Disclaimer: the characters herein are owned by CBS. I am not affiliated with CBS.
Chapter 1
The time spent with Ray Jr. brought Horatio back to his own childhood, remembering how he and Ray Sr. would play together. While cleaning through some boxes, Yelina happened to find several of Ray and Horatio's childhood memories; tattered comic books, a "Rally Day" lunch box filled with young boy's treasures of marbles, change and a few baseball cards, among other items. Ray Jr. picked up a tattered, unreadable card, examining it.
"You and dad didn't take care of your cards."
Horatio smiled, remembering why the baseball cards were in such poor condition.
"We weren't interested in who was on the card, we just needed the cards for our bikes."
Ray Jr. raised an eyebrow, sure that his uncle was crazy.
"You see," Horatio lifted another card from the metal box, "…we would put a card in the spokes and as we rode, it would make a loud noise, like a moped…"
Ray Jr. was shaking his little head. Horatio returned the card to its spot, looking down at the small collection of cards that rested inside. "That was very inventive for 1970…no video games, no hundreds of TV channels, no …"
Ray Jr. rolled his eyes. "…and you had to walk 20 miles through a swamp filled with alligators to get to school…"
'I'm starting to sound old.' Horatio thought as he smiled at Ray Jr's comment. Ray reached further in the box and pulled out a small, male figure wearing black pants, gold shirt and a lone black boot.
"Who's this?" asked Ray Jr. as he handed the figure to Horatio. Upon closer inspection Horatio saw how rough play had taken its toll on the vinyl figure: missing paint, yet plenty of dirt covered the tiny head; the gold shirt was ripped on the side seams and hopefully the other boot was in the bottom of the box. He lifted the shirt, examining the back with a "MEGO" logo.
"That's Captain Kirk, from Star Trek."
" I never heard of Captain Kirk." replied Ray as he stared at the tiny figure in his uncle's hands.
"He was the first captain of the Enterprise." Horatio stated.
"Captain Archer's the first Captain." Ray Jr. quickly added. Horatio thought for a moment. He had no time for television and he had never heard of Captain Archer. Yet he realized it had been almost 40 years since he first watched the adventures of Kirk and company and, most likely, his nephew was right.
"OK, I meant Kirk was the first Captain on TV in the late 60's, the first Star Trek series…"
"Oh." Ray nonchalantly replied while pulling out a large, plastic structure from the box. "What's this?"
Horatio couldn't believe this survived all this time. He and Ray spent hours and hours playing with this, indoors, outdoors, rain, shine. It was beaten-up but still in tact.
"That's the transporter room." Horatio went to show Ray Jr. how it worked as he was about to place Kirk on a "transporter pad." He and Ray would place one of the figures on the pad and *poof* they were transported to their destination (which was actually the bottom of the unit). Horatio rotated the unit. Inside was another figure, one he thought was long lost. Horatio carefully cradled the small, vinyl figure.
"This is Lieutenant Uhura." Unlike Kirk, she had her complete uniform. Unfortunately, on the top of her head black paint flecked off, following her hair line. Horatio didn't realize it, but he was smiling. How Ray would tease him…
"What's so funny?" asked Ray Jr.
Horatio's thoughts were back in 1973, 6:00 p.m. reruns, weeknights on Channel 48, how he and Ray were inseparable from the television, watching strange, new worlds. Kirk, seemingly fearless yet cautious at the same time, females and fisticuffs, confidant and courageous. Spock, smart and a smart-ass at the same time, more human than most other humans. McCoy, Scotty, … and his all-time favorite, Uhura. Or any other female on board the Enterprise. Every week, a young, hormonal 13-year-old Horatio Caine was treated to visions of micro-mini skirts, long, flowing hair and high, sexy gogo boots. Ray was just a little too young to appreciate the fairer sex, teasing his older brother for ogling the screen anytime Lieutenant Uhura bent over her console or anytime a yeoman bent down to give something to Kirk. 'The late 60's was the best time for women's fashions.' thought Horatio.
Impatient, Ray Jr. tugged on his uncle's sleeve, waiting for an answer. The tug brought Horatio back to reality. Horatio placed the figure back in the transporter room, next to Kirk.
"Your father and I had a lot of good times with these. Make sure you take care of them." Horatio stated, surrendering the box of memories to his nephew.
Chapter 1
The time spent with Ray Jr. brought Horatio back to his own childhood, remembering how he and Ray Sr. would play together. While cleaning through some boxes, Yelina happened to find several of Ray and Horatio's childhood memories; tattered comic books, a "Rally Day" lunch box filled with young boy's treasures of marbles, change and a few baseball cards, among other items. Ray Jr. picked up a tattered, unreadable card, examining it.
"You and dad didn't take care of your cards."
Horatio smiled, remembering why the baseball cards were in such poor condition.
"We weren't interested in who was on the card, we just needed the cards for our bikes."
Ray Jr. raised an eyebrow, sure that his uncle was crazy.
"You see," Horatio lifted another card from the metal box, "…we would put a card in the spokes and as we rode, it would make a loud noise, like a moped…"
Ray Jr. was shaking his little head. Horatio returned the card to its spot, looking down at the small collection of cards that rested inside. "That was very inventive for 1970…no video games, no hundreds of TV channels, no …"
Ray Jr. rolled his eyes. "…and you had to walk 20 miles through a swamp filled with alligators to get to school…"
'I'm starting to sound old.' Horatio thought as he smiled at Ray Jr's comment. Ray reached further in the box and pulled out a small, male figure wearing black pants, gold shirt and a lone black boot.
"Who's this?" asked Ray Jr. as he handed the figure to Horatio. Upon closer inspection Horatio saw how rough play had taken its toll on the vinyl figure: missing paint, yet plenty of dirt covered the tiny head; the gold shirt was ripped on the side seams and hopefully the other boot was in the bottom of the box. He lifted the shirt, examining the back with a "MEGO" logo.
"That's Captain Kirk, from Star Trek."
" I never heard of Captain Kirk." replied Ray as he stared at the tiny figure in his uncle's hands.
"He was the first captain of the Enterprise." Horatio stated.
"Captain Archer's the first Captain." Ray Jr. quickly added. Horatio thought for a moment. He had no time for television and he had never heard of Captain Archer. Yet he realized it had been almost 40 years since he first watched the adventures of Kirk and company and, most likely, his nephew was right.
"OK, I meant Kirk was the first Captain on TV in the late 60's, the first Star Trek series…"
"Oh." Ray nonchalantly replied while pulling out a large, plastic structure from the box. "What's this?"
Horatio couldn't believe this survived all this time. He and Ray spent hours and hours playing with this, indoors, outdoors, rain, shine. It was beaten-up but still in tact.
"That's the transporter room." Horatio went to show Ray Jr. how it worked as he was about to place Kirk on a "transporter pad." He and Ray would place one of the figures on the pad and *poof* they were transported to their destination (which was actually the bottom of the unit). Horatio rotated the unit. Inside was another figure, one he thought was long lost. Horatio carefully cradled the small, vinyl figure.
"This is Lieutenant Uhura." Unlike Kirk, she had her complete uniform. Unfortunately, on the top of her head black paint flecked off, following her hair line. Horatio didn't realize it, but he was smiling. How Ray would tease him…
"What's so funny?" asked Ray Jr.
Horatio's thoughts were back in 1973, 6:00 p.m. reruns, weeknights on Channel 48, how he and Ray were inseparable from the television, watching strange, new worlds. Kirk, seemingly fearless yet cautious at the same time, females and fisticuffs, confidant and courageous. Spock, smart and a smart-ass at the same time, more human than most other humans. McCoy, Scotty, … and his all-time favorite, Uhura. Or any other female on board the Enterprise. Every week, a young, hormonal 13-year-old Horatio Caine was treated to visions of micro-mini skirts, long, flowing hair and high, sexy gogo boots. Ray was just a little too young to appreciate the fairer sex, teasing his older brother for ogling the screen anytime Lieutenant Uhura bent over her console or anytime a yeoman bent down to give something to Kirk. 'The late 60's was the best time for women's fashions.' thought Horatio.
Impatient, Ray Jr. tugged on his uncle's sleeve, waiting for an answer. The tug brought Horatio back to reality. Horatio placed the figure back in the transporter room, next to Kirk.
"Your father and I had a lot of good times with these. Make sure you take care of them." Horatio stated, surrendering the box of memories to his nephew.