Narrator wrote:Around the rear is a decent-sized garage door, a few rubbish bins, and the smell of hot automotive grease. The place has no real enchantments hanging on it, but it certainly has a resonance that Sean picks up on, a sort of weight to it.
Every so often there's the low blurt of a power tool from somewhere in the garage, which is audible both to Sean in the back and to the pair entering.
A few other vintage scooters are on display in what might charitably be called a "showroom" inside. There's a counter with a teenaged girl sitting behind it, distractedly tapping at her phone.
Narrator wrote:Sean sees fleeting images of moddish teens going to the shop. The fashions change, and it seems like generations of them have been going here, like a rite of passage to buy scooters. Some of the same scooters are present across multiple generations.
The weight seems mostly emotional, each repetition reinforcing it.
It takes another few moments for the teenager to look up from her phone.
"Granddad's busy."
Narrator wrote:Winding back far enough, Sean sees the fashions progress through the nineties, then the eighties. Finally, he spots a young man who almost looks like the Ace Face. If he squints. A bit less idealized, a bit more hapless, and on foot. Walking up to the front of the shop.
Narrator wrote:There are a few memories Sean can find related to this. Quite a few are just the lad going up to the front window and staring at the shop's contents wistfully. Eventually Sean finds one where he approaches with more confidence, and goes inside. Shortly afterwards he steps out with what is quite definitely a much better looking version of Emilie's Vespa. As he steps out, his features seem to blur and something like a halo seems to rest on him. Others take note, and when Sean can focus on his features again he looks exactly like the vision of the Ace Face he saw earlier.
The noise of machinery in the garage beyond subsides after the girl flicks the light switch a few times, and Victor soon sees his chance as the door opens...
...and an older gentleman in a wheelchair rolls out, wearing a grease-stained mechanic's jumpsuit.
"What's all this then, Maisie?"
Narrator wrote:
"Ah, fair enough. Maisie got me to eat a chili pepper that gave me the sweats for an hour straight."
The door to the garage is still open.
Jimmy,
Was nice meeting you this summer. Still can't tell Mum the half of what we did together.
Maybe we could see each other again sometime? Remember to write.
--Vonnie.
Narrator wrote:The halo Sean is seeing doesn't seem to be quite literal. Like everything else here, it's got the feel of emotional weight. As Sean focuses in on it, his vision blurs again, and suddenly the Ace Face isn't a singular being. An odd sort of double-image bows out from him, then a treble image, then several more in front and behind of the Ace Face.
All of them look a little bit like him, though the hairstyles and outfits change. All of them carry that same sort of authority resting upon them. The Vespa changes a little in each image.
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