"Blue Light Blues" by Patricia E. Watts

 – I don’t think the judge knew quite what to do with me.

I had the keys to the ’55 Pontiac. Life was good.

Patricia E. Watts lives in Mountville, South Carolina where the love of local and family history has given her a passion to write stories to pass down to her children. She has found through stories of tragedies, tears, and triumphs and even mysteries that she has a rich heritage worth telling. Six stories have appeared in previous PSPP anthologies: “A Real Small Town,” the paired stories “Sometimes the Prize Goes to the Wrong Person” and “The Orphan Train,” “Chancing the Buddy System,” “The Class of ’44 Ring,” and “The Saltwater Taffy Escapade.”

Author’s Talk

Patricia E. Watts

When I thought about the theme of the new book, Lost and Found, I thought about losing my driver's license in two weeks. But even more, I thought about the "life lesson" that was given by my dad. I never remember my dad ever being angry with me, but I sure remember his lessons. One such lesson was when I was in 2nd grade. It was a snowy school day, so we had to bundle up for our trek to school. At the end of the day, the teacher would follow about twenty students to the cloak room to be sure they were once again bundled up for their return home.  For me, it was a pair of overalls where the dress would have to be stuffed down in those pants (girls were required to always wear a dress), matching coat buttoned up tight, hat tied snugly under chin, boots pulled on and gloves fit over each and every finger, quite a process for a teacher of twenty students. When I refused to don the overalls after several tries, an exasperated teacher finally gave in and sent me home pants in hand. 

When I made my case at home for refusing to wear the overalls, my dad required me to not only apologize to the teacher the next day with the promise that it would not happen again but to ask her to write a note back to my parents to verify I had indeed apologized. Dad's lessons were always memorable. 

As for the other part of my story, I hoped there was a '"life lesson" for that story as well. And I believe there was. The policeman was most apologetic saying he had turned around to wave at another policeman and wasn't watching where he was going. He must have learned his lesson well, for he became the new Chief of Police a few years later.—Patricia E. Watts