Chris said he could explain everything...that things happened in life for a reason, and that the events that brought us to this point were, indeed, circular."What goes around, comes around."
Jeff brought a sackful of melted candle sticks to return and replace. Chris's customer service desk was being renovated, so the exchange took place in the men's room where he had set up shop.
Jeff had bought the candles for his wife six months ago...which posed a bit of a problem with the return. Only...he and Chris recognized each other. Jeff had been a counselor at "Music in the Mountains" youth summer camp where Chris (now, "Skip") had attended many summers for vocal performance.
Talent night at camp. Skip would be presenting something a bit unexpected...dance fusion. Waxie, the camp director (who couldn't quite remember the origins of his nickname), intervened almost as soon as Skip began. Though the Celtic candles had been lit, the wrong tape played ("September" by Earth, Wind, and Fire instead of a traditional Irish folk jig) and Skip was thrown. What he'd intended to be a combination of Irish folk dancing and American square dancing (he dubbed it, "river dancing"), was an absolute disaster. Kids in the audience were dismissed as Waxie reasoned with Skip. But Waxie was distracted and distant. His percussion teacher/counselor (Ringo) had taken ill, and was visiting a doctor for a diagnosis.
Dr. Carson was not available to meet with Ognir (er, Ringo) to go over his test results. Instead Dr. Bennett saw him. Ognir had been called in urgently to go over some distressing but ultimately inconclusive test results. Dr. Bennett expressed grave concern and conducted a few unusual tests of his own. Ognir seemed to have trouble following directions and seemed to be under a great deal of pressure at camp. He needed an immediate vacation. Perhaps to a floating military museum on the coast.
The little old lady made her way with the rest of the tour group into the aircraft carrier's mess hall. There, a grizzled old Vietnam veteran regaled the tourists with stories of wartime adventure. It seems that the lady lost her seaman brother many years ago, and it was her hope that perhaps she could volunteer in the floating museum...give tours, tell tall tales, Swiffer the decks.
Jeff's first day on the job in a candle factory (Wick Department) gave Chris cause for an existential crisis. What was the point of sorting the undipped wicks if, ultimately, they were just going to be burned away? Jeff, who seemed energized on his first day, revealed that candles meant a lot to him. He had a thing for Kerosene and always loved to watch things burn. When the men discovered a rat living in one of the wick boxes, Jeff suggested nursing the rat with a Kerosene-soaked piece of styrofoam.
Jeff was sent to the wax floor...no more wicks.
The little old lady was given an interview for deck Swiffing.
Ognir agreed with Dr. Bennett and took a vacation.
Waxie convinced Skip to stick with singing.
And...
Grown Skip replaced Jeff's melted candlesticks. But not before Jeff offered to hire him for a corporate event. Skip would finally be able to redeem himself!
"What goes around, comes around."
You see, Skip had sabotaged his own second chance by lighting and burning prop candles at the corporate event. He was caught. Tried to explain why he had done it. And yet...the one who'd caught him asked for just one thing: to see him dance.
As the strains of "September" began to play, Skip readied himself for his audience of one.
Oh yeah...it was Jeff's birthday, too!
