The Funeral Planner by Lynn Isenberg Page A

them in. Did you wear chartreuse?” he chuckles.
    “I’m not a fishing lure, Uncle Sam,” I say, suddenly realizing that maybe I am. Maybe that’s the metaphor, that every aspect of my presentation is synonymous with fishing, only I’m the bait and VC money is the catch. “Okay, maybe I am.”
    “What stopped them from biting?”
    “A missing prototype. I think I can seal a deal with one.”
    “That’s easy enough,” he says cheerily. “ I’ll be your prototype.”
    “You will?” I’m shocked.
    “Sure, why not?”
    “Because it’s going to mean more money to do it right.”
    “What doesn’t? Besides, if you have proof of concept you can retain more assets in the company. Why do you sound so surprised?”
    “I don’t know. It sounds too easy.”
    “Well, enjoy this part of it, because the hard part will come. It always does.”
    “I’m already exhausted.”
    “That’s from climbing a mountain, not a business plan.”
    I stare at my phone, and then put it back to my ear. “How did you know I just climbed a mountain?”
    “Lucky guess,” he answers. “Don’t worry, Maddy. I’ll be there to help you through the tough times. I promise. You just keep recharging those batteries with a good hike now and again. So what do we do besides send you a ticket back home?”
    “I’ll send you a list of questions for the life bio video and you think about the answers.”
    “You got it. Lights, camera, action.”
    I can see him clearly smiling across the distance. “See ya soon, Uncle Sam.” I tuck my phone back inside its hip holster. An unexpected breeze packed with humidity swings by. I take in the momentary familiarity, and enthusiastically sprint down the mountain. “Yes! Thank you, Uncle Sam! Thank you, Inspiration Trail! Prototype, here I come!”
     
    The red-eye to Ann Arbor is becoming a good friend. I sit in coach typing away on my computer to fine-tune the template for the Lights Out Video Tribute. I glance at the Financial Street Journal in my backpack, my incentive to finish. I hit the save button, put my computer screen down and pull out the paper.
    I scan the front page and then flip to the Market section. A story with the headline “Palette Enterprises Commands Triple Valuations,” detailing Derek Rogers’s impending rise to fame, snags my attention. I sigh, and dare to read on, only to discover that the international art and design scene has become a hotbed of opportunity, now with Outsider Art catching on, and all at the hands of artistic business genius, Derek Rogers. The article goes on to mention that Mr. Rogers has been seen on more than several occasions milling about Washington, D.C., becoming buddies with a variety of lobbyists across a wide range of industries but that he declined to comment on whether it is Palette-related business or what his next entrepreneurial adventure might be.
    I get that funny feeling again that something’s not right in Derekville. But before I can get in touch with it, I spot a smaller headline at the bottom of the page: “Successor Speculation at Pintock International.”
    The article claims that president and CEO Arthur Pintock, of Pintock International, may step down from his thirty-year tenure position for personal reasons. “Some speculate a recent lack of leadership on Mr. Pintock’s part on account of his daughter’s death, and that scouting for a successor is something the board is advising the sixty-eight-year-old Mr. Pintock to consider sooner rather than later.” The article states that, “It was widely assumed that one day, Tara Pintock would take over the reins. But even after her departure to pursue her songwriting ambitions, and prior to her death, Mr. Pintock refused to comment on the subject. It is widely known that Mr. Pintock keeps close counsel with three key executives in London, New York and Shanghai, each of whom is considered by the board to be a potential candidate. Both Pintock’s board of directors and analysts on