Story Notes:
Oh, boy. Would you believe this story came to me at 5am this morning? The darn plot wouldn't get out of my head and I ended up tossing and turning for an hour before giving up and getting out of bed. This story has pushed to the forefront of all my in progress stories, the plot tumbling together quicker than the others.
FLASHBACK: 1980
Four-year-old Shawn Spencer scowled. He glared down at the trivia problem written out before him. In a fit of temper, he threw his pencil down, watching it bounce off the table’s surface to fall to the floor.
Henry paused as he walked into the kitchen, noticing the pencil as it rolled to a stop. He bent down and picked it up. He looked from it to his angry son.
He raised an eyebrow, “Lose something, Shawn?”
“I give up!” huffed Shawn, crossing his arms and slumping back in the chair. “I can’t figure it out.”
Henry crossed the room to his son, stopping to stand beside him, “Figure what out?”
Shawn didn’t raise his eyes, just shoved at the paper on the table, “Some stupid trivia question Gus gave me. He said I’d never figure it out, but I said I could. I bet him five dollars I could and-“
“Shawn,” interrupted Henry with a firm tone, “What have I told you about betting?”
Shawn slunk down in his chair a little further, his voice sullen, “Not to.”
“That’s right. Don’t you forget it again. Now,” he continued, pulling out a chair and sitting, “What’s the deal with this trivia question?”
Shawn looked up at his father, tears of frustration gleaming in his eyes, “I just can’t figure it out! I’ve been staring at it for hours and I still don’t get it!”
“Hey, hey,” placated Henry, pulling the paper around to study it. “Just settle down a minute. You can’t solve this if you’re angry; it stops you from seeing the whole picture. Now, I want you to close your eyes.”
“Huh?” blurted Shawn, his frustration disappearing at the odd request.
A smile tugged at Henry’s lips, “Close your eyes.”
Shawn frowned, “Why?”
“I’m going to teach you a trick that will help you figure this out,” explained Henry, sliding the paper back in front of his son.
Still frowning, Shawn slowly closed his eyes, “Now what?”
“I want you to think about the question, you doing that?”
“Yes,” answered Shawn, eyes shut tight.
“Okay. Now, I want you to visualize the problem. Every point of the question, every fact and every description, turn them into pictures in your mind and sort through them for the answer.”
Shawn’s brow scrunched in concentration and he unconsciously brought his fingers to his temples, rubbing them. He slowly managed to visualize the problem in his head, the images flashing by as he sorted through them. Suddenly, something he overlooked shot through his mind. He gasped at the find, his eyes snapping open.
Henry grinned, “You figure it out?”
Shawn brought shocked eyes up to his father, “Y-yeah. I-it was right in front of my face the whole time!”
“That’s just it, Shawn. Everything you need is always right in front of you. You just have to pay attention.”
Henry pushed himself to his feet and reached out to ruffle Shawn’s hair, placing the pencil back down on the table. Shawn was still in a state of awe and didn’t even object to the mussing of his hair. With a grin Henry turned and started to walk from the room. He stopped at the archway at his son’s voice.
“Dad?”
Henry looked back at his son, who was fiddling with the pencil in his hands, “Yeah?”
A smiled tugged at the corners of Shawn’s mouth, “Thanks.”
Henry smiled and a feeling of warmth filled his chest. He nodded at Shawn and then walked out of the room.
