@guy , NOTES

It was one of those days when everyone turned out to be of perfect health, all the farmers and their animals taken care of and got rid of their illnesses, so Colette could basically take the day off after a morning stroll in Nemus, checking on her recent patients. She suddenly found herself feeling a strange vacuum in time: she rarely had much free time in her hands, and now felt she couldn't decide what to do with it. Bother Zee with something? Or find Elizabeth and her imaginary friend and bother them? Or borrow someone's guitar. Of course, if she had her synthesizer with her, she'd play all day and night for a week or a month at least, going through all the history of music from Bach to George Michael, until her fingers die from arthritis. When she closed her eyes, she imagined herself playing the piano, felt the keys under her fingers and she moved through the keyboard with the speed of light. I wish... I wish...

However, on the way home, as she was walking through a forest-like area with small trees, apparently devoid of human presence, Col suddenly heard a strange noise. She couldn't believe her ears at first: it was someone singing! Singing loudly. Maybe an entertainer doing some one-person show or just some lunatic bursting into a song for who know what's sake. Anyways, it sparked her interest over the course of a second, and she quickly went to find the source of the strange music. Whoever or whatever it was, it might just make an otherwise boring day more interesting. Or more strange. Much more strange. As she got closer and closer to the source, she could hear just how false the tune and how uncoordinated and unrhymthical the whole thing was, and apparently the guy singing did not care at all about these. It felt like the person wasn't exactly in full awareness of his little performance. And more strangely, the song itself was one of those songs those loonies at the bus station used to sing, handing leaflets to people, asking them to join them in the love of Jesus, our lord and saviour. Weird. Most weird.

When the young Canadian finally found the man singing, she first observed him from more afar, not interrupting him in his one-man karaoke show before making the right assumptions. It was a middle-aged man, almost twice her age, she guessed, not much taller than her, wearing a light-blue sweater with cats all over it. A light-blue sweater. With cats. She let that information slowly sink in, before getting further with her observations. Who on Earth (or Petra Exterior) would wear a light-blue sweater... with multicoloured cats all over it? It seemed like he actually belonged to those bus station people, and got zapped to this place by some freaky accident. Or... there were rumours spreading around about local creatures actually taking the form of humans. What if this man was actually one of those big bear things or giant worms or something? And maybe he thought Steve Urkel is the truest representative of humanity.

Getting a few steps closer, Col could smell alcohol emanating all over from the strange man, and he was holding an empty bottle in his hand - apparently the reason for this little performance. Oh, dear. Where did he find the booze? And why was he already drunk this early in the day? There had to be a reason, of course, and she decided she's gonna find it out. Walking closer, now directly coming up to the man, she addressed him with the most cordial ear-to-ear smile she could provide. "Hello there.", she waved, "Nice sweater you have. That cat under your left arm totally looks like my poor kitty, Edgar. I miss him sooooo much."