Spring has sprung, and with it, smiley faces. When yellow crocuses bloom all over town in the shape of an emoji during April’s first warm days, reporter Nero Storm is sent out to discover their meaning and origin.<br><br>Nero has little to smile about himself, what with dysfunctional family drama and a tragic love life. The previous fall, it seemed as if he might have finally met the man of his dreams in dog daddy, ride share operator, and charity organizer Z. Though the two spent but ten morning and evening car rides together, sparks flew. Unfortunately, at the end of that time, Nero witnessed a crime, and Z disappeared.<br><br>Now, as the rest of the world looks forward to a new beginning promised by spring, Nero is left to wonder. Are the smiley face flowers a message for him, and will he ever see Z’s smile again for real?

21 Smiles

In the end, I did use the line I’d come up with, as Carmen and I stood beside the croci happy face in the island at the four-way stop a quarter mile or so from the WTWN studio. Z lived not far from there, too. We’d passed his building a couple of times. He lived closer to my job than I did, closer than I used to, when at my old apartment, just in the other direction.


“Three, two…” Carmen had already counted me down. Though I’d missed it, I recovered when she pointed.


“Follow the yellow bud road through Westchester County, from New Castle, to Rye, to Mt. Pleasant, to Yonkers,” I said and slow walked toward the camera. “Commuters and travelers first spotted the flower art this morning in all four towns and along the highway through others. With the help of WTWN watchers, we’ve found twenty-one, so far.”


Chapter 10