Livin' La Vida Gary
My Newbie Challenge by: Molly

Disclaimers: No, I don't own the character and situations of Early Edition. If I did I think I'd be playing spin the bottle with Gary not writing fanfic. All the characters and situations unfortunately belong to Columbia Tri Star, and not to me. No copyright infringement intended, and any guys who get tomorrow's newspaper today are welcome at my house any night. *grin.* blush.

My newbie challenge: Anyway, the insane people who run this list [my heroes] have very weird ideas. My story is supposed to contain the words, eel, umbrella, jelly bean, flamingo, and violin. They want bizarre, they're getting bizarre. I have a weird mind already. So, here goes.

Livin' La Vida Gary

"Say, Marissa, how would you like to go "flamingo dancing?" Marissa Clark chuckled.

"I think you mean flamenco dancing, Gary. Gary Hobson smiled.

"Like I said, flamingo dancing."

Marissa grinned. "Okay, so why, flamingo dancing?" Gary chuckled.

"Apparently, Father Joe of St. Michael's church is a big dancing fan, and at around seven tonight he's going to break his neck, when he trips over an.. eel?"

"An eel?" Gary looked again at the paper.

"Yeah, an eel, apparently, some nut sets free a tank full of eels as a joke." Marissa grinned.

"So, what should I wear?"


At 6:30 they arrived at the club. The bouncer stood in the way of the door. He put a hand on Gary's stomach. "Whoa, pretty boy, where you think you're going?"

"Dancing," he replied.

"He needs to get his groove on," said Marissa, fighting laughter.

"Where's the admission?" Gary sighed, and took out his wallet.

"How much?" he asked. "The things I do for that paper." The bouncer shook his head.


"Not cash, read the sign." He gestured to an advertisement.

"Jelly bean night," Gary said in disbelief. "Admission, a bag of Jelly Belly jelly beans. You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all, buddy. Jelly beans, or I knock your butt back to the farm you came from."

Not wanting to inform the man he came from Hickory, not from a farm, he said, "Fine, I'll go pick some up."

"It's Sunday, all stores are closed," he said, smirking.

Gary walked away, muttering, "And all to see some dancing flamingos." Marissa next to him, just laughed.

"I feel so stupid," Gary said as he knotted the tie, and picked up the violin. Marisa sighed.

"Look, Gary, either you're a violinist, or Father Joe breaks his neck."

"Why in the world would somebody dump eels into a club?" His question went unanswered. "I don't play the violin, you know."

"Well, you don't have to. Just pretend." Gary sighed.

"Looks like I'm off." He grumbled.

"I'll meet you at the bar," Marisa said, hoping Gary couldn't see the amused smile that played across her face. Gary slipped onstage, unnoticed by the other band members.

Gary stood on stage. He looked desperately, for Father Joe. "There's no dancing flamingos," he remarked as he scanned the crowd. He faked the violin pretty well. He then spotted Father Joe. Gary's eyes widened. Father Joe was dancing wildly. "I don't think God had this in mind when he called Father Joe," he remarked to himself. Then, he saw something, he knew in the morning, he'd never believe.

A man, about twenty, ran in the dance club. He was painted orange and black. "Help me free the animals," he screamed. And he turned over an umbrella, and eels flew out. There were laughs and screams. "FREEEEEEEEEEEEEDOM," the man screamed. The only person who didn't notice was Father Joe, who was still dancing wildly around the floor. Gary made a run for it. Father Joe's foot was about to step on one of the eels. Gary lunged, and tackled the Father out of harm's way. The priest looked up at him.

"Forgive me Father," Gary said and ran out the back way.
THE END.

Okay, nobody shoot me. It's my first work that wasn't totally my idea, but it was fun. I liked the whole "flamingo dancing" vs. "flamenco dancing." I doubt Gary would really expect to see flamingos dancing, but it was funny. Tell me what you think