Occams Razor

Lou can be found on the first sunny day of June cleaning out the gutters of the Library, down by the Apartment complex. In early spring he had cleared off the steps of leaves and debris and now with the summer rains coming he wanted to make sure the building wouldn't spring a leak. He had borrowed a small folding ladder from the Apartment complex's maintenance shed was pulling out leaves and sticks from the small building's gutters.

He knew that in small towns, public buildings like these didn't have the funding to pay for this sort of up keep. Most of the time, public buildings like these were staff by volunteers. In small communities like whisper hill, the citizens had to pitch in if they wanted to have nice things like a library or a park. That or jack up the tax rate, and in 'live free or die' New Hampshire it was easy to decide which one most communities opted for.

He purged one side's gutter clean and stepped down off the ladder. He cleaned off his gloves some and re-positioned the ladder so that he could reach the other side of the building. He took a quick break from his labor and moved over to the picnic table that was near by. He had a big lunch set up and his radio out. He was still bummed that all he could get on it was static. It drove him batty that just down the road in Berlin he could get a country music station but up here in whisper hill... nothing. It didn't stop him from trying every day though to get it to work.

He turned it on to the familiar sound of static and cursed some. He tapped the old radio on it's top and played with it's antenna some to no avail. After a little bit Lou gave up, leaving the static on and started on his sandwich.

It was too beautiful a day to stay inside, so Eden had decided to wander around Whisper Hill for a bit. The gnats and mosquitoes had eventually managed to drive her away from the shade of the trees, and her footsteps eventually brought her over to the library, where she figured she could settle in for a bit with a book before resuming her wandering.

Spotting Lou, she smiled and waved. She nodded to the static-blasting radio, "Is that what the kids are calling music these days?"

Lou looked up from his meal and gave Eden an amused chuckle.

"In Whisper Hill not only is this music, it's sports, the weather, news, and the emergency broad cast signal."

He said and gave his radio an annoyed side ways glance. He batted it on it's top and decided to turn it off all together.

"Can't get no real signal of any kind out here. Strange, didn't have this problem back at home and that's just the other side of the county. Granted, Coos county is a big place, but this is just annoying."

He confessed and popped open a bag of chips he had with his lunch and spun the opening around towards her as an offering.

"You enjoying your summer yet?"

"Thank you," Eden grabbed a chip. "The summer's going well so far, but I have to admit that all this isolation is making me a little antsy. I feel like I'm in a bell jar. I'd like to go visit my relatives in the next town over, but wrangling with the car rental people via snail mail is slow going, so I don't have another car yet." She sighs and smiles. "It's a terribly, terribly rough life, isn't it?"

"So, what kind of music do you listen to when you have an obedient radio? My phone is basically a glorified music box now; maybe I have something on here you like."

Lou raised an eyebrow at the mention of Eden having family in the area. Lou had just looped her in with the folks from outside of Coos. Maybe she was a local girl who had left and was now back. He would make it a point ask her about it at some point.

"I'm not into any one kind of music. Just like having something on in the background while I'm working or by myself... Guess it's why I left the static on."

Lou mused and motioned over to the ladder still over by the Library.

"If you're feeling antsy, I'm sure there is plenty to do around here."

He suggested and motioned to the library.

"Get a book, go down to the lake, enjoy the day."

"I know what you mean," Eden nodded, "I need some kind of background music when I'm working, too." She looked at Lou speculatively, then pulled out her phone. "How about some ? If you hate it, feel free too pick something else." She propped her phone on the table up against her bag to better project the sound.

Eden stood up, stretched, and looked around. "I think my reading-by-the-lake quota has been exceeded this week, so how about I help you with whatever useful thing you're doing around here? I'm not terribly handy, but I'm pretty sure that there's something I can manage to do without stabbing myself in the face with a branch. Besides, we're all living here now. It doesn't make sense that you're the only one busting your butt to keep the place looking good."

Lou hears the music start up and he gives it a nod. He looked Eden over some and gives her a raised eyebrow.

"Wouldn't want you ruining your clothing over it. Cleaning out a gutter is kinda nasty. Especially these ones."

Lou said and motioned down to his gunk covered jump suit. He looks over to the building that still needs work and gets an idea.

"But, I can still use your help though."

Lou says and motions her to come join her at the ladder. Over by the library the deck hangs high off the ground. The ladder hangs dangerously close to the edge.

"Wanna hold this ladder while I get this far portion? Been putting this part off all day."

Lou said and stood by the base of the ladder looking up at the side of the building.

Eden nodded. "Yeah, I'm not really wearing gutter-appropriate clothing today." She smiled, "Still, I'm happy to help make sure you don't go plummeting off the edge."

She walked over to the ladder and braced it, trying to make sure she wasn't in Lou's way and was also out of the way of any potential falling debris.

"Did you hear about the upcoming Doyon company picnic? I was thinking about getting in touch with whomever is organizing it and seeing if they'd like a hand. It might be a good occasion to implement some of the ideas we were talking about the other night. Then again, I don't want to step on any toes. It's been a long while since I was in a small town and I'd hate to rub anyone the wrong way. What do you think, Lou?"

Lou climbs the ladder and starts to clear out the gutter of the building. He's careful while reaching out and makes sure to keep a firm grip on the ladder. Bits of leaves and sticks rain down and away from the gutters.

"Yeah, heard about the picnic. Sounds like it'll be a lot of fun. As for adding your ideas to it I can't imagine the locals getting too bent out of shape about it. Granted, there might be some old ladies that murder ya for stealing their special pie ingredients."

Lou says with a chuckle. He thought more about the picnic and grew a little tense about the topic. Those Eco-terrorists still had an axe to grind with the paper mill. It would be a perfect target for them to attack the company picnic. But then again, maybe he was just being paranoid.

The day was in fact pretty good. Brett was adjusting to the sheer number of trees and shade and felt brave enough to venture out. Walking down the stairs to ground level he stretched a bit, lifting his ball cap for a moment revealing the little shimmer of foil. Great for diverting subsonic signals that influence action and gather ambient thoughts shiny side out, but damn it got hot quick!

He banked right for Eden and Lou replacing his hat and waving.

"You guys good?!"