Lulu Lamar woke up to a beautiful morning. It was finally sunny and there was not a cloud in the sky. She preformed her usual tasks and turned on the television to see the morning's news. The reporter was standing in front of a park. It was her park. Something had happened in her neighborhood surprise, surprise. Something always happened near Washington Heights but she decided to continue reading the subtitles for the program. Apparently the old woman Pearl had found a body in the park. She was sobbing and carrying on about the poor dear. Lulu wondered who this person was. Who had died in the park? What had happened? She saw the name flash across the screen. Fill the little homeless boy had died. Lulu gasped. What a tragedy. No one seemed to ever help that poor boy. He was all alone with no one to care for him. Lulu turned off the news too shocked to watch any more. Besides today she had an interview with the man that owned the grocery store. What was his name? Achilles that's it. What a strange name. Lulu said goodbye to Sinclair and left him alone in the apartment. They had never really been apart and she didn't know how he or she would handle being separated. She walked down the hall toward the elevator, pressed the button and waited for it to reach the fifth floor. When she reached the lobby, she headed toward the door off to her job interview. As she was walking down the street, she passed Marcus heading very quickly back to the apartments, hands in pockets and looking back over his shoulder every couple of seconds. Someone else up to no good. This neighborhood was really getting to be a dangerous place. Hopefully with a new job she would be able to move out pretty soon but Lulu still had an interview to get through. She had reached the entrance Lulu took a deep breath and walked in thinking this good be the start to a new life.

Lulu sells a flower

Lulu headed out with Sinclair by her side trying to catch a spot of good weather. The rain had not helped business the past few weeks. When she reached her usual corner, she and Sinclair got comfortable. She had brought a fold up chair today so that her feet wouldn't get so tired from standing so long. She had also brought a blanket for Sinclair to lay. As they were setting up, an ice cream truck passed by. Why was an ice cream truck driving around in the middle of November? Who would want ice cream in this horrible weather? It continued to drive by not getting any customers just like her then turned the corner disappearing. Lulu and Sinclair sat by the corner watching as people passed by hoping that maybe one of them would stop to buy a flower. Lulu watched as the woman from the second floor approached. She didn't really want to talk to Mrs. Flogsbottom since the last time that they encountered each other Sinclair grabbed her purse and Lulu wasn't too sure if Mrs. Flogsbottom would be so happy with her since they had left on not great terms. The last encounter didn't seem to phase Mrs. Flogsbottom. She came right up to Lulu and asked to buy a flower. She immediately started telling Lulu some story, but Lulu was having a hard time keeping up since Mrs. Flogsbottom was very animated in her story telling. She kept turning her head this way and that and flinging her arms all around. Lulu wasn't able to read her lips with such animation coming from the storyteller. She caught a few words. Something about Achilles and a book. Lulu just smiled pleasantly when Mrs. Flogsbottom looked at her. She then continued to go into another story. Lulu wanted to tell her that she was deaf but Mrs. Flogsbottom was so into her story and she hated to interrupt and make her feel bad for not knowing her dilemma. So, Lulu just continued to smile. Mrs. Flogsbottom eventually wandered off and Lulu plopped back into her chair. The wind was picking up. The next block of rain was its way. So, Lulu packed up her stuff and signaled to Sinclair to head back to the apartment but Sinclair must have seen something in the park. He took off in the other direction. Sinclair had never run away from Lulu when she called. What could Sinclair have seen that would make him want to run away from her call? Lulu had no choice but to run after him. She wondered what he had seen as she chased him into the woody area.

Another Dreary Day

Lulu had yet another boring uninteresting day. Nothing of any significance had happened to her. Her job hadn't picked up. Absolutely no one wanted flowers and it looked like the job at grocery store was her last chance. Lulu looked blankly out the window. The weather was as usual crumby. It was cold, wet and dark. She could see the sleet falling in the beams of light from the street lights. People ran by on the sidewalks trying to get to where ever they were going. Suddenly Lulu felt a warm wet tongue on her arm. Sinclair was by her side and had a longingly look in his eyes. She knew that look Sinclair needed to use the facilities. So, Lulu begrudgingly got up to take Sinclair down to the patch of grass by the building. She put on a raincoat, scarf and gloves grabbed Sinclair and his leash and headed out the door. They walked slowly down the hallway to the elevator and she pressed the button. It lit up and she watched the numbers above the door come down from the tenth floor. The doors opened and an angry woman stood tapping her foot with an annoyed look on her face. She gave Lulu a half hearted smile as she and Sinclair walked on, then pressed the door close button. Lulu recognized the woman. She had seen her before in the elevator and always came down from the tenth floor. She never seemed to be in a good mood, but living in Washington Height's alone could account for that feeling. She thought that her name started with an 'm'. Marilyn, no. Martha, no. Mary, no. Mandi, well maybe that's it. Yes Mandi that's it! The elevator had reached the ground floor and the two walked out and went to the front door. Mandi went left and Lulu went right toward the grassy patch with Sinclair. She walked carefully along the sidewalk avoiding the icy patches. They reached the grass and Sinclair did his business. As he was going, Lulu looked back toward the building yearning to be back in the warmth. A black van slowly pulled up to the sidewalk by the entrance and a man got out of the passenger side. He looked nervous and young. The van pulled away and he looked back to watch it pull away than he walked into the building. Sinclair had finished and they headed back. Warm filled Lulu's body as she walked through the door. Washington Height's may be old and broken down, but at least it was warm. As Lulu walked in, the man from the van got on the elevator. Lulu walked over to the elevator just as the doors closed. She pressed the up button and watched the numbers above the door go up and stop at floor eight. They continued up to ten then eleven and then slowly came back down. Lulu and Sinclair walked onto the now empty elevator and headed to the fifth floor both ready to go to bed.

The Paper

The weather remained cloudy leaving Lulu feeling quite gloomy. The constant gray sky did not help her feelings of utter despair and failure to earn some sort of living. Flower sales had not picked up in the last couple of days and Lulu would have to look for some other means of income. It was time to pull out the classifieds and search. Lulu sat down at the table with her cup of coffee and pulled out the paper. Sinclair as usual was by her side and she slowly patted his head as she read the descriptions of different jobs in the city. So far nothing sounded all that promising. Most of the jobs required higher education or did not pay well enough. Lulu came across a job as a checkout clerk at the local grocery. It could be promising and at least it would be some sort of constant pay but Sinclair would have to wait at home for her to come home everyday. Lulu would hate to leave her best friend and only friend at home all day. They are so close and she did not know if she could part with him for such a long time. She did not know if he could part with her. They had been together every second of the day since she adopted him six years ago. They were never apart and lived off each other's company. Still Lulu needed the money desperately so she decided to check out the job. She would drop by an application later that day, after she had finished selling flowers by the park. Lulu folded the paper and put her empty mug in the sink. She then grabbed the flowers for today and called to Sinclair. As she was heading out the door, she remembered the boy that she had seen in the park the day before. He seemed to be homeless and all alone. Even though money was tight, Lulu could spare a loaf of bread for the boy. She walked back to the pantry and pulled out the loaf then headed toward the door to start th gloomy day. Nothing seemed to be looking up for Lulu.

Lulu and Sinclair walked out the front door and headed toward their usual corner in front of the park. The air was wet and the clouds hung heavily like wet rags. Cold and gloomy described the feel of the day. The people walking by hung their heads shielding them from the cold blasts of air coming from the incoming storm. Sinclair had curled up in a pile of dry leaves in order to keep warm for his midmorning nap. The red carnations were not selling. Business needed to pick up; there needed to be some sort of income for Lulu soon. She watched as Lola Fontaine quickly walked down the street toward the bar. She was scurrying toward the entrance in high heeled shoes and made it into the building just in time. The sky was getting increasingly darker and the clouds seemed to hang right above her head; she decided to close up for the day. As Lulu was putting her things together to head back to Washington Heights, the sky broke open. Heavy drops fell to the ground splattering as they hit the pavement and she desperately ran across the street with Sinclair by her side. Ming Ming's was the closest entrance so she ran in with Sinclair. A woman came running up from the back of the restaurant moving her mouth in big exaggerated motions. She kept pointing to Sinclair and by reading the woman lips Lulu decided that she and Sinclair should get the hell out. Dogs were not allowed. The two stepped out of the door and the woman closed it behind them. She was shaking her finger as she closed the door. She walked back to the back of the restaurant throwing up her hands, still enraged. The problem was that it was still raining cats and dogs outside. Lulu and Sinclair would have to make a run for the apartment. As they reached the entrance to Washington Heights, Lulu noticed the mysterious man that she had seen last week lurking around the park. He had had a heated private conversation with someone but Lulu had been unable to make out what was being said. The two men were too secretive and had covered their faces to well for Lulu to make out the wording. The only reason she recognized this man was from his unusual style, not many men or people have tangerine sweat pants. The man seemed to be waiting for someone in the lobby but Lulu was too cold and wet to stick around to see who was meeting him. She and Sinclair headed toward the elevator. She pressed to button and waited for the doors to open. It was time for some dry clothes.

The Night

As Lulu Lamar re rigged her morning wake-up alarm, she felt the ground shake from Sinclair bounding in to say goodnight and then curl up in his usual corner of the bed. His tongue brushed across her toes, tickling them and she reached down and rubbed his soft ears. Lulu switched on the mattress heater, gently pulled back the old quilt that was once her mother's and climbed into the bed, snuggling up to her best and only friend Sinclair. The window was open letting the cool night air fill the room and she could smell the lingering scent of Chinese from Ming Ming's stream in with the breeze. Lulu slowly drifted off to sleep trying not to think about the many tasks of tomorrow.
Her eyes opened and closed. The air felt thick to her lungs, strangely thick. She opened her eyes and sat up to find flames all around her bed. Washington Heights was ablaze. She could now feel herself shaking from fear and the flames hot breath covering like a velvet curtain. She looked helplessly for Sinclair, but he was no where in sight. She had no one to comfort her and the smoke was making it hard to see; without her sight she would be left with just three senses and that was no good. She would die in these flames alone and without comfort. Looking around helplessly for a way out, she saw a familiar figure climbing through the window. A man she had not seen for many years, her father. He pulled himself through the window frame and came to her bedside, seeming to walk right through the flames. He sat down on the bed and reassured her that everything would be just fine. He kissed her cheek quite sloppily and then started to scratch her back. Lulu suddenly awoke from her dream to the kind presence of Sinclair and a very hot mattress heater. She turned off the heater and glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It read 4:00 am. Way too early for Lulu so she snuggled back down and drifted back to sleep with Sinclair by her side.
The alarm had gone off and she felt the slow dripping of water on her forehead. She no longer had money for a nurse to wake her, so she had resort to other methods. Lulu prepared herself for the day, scooped up her flowers and put them in a basket. They were red carnations today, fake of course because of the weather. She called to Sinclair and walked out the door with him by her side carefully closing the old somewhat broken door and locking it. As she walked down the hall she passed Delilah Plunk. She had a box of cookies and seemed to be counting the rows and then eating the fifth cookie down. How strange. She caught Lulu's glance and gave her a short smile. Lulu weakly smiled back and hurried toward the elevator. The elevator always left Lulu feeling uneasy the way shook going up and down. It felt like a small earthquake. She was always relieved when it hit the right floor. Another cold, long day was about to start, but Lulu was not prepared for this particularly unusual day.

Lulu Lamar Apt. 591

Lulu Lamar is deaf woman in her late twenties. She sells flowers in front of the park and has lost all relatives and friends, except for her beloved dog. She leads a quiet life literally and figuratively and enjoys the company of her dog Sinclair, the mutt. She and him get along quite nicely and with her great eyesight and his wonderful sense of smell they make a fine pair for finding unusual things on their daily walks through the neighborhood. The two are as thick as thieves and could never be separated.
When her father died, he left her with some inheritance but as the years have rolled on the money has dwindled. As a result, she has recently moved to Washington Heights in order to have a lower cost of living. She is now working to find money to survive but has not yet had any success. Her life has been going downward for the past couple of years and has not yet made any steps toward moving upward again. Being deaf, she can read lips and enjoys watching people's conversations, since she has so few. She watches some conversations that could be quite incriminating to those involved. Maybe one day the information will come in handy.