Blog 7 - Birthday cake

“Do you know the date?” Joseph asked Gooway.

“Yes!” Gooway responded, “It’s my sixtieth birthday.”

“Didn’t you say you’d die the day you turned sixty?” Joseph asked worriedly.

It took Gooway a second to respond. He looked out to the street, then up to Joseph.

“I want to get a cake.” He said finally.

Gooway and Joseph then set out to find a birthday cake. When they arrived at the local bakery, the a familiar voice called out to the pair.

“Joseph, Master Gooway, how are you doing today!” He called out while pulling a cake out of the oven.

“Mr. Po!” Joseph exclaimed, “You work at the bakery? I didn’t even know you left the house!”

“Yes of course, I work at the bakery 3 days a week.” PO responded calmly, “There are a lot of things you have left to learn about me.”

After buying a cake and sitting down to eat a slice, a woman walked past the pair and called out, “You two are such a cute family, happy birthday!”

Joseph began to call back, “Thanks, but we’re not rela-”

Gooway cut him off, “Joseph, Po, lets go to the park.”

At Yelsnag, the trio shared the double chocolate cake on a bench admiring the clear blue sky.

“I thought you said you were gonna die on your 60th.” Joseph said quietly.

“Me too son.” Gooway said, “For a long while. But since arriving here at Pointe Place I realized I’m not chained to my family history. I have something to live for. I write my own script.”

Blog 6 - Wish

“What should I wish for?” Master Gooway asked.

“Wish to find your son!” Joseph blurted out. After their conversation at the library several days earlier, Joseph had been desperately looking for ways to help his new friend find his lost child, and the green light seemed like the perfect way to finally do it.

Gooway, however, sighed, and turned to walk back down the stairs towards his apartment.

“What are you doing?” Joseph called out as he rushed to catch up with Gooway, “You saw the car Georgie wished for, you could find your son!”

“No” Gooway responded, “It’s too easy.”

Later that night, confused by his new acquaintances antics, Joseph lay in bed pondering why it mattered that making a wish was easy. If he was looking for his own son, surely he’d wish to find him, especially after seeing the outcome of Georgie’s childish wish.

“Maybe there’s something he’s not telling me,” Joseph thought to himself, “Maybe he knows he’ll never find him, or maybe he doesn’t want to, or maybe.”

All of these maybes made Joseph’s head hurt, he felt lost and confused when his mind wandered into the abstract as it often did. Yet still, he felt determined to help Gooway, this time in a way that took more effort than a few words uttered in the presence of a blinding green light.

Blog 5: Praying Mantis

Joseph woke up to a strange sudden urge to read. He'd always been a causal reader, picking up the
occassional novel during his breaks at the coffee shop, and taking book suggestions from Mr. Po, but
never had he felt so strong of an urge to read as he felt today. As it was his day off and he had no other
plans, Joseph took off on his bike towards the town library, an old, discolored yellow building that had
become more of an event space in the town than an actual library. 

When Joseph arrived at the library, he noticed an unusual liveliness surrounding the building. It seemed
as if the entire town had the same sudden urge as he had. Joseph found a comfortable place to sit and
settled down to read a book he picked up off the shelf, an old Chinese novel with a soft green cover
about a praying mantis. A few minutes later, Joseph still deeply focused on reading, obnoxious voice
cut through the air.

"“Hey kid, put your book away and listen, I’m talking up here,” Ryan Lochte shouted from his Ted Talk
stage.

Joseph, completely entranced by his book had no idea the once relevant swimmer was even speaking,
but eventually became aware of his surroundings as he felt a seemingly familiar tap on his shoulder.

"Come with me," Master Gooway said plainly.

After a short conversation, Gooway got straight to the point. He needed help finding his son, and he
knew Joseph could had something to offer. Joseph, slightly bewildered by the seemingly random request
from a stranger with whom he had never had a conversation, agreed as he never turned down helping
someone in need. Joseph sympathized with Gooway, as he himself had lost contact with his father and
knew the struggles Gooway was experiencing all too well. 

Blog #3 - Hail Storm

After checking the weather and seeing rain forecasted for the next few days, Joseph decided to head out for a walk through Yelsnag park and enjoy the outdoors before being cooped up inside for who knew how long. While strolling through the maze of old worn out trails that weave through the park, Joseph passed by Eliana, a woman a bit older than him that he had come to know just through small interactions around town.

“Hey Joseph,” Eliana called out cheerfully.”

“Hey Eliana, getting a last walk in before the storm hits too?” Joseph asked.

“Yeah, looks like it’s gonna be a big one, last time there was a storm this big a tree fell through a house not too far from my parents’, I sure hope nothing like that happens this time.” Eliana said. “By the way, don’t you think the town ought to fix up Yelsnag a little?”

“I mean sure, everyone’s always spending time here and the trails look like they haven’t been worked on in a century,” Joseph said. “Maybe I’ll come out here when I have a little time and try to fix it up a little.”

Before they could continue, hail started pouring down from above. Joseph and Eliana spotted Mr. Po sleeping on a nearby bench, grabbed him, and ran to safety.

“Mr. Po,” Joseph yelled, “what were you doing sleeping out there? It’s hailing!’

“Oh, I must have dozed off on my walk,” Po responded. “I didn’t see hail in the forecast.”

“Well at least you’re alright,” Joseph said. “I guess the storm came early.”

After a few minutes of waiting, the hail continued to pound on the roof of the abandoned night guard office, and the three were were realized they would have to wait it out together. Pondering his thoughts and eager to pass the time, Joseph decided to ask Mr. Po a few questions.

“When did you come to America again Mr. Po?” Joseph asked.

“Not too long ago,” Po responded, “I made the trip on my sixtieth birthday, I’m almost 83, so almost 23 years ago I guess.”

“That’s a long time Mr. Po.” Joseph said. “Do you ever miss your family?”

“Dearly.” Po said solemnly. “They’re what I miss most about home.”

“Don’t you ever write back?” Joseph asked.

“Well, it’s complicated you see, I wish I could explain, but you’ll understand one day.” Po responded.

Blog #2 - Mr. Po

The day started with Joseph yet again rolling out of bed and heading to work at Jumping Beans. On his way out, he stopped by Mr. Po's apartment to check in on him. Mr. Po always looked out for Joseph, so as he aged Joseph tried to return the favor and check up on the old man every once in a while. 

"Oh hello Joe, didn't expect to see you today" the Mr. Po said. "Care for some tea?"

"No thanks," Joe responded, "I don't want to be late for work. Anything you need me to pick up for you while I'm out?"

“Maybe just grab some milk on your way back.” The old man said.

“Alright then Mr. Po, catch you later.” Joseph said as he walked out of Mr. Po’s cluttered apartment. 

Joseph then walked out of the building and biked down to Jumping Bean. While he was at work, he thought about how lucky he was to have Mr. Po in his life. When he first moved to Pointe Place at 18 years old, Joseph was young and naive, but Mr. Po always came by his apartment to make sure he was doing ok, often coming with a bowl of noodles or a cup of tea for Joseph to enjoy. He never really thought much of Mr. Po’s kind gestures, but now that Mr. Po was getting older and Joseph had settled into his life at Pointe Place, he thought it was only right to check in on the old man every once in a while.

On his way back from work, Joseph stopped by Stevie’s to grab a carton of milk and some licorice, Mr. Po’s favorite candy, and headed back to Pointe Place. When he got home, Joseph brought the milk and licorice over to Mr. Po’s apartment. 

“Oh thank you Joseph, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Mr. Po said as Joseph walked into the living room. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Joseph responded, “It’s the least I can do.”

“Well thank you.” Mr. Po said. 

“No problem Mr. Po, let me know if you need anything else, you have my phone number.” Joseph said, and headed back to his place for the night. 

Blog #1 - Coffee Shop

Today started as most days did for Joseph. He rolled out of his creaky twin bed at 6 AM and stretched his sore joints as he got ready for another day of work at Jumping Beans, the local coffee shop. After taking a quick shower and throwing on an old t-shirt and some tattered jeans, Joseph grabbed his bike and boarded the elevator to head to work. This morning there was, however, one exception to his usual routine. As Joseph exited the elevator on the ground floor, he overheard a hushed Coco telling George something about a dead man in the parking deck. Despite his curiosity about what had happened, Joseph usually tried to keep out of others’ business, and here would be no different, so he continued moving and opened the front door of the building to face the cool fall breeze.

After a short bike ride through the town, this time without any flat tires, Joseph arrived at Jumping Beans. Working there wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great, as were most things in life for Joseph. He enjoyed the smell of fresh ground coffee and the quiet jazz that played softly in the background while the usual customers flipped through newspapers and sipped their coffee each morning. While he found these parts of the coffee shop quite pleasant, working there was again part of a routine that just seemed a little too ordinary to Joseph. With every day spent serving hot drinks and pastries, Joseph felt as if he was missing out on something bigger and more meaningful. Regardless, he had a job and was getting by alright, something by this town’s standards that was nothing to complain about.

The coffee shop was never too busy so Joseph often found himself deep in thought pondering anything from his plans for the afternoon to deep philosophical questions, only to be interrupted by a customer eager for their daily caffeine fix. After overhearing Coco and George in the lobby this morning, Joseph couldn’t help but let his mind wonder about what happened in the parking deck last night. He hadn’t heard anything unusual. Or at least not that he could remember, and the mystery of the dead man nagged at his imagination throughout the entire shift.

After work, Joseph went for quick ride through Yelsnag park before returning to Pointe Place. When he finally arrived, he made a quick pass through the parking deck to see if he could find out anything about the dead man, but found only some yellow police tape and nothing else. He then rode the elevator back up to his apartment and told himself, “I’ll find out more tomorrow.”