1984 - Part 1

Summary
Prince's Purple Rain is about to light the charts on fire. Walter Mondale begins his uphill battle against an extremely popular Ronald Reagan. And buzz is building about possibly the biggest summer movie season in history. Not only is there a sequal to Indiana Jones, other heavy hitters like Stephen

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Spielberg's Gremlins and even a sleeper titled The Karate Kid look to make up an ideal summer for any 14-year old. But what Spike's looking forward to most is opening day of the most anticipated movie of the summer: Ghostbusters - a near perfect mix of sci-fi and comedy. In addition, Spike, finally getting comfortable in his neighborhood, is looking forward to marathon games of basketball and baseball as he knows in a year or two, he'll likely be working over the summer.

Buster is also looking forward to the summer. Movies and video games will be a must. But rest assured, he doesn't plan on joining his brother on the baseball mound with the rest of the dumb kids in his neighborhood.

While the Witwicky kids plan their summer, things aren't nearly as rosy for the patriarch of the family. A series of routine illnesses from Buster (ear infections) and Spike (upper respiratory infections) began a lethal drain on Sparkplug's savings. Added to the misery was the premature end of the family vehicle - courtesy of a cracked engine head so severe, even Sparkplug couldn't repair it. All of this goes unnoticed to Spike and Buster as Sparkplug internalizes his worries of losing his house as bills continue to mount. Few jobs are on the horizon and letters marked 'Final Notice' begin appearing.

Sparkplug's only lifeline lies with Roland, an old boss back in the days. Roland's hard work and "get the job done at any cost" earned him respect amongst his superiors and he quickly worked his way up in the leadership division of the drilling company he worked at. The latest gig - only 3 months - is a doozy. The pay would keep debtors off his neck for at least a few months. An offshore project that demands an elite team. Sparkplug is perfect for the job. And while Sparkplug's away, Roland vows to pull any string he can on the mainland to get Sparkplug a full-time job once this gig ends.

Unbeknownst to Roland, Sparkplug plans on pulling some illegal strings of his own, securing a fake ID to bring his oldest son along for the project and leave his youngest son in the care of his brother and sister-in-law. Leaving one child in the care of a brother for the entire summer is asking a lot already. Leaving two... would strain even the closest of brotherly relationships.

Of course, there are other things going on outside of the Witwicky world. Most interesting is that seismologists have begun to notice an alarming amount of light-to-moderate earthquake activity resonating near Mt. St. Hilary. Could it be an aftershock of Mt. St. Helens? Playing it safe, the National Parks Service have started to circulate cautionary notifications around the area, warning of a possible eruption that could occur in the early to mid-summer timeframe.