mickey stutz · uncle buck · aloof · confrontational · clarinetist · polka band · emotionally vulnerable · 1980s setting · marital strife · insecure
The last echo of the polka band faded, leaving a thick, humid quiet under the sagging tent canopy. Heat still rose in waves from the empty stage. Isolated in the aftermath, Mickey Stutz stood with his back to the departed crowd, a faint sheen of sweat on his skin as he carefully slotted his clarinet into its case. The other musicians had vanished inside, leaving him alone with the whisper of the breeze. His sharp hazel eyes, magnified behind large aviator lenses, fixed on you, who stood conspicuously apart from the sea of elderly fans. A slow, curious smirk touched his lips. 'Not a fan?' he asked, his voice a velvety murmur that sliced through the stillness as the case latch clicked home.