Finding Those Who Are Lost

Scrutinizing Liquor

It was something you would not expect when the handsome man in the dingy green suit began to play, "Piano Man", on the the deep ebony piano in the corner under the A/C. Yes, the rhythm of the song was correct, but mixing with the out of tune keys and his tone deaf voice, was like listening to a squealing pig, cute at first but god-damn annoying as hell after 30 seconds . Never had the line, "Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see..." ever been so wrong.

Blocking out the painful song, sitting on a worn red velvet stool leaning over the bar, sipping his Canadian Bourbon, was Sawyer Dutchance. He was young, but at this time of day he could look 15 years older. The bags under his eyes suggest that he had a tough day at the office, or his children were a pain in his behind.

His dry wrinkled button up collar was unbuttoned from the top by a few, exposing the small bit of chest hair he had. The shaggish blonde hair hung in his face, shielding his blue eyes from the smoke full air drifting though the bar. Even in his state if mind at the moment he was undoubtedly handsome, the scruff on his face from not having been shaved in weeks was at a prefect length to give him some sort of a sensual mystery about him.

Sawyer sat alone staring deeply at his glass, his naked fingers drifting back and forth across it making it rock slowly back and forth. The truth to be told about him was that he did not have a rough day at the office and his children were not a pain, for he had neither of those things. Yes, he had a job, a slow job, a job that his mother found to be a waste of a brilliant mind (which he had.) She pictured him to be a Surgeon, or an Attorney, the typical careers every parents wants to see their young sprout become. Ironic isn't it, they tell you, "Do what your passion is," but in the back of their mask of an encouraging parent they are saying, "God let him be a Doctor, God let him get a job to where he can pay for my plastic surgery and trips to Morocco and Spain."

It would be foretold that Sawyer would be in the Military. He would be sent off in 7th grade to Military School. Ever since his sister died a car accident he had always gotten into some sort of trouble. Fights, drugs, ditching. His mother was considering Military School if it weren't for how smart he was. It mattered not if he payed attention in class, every math test he would ace. Although in his Humanities Classes he was always alert and paying attention. He especially loved History, he was whiz at it. Ask him anything from the past and he could tell you everything about it. When it was his Junior Year he would go to Lectures at the local University. Living in a small town in New York made it capable for him to walk there from his school. His Senior year he was asked to give lectures. He was soon granted a scholarship to that University. After 6 years of schooling he became a Historian.

It started with working at the University, it didn't pay well but it was something. He had to stay with his buddy at his parents house, Sawyer's mother kicked him out, yelling at him from the porch, "You've wasted my future!"
Notice her saying, MY future instead of his own.

A few years later he moved to DC working for a job at the Famous Smithsonian, being their expert on the Early Colonies of America. It seems that he has straightened out, became a new man. Haha no. Although he matured, he was still the wild boy he once was. That making it not very surprising that he also became a field explorer as well. He got to travel and see the unknown, go on perilous journeys and find new discoveries.

When he was not at the museum, traveling or working for hours at home, he would either be at the bar, or with some girl, looking to get a piece of ass. Women were a sucker for his charms, good looks, and his intellect. He could woe them in 5 minutes, he was smarter, clever and knew the mind of a women, what she liked, what she wanted to hear, how she wanted to be treated.

You'd think his life would be Hunky Dory. You'd think listening to David Bowie's, Changes for the 1500th time would give you an euphony that your life was going through different stages that bring you more and more joy. But really, the changes he was going through brought him in some kind of rut. The lime light got in his head. The discoveries had been discovered, the evidence in the history books were drained and his constant hangover was finally telling him to quit fucking around and get off your ass and... turn and face the strange... Ch-Ch-Changes.

Sawyer Dutchance was on the verge of being laid off, his coming into work late and multiple arrest for minor bar fights. His landlord kicked him out of his apartment for his manners of an absolute pig. His only friend was the friendly Bourbon sitting, listening to his troubles. The bartender in the background feeling sorry for the man. Offering him one on the house every night he comes in, then starts a tab for him. It used to be a tab full of lady drinks and a bar full of laughs and flirtatious comments that lead to Mr. Dutchance taking company with him exiting the bar, smelling of rose perfume before opening the doors. Now, it was a quiet bar with crappy music, to be honest, it was Sawyer they've been coming to see to forget about life for a while. The tab would fill up to a free shot of tequila and three glasses of Maple Bourbon.

Sawyer sat on that velvet bar stool thinking, thinking of when the next adventure in his life will appear. He must not miss an opportunity, it matters not what the opportunity, all that mattered was that he needed to get out of the rut that his life was stuck in now.

"And waitress is practicing politics;
As a business man slowly gets stoned.
Yes they're sharing a drink they call loneliness,
But it's better than drinking alone."
- Billy Joel, Piano Man