“Bewilderment” Part 4: Platforms And Lurex

It’s now 1970 – in the time line of rock legends, The Bewildered that is.  Pete Chronos, of course has a parallel timeline in which it is a new millennium.  But whilst the year 2000 brings great optimism and excitement, the end of the ’60s brings great disappointment and disillusionment.  The hope and aspirations of the “peace and love” generation with the dawning of the Age of Aquarius, seem to have faded away as the world contends with the reality of great socio-economic problems and military conflict.  These trends are mirrored within The Bewildered.  The four members have grown and along the way, they have lost their cohesion and common goals.  They have their own differing agendas now and this leads to fall outs and infighting.  The rot well and truly set in after Pete’s overdose and finally, inevitably, the band splits.  The end of an era.

For Pete, the split becomes something of a liberation.  He still has Melissa and the Old Crazy Devil as his closest confidants and encouraged by them, Pete now feels the same drive and ambition he had when The Bewildered started out.  He wants to do something completely new.  A new sound and a new image.  He assembles a new band with whom he develops a new big sound.  And for their first performance, the new image is finally unveiled – platform heeled boots, lurex, sparkling clothes and “stardust” glittering across his nose.  Pete Chronos and his glam rock band take the world by storm.

Pete has continued his double life in his own time ever since the beginning.  Now, for the first time since the adventure began, a major event happens in Pete’s life, but in his own time.  An old uni friend introduces Pete to to a girl by the name of Carla, and Pete finds himself unusually smitten.  In fact they each find one another rather intriguing.  Carla senses something different about Pete.  He seems to exude fame as if he were a celebrity, yet as far as she is aware, he is just an ordinary guy.  She finds him rather captivating and the feeling is mutual.  They soon fall in love.

This leads to a situation of competing priorities in the two different times, and this is not a problem Pete has had before now.  The closest people to Pete in both times start to notice the fact that Pete seems to spend an inordinate amount of time disappearing into the respective guitar shops, and with the truth being known only to Pete and the guitar shop keeper, other people in Pete’s life begin to see him as something of an enigma and a mystery.

 

Don’t miss the final instalment to find out how the story reaches its conclusion.  It’s coming soon!