A New Series

gavin cardigan walked into Poor Yorick's Pub an on early summer evening and greeted his long-time friend behind the bar. "what's on the menu tonight, danny boy?"

"spicy asian chicken wings," danny blake replied, pouring an ale for his best customer. "i was in the mood for wings, so i hope you are, too."

"i can't remember a time when i wasn't in the mood for wings, my friend," gavin raised his pint in salute to the chef, then walked back to join the other regular publicans.

"gavin, look who's here!" marian elfman indicated their handsome creator.

"oh," cardigan regarded burkie with some annoyance. "i don't suppose you're here to fill in the holes in our memories, are you? none of us have a clue as to what happened in the previous chapter."

burkie shook his head. "no, i can't do that. i made a pact with my readers that i wouldn't."

"but we outnumber your readers," sierra pointed out. "shouldn't that count for something?"

"sierra, i would think that you--of all characters--would prefer not to know what happened in that story."

monte the pub dog woofed at that and wagged his tail knowingly.

sierra looked at monte suspiciously. "monte doesn't know anything, does he?"

"what? of course not," burkie scoffed. "dogs can't read."

burkie took a sip of his ale and gave monte a quick wink.

"so why are you here, burkie?" danny asked as he brought a platter of wings over to cardigan.

"i wanted to let you know that i'm starting a new series," burkie explained as he grabbed a wing, earning a glare from cardigan who, because he was glaring at burkie, didn't see sierra steal a wing, too.

"another series?" taylor, who had been leaning back in his chair, tried to tilt it forward again but wound up falling backwards, instead.

"you're not going to write about us anymore?" Mysterious Lurker popped in suddenly, her eyes blazing beneath her punk-red hair.

"on the contrary," burkie corrected her. "i'm actually going to write even more about you. each chapter of the new series will focus on just one of the regular characters, but it will be a story from his or her past. back stories, if you will."

"that's a great idea!" marian exclaimed. "that sounds like an idea i would've come up with, actually."

"thank you, marian. what do the rest of you think?"

"you'll continue to write stories about the Pub, too, right?" danny asked. "i can't afford to lose the business this blog brings me."

"oh, yes," burkie assured him. "the back stories will just be occasionally sprinkled in."

"i'm all for it," linda nulo, the least developed character stated. "who's first?"

"i don't know," burkie admitted. "any suggestions?"

there was a chorus of "Me!"

"someone was a little flat," burkie noted, looking at taylor.

"it wasn't me, mate. i've got perfect pitch."

"maybe you should let your readers decide," sierra suggested.

"hmmm," burkie mused. "not a bad idea, but i don't know. i don't want it to turn into a popularity contest."

"what are you going to call the new series?" marian asked. "BackStories?"

"i was considering that, but i did a search and discovered that that term is already being used."

"since when have you cared about originality?" cardigan asked.

"how about The Early Years?"

"Prequels?"

"Snapshots?"

"Glimpses?"

"Solo Adventures?"

"Delvings?"

"hmmm, i kinda like Snapshots. who said that?"

there was another chorus of "Me!"

"much better that time," burkie approved.