Dance The Night Away: Mister Electric Blue

This is a different kind of story. It's more Paul's story than mine. I'm with him doing the paranormal investigation, and I suppose parenting. But I wouldn't be there if it weren't for him, Paul and his dance class, supporting his little friends. 

"Can we go look for ghosts?"
I looked up at the kids. Paul and some of his little dance friends were standing there, during the fundraising Bingo game on the third floor of the Piper Museum. Lilly, Kendra, Tall Addie, Short Addie, Georgie, all wanting me to go and distract them.

Well, hell. It's better than Bingo.

"Let me bring my stuff," I said. I grabbed my small travel bag from my backpack and hung it over my shoulder. "Come on, let's go check out the west side of the building."
We walked across the hall and into the big meeting room. Lilly said,"What if we get caught in here?"

"Just play innocent. They can't be too uptight about it; they didn't even lock the door. Who wants to hold the EMF detector?"

Several hands went up. I handed it to Short Addie and said,"Everyone take turns."

They began taking readings with the detector. Kendra said,"Hey! There's candy on this desk over here!"

"Can we steal some?" asked Tall Addie.

"I should be a good example, but there's peanut butter cups. One each."

We ate someone else's candy. I said,"Wait until the competitions, guys. We're gonna be in Scranton, Lancaster, and Utica, and I've already got some of the good ghost stories researched out. In fact, the theater we'll be in up in Utica is said to be haunted."

"Can we help investigate?" asked Lilly.

"Of course you can," I said. "I'll bring extra equipment."

I watched the numbers tick down on my GPS, and said,"Coming up on the overpass, kiddo. That's the one just outside of Scranton where the Suscon Screamer is said to haunt. Oh, and there are Squonk sightings, too, so keep your eyes open."

"Bet that," said Paul, in the back of the jeep.

I'd bought the GPS from Chris, and programmed in the coordinates for the overpass. As we approached, I got out my camera and turned on the EMF detector. It showed nothing as we passed under the overpass, and I didn't see anything worth noting.

Michelle glanced over from the driver's seat. "How's it going?"

"Well, that was anticlimactic. Of course, the Suscon Screamer may just be an urban legend anyway. There's still stuff to check out in Scranton. There's a UFO sighting near there, a UFO that was said to have crashed in Carbondale back in 1974. It landed in a pond, and people said they saw a green light for days afterward."

"How much longer until Scranton?" asked Paul.

"About ten minutes or so. We're almost there now, buddy. Did you know that Scranton had the first electric cable cars? That's why it's called the Electric City."
"Nope, didn't know that," said Paul, texting someone.

"So you guys will be dancing Mister Electric Blue in the Electric City."

"Cool. Can we stop at Dave's Hot Chicken?"

"Are you really a paranormal investigator?" asked the guy at the hotel desk.

I'd forgotten I was wearing the shirt that said that. "Funny you should ask. I really am."

"What's the scariest thing you've ever encountered?"

"That'd be my sister-in-law. You aware of any interesting ghost stories or old legends around here?"

He thought it over. "Not really. My stepsister thinks her dad is still haunting her."

I usually ask around a little, and try to talk to some locals. Sometimes it pays off, and sometimes it doesn't. This was looking like it was going to be that second one.

"Bigfoot, UFO sightings?"

"No, but we have a woman who works breakfast in the morning. She might know something."
"Okay, thanks." I carried the luggage up to the room.

Paul was practicing one of the dance routines in the bedroom. I said,"You make sure you get sleep tonight, little man. You're not on until Sunday, but we can go tomorrow and you can support your friends, if you like."

"Yeah," he said. "I want to."

I was standing at the breakfast counter, getting some more coffee. The woman working asked me,"Are you really a paranormal investigator?"

I was still wearing the same shirt from the night before. I said,"I am. Are you familiar with any interesting haunted places around here?"

"No, not really," she said. "I'm a spiritualist, but I don't know of anything too close."

Some days it be like that. I said,"Do you know of the Carbondale sighting? A UFO crashed into a pond in 1974?"

"No, I've never heard of that one. I'd believe it, though."

I walked outside and strolled around the hotel property. I walked past the Triple-A office next door, making a note to come back when it was open and check for maps. I walked down the hill to the Sam's Club parking lot, and checked around with the EMF detector. Nothing. The strip of forest land between the hotel and the highway was covered with litter, and therefore not likely to be any sort of a harbor for the local Bigfoot sightings. Scranton, so far, was turning out to be a bust, paranormal-wise.

I looked up the hill at the hotel, through the strip of trees. If I hiked up the hill, I could use it as a shortcut to get back. I walked up, and found a stone wall with a fence atop it blocking my way.

I stopped and calculated a bit. I could climb the wall easily enough. Then maybe I could make my way along the fence until it ended, and be back on hotel lawn in a moment. I grabbed a handhold and began climbing.

There were plenty of handholds, and I got to the top and found myself standing on a very thin strip of grass on top of a ten-foot drop. With branches and obstacles in the way. It occurred to me how easily this could go wrong, and how badly hurt I could be if it did.

I grabbed the fence and braced myself, and began carefully working my way along the top of the wall. I wouldn't have thought twice about all this when I was sixteen. Of course, I got injured a lot more often back then.

In a few minutes, I'd made it to the edge of the fence, and with some relief I stepped onto the safe grass. Already risked a serious injury once today, and it was just now ten AM.

I made my way back to the Triple-A office. They wound up light on local maps, though apparently if I wanted one of Ontario I could have my pick. I did find an interesting catalogue about Lackawanna County, and took that. I walked back to the hotel, sat down in the lobby area, and began paging through.

Now, this was worth it. Pages on Bigfoot and Squonks, haunted spots, UFOs. There was a full page on the Carbondale sighting. And I found a photo that looked awfully familiar.

I got out my cell phone and called my friend Dani. Dani is a performer who does acrobatics and stilts; I'd known her for thirteen years.

"Dani, it's Lou."

"Hey! How are you doing? How's your family?"

"We're all good! Paul is in a dance competition in Scranton. Butters is doing good; he needs a haircut." We'd gotten our dog from Dani. "Dani, have you ever performed up in Lackawanna County?"

"Quite a bit!"

"I think your photo appears in a local catalogue up here. You're wearing a fedora with feathers, holding up two hoops, and standing about four feet taller than everyone else."

"That would be me, alright."

"I'll send you a copy."
"Thanks! I keep a scrapbook."

Over the years I've met some interesting people.

I took the catalogue back to the hotel room. Paul was on the bed, watching his cell phone. He looked up at me. "Can we have Dave's Hot Chicken for lunch?"

"Maybe," I said,"Hey, little man, check this out."

I showed him the picture of the Squonk. He said,"Awwww."

We walked up to the Scranton High School together, the whole family. Until Paul saw the first friend of the afternoon, said."I'm good now, Dad," and peeled off.

"Well, we used to have a kid," I commented.

Michelle and I walked through the door, and there was a line going through security. They were scanning people with metal detectors. I swear, it's easier to get into the goddamned Pentagon than your average school. The security guard stopped me and said,"Do you have anything in your pockets, sir?"

I sighed. "I have a pocketknife."

"You can't bring that in here," he said. "You'll have to leave that in your car."

I held my hand out to Michelle. "Gimmie the keys. I'll meet you."

I walked back out to the car, dropped off my knife, and started walking back. Jason, the studio owner's husband, caught me and said,"Lou! If I bring the truck around, can you help me unload that window for the act and wheel it in?"

"Oh, sure, absolutely. I'll wait here for you."

Five minutes later, he was back with his big panel truck and we unloaded one of the set pieces. It was a big window on wheels; I'd helped paint it. I wheeled it into the door, where I encountered the same security guard.

"You didn't have that before," he commented.

"I figured," I said,"If I have anything else I shouldn't, I'll just throw it out the window."

To give him credit, he laughed pretty hard at that.

I rolled the window across the floor and turned it over to Miss Nikki, one of the teachers. I walked around the lobby for a while, and spotted Paul with a whole gaggle of his little teammates, gathered in their costumes.

Miss Rachel, the studio owner, joined me. "I'm glad you guys made it," she said. "The girls didn't want to get ready without Paul. They demanded to come out here and wait for him."

I smiled. "I love what a cohesive team they are. I have my team, and Paul has his. It's always nice to see what a great group they make."

With Paul secured and everything done for the moment, I walked around the lobby a while more. I wound up back near the door, and nodded at the security guard.

"You really a paranormal investigator?" he asked.

"I'm getting a lot of that this weekend," I said. "I really am. Lock Haven Paranormal Seekers, out in Clinton County."
"That's really cool, man. Have any good stories?"

"We just recently had a pretty active investigation at an abandoned funeral home."

"Cool."

"Been looking into the UFO crash landing in Carbondale. You happen to know anything about that?"

"Oh, sure, I worked the festival once," he said. "They have a big thing up there. There's one guy who says he caused it all, though---Threw a lantern into the pond as a teenager, and then just never said anything when everyone thought it was a UFO."
"I'd heard that," I said.

"I actually talked to the guy," he told me. "He sounded pretty convincing."

"I suppose I can cross that one off my list," I said. "Every once in a while, I find something like that. I had a field day with Raystown Ray a couple of years ago."

I circulated some more, watching the kids. They were sitting by one wall, and they'd get up and practice for a while, three or four of them. They'd take some photos, and laugh together, and it wasn't the first time I'd thought of it....What an amazing team they'd all become. I had Jay, Lex, Chloe, and Ashlin. Paul had Team Edge and all the other dancers.

I stood backstage, watching Paul and his team dance. Mister Electric Blue. I was always amazed at how professional they looked, in their costumes, doing their thing on stage.

I ended up in the audience, with Michelle, as they brought all the kids out to sit on the stage for the awards. The announcer came out and said,"Okay, before we start, we're going to need a couple of volunteers. We need some of the dads to come up here. We're going to have a dad dance-off."

The girls all called out. From the stage, Paul glanced at me.

I stood up.

"We have our first volunteer! Come on up! What dance studio do you represent?"

"Rachel's Dance Unlimited," I said.

Three other dads joined me on the stage. The music began to play. I haven't danced since I was seventeen. I wasn't all that good at it then, and being middle-aged hasn't helped that any. But I did a little of what I remembered, and incorporated a high kick, which I knew from karate.

The kids all cheered. Paul's friends were delighted. One of the other dads won the contest, but they gave me a pair of sunglasses for my kid.

I handed them to Paul. He grinned.

"You came in second, Dad!" he said. "Can we get Dave's Hot Chicken?"