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 meantime,” I plunged my little shovel in deep for a trowelful of soil as the camera rolled, “we’ll keep digging. For WTWN Channel 9 news, I’m Nero Storm.”


Once we had the promo in the can, so to speak, we headed the short distance to the studio. As was often the case, Carmen’s giddiness was contagious.


“There it is again,” she said, when I turned my dopey grin her way. “This afternoon’s been fun, huh?”


“It’s not every day we get to go on an adventure digging for clues. I feel like Fred driving the Mystery Machine.”


That made me laugh. “Fred, huh? Who does that make me?”


“Velma,” we said together, as I pushed up my glasses.


“We should have brought Abby along.” My baby girl had been called Scooby Doo more than once, by Z, in fact, when I’d introduced the two six months earlier.


Why did that half a year feel like a lifetime ago? Not forgotten, but maybe less painful, so much came back to me that day, with the blooming of the bulbs.


Chapter 11