August 2003


Baseball had always been Schemer's favourite past time. It had been a long time since he'd ever played, high school at least, but he had coached the local Shining Time team for a number of years until the kids got older and he moved away. Now he mostly just watched Schemee's team from his private box. He had to admit, Major League games were much more exciting than the kids' old games, yet each game he watched made him nostalgic.

It was technically a private box, but he had agreed to go in with Schemee on it. Therefore, he was usually alone in it, but if Schemee had any friends coming down they could also use it. Schemer didn't mind, though lately he had enjoyed the quiet. He was usually feeling ill more often than not, and was prone to nausea, and didn't want any unwanted attention. Or anyone to notice anything amiss.

Since being sick and really starting to feel the effects on his body, he had been taking extra care with his appearance to make sure nobody noticed anything. To his disdain, and somewhat to his relief, his hair did not fall out entirely, only in thinning patches. They could be hidden though with regular hair cuts and styles. Any fluctuations in weight due to medications, were hidden with tailored clothing. As of late he was thinner, and usually felt cold, so the only thing about his outfits were that they were a little bit warmer for the season.

Halfway through the first inning Schemer was slightly surprised to see Schemee's old friends from Shining Time Station walk in. Usually Schemee gave him a heads up but he must have forgotten today.

"Oh hey Schemer!" Dan exclaimed happily. "It's been a long time!" Kara and Becky were with him as well and greeted him similarly.

Schemer smiled and accepted their hugs, momentarily forgetting his problems. It had been an extremely long time, and he had seen them at best for fleeting moments. It brought him back to his days of owning the arcade.

"Hey guys, I didn't realize that you'd be here today!"

"We weren't going to but we all had our schedules match up so we decided to come over."

They chatted while watching the game, catching up with each other's lives. They mostly knew about Schemer's life since leaving through Schemee. But it had been awhile since Schemer had heard about them and it was good to catch up.

It went without incident until Schemer got up to use the bathroom. While washing his hands he ran his finger through his hair, which was an unfortunate mistake on his part because the hair was weak, and to his absolute horror his curl had come loose as one piece.

As he looked down at the chunk of hair in his hand that used to be his curl he felt a sudden emptiness. Nobody knew what was happening to him, he hadn't told any of his family or friends. And here he was, alone in the bathroom of a private box in a baseball stadium, looking down at what used to be the biggest part of his physical identity, with no one to whom he could explain it.

Without a moment to spare he exited and grabbed the nearest hat he could find. Yanking it over his head he turned to the kids, no, adults, and forced a smile onto his face.

"Hey guys, sorry to rush out of here but I've got to go. I couldn't stay very late for this game."

"Oh that's too bad Schemer, is everything alright?" Becky asked with concern. Her big brown eyes seemed to pierce him and it simultaneously comforted and shook him further.

"Yeah... Yeah everything is fine, I'll see you soon hopefully." He said quickly, leaving them behind with curious faces.


Today - Smashing Pumpkins