Something Fishy

A Short Story (Part Three).

I asked the Uber driver to take a detour on the way home. I had hidden the sombrero in a large shrub, behind the public restrooms, and I wanted to retrieve it. I was sure that it held a clue, and I wanted it in my possession. 

The hat was gone though. There was heavy foot traffic at that particular beach – especially near the bathrooms, so it didn’t surprise me that it had been taken. Knowing that it was gone forever made me feel like a baby without their binky. There was nothing to soothe me anymore.

By the time I made it to Harry’s that night, the drinks from the night before had worn off and I was feeling on edge. I was also now acutely aware of the seriousness of my situation. I’d woken up in the middle of the beach – with no recollection of how I’d gotten there – and Diego was missing. 

Billy Ray turned out to be a humble and kind soul. I bought him a drink after his gig, and we talked for quite a while. I trusted him, so I told him as much as I could about the prior night’s events – mainly that Diego’s car was still in the parking lot of the Saltwater Lounge (I’d driven by to check again on my way to Harry’s). To make matters worse – he was not returning my calls or texts. 

I didn’t go into my thoughts about the sombrero, or the fact that it had mysteriously wound up on my head, but I did make a comment about the poster I’d seen, and I mentioned that the hat he wore in the photograph had really caught my attention.

“I love that hat!” he said, scrolling through his phone and showing me the photo I was referring to.

He went on to tell me that he’d planned to wear it while he played on stage that evening, but the weekend before he had been out fishing – and he lent the sombrero to his friend Joe when it started to rain, because Joe was the only one without a head cover. And Joe had never returned it.

I decided to put my suspicions about the sombrero to rest. Finding out what had happened would be my only focus. Billy Ray offered to drive by Diego’s townhouse to see if he could get any answers there, so some progress was being made. If Diego didn’t turn up by morning, I’d call the police and file a missing person’s report. In the meantime, the hat was history.

And then it wasn’t.

While sipping my coffee, watching the Channel 5 news, I heard the worst. Diego’s wallet had been found – washed up on shore – along with a woman’s shoe. Could it be? I thought to myself. 

The camera panned down and there, in the wet sand, sat my cream colored Jimmy Choo pumps (well, the left shoe anyway). To make matters worse, next to my shoe was a tangled web of seaweed. And there… perched on top of it… was the sombrero!

The reporter’s words sounded like Charlie Brown’s teacher by this time. I was stunned. Diego’s wallet and my shoes had been at sea? The sombrero was back? Had someone planted it there?

It was all so confusing, but there was one thing that I was certain of. Something fishy was going on… and I needed to see a man about a hat.

READ ON

---

A quick hello tonight. I’m so happy to be writing again and I’m having fun with this story. There are so many ways that it can go, and I want to explore several of the different layers. That being said, this short story could end up being not so short after all. We’ll see. Maybe. Maybe not.

I used Photoshop Beta again for this featured image. I removed an extra man, and some lettering that was on the benches and on one man’s sweatshirt. Then I asked the AI to add the sombrero. I used another program to add the window frame.

I’m finding that the Beta version is fun and all, but it’s like any new toy – you obsess at first but after a while it can get old. It’s an excellent tool for my stories though! Easy peasy.

I have a couple new projects that I’m hoping to start soon as well. I’m learning more about the iPhone camera and hoping to do more with that – plus I bought myself a cheap point and shoot camera (waterproof) because I want to do one of those cheap camera challenges, where you focus only on the framing of the photo, not the camera or the editing process.

It’s possible I’ll do some in the water as well since it’s waterproof and cheap (in case it’s not really waterproof haha!). I’ll probably wait for the summer heat to arrive before venturing out for that.

Anyway, that’s about all for now. Hope you’re doing well – and thank you (as always) for reading!!

I hope you are enjoying the story!

---

Under a Sombrero: Part One
Part Two: Déjà vu
Part Three: Something Fishy (You are here)