In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “The Early Years,” which says:

= = = =
otherwise unremarkable; however, he did publish a few pieces in his junior high school newspaper, including this one:

Piano on the Beach by Owen Servant

Maybe if I could play a song
You really want to hear
Maybe at sunset on the beach:
Then I could draw you near

And we would kiss beside the sea,
All our past pains forgetting:
Or maybe you’ll never notice me,
Cause I’m a fricking dweeb and just who the hell am I kidding?

As can be seen, Servant’s tendency to rapid mood swings, manic introversion and romantic flights of despair were in evidence even at the age of thirteen.  His work with the school newspaper earned him the following comments (and a “B”) from the teacher in charge at that time, one Mrs. Schmaunders:

Owen is a very bright boy with a very dark outlook.  He often tells jokes at inappropriate times and seems to have only the dimmest idea of the function of the press; nevertheless, his punctuality is to be commended.  His work on collecting photos has been very good; his poetry indicates a need for therapy; and his obsessions with classical music, girls, and comic books indicate a pretty bright future as a social outcast.

However, not all of this teachers had such a positive opinion of young Owen; his Physical Education instructor, Coach Bailey, provided the following:

Servant, Owen: 

Athletics: Poor

Hygiene: Questionable

Dressing Out: Yes, but could stand to do laundry more often

Grasp of Athletic Concepts: Hopeless

Ability to Argue if a Ball was In-or-Out-Of-Bounds: Top Notch

It seems that young Servant was a bundle of nerves; and his inability to communicate with his classmates was at times alarming.  Nevertheless, there was something there, as one of his classmates said in his seventh grade yearbook:

you are a nice guy with yore [sic] comic books

but I don’t understand the opera thing maybe

if you listened the commodores more girls would

like you

– Deb

The first signs that Servant might have an aptitude for numbers showed up at this