None of the guys dare to approach her! She’s like… like a goddess or something!”
John laughed. He laughed some more. Finally, he laughed a bit. “Well, no one will stop Lord God John!” He grinned.
“You’re weird,”his coworker said with a grin, “you know that, John?”
John simply nodded an affirmative as he went off in search of his objective.
After a few inquiries, John was told that she had gone for a walk in the mall. John left Filene’s to search for her.
The mall seemed kind of eerie, devoid of people. He had hoped that with no one else there she would be easy to find, but he had been wrong. It was a big mall.
Then he heard footsteps. He quickly followed them, turned a corner, and bumped into someone. Literally. They both fell to the ground.
It wasn’t her.
In fact, it was a guy.
“Hey, sorry about that,” John said. “I wasn’t expecting to run into anyone at this time of night, you know?”
The guy nodded.
“Come to think of it, what are you doing here?”
“I got stuck closing, and the store needed quite a bit of cleaning. I work over at the Electronics Boutique.”
“Ah. I work at Filene’s Name’s John. John Hoelscher.” He stuck out his hand.
“Jason Bertovich,” the man responded, taking John’s hand in a firm grip and shaking it.
“Glad to meet you. I’m kind of new to the area, you know? Just moved from Ohio.”
“What a coincidence,” Jason responded. “I just moved here myself. From Pennsylvania.”
“Hey,” John thought to ask, “you didn’t see a woman pass by this way, did you? Long hair, done in a ponytail? Asian? Bouncy?”
“Someone looking for me?” a third voice interrupted.
John and Jason turned, beheld, and smiled.
Shinji-John turned to his companion. “John, who would you say have been your closest friends for the past few years?”
John didn’t have to think before he answered. “Jason and Fenny,” he responded.
“And do you think you would have chased after her, if not for certain influences from within yourself?” Shinji-John then asked.
John found he couldn’t answer… He turned to face Shinji-John, but he wasn’t there…
And he was no longer in the mall…
He was back in his bedroom…
The Present
John looked around his empty room. He glanced at his clock which, sure enough, read, “1:00 AM.”
“Who’s next?”John called out. “Come on! Where are you?”
Silence was his only response. Then, something caught his attention – a light coming from under the door to the main room of his apartment. Could it be…?
He quickly wheeled his way to the door, pulled it open, and saw…
…that he had just left the light on.
“Baka,” he called himself.
He turned off the light, went back to his bedroom, and closed the door.
“Ah, so there you are,” a voice said.
John looked up at the sound. It was Touga-John, waiting patiently for him.
“Ah, so there you are,” John greeted him in return.
“Well then, are you ready?”
“No,” John responded. “But then, I haven’t a choice, have I?”
“Not particularly, no,” Touga-John admitted. “We are sorry to be putting you through this,” he then confided, “but it is for the best, really. Shall we be off, then?”
“Yes, all right.”
“This should be somewhat fresh in your memory,” Touga-John said as the scene changed around them.
“Sure are… a lot of people… huh?” the other John said.
“You okay, John?”Jason asked him.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Well, okay,”Jason said. “You just don’t seem yourself. You’re usually the life of the party.”
“Well… haven’t been out in a while, you know? Give me a few minutes, I’ll be okay.”
“Sure,” Jason said. “You need anything, though, you let me know.”
Touga-John turned to John. “You are usually the life of the party. Do you know what was different tonight?”
“It’s what I told Jason,” John replied. “Just been a while since I’d been out.
“And what about what happened next?” Touga-John asked. “I don’t suppose all of that was because you hadn’t been out in a while. You usually have more confidence then that with the ladies.”
“I suppose you expect me to believe I get that from you?” John asked with scorn.
“I expect you to believe the truth,” Touga-John responded, “and you must discover the truth for yourself. We are only here to make our case before you pass judgment on what is to be your truth.”
“You there! Crippled peon!”
John looked away from Touga-John to observe a self-important looking Boy Scout approaching the John they had come to watch. “Do you mean me?” the other John asked.
“Do you see any other cripples here?” the Boy Scout asked. “Well, physically crippled, that is! You are all crippled mentally, compared to me!” he decreed. He then began to laugh maniacally.
John just sat quietly until the laughter subsided some time later. “Did you… did you want something, sir?” he then asked.
The Scout smiled.“Ah,” he commented. “Respect, coupled with a healthy dose of fear. I like you.”
John waited for the Scout to come to his point.
“You haven’t seen a speech lying about anywhere, have you?” he finally asked. He held his hands about a foot apart. “About so
thick?”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t,” John admitted.
“Well then, have you seen my worthless assistant? He is supposed to be looking for it!”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t,” John repeated. He did wish the boy would leave him alone, but he couldn’t work up the courage to tell him
so.
“Humph,” the boy said. John was immediately disregarded by him, as he stormed off.
“That was most unpleasant, wasn’t it?” Touga-John asked.
John nodded in response.
“Surely you could not have enjoyed watching that?”
“No more then I enjoyed going through it,” John admitted.
“You know,”Touga-John said, “that young man reminded me of someone…”
“He kind of reminded me of Jinnai,” John commented.
“Ah yes, that was it,” Touga-John said. “I don’t suppose you are familiar with the phrase, ‘Fight fire with fire,’ are you?”
“You’re saying that if I had Jinnai-John with me, I could have stood up for myself, is that it?”
“You said it, I did not. However, I am not inclined to disagree with you, there. And if I had been with you, perhaps you could have had more luck in other areas…”
Suddenly, they were outside of the church. Snow had just started to fall.
“Hey, stranger,”Lina Wells said as she approached John.
“Oh, um… hi,” he responded.
“Mind if I join you to watch the snow fall?” she asked.
“Not at, um… not at all,” John told her.
She laughed, and stood beside his wheelchair. Together, they watched the snow fall, and were soon joined by others. Jason and Nicole. Nicole’s sister and their suitors. The eight of them watched the snow fall in silent wonder. Lina kept looking at John from time to time, smiling at him. Every time she did, he couldn’t stop himself from looking away from her.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say that lovely woman had an interest in you,” Touga-John said.“And what did you do about it?”
John failed to find a response.
“Nothing,”Touga-John said for him. “You did nothing. I’m surprised she stuck with you all evening. You gave her as much regard as you might give to a dead fish.”
“Perhaps I didn’t like her?” John lied.
Touga-John saw right through the lie. “I know better than that, John. You forget that I am a part of you, after all.
“We are all a part of you. Without you, we are nothing. And without us, you are less then you could be. Less then you should be…”
“Who’s next?”John called out. “Come on! Where are you?”
Silence was his only response. Then, something caught his attention – a light coming from under the door to the main room of his apartment. Could it be…?
He quickly wheeled his way to the door, pulled it open, and saw…
…that he had just left the light on.
“Baka,” he called himself.
He turned off the light, went back to his bedroom, and closed the door.
“Ah, so there you are,” a voice said.
John looked up at the sound. It was Touga-John, waiting patiently for him.
“Ah, so there you are,” John greeted him in return.
“Well then, are you ready?”
“No,” John responded. “But then, I haven’t a choice, have I?”
“Not particularly, no,” Touga-John admitted. “We are sorry to be putting you through this,” he then confided, “but it is for the best, really. Shall we be off, then?”
“Yes, all right.”
“This should be somewhat fresh in your memory,” Touga-John said as the scene changed around them.
“Sure are… a lot of people… huh?” the other John said.
“You okay, John?”Jason asked him.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Well, okay,”Jason said. “You just don’t seem yourself. You’re usually the life of the party.”
“Well… haven’t been out in a while, you know? Give me a few minutes, I’ll be okay.”
“Sure,” Jason said. “You need anything, though, you let me know.”
Touga-John turned to John. “You are usually the life of the party. Do you know what was different tonight?”
“It’s what I told Jason,” John replied. “Just been a while since I’d been out.
“And what about what happened next?” Touga-John asked. “I don’t suppose all of that was because you hadn’t been out in a while. You usually have more confidence then that with the ladies.”
“I suppose you expect me to believe I get that from you?” John asked with scorn.
“I expect you to believe the truth,” Touga-John responded, “and you must discover the truth for yourself. We are only here to make our case before you pass judgment on what is to be your truth.”
“You there! Crippled peon!”
John looked away from Touga-John to observe a self-important looking Boy Scout approaching the John they had come to watch. “Do you mean me?” the other John asked.
“Do you see any other cripples here?” the Boy Scout asked. “Well, physically crippled, that is! You are all crippled mentally, compared to me!” he decreed. He then began to laugh maniacally.
John just sat quietly until the laughter subsided some time later. “Did you… did you want something, sir?” he then asked.
The Scout smiled.“Ah,” he commented. “Respect, coupled with a healthy dose of fear. I like you.”
John waited for the Scout to come to his point.
“You haven’t seen a speech lying about anywhere, have you?” he finally asked. He held his hands about a foot apart. “About so
thick?”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t,” John admitted.
“Well then, have you seen my worthless assistant? He is supposed to be looking for it!”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t,” John repeated. He did wish the boy would leave him alone, but he couldn’t work up the courage to tell him
so.
“Humph,” the boy said. John was immediately disregarded by him, as he stormed off.
“That was most unpleasant, wasn’t it?” Touga-John asked.
John nodded in response.
“Surely you could not have enjoyed watching that?”
“No more then I enjoyed going through it,” John admitted.
“You know,”Touga-John said, “that young man reminded me of someone…”
“He kind of reminded me of Jinnai,” John commented.
“Ah yes, that was it,” Touga-John said. “I don’t suppose you are familiar with the phrase, ‘Fight fire with fire,’ are you?”
“You’re saying that if I had Jinnai-John with me, I could have stood up for myself, is that it?”
“You said it, I did not. However, I am not inclined to disagree with you, there. And if I had been with you, perhaps you could have had more luck in other areas…”
Suddenly, they were outside of the church. Snow had just started to fall.
“Hey, stranger,”Lina Wells said as she approached John.
“Oh, um… hi,” he responded.
“Mind if I join you to watch the snow fall?” she asked.
“Not at, um… not at all,” John told her.
She laughed, and stood beside his wheelchair. Together, they watched the snow fall, and were soon joined by others. Jason and Nicole. Nicole’s sister and their suitors. The eight of them watched the snow fall in silent wonder. Lina kept looking at John from time to time, smiling at him. Every time she did, he couldn’t stop himself from looking away from her.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say that lovely woman had an interest in you,” Touga-John said.“And what did you do about it?”
John failed to find a response.
“Nothing,”Touga-John said for him. “You did nothing. I’m surprised she stuck with you all evening. You gave her as much regard as you might give to a dead fish.”
“Perhaps I didn’t like her?” John lied.
Touga-John saw right through the lie. “I know better than that, John. You forget that I am a part of you, after all.
“We are all a part of you. Without you, we are nothing. And without us, you are less then you could be. Less then you should be…”
The Future
“There you are! How long did you expect me to wait for you?”
This was followed by a familiar laughter, and John turned his chair. He was no longer outside the Church in the Acres, but back in his bedroom. The sudden changes had stopped startling him, however.
“Somehow, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re the Ghost of Christmas Future,” John told Jinnai-John.
“Future, yes,”Jinnai-John said. “Christmas? Not necessarily. Do you really expect me to be constrained by some silly Christmas motif?” He laughed some more. “There’s so many interesting things to show you, I’d hate to be limited to Christmas.”
Suddenly, John and Jinnai-John were in s hotel room somewhere. John saw Jason there, and two other people as well. One of them John recognized as the man who had been the host at the Boy Scouts’ Christmas party. Matt something, wasn’t it? He was getting into his trench coat and already had a fedora upon his head.
The other John thought seemed familiar, but he had never met the man. He had longer hair, as well as a bit of facial hair, and was dressed normally.
Jason, on the other hand, was dressed somewhat oddly. He had a white headband on, with some kind of pattern on it – a circle with a smaller circle within it, offset to the upper right corner. The long-sleeved white t-shirt he was wearing had a similar circle on it, larger and red, with the smaller circle being orange. Four small red triangles jutted out from this circle, and a thick green stripe ran down the front of the shirt, broken only by the circle. Midway between his left elbow and shoulder was a pair of safety goggles. Sandals and denim shorts completed the ensemble.
It was obviously a costume of some sort. They must be at an anime convention.
“Well, I’m all set,” Jason said. “Trav? Matt?”
The others nodded.
“John?”
John turned his chair to where Jason was looking, and noticed himself for the first time. He was dressed in a dark blue suit, with a white shirt and a red tie. In fact, he was dressed identically to Jinnai-John. Leaning against the wall beside him was a fairly excellent replica of Ifurita’s Key, a prop from El-Hazard.
“You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up,” John told the others.
“Don’t be long, John,” Jason said. “Cosplay competition’s in a little under an hour.”
“I know. Don’t worry,” John told him.
Jason smirked.“This cosplay’s going to kick ass, even more then our last one!”
John smiled weakly back as Jason opened the door to leave. Jason, Matt, and Travis filed out of the room, leaving John alone. For some time, John sat silently, eyes closed, as if meditating. Finally, he opened them.
“Ha,” he said. It was without feeling, weak. “Ha ha.”
He cleared his throat.
“I’ll get you, Makoto,” he blandly stated.
He tried to look menacing, but ended up looking constipated.
“No,” said the John who was watching. “No, that’d not possible!”
“Ha ha, ha ha ha,” the other John said, as if drearily reading the words from some distasteful page.
“NO!!!!!!” John exclaimed to himself.
“What’s wrong?”Jinnai-John asked with a sneer.
“That’s not me,”John said. “That can’t be…”
Then John and Jinnai-John were backstage somewhere. Jason was there, as well as a few other people, all dressed as various El-Hazard characters.
“Where is he?” a woman dressed as Nanami asked.
“I don’t know,”Jason responded, looking worried.
“Well, he’d better get here soon,” a Fujisawa look-alike warned. “Without a Jinnai, our sketch is ruined.”
“He’ll be here!”Jason insisted. “Please, John,” he added quietly, “be here…”
Then, John and Jinnai-John were in the audience, not far from Travis and Matt.
An amplified voice came from the speakers to either side of the stage as applause died down.“That was Final Fantasy Follies,” the MC announced. “Next up is El Hazard: The Y2KJ Bug!”
Suddenly… no one came out onto the stage. This was followed by nobody, and then not a soul.
Travis turned to Matt. “Where are they?”
Matt shrugged.
A confused murmur overcame the audience, as the stage remained empty.
“Um… There’s been a slight change of plans,” the MC said. “We’re moving on now, with a sketch called, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Iscandar.”
“No,” John said.
“What’s wrong?”Jinnai-John asked, tauntingly.
“I… I screwed up a cosplay,” John whispered.
“So you did.”Jinnai-John laughed.
“But… but cosplay is life!!”
“Yet without us, you couldn’t cosplay,” Jinnai-John stated.
“NO!!!!!!!!!!”John yelled.
The floor opened up beneath him, and he fell. Deeper and deeper… a seemingly endless pit. No, not endless. There was a ground, rushing to meet him… then it came…
John was sitting in the chair, in the dark room. There was a single shaft of light shining down upon him, coming from some unseen source high above him. Three other shafts came down, illuminating three figures standing before him.
Shinji-John was in the front, the others standing behind and to either side of him.
“Now, you must decide,” Shinji-John said. “You can live with us, or without us. If you decide to live without us, we will leave you and never bother you again.”
“But… what I saw, is that really the future?”
Shinji-John nodded. “It was real.”
“I couldn’t cosplay,” John said. “And worse, I let down my friends… And last night, the party… was that really me?”
Shinji-John nodded again.
“I…” John swallowed. “I don’t want to be that me.” He slowly looked over the three versions of himself standing before him. “Even if it means accepting you, I can’t be that me.”
Shinji-John smiled, and then he and the others disappeared.
They disappeared, but they weren’t gone.
John felt them within himself.
This was followed by a familiar laughter, and John turned his chair. He was no longer outside the Church in the Acres, but back in his bedroom. The sudden changes had stopped startling him, however.
“Somehow, it doesn’t surprise me that you’re the Ghost of Christmas Future,” John told Jinnai-John.
“Future, yes,”Jinnai-John said. “Christmas? Not necessarily. Do you really expect me to be constrained by some silly Christmas motif?” He laughed some more. “There’s so many interesting things to show you, I’d hate to be limited to Christmas.”
Suddenly, John and Jinnai-John were in s hotel room somewhere. John saw Jason there, and two other people as well. One of them John recognized as the man who had been the host at the Boy Scouts’ Christmas party. Matt something, wasn’t it? He was getting into his trench coat and already had a fedora upon his head.
The other John thought seemed familiar, but he had never met the man. He had longer hair, as well as a bit of facial hair, and was dressed normally.
Jason, on the other hand, was dressed somewhat oddly. He had a white headband on, with some kind of pattern on it – a circle with a smaller circle within it, offset to the upper right corner. The long-sleeved white t-shirt he was wearing had a similar circle on it, larger and red, with the smaller circle being orange. Four small red triangles jutted out from this circle, and a thick green stripe ran down the front of the shirt, broken only by the circle. Midway between his left elbow and shoulder was a pair of safety goggles. Sandals and denim shorts completed the ensemble.
It was obviously a costume of some sort. They must be at an anime convention.
“Well, I’m all set,” Jason said. “Trav? Matt?”
The others nodded.
“John?”
John turned his chair to where Jason was looking, and noticed himself for the first time. He was dressed in a dark blue suit, with a white shirt and a red tie. In fact, he was dressed identically to Jinnai-John. Leaning against the wall beside him was a fairly excellent replica of Ifurita’s Key, a prop from El-Hazard.
“You guys go ahead, I’ll catch up,” John told the others.
“Don’t be long, John,” Jason said. “Cosplay competition’s in a little under an hour.”
“I know. Don’t worry,” John told him.
Jason smirked.“This cosplay’s going to kick ass, even more then our last one!”
John smiled weakly back as Jason opened the door to leave. Jason, Matt, and Travis filed out of the room, leaving John alone. For some time, John sat silently, eyes closed, as if meditating. Finally, he opened them.
“Ha,” he said. It was without feeling, weak. “Ha ha.”
He cleared his throat.
“I’ll get you, Makoto,” he blandly stated.
He tried to look menacing, but ended up looking constipated.
“No,” said the John who was watching. “No, that’d not possible!”
“Ha ha, ha ha ha,” the other John said, as if drearily reading the words from some distasteful page.
“NO!!!!!!” John exclaimed to himself.
“What’s wrong?”Jinnai-John asked with a sneer.
“That’s not me,”John said. “That can’t be…”
Then John and Jinnai-John were backstage somewhere. Jason was there, as well as a few other people, all dressed as various El-Hazard characters.
“Where is he?” a woman dressed as Nanami asked.
“I don’t know,”Jason responded, looking worried.
“Well, he’d better get here soon,” a Fujisawa look-alike warned. “Without a Jinnai, our sketch is ruined.”
“He’ll be here!”Jason insisted. “Please, John,” he added quietly, “be here…”
Then, John and Jinnai-John were in the audience, not far from Travis and Matt.
An amplified voice came from the speakers to either side of the stage as applause died down.“That was Final Fantasy Follies,” the MC announced. “Next up is El Hazard: The Y2KJ Bug!”
Suddenly… no one came out onto the stage. This was followed by nobody, and then not a soul.
Travis turned to Matt. “Where are they?”
Matt shrugged.
A confused murmur overcame the audience, as the stage remained empty.
“Um… There’s been a slight change of plans,” the MC said. “We’re moving on now, with a sketch called, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Iscandar.”
“No,” John said.
“What’s wrong?”Jinnai-John asked, tauntingly.
“I… I screwed up a cosplay,” John whispered.
“So you did.”Jinnai-John laughed.
“But… but cosplay is life!!”
“Yet without us, you couldn’t cosplay,” Jinnai-John stated.
“NO!!!!!!!!!!”John yelled.
The floor opened up beneath him, and he fell. Deeper and deeper… a seemingly endless pit. No, not endless. There was a ground, rushing to meet him… then it came…
John was sitting in the chair, in the dark room. There was a single shaft of light shining down upon him, coming from some unseen source high above him. Three other shafts came down, illuminating three figures standing before him.
Shinji-John was in the front, the others standing behind and to either side of him.
“Now, you must decide,” Shinji-John said. “You can live with us, or without us. If you decide to live without us, we will leave you and never bother you again.”
“But… what I saw, is that really the future?”
Shinji-John nodded. “It was real.”
“I couldn’t cosplay,” John said. “And worse, I let down my friends… And last night, the party… was that really me?”
Shinji-John nodded again.
“I…” John swallowed. “I don’t want to be that me.” He slowly looked over the three versions of himself standing before him. “Even if it means accepting you, I can’t be that me.”
Shinji-John smiled, and then he and the others disappeared.
They disappeared, but they weren’t gone.
John felt them within himself.
Christmas
John woke with a start, and sat up. He looked over at the clock.
7:00 a.m.
“Was it a dream?”he asked himself. He closed his eyes for a moment, and looked within himself.
He felt them.
“No, it wasn’t a dream,” he told himself.
He rolled slightly to get out of bed, but noticed his wheelchair was across the room. He cursed, got up, walked over to it, and sat.
He blinked.
He scratched his head.
He blinked again.
Slowly, he rose to his feet. Tentatively, he took a step. It was a bit awkward, his legs stiff from disuse… but when it seemed to work fine, he took another.
Then another.
He was walking.
He smiled.
“Thanks, guys,” he said. “Merry Christmas.”
7:00 a.m.
“Was it a dream?”he asked himself. He closed his eyes for a moment, and looked within himself.
He felt them.
“No, it wasn’t a dream,” he told himself.
He rolled slightly to get out of bed, but noticed his wheelchair was across the room. He cursed, got up, walked over to it, and sat.
He blinked.
He scratched his head.
He blinked again.
Slowly, he rose to his feet. Tentatively, he took a step. It was a bit awkward, his legs stiff from disuse… but when it seemed to work fine, he took another.
Then another.
He was walking.
He smiled.
“Thanks, guys,” he said. “Merry Christmas.”
Author's Notes & Disclaimers
Hi, everybody! This ends my second entry into the Perspectives series, and there is still one more to come. This one ties up the loose ends left with John Hoelscher; he is now healed, both physically and mentally. There is one more thing left to explore. Exactly what is up with this Lina character? And folks, that is precisely what we will find out next time…
For those who do not know and are curious, “cosplay” is an abbreviated term that comes from,“costume play.” I’m no expert on the subject, but I believe the term came from Japan where it was used by Japanese otaku (obsessed fans) of anime and manga, and the term was embraced by otaku over here when they began to partake in the activity of dressing up as their favorite characters.
The title of Jason and John’s cosplay skit is a variation of a title for a skit they actually did at one convention. The skit (in real life) was called, “The New Millennium of Anime AKA the Y2KJ Problem.” For readers who didn’t get it (and you’d probably have to be an El-Hazard fan to get it) Y2KJ is a pun, combining Y2K and the initials of Jinnai Katsuhiko. (If one were to put his given name first and his family name second, as English speakers world, his initials would be KJ.)
Now, the usual disclaimer stuff. First off, I think it’s obvious that this story was inspired by the classic Dickens story, A Christmas Carol. Also, one brief scene is borrowed from Jason’s Perspectives from the Food Court V. Lastly, thanks to the real John Hoelscher for being kind enough to answer a few questions when I bugged him.
Now, we’ll move onto others’ comments. Not only Jason’s, but I thought John may like to comment, as well. After all, this story is all about his character.
For those who do not know and are curious, “cosplay” is an abbreviated term that comes from,“costume play.” I’m no expert on the subject, but I believe the term came from Japan where it was used by Japanese otaku (obsessed fans) of anime and manga, and the term was embraced by otaku over here when they began to partake in the activity of dressing up as their favorite characters.
The title of Jason and John’s cosplay skit is a variation of a title for a skit they actually did at one convention. The skit (in real life) was called, “The New Millennium of Anime AKA the Y2KJ Problem.” For readers who didn’t get it (and you’d probably have to be an El-Hazard fan to get it) Y2KJ is a pun, combining Y2K and the initials of Jinnai Katsuhiko. (If one were to put his given name first and his family name second, as English speakers world, his initials would be KJ.)
Now, the usual disclaimer stuff. First off, I think it’s obvious that this story was inspired by the classic Dickens story, A Christmas Carol. Also, one brief scene is borrowed from Jason’s Perspectives from the Food Court V. Lastly, thanks to the real John Hoelscher for being kind enough to answer a few questions when I bugged him.
Now, we’ll move onto others’ comments. Not only Jason’s, but I thought John may like to comment, as well. After all, this story is all about his character.
John's Comments
You want MY opinion? It’s pretty cool… and it’s sort of eerie. You’ve almost made an exact copy of me into this story (though I do not have 3 anime like personalities controlling my every move… and the fact that I still live in Ohio). I like the fact that this is one of those rare pieces of fiction where there is no violence, no action, no one-person-vs.-the-world plot. It was somewhat real with believable characters in a fictional setting… which is a good read also. Anyway, it’s cool Matt, keep it up and… if at all possible, can you make that Lina chick somewhat normal? ^_~
Jason's Comments
Matt-kun shoots and scores! He’s continuing the Perspectives Legacy nicely… heh, it’s nice to know that I can go on vacation from Perspectives and that it will continue to expand and grow.
It was really nice to see Matt make a scene on how these three (Jason, John, and Fenny) came to meet in this frozen land of Springfield, MA. I was always wondering how to work that, and Matt-kun solves the mystery.
Remembering Shinji’s earphones… nice touch.
Oh! Before I forget! Matt did a hell of a job reorganizing the BS½ Universe. I feel honored that Perspectives warranted it’s own section.
Well, until Matt decided to grace us again with another masterpiece… Ciao! Adios! Sayonara! And many others…
It was really nice to see Matt make a scene on how these three (Jason, John, and Fenny) came to meet in this frozen land of Springfield, MA. I was always wondering how to work that, and Matt-kun solves the mystery.
Remembering Shinji’s earphones… nice touch.
Oh! Before I forget! Matt did a hell of a job reorganizing the BS½ Universe. I feel honored that Perspectives warranted it’s own section.
Well, until Matt decided to grace us again with another masterpiece… Ciao! Adios! Sayonara! And many others…