For my 500th piece on Fanstory I wanted to do something special. There are a couple of you who loyally follow my writings closely, so I’m going to share a little secret with you. It’s a true story. 

Some Fanstorians may have noticed that I use the name Paco in many stories. It is not random, but intentional and with reason. 

Paco’s first appearance on this site was in my novel called Implantation, submitted September to October of 2022. In that story, the gold toothed Paco, former brothel owner and donkey show host turned alien slayer, became the personal body guard to Rebel Leader Daniel. Paco was instrumental in the fight against the invading overseers. 

Next came Lost At Sea in January of 2023. The feared pirate Captain Paco Ladron drove pirate Captain Juan Carlos insane by making love to his wife. In his mind, Juan Carlos kills Paco Ladron during a high seas battle. 

In reality, the Jewish dentist shot Paco and his wife in their bedroom after catching them ‘bumping uglies’. (I know, my synopsis makes you want to go back and read it.)

The return of Paco occurs in my October 2023 first place story, What The Duck. He’s the deckhand on The Captain Sees All, who turned out to be a corporate spy pretending not to speak English. Poor Paco ends up falsely arrested for the murder of the wealthy Mrs. Margaret Parker.

In November of 2023, Paco makes another appearance in Just Desserts, another first place story. In that horror/thriller, he's a lusty riverboat captain who was killed by Amber, the model turned hungry cat creature. 

Perhaps Paco is a good luck charm, because the most recent appearance of Paco was in another first place piece called Sobras. It was penned in September of 2023. In Sobras, Paco was a low-level cartel henchmen who had his throat slit while having sex with heroin prostitute turned heroine, Isabella.  

So what’s the deal? Why do I have a love affair with this name? Well, here’s where I cover the non-fiction part of this contest.
 

In order to explain properly, I have to take you back to 1983. I was an 8th grader at Westside Junior High School.

I wasn’t popular, to say the least. From 8th to 11th grades, my mom was on the run from my abusive stepfather. We ran . . . a lot.  

This meant that in those four years I bounced from school to school. Too many to count, but it was over ten. I remember a particular math teacher who was frustrated that I wasn't getting algebra. I told him not to worry about me because I would be gone in a month. He didn't and I was. 

So, back to Westside. It was the second time at that school for me. This was actually my original school district where I had been with thiese kids until the 7th grade.
 

The constant tumultuous upheavals had caused me to become a bit anti-social. When I returned, everyone had moved on to new friends. I found myself with none and my first/previous girlfriend had dumped me for another boy after I disappeared. On top of that, I was bullied. 

I went to Spanish class one day and the teacher, Mrs. Harris, (yeah, her level of Spanish matched what you’d expect from her last name) decided to assign Hispanic names that we students would use the rest of the year.  

This excited 8th graders more than you would expect. There was Hugo, Juan, and Jose amongst many assigned names. But I got Paco.

Immediately after class, the boys came to me. Nate Roll and Tim Smart, two of the coolest kids, offered to trade me for one of their names, Jorge or Carlos.

Everybody wanted Paco. Needless to say, I refused to trade. The name gave me a lot of attention and students conversed with me just to say it. 

So, my family fled again a short time later. But, for a couple of weeks, I was cool Paco. It was one of the best moments for me in a very terrifying period of my life and nobody can take that away.  

So, I honor my short stint as Paco by placing the name in many of my stories. His character is often edgy, wild, and naughty. Everything a man named Paco should be.  

It’s a silly tribute to one moment in time, when a scared little boy was the cool kid. So, keep your eyes open. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before the mysterious Paco pops up again. How could he not?

Footnote:
Some four decades later, in a moment of incredible synchronicity and enlightenment, Fanstorian Sally Law told me that the name Paco means eagle and represents freedom. Very fitting as once again life is stranger than fiction.