"Pau's Lost Tapes"

Author's Note: I will be getting back to 'Inventing the Future' soon, hopefully. Our house is fully repaired from when the tree fell on it a few months ago, and we're back in our rooms again! We're still going through a lot of boxes, and things are still a bit hectic, so I decided to get back into the swing of things by writing something new. Enjoy!

"Chapter 1: Discovery"

"Another wet day..." Seven-year-old Isaac grumbled, scooping up a spoonful of cooling oatmeal and letting it fall back into his bowl with a wet 'plop'. Like his father, Jaming, he enjoyed the sound of falling rain and found it rather soothing. Unlike his father, he hated being stuck inside when he could be doing something more fun. Like playing outside, for example. Rain was nice to fall asleep to; waking up to it was another matter!

Jaming looked up from his newspaper. "Don't play with your food, Isaac."

Isaac, who had taken another spoonful of oatmeal and was preparing to drop it back into the bowl, thought better of it and forced himself to choke down another mouthful. Normally he liked oatmeal, but the rain had taken away his appetite. "It's not fair...It's Saturday! I don't even have school! What am I supposed to do if I can't go out and play?"

Meredith, his mother, poured some milk on her own bowl of oatmeal. "Do you have any homework? You could work on that."

Isaac wrinkled his nose. "I did it last night. Daddy checked it. The math is hard, though."

She smiled sympathetically. "Math always gave me trouble, too."

Jaming turned the page of his newspaper and munched on a piece of toast. "He did very well, though. Isaac, would you like to help me in the garage today?"

"Uhhh..." the boy avoided his father's eyes and focused on his bowl. "I have a hangnail, and I don't wanna get all dirty and get it 'inspected'."

"Did you mean 'infected'?" Jaming asked.

"Yeah, that too," the boy smiled, showing the gap where his two front teeth had recently fallen out.

Jaming chuckled and reached over to ruffle his son's blue hair. "Silly."

Isaac lightly batted his father's hand away, giggling. "Daddy! You're makin' my hair all spiky!"

Feigning indignance, Jaming drew himself up and folded his arms. "And what, may I ask, is wrong with spiky hair?" His own hair was quite wild and spiky, and no amount of combing would ever make it lie down. As a result of constant teasing on that and many other aspects of his appearance, he had grown it out as a teenager in a display of defiance. Now he was so used to it that he decided to keep it that way.

"Nothin'. Daddy, can I play in the attic today?"

Jaming shrugged, looking over at Meredith to see what she thought. There wasn't anything dangerous up there, but there were a few keepsakes that they wanted to keep in good condition. Isaac was usually a careful boy, however.

Meredith looked out the window as the rain picked up, and she shivered unconsciously at the thought of going out in that weather. She no longer owned a shop table on Cap's boat, because the boat was no longer there. The old sailor had retired a year ago, sold his boat, and was now living with his new wife, Granny Rosa. Meredith had opened a small clothing shop in the rapidly growing town, and nothing short of a monsoon would be able keep her from working. Unfortunately, this meant that inclement weather wouldn't get her out of anything and she would have to walk to work soon, and she wasn't looking forward to it. "I don't see why not. Jaming, why don't you see if you can find something interesting for him to pass the time with?"

Jaming had hoped that Isaac might want to build something with him in the garage, but he didn't have any solid plans, so it wasn't difficult for him to switch gears. "I'll bet that's where I put my old acoustic guitar."

"What's 'acoustic', Daddy?" Isaac pushed away his half-full bowl of oatmeal.

"Come on, I'll show you." Jaming took his napkin from his lap, wiped his mouth, and got up from the table.

"Are you two finished eating?" asked Meredith.

"Yes," Jaming lightly brushed her cheek with the back of his index finger. "Just leave it, I'll take care of the dishes."

"No, I'll do it," she kissed him and gave Isaac a hug. "You boys have fun! I want to see if the rain will let up if I wait a bit."

"I don't blame you!" laughed her husband, leading the way to the attic. "Come on, Isaac."

"Whew!" Jaming surveyed the attic with a critical eye.

"What?" Isaac looked up at his father, unsure why the blue-skinned man looked so surprised.

Jaming wiped a finger along the window sill and showed Isaac the dust. "It seems your mother and I remember to clean every room but the attic. How embarrassing!"

The boy giggled before trotting forward and picking up an old cardboard shoe box. Something rattled inside, and he brought it to his father. "What's in here?"

"Hmm..." Jaming took the box and flipped up the lid, then his eyebrows shot up in delighted surprise. "Oh!"

"Is it candy?" Isaac looked hopeful. He couldn't think of a better unexpected find than a forgotten candy stash!

"Heh, no..." Jaming plucked a small, rectangular object from the box and held it out. It was a tape, the kind that fit into a handheld video camera. "One might argue that this is even better."

Isaac took the tape and read the label out loud to himself. "Umm...'Pau: In-ter-views. #1.' I don't get it. What're you talkin' about?"

"Memories, my boy. I'm talking about memories, the kind that shouldn't be forgotten," Jaming put the tape back into the box and plugged in an old television. He wiped the dust from the screen, turned the TV on, and popped the tape into the VCR. "A few months before you were born, Uncle Pau found an old video camera on one of the shop boats and bought it, along with some tapes. The camera, unfortunately, was not in working order, so he brought it to me."

"Did you fix it?"

"Yes," Jaming hit the rewind button, and the VCR made a loud whirring sound. "And Pau spent the next year or so keeping a video diary of sorts. When he finally got bored with it, he asked me if I would hold on to the tapes for safe keeping. Sometimes the water rises and gets into his cave, you see. I forgot these tapes were up here."

Isaac nodded, trying not to look bored. He supposed watching home movies was better than staring out the window at the gray sky and slushy sand! He watched his father pull up an old trunk and dust it off, and the two of them sat down to watch.