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Wishes
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:57 — dmuthCopyright (c) 1997 Phaedrus; All rights reserved
I wrote most of this story in September, as an entry for a contest that Magus the Fox was running for his archive. The contest deadline got moved up by a day somewhere along the way, and I received the contest results while I was still finishing up the last part--always a disheartening sign. :-) So I wound up shelving the story for a few weeks. In retrospect, that was probably a good thing, since the ending wound up being quite a bit better than the one I originally had in mind.
Wings
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:56 — dmuthby Todd G. Sutherland
His shoes scuffed as he reached for the next marbled step; his every misstep was her heartfelt torment. She reached her toes down in advance of him, holding his arm. "Six more steps," she said softly, stepping down in front of him, bringing him gently.
"Is there a coffee shop in the waiting area? Can you see yet?" he asked.
She kept her eyes on his feet; the expensive foreign shoes that housed and protected them. They found the next step, and she slipped her pads down one more.
The Visitor
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:52 — dmuth
Legal Stuff: This whole story and all of its characters are copyright 1996, Gil Ruiz. The work was partly inspired by 'The Lion King,' copyright 1994 the Walt Disney Company. This story may be distributed freely as long as this paragraph is included. Permission to use any of the characters from, or basing other stories on this work must be secured from the author (that's me).
Comments are welcome. My address is GilDGreat@aol.com
Thanks go to Jason Knight and Ryan McGinnis for their invaluable help and advice.
The Truth About Redstone Ridge
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:51 — dmuthBy Brian Eirik Coe
With thanks to Bob Stein for some valuble editorial advice.
Jack Peters saved my life. Twice. The second time, he gave his own. It’s time for me to tell the world what happened that afternoon so long ago.
Up to now, I’ve always felt the world knew enough. The Lieutenant and I certainly told everyone what happened, to a point. I’ve told his story to friends, to neighbors and in more than one bar after a few too many drinks.
No one has ever doubted his heroism in the face of fire.
Through Your Window
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:50 — dmuthBy Rye
Rebecca sat crouched in a clearing, her eyes locked on the ground at her feet. She came here often to think, and she needed a quiet place right now. It was the first full moon of her 18th year, and according to tradition she had to find a mate by tomorrow. She was reluctant for a couple of reasons. The foremost being that she loved no one. She never had. And tonight she would have to find someone, or dire consequences would follow.
A twig snapped at the far edge of the clearing. Rebecca turned towards the sound, her neck fur standing on end and her tail twitching in apprehension. She let out a low growl as a human silhouette appeared out of the forest. The human seemed not to notice her, but she stayed on guard nonetheless.
The Satisfied Mind
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:48 — dmuthWill A. Sanborn
9/3 - 9/9/97
Revised 9/11/97
"How is everything," the fox waiter asked the two of them, briefly
interrupting the privacy of their dinner. "Can I get you anything else?"
The human male and the female raccoon both nodded enthusiastically.
"Everything's fine" the human replied, "we're all set for now, right Jess?"
His companion, a lovely raccoon lady answered with "yes, thank you."
The waiter nodded and departed with a smile. The human watched him go, his
eyes travelling across the scene of the restaurant. His gaze wandering, if
for only a moment or two, he caught the view of the other diners. Furries
of many races and humans mingled happily together in the restaurant, just
as they did everywhere else in this world. Taking in the scene before him,
he smiled slightly, if only briefly.
As he looked around him, everything seemed so nice, everything felt so
right. How could it be on what should be such a wonderful night as tonight,
that he had to tell her such bad news? Did he really think he could go
through with it? Looking back at his furry lover, catching her eyes, he
caught her smiling at him.
"Your mind wandering again, Dale?" she asked warmly.
"A little I guess," he replied, working at a smile of his own. No
matter what, it could wait, he wouldn't tell her here. He wanted their last
night together to be a good one, one he'd remember for quite some time.
Although thinking about it, he wasn't sure if he'd really want to remember
it once it was all over and done with.
"Well, I think I'm used to it," she said with a slight chuckle. "You
can be a little distant at times, but you've been so close and warm with
me, I can put up with a little mind wandering." No matter what he'd been
thinking, he couldn't help but widen his smile to match hers as she reached
out to take his hand.
Putting his hand in hers, touching the black of her glove-like
markings that trailed up into the gray of her arms, he felt the familiar
and pleasant sensation of the softness of her fur. Looking at her, seeing
those beautiful blue eyes gazing back at him, he was painfully reminded of
her beauty once again. Why did he have to leave her? It just wasn't fair.
Not knowing the quiet turmoil of his thoughts, she simply flicked her
ear and winked an eye at him. "Come on Dale, enough of your silent
ponderings, now that we've finished eating, lets get out on the dance floor."
Only a few months ago he would've refused the offer, being too nervous
and uncoordinated to dance with her. She'd taught him the steps to a few
dances since then, and they really hadn't been all that hard. He nodded,
then walked with her hand in hand across the restaurant to join a few other
couples out on the floor. He liked dancing now, especially with her.
They were quite a charming couple, her in the lovely blue dress that
complemented her fur so nicely and he looking smart in his casual dress
attire. They reached the dance floor and walked out upon it. Their hands
joining, they came together and found the rhythm quickly. Beginning the
slow motions of the dance, they started moving to the gentle strains of the
music playing around them.
As they danced, and he moved his body through the steps in perfect
motion with her, she whispered in his ear. "See, I told you you'd become
really good at this."
"Yes, but I had a good teacher," he replied, a slight chuckle to his
voice as he rubbed his cheek against hers. He realized that wasn't all
she'd taught him either. He'd learned so much else from her as well. In the
months they'd been together, she'd helped him with his confidence. He'd
been lonely before meeting her and she'd given him so much. Finding her had
been the best thing for him, so why now was it suddenly so wrong?
His thoughts turning somber once again, he held her close as they
danced, feeling the warmth of her presence. Feeling the touch of her fur
against his skin for what he knew would be the last time, he struggled to
keep his thoughts focused. He'd known it would be tough, but he hadn't
realized just how hard it was going to be. At least she couldn't see his
face he thought, for his eyes were beginning to water slightly.
* * *
He managed to keep his composure for the rest of the evening, trying
to keep his mind off of what he'd eventually have to do. He'd tried to
simply enjoy her company, which was always wonderful, but it was so hard
knowing he would soon have to part with her. A part of him even wished he'd
never come to see her tonight, but sadly he knew what he had to do.
Later, as they walked up to the porch of her house, she stopped.
Turning to look at him, she asked "Dale, you seemed preoccupied tonight, is
something wrong?"
"Yes Jess, I've been thinking about us..."
"Oh?" Her voice became uneasy when she heard his sigh.
"Jessica, I don't know how to say this... but I can't see you any more..."
She just stopped, her mouth partially open, and looked at him for
several seconds before she could respond. "No Dale... Why?" Her ears
drooped slightly in her confusion.
He paused as well, waiting, looking back at her, before he could
finally answer, his voice dull and heavy. "It's tough to explain, but I do
owe you that, and I need to get through this... You know about my research
up at the University, don't you?"
"Well yes, you said it was using computers for some kind of simulation
work, but I don't see what that's got to do with it. I know you can get
busy with your work and that we can't always spend as much time together as
we like, but I don't see why that's any more of a problem now..."
"No Jess, that's not a problem, well at least not in the way you're
thinking of it. I guess you are right, that I have been spending too much
time with my work, and have become too intimately involved in it..."
"But how? You haven't been any more busy lately than you were before.
We've had enough time together... What are you talking about Dale?"
"You know what I'm working on is a realistic simulation environment
for a virtual-reality system, the ability to create custom worlds within
the computers we have... You've never been outside of the city have you Jess?"
"Of course I have Dale... You know I'm from the country and I moved
here after finishing college."
"Right, but that was four-and-a-half years ago, by your time, and
you've been in the same place at the same job ever since. You remember
other places, but you haven't been there since, have you?"
"Dale, what are you getting at?" she asked him, her hand gripping his
arm a little tighter. Her voice sounded nervous. "I haven't had the time to
go other places. I've been busy like you with work, and you yourself said
this city has a lot of attractions to keep us entertained."
"How long have we been going out Jessica?"
"Come on, you know that, we've been together for close to nine months now."
"What about before that, did you have any boyfriends before me?"
"Of course I did. You know that, though of course I don't talk about
them too often... What is this about Dale, why bring my old boyfriends up
now? I don't like this."
"I know, and I'm sorry, but it's the only way I can think of
explaining this to you. Now think hard Jess, those old boyfriends, can you
remember much about them?"
"Sure, there was Bill in college and then Jerry who I met here in the
city three years ago... Is that it, are you jealous of them, after all this
time?"
"No, that's not it, it would be hard to be jealous of them. I'm just
trying to make it so you'll understand. Can you remember anything about
them, anything substantial?" He saw the look of confusion cross her face as
her eyes opened wider with surprise. "You can't remember can you?"
"No Dale, what's wrong? Why can't I remember them? I should be able to..."
"The system isn't perfect Jessica, and we're still developing it.
There isn't enough memory to store everything, so a lot of things are
glossed over, especially deep background details..." He paused before
continuing, knowing he had to finish, but feeling his resolve starting to
crumble. "The simulations from our computers don't just create new worlds
for us, they can create characters and personalities to populate them as
well..."
Her mouth opened wider, but it took several seconds before she could
speak, even then it came out haltingly. "No... No that's not what you're
trying to tell me is it...? You can't mean that. It can't be..."
"I'm afraid it is... there was no really good way to tell you... I'm
sorry Jess..."
"No, that can't be..." Her voice was getting louder and she was
starting to shake as she stared at him with disbelief. "No, I can't just be
a bunch of computer code... I'm real Dale, I know I am." As she trembled
she held him in her gaze, the haunting look in her eyes reaching out to
him, pleading for his assurance, something which he couldn't give her.
The small claw tips of her fingernails poked the skin of his arm as
she gripped him with her hand. Staring at her, he did the only thing he
could do and reached out for her, pulling her towards him. She struggled
briefly against him, and kept repeating "no" as if it was a sacred mantra,
while he held her firmly, waiting for her shivering to subside.
His soft whispers and strong, reassuring contact slowly calmed her
down as he held her uncertainly in his arms. Finally, after she'd stopped
shaking, she looked up at him with watery eyes to see his face full of
concern, showing wet eyes of his own.
"But it all seems so real to me..." she whispered plaintively to him.
"I know it does. That's the way the system's supposed to work. You're
normally not supposed to realize the limitations of the system. I had to
let you see it tonight, so you'd believe me... and so you might
understand." He hesitated only briefly before kissing her gently on the tip
of her nose.
Her reaction was an angry one, her eyes going wild almost instantly.
"Understand? How do you expect me to understand this? You tell me I'm not
even real, that I'm just another toy in this video game you've created,
something you could use for your own pleasure... and now that you're done
with me it's all supposed to be okay?!"
He held of her struggles once again, trying to calm her down. "No, of
course not... It's not like that at all... Listen to me Jess. You remember
how surprised and nervous I was when I first found out you were interested
in me...? If I'd created you just to be my plaything then it wouldn't have
taken you so much work to make me realize you liked me, I would've been
coming after you."
"Most of the people in the city are just background characters. We
still don't have the system up to a point where we can create a lot of true
personalities. You were one of the few characters that had any real power
in their algorithms and you surprised me when you evolved so far above the
others..."
She winced as he said that, and he saw the hurt in her eyes. Holding
her tighter, feeling his own eyes stinging hotter, he continued. "I'm sorry
Jess. I hate to talk of you this way, because you've become so much more
than just the original software you were generated from. Whether you
believe it or not, I do care about you as a person... You've become very
real to me."
"When I first created the simulation, I though it'd be fun to create a
city full of furries, the aesthetics of the different races mingling
together with humanity really appealed to me. I knew it was just playing
with the daydreams of a science-fiction fan, but it seemed like a good idea
at the time. Plus, what better way was there to show the uses for virtual
reality than by creating a world so similar, yet so different from our own?"
Pausing, he continued. "I didn't create you or any of the other
characters to be used like that. It was all part of the research and I
wanted to see where things would go. I never thought it would come to
something like this. You amazed me when you came so far and I realized you
were more than a simulation... Can you imagine how surprised I was when I
learned you were actually interested in me as well?"
"You mean you weren't just acting then?" she asked, her voice still quiet.
"No, I really was surprised Jess. I hadn't imagined something like
that happening with the simulation, and not to mention that I was kind of
shy to begin with..."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. There's a part of me in you, a part of my thoughts and
creativity that I used to create you. You grew from that seed into who you
are today. We have so much in common it's no wonder we were interested in
each other... I put so much effort into you that of course I like you, how
couldn't I?"
"Of course now I wonder if we'd have been better off if this had never
happened. Things happened so fast that I really couldn't understand the
implications of it, and now it's hurt both of us... It's been wonderful
Jess, and being with you has done so much for me, but I've realized I can't
go on like this... I'm sorry, but I've got to stop it."
"But why? You yourself said that I'm real enough for you... I still
can't really believe all of it, but with your help we can get through
this... It's not that you've found someone else is it?" The hurt shown on
her face gnawed painfully at his stomach. As he watched those sad eyes
looking back at him through a mask of black and gray fur, he saw tears now
running freely down her cheeks.
"No, it isn't that, not at all... It's just that no matter how much I
try to delude myself, I still know deep-down inside that this place isn't
real. I'm amazed at how well the simulation actually works, but I can still
find the flaws in the system. This isn't my world Jess, and no matter how
much I've become attached to it, I can't stay here forever..."
"But Dale, please don't go, you can't leave me, not like this...
Please, I love you..."
He reacted as if he'd been slapped, her words stinging at him. His
tears matching hers, he pulled her tighter. "I don't want to Jess, but
think of how it is for me. No matter how much I want this to be real, it
can never be that way... I can hold you here now and feel your warmth, but
we can never leave this city together. In the end I wake up alone in the
lab and you're not there... I can't just be satisfied inside my mind. I
thought I could be, but I need something more than that."
"I love you too Jess, but it can't work out. We can't grow old
together, we can't have kids, I can't bring you home to meet my parents...
We can't do any of that. You mean so much to me and being with you has
given me a lot as well, but we can only go so far. If I stay too long I
might be trapped and never want to leave... I'm sorry, I can't begin to
tell you how much I'll miss you, but I need to find my own life in my world."
Now feeling himself trembling, he held her against him. His lips
finding hers he kissed her desperately. She responded in turn, plaintively
holding onto him as their mouths came together for the last time. Closing
his eyes, he tried in vain to hold onto the moment, but it slowly crept
away from them, leaving them lost and alone in each other's arms.
Eventually, he was forced to pull away from her. He moved slowly, but
with a sense of finality. Looking through his tears he stared into the
depths of her blue eyes, wet with their own salty sadness, as they called
out to him. Forcing himself to move, he uttered his final words to her, his
voice trailing off into silence. "I'm sorry Jess, I really am..."
He turned and walked from her, leaving her standing there stunned and
saddened. Her normally bouncy and expressive striped tail hung limply
behind her as she cried on her porch. She watched him go through watery
eyes, and as he reached the end of her walkway, he simply vanished from her
world, leaving her so alone.
* * *
An instant later he found himself back in the lab once again, laying
there on the reclining chair of one of the simulation stations. He no
longer wore the fancy attire from his night out on the town with his lovely
raccoon girlfriend. Now instead he was dressed in a simple pair of shorts
and a T-shirt. Blinking from the disorientation of the abrupt change in
environments and feeling some wetness still left in his eyes, he turned to
look at the sterile walls of the lab. As he was removing the netting of
wires which rested on his head like a cap, and which had connected his
consciousness to the computer, he caught sight of an image of Jessica
displayed on a nearby monitor.
The image had frozen at the moment just after he'd left her world,
pausing the simulation. Looking at the monitor, he saw her captured in her
sorrow, her head buried in her hands. He stared at the image of her caught
in the stillness of her grief, transfixed by it for several moments. It
wasn't until the door opened and a familiar figure walked into the lab that
his attention was brought back to the real world once again.
"Hey Dale, the computer said you were back... How'd it go? How are you
feeling?" His friend looked at him, a little unsure of the situation.
"Okay I guess. Thanks for being here to meet me after this, Scott."
"No problem bud... I figured you might want someone here, though I can
give you some more time to yourself if you'd like."
"No, I think you're right, I don't think I want to be alone right now..."
"I'm proud of you" Scott answered, watching him a little uneasily as
Dale got up from the chair, a little unsteady at first. "You were getting
too involved with this thing and I'm glad you finally listened to me...
It's for the better you know."
"Then how come I feel so miserable?"
"Hey breaking up with someone's never easy, even if they are just a
computer date..." He cracked a smile at that, but immediately regretted it.
"Dammit Scott, she's more than that to me and you know it." As he
responded, Dale could feel his face heating up.
"Hey guy, take it easy. I didn't mean it like that..." Scott answered,
then paused, confused as to just how to continue. "Hey, I don't really get
how she could mean that much to you. That whole world just seems like a
giant cartoon to me... but she managed to capture your attention somehow..."
"Yeah," Dale let out with a sigh. "She means more to me than you could
probably understand. She's very real to me, and now I've had to leave her
behind... Can you even think what that does to me?"
Pausing, looking at his friend, studying him, Scott finally spoke. "I
guess so... It's like a really realistic fantasy isn't it? If it's like
that I could probably see myself falling for it too... I'm sorry Dale, but
you did do the right thing."
"It doesn't feel like it..."
"It's not always easy, guy... Do you really think you could be happy
there, trying to live your life in an electronic fishbowl?"
"I don't know, but I can't imagine living without her... Look, could
you just stop the preaching and let's get out of here?"
"Alright... Sure thing," Scott replied, and started heading for the
door when Dale stopped him.
"Oh wait, there's one last thing I need to do here..."
Scott watched as Dale moved to sit in front of the computer terminal
next to the frozen image of his virtual lover. Dale gazed once again at the
picture of her frozen in her grief on the screen, then turned his attention
to the terminal and began typing.
"Wait a minute... I thought you said you were done with this, Dale?"
Scott's tone showed his worry for his friend, as well as a little
irritation.
"I know. I'm done with her... I have to be," Dale replied, his voice
faltering slightly. "I won't be going inside any more, I can't do that, but
I'm not done with the experiment yet and I can't just dump the whole
system... I still need to watch it and see how things progress."
"But how can you keep it going? Now that she knows what's going on,
won't it affect the whole simulation...? Besides, maybe it'd be for the
best if you took her out of it so you couldn't see her anymore..."
"No, I can't do that." Dale sighed again as he continued to enter
commands into the terminal. "She's too important to do that. She's the most
advanced part of the simulation... Plus," he added, his eyes beginning to
water up once again, "I don't think I could handle doing that, not right
now.... No, I'm just dumping the last fifteen minutes or so, all of the
discussion we just had. I couldn't just leave her like that..."
As Scott watched, the frozen image of Jessica crying on her porch
disappeared, to be replaced by an earlier scene of Dale and her walking up
towards her house. It was just after their wonderful evening out on the
town, and the moment before Dale had broken the horrible news to her.
Pausing, Dale watched the screen with blurry eyes, staring at the image in
front of him, reminded once again at what he'd been forced to give up.
"There, that should do it..." he muttered, and after another brief
hesitation, he entered the last keystroke to the sequence.
Watching the screen, the two of them saw the image jump into life as
the two figures in the virtual world began their conversation once again.
"Dale, you seemed preoccupied tonight, is something wrong?" Jessica
asked, once again looking just the slightest bit concerned.
"Yeah, I know," the image of Dale responded. "It's just that work's
been busy and there's a few problems I'm having trouble getting off my
mind... I'm sorry I let it take up so much of my thoughts tonight..."
"Oh that's okay, sweetheart. I think I've gotten used to that...
mostly. Besides, if you come inside do you promise that you can keep your
attention focused on me for awhile?"
Smiling, the image of Dale replied "yeah, I know I can do that..."
The two figures kissed, a light simple kiss, but a promise of more
soon to come. Taking her hand, the human and his raccoon lover entered her
home. The scene ended there as the door shut behind them, the virtual
camera not following the characters any further. As the screen cut to
black, Dale turned to look at Scott, smiling slightly. His face showed some
pride in his accomplishment, but the aching sadness in his eyes was plainly
evident.
"What...? You made a copy of yourself," Scott asked incredulously,
"but how... I didn't think it was possible?"
"Well, we can't make a true copy of someone yet, the system isn't that
complex" Dale explained with a slight shaking to his voice. "However, going
through the logs of the last couple months, I was able to model my
responses pretty well. I'm not sure if he thinks like me, and I know he
can't think as deeply, but his actions should match mine fairly well, at
least most of the time... It's the best I could do, hopefully she won't be
able to tell the difference."
"But do you really want a copy of yourself hanging around inside the
system like that?" Scott asked, once again confused by Dale's actions and a
little worried for him. "I know why you're doing it, but it seems kind of
creepy to me."
"Look, what we had was very real to me. It's not just about
maintaining the system's integrity, she means a lot to me and I still care
about her..." He paused, trying to sort through his feelings before
continuing. "I'm not sure how I feel about having a ghost of myself running
around in the machine, but she didn't do anything to deserve this, and at
least one of us should be happy... I owe her at least that much." The
tinge of jealousy in Dale's voice was quite obvious.
Scott only nodded at that, still trying to understand the situation,
but catching more than a glimmer of empathy for his friend's emotions. "I
think I understand Dale, but right now you need to get away from this...
Things can handle themselves okay here for awhile... Come on, I'll buy you
a drink..."
Dale simply nodded. He followed Scott to the doorway, then hesitated
as his friend walked through it, leaving him alone once again. He turned
and gave one last glance back to the now-dark monitor, gazing upon it,
feeling his loss wash over him once again. He paused there, hesitating a
few moments before he could finally leave the room. Before he turned his
head away, he whispered "good-bye Jess" to the equipment humming softly in
the empty lab. Switching off the lights, he then joined his friend waiting
for him out in the hallway.
Once Upon A Halloween
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:47 — dmuth
"Listen," Kelly said, adjusting the mask of her tiger costume, "You were the one who said you wanted to do something. Why are you so grouchy about it?"
He bent his head over the back of the chair, and stared at the wall. "Sorry, I'm just not much for Halloween."
He heard her walk over. Reaching him, she grabbed his jacket, and pulled him forward. He smiled to himself as he saw her, her costume (which was a pair of hip boots, stockings, a leotard with a tail, gloves, mask, and a head band with ears, all in a tiger motif) contrasted well with the chocolate black of her skin, making her looked very sexy.
"You going to be like this ALL night?" she asked.
He tilted his head. "Maybe; if nothing goes too off-kilter, probably not."
She patted him on the cheek. "You have a costume, or are you going to go in that gaudy jacket?"
He glanced at his reflection in the mirror. He was in his usual dress of worn blue jeans, a black sweater over an off-white t-shirt, and an old army jacket. Looking back, he grinned. "I look fine!"
She messed up his hair, letting go of his jacket. "If you insist, get ready to go then." She smiled at him, and walked out of the bedroom, the tail of her costume bouncing as she walked.
He stood, adjusting his sweater, and walked out of her bedroom, into the hall, and into his room. They were among the fifteen occupants of the boarding house they lived in, and didn't exactly live together, nor were they even an item. Henry liked it that way.
Glancing around his room, he sighed. As much as he wanted to go to this party as a normal guest, everything about him was screaming that he should at least be prepared for some problems. Pulling out the top drawer of his dresser, he removed his gun.
Grimacing at the fact that he was only comfortable with it on his person, he checked the clip to be sure it was full. Then, making sure the safety was on (something he did from experience, after once shooting himself in the rear), he put it into it's holster on the back of his belt.
Running his hands over his hair once to try and flatten it out, he stepped out of his room, locking the door behind him. Just in front of the door Kelly waited, a short heavy jacket pulled over her skimpy costume.
"Going to be warm enough?" he asked.
She grinned, showing she had added a pair of fake fangs to the costume, the kind of fangs that are molded for the wearer's teeth and looked real.
Grabbing his arm, she started leading him to the stairs. "Sure! It's only a quick walk to the car."
He shook his head as they descended the steps, and out the front door. On the way, he gave a quick wave to Ms. Baker, the boarding house's owner. He liked her, and the place;, he also was lucky enough to have been able to live there for about four months. That was longer then any other place he had lived at in the past three years.
But that was part of his job, one of the less likeable parts. That, along with always having to eventually leave his friends when his work moved someplace else.
He shook his head a bit, his longish hair tickling the back of his neck. Now was not the time to worry about such things. He was going to a party, and he decided he might as well enjoy it.
* * *
About twenty minutes later, he pulled himself out of the passenger side of Kelly's car. On the other side Kelly was doing the same, dropping the keys into her coat pocket.Slamming the car door, he glanced up at the house where the party was being held. It was a large sprawling manor house; he guessed from the windows that it had at least twenty rooms. It looked to be from the turn of the century, and also in very good condition.
The place was owned by the local colleges, though not located on any of the three campuses. It was used for social functions and other such gatherings, and could also be rented out, like it had been this night.
He proffered his arm to Kelly as she walked around the car. "Would the lady like an escort?"
She smiled, and wrapped her arm around his. "That would be very kind, sir."
They walked the distance to the house, going around the twenty or so other cars in the parking area. Reaching the front door, he knocked. Slowly the door opened, with the obligatory creaking hinge. Behind it stood a zombie butler.
"Come in," he said, pushing the door open for the pair. Kelly stepped in first, unhooking her arm from Henry's. As she passed the threshold, she pulled off her jacket.
"I'll take that," the butler said.
She smiled, handing it to him. "Thanks, Steven."
He nodded, then glanced at Henry. "Are you coming in, sir?"
Henry smiled, stepping inside. "Think so. Maybe," He joked.
Steven glanced at Kelly. She waved her hand. "This is Henry, the one I told you about."
He nodded. "The one with the dry humor."
Henry smiled. "Not dry, dehydrated."
Kelly grinned. "Very dry." Then grabbing Henry's arm, she pulled him inside. "Come on."
They headed up a short set of steps into a large main room, inside of which the party was going on. There were about forty people all told, in costumes ranging from animals to the old classics like Frankenstein, as well as a fake celebrity or two. Henry appeared to be the only one not in a costume.
Glancing back at the butler, he asked, "Who was that?"
Kelly smiled. "Steven, my boss."
This caused a raised eyebrow, an effect he had worked on since the first time he had seen Mr. Spock do it on Star Trek.
Kelly lightly punched him in the arm. "It's a small company, as I said; maybe you should apply for a job. I've seen you with my computer, I'm sure you'd be hired on the spot."
He shook his head. "I can't."
She smiled again. "Ya, you'd rather lounge around and do nothing for a job."
"I wish I could," he said, the phrase having a double meaning.
She shook her head. "Well, talk around. I'm sure there are more than a few people who would love to meet you." Then with a smile, she headed off into the crowd.
Henry shrugged a bit, and headed off to a side room, where refreshments had been set up for the party. Grabbing a couple cookies, he leaned up against the door, and watched the party.
The main room was large, not ballroom sized, but large none the less. It easily held all the people, as well as a stereo-system in one corner, and a karaoke machine in another. He smiled to himself, he never understood the appeal of singing off-key to a video that had the real singer dubbed out.
The party seemed to be well off, most of the people there where dancing to a slow song, a few others stood on the sides of the room talking. He was happy to see that Kelly had already found someone to dance with.
Brushing the hair out of his eyes, he nibbled on the cookies. He wasn't expecting someone to tap him on the shoulder.
He turned, one hand moving back a bit out of habit. Behind him stood a TALL man, at least six and a half feet tall. He had on a vampire costume that went well with his pale skin.
"You must be Henry," the man said with a smile.
He nodded. "Yes I am," he said, letting his hand drop to his side. "Who are you?"
"I'm Bruce."
The name rang a bell with Henry. "'The Gentle Giant' Bruce?"
He nodded. "I see Kelly's told you about me."
"Not that much. Though she obviously told you enough about me so you could find me."
He shrugged. "It wasn't that hard. She guessed you probably wouldn't wear any kind of costume."
He glanced back into the main room, where, now that the music had picked up, everyone was dancing. "She knows me well enough, I would say."
"She also told me you where a gun collector."
Henry turned back to Bruce. "Well, I wouldn't say collector. I have one or two," he smiled, "and a crossbow."
Bruce smiled back. "Crossbow? Now that's a nice toy. I'm not anywhere near a collector, all I have is one I can barely hit anything with."
He shook his head, and was about to go into a rant on the importance of being able to aim, when someone screamed.
Instantly he spun on his heel, and looked back out into the main room. Anyone could tell that the scream wasn't one from a good fright, but someone in real terror, and he could easily see why.
Standing on the far side of the room, in front of the now roaring fireplace, stood an eight foot tall demon.
* * *
Kelly smiled at the lion she was dancing with. His costume was full body, so she couldn't easily guess who it was, but still, she was sure it was Dan. It wasn't that hard of a guess in truth, as he had lions all over his desk at work.As the current song ended, another slow song started. Falling in close to the lion, she started drifting over the floor worth him. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Henry was talking to Bruce; she smiled again, glad he was talking to someone instead of just sitting in a corner starring off into space.
A few seconds later, she heard the lion say, "Who's that?" Which identified him as Dan by his voice.
Looking back behind her, she saw a guy in a cheap devil costume that didn't fit too well. He was alone, and she didn't recognize him. "I don't know. I wonder why Steven let him in."
Dan shrugged in his costume. "Must be one of his friends, or something," he said, sweeping her back up in the dancing.
She happily kept up with him, as she had been seriously considering asking him out to dinner some time in the following days, even if the idea didn't sit too well with her. Though she couldn't help watching the guy in the devil costume out of the corner of her eye.
She didn't know what it was about him that rubbed her wrong, but there was something. He just didn't fit in with the others, in fact most people didn't seem to notice him as he worked his way over to the large brick fireplace that dominated the left wall of the room.
Being the only one in the room to really notice this guy, she was also the only one to see what happened next. As she watched, the fireplace, which had been out, blazed to life around the guy. Looking up at the crowd, he grinned, his face turning a pale, then a dark red.
His body started to expanded inside of his costume, forcing the fabric to it's utmost limits, then slowly ripping though the seams. Where the costume had ripped, Kelly could see large muscles that ANY bodybuilder would give his life for, and yet the man still expanded.
He was growing taller as well, reaching nearly seven feet tall already. She watched in fascination as his legs bent back at his feet, his shoes ripping apart, revealing a pair of hooves. From his forehead grew a pair of deadly looking horns. As the destroyed costume fell away, she saw a tail flicking behind his massive pure red body, the only covering on his form was some kind of loin-cloth that barely covered anything.
Slowly he looked right at Kelly and smiled, showing a pair of sharp yellow fangs. She was amazed, all this had only taken a few seconds, and no one else had apparently seen it.
Then someone else saw the demon, and a scream filled the room.
Instantly Dan pulled away from her, and looked around the room, as did everyone else. Almost at the exact same time, everyone saw the demon. There were a few more screams, and she saw someone next to her in an Army officer's uniform faint.
The demon raised it self up, looking over the crowded room, then smiled. "Dawn is hours away, you are all mine till then." His voice was like a cannon shot in the room.
Many of the people in the room starting shouting. The demon gave a look to the crowd, and they all fell silent. "That's better." He said. Then slowly raising one of his hands, he pointed a claw-tipped finger right at Kelly. "You, step forward."
She gulped, and started walking towards him. Her co-workers, and their dates parted in front of her. The sound of the heels on her costume clicking on the floor was the only sound in the room, the stereo having apparently been turned off.
Stopping in front of the hell-spawn, she looked at him.
"You saw my change," he stated.
She nodded, a bit of hair falling into her eyes.
The demon bent down, and looked her in the eyes. "I see you like being a tiger."
Again she slowly nodded, not liking feeling as defenseless as she did.
The demon stood up tall again, and announced to the room. "My power over you!" Then he flicked one hand down at Kelly. A ball of blue fire fell from his fingers, and hit her right in the face.
She tensed up, wondering what was going to happen. Instantly she got her answer as she felt her face tense up, and a tickle going over her nose, a tickle that got worse. Grabbing her mask, she pulled it from her face, knocking off the headband in the process.
Looking down, she watched as her face changed, the shape of her nose blurred and extended, along with her mouth, and whiskers grew out of her cheeks, as orange and black fur sprouted as well.
The tickling started to spread, first down her arms, and into her fingers. Staring at her hands, she watched the fingertips of her gloves expand, then rip as a pair of claws extended from her fingers. Her arms were already covered in the tiger-striped fur.
She looked down her body, watching the fur grow under her leotard as the tickling moved downwards. As it moved down her legs, the fur grew under her stockings, puffing them out a bit, then finally down her legs, into her feet, which she felt change even though she couldn't see them.
The tickling, now covering her body, started to fade a bit, but before it could, it suddenly all moved right to the base of her spine. Her eyes went a bit wide as she felt what had to be a tail grow out of her, stretching out the back of the leotard, and causing her some pain.
Finally the tickling faded totally. The demon above her laughed, then pointed to the side, where a wall mirror hung. "See yourself!" he ordered.
She turned, already knowing what she would see. She was a tigress in a tigress costume. Her face extended into a perfect little muzzle, with the cat lip, and even her ears poking up through her now much shorter hair. Reaching behind her, she pulled the back of her leotard to the side, letting her real tail spill out one of the leg holes.
"Amazing," she whispered, feeling her fake fangs resting on her tongue, pushed off by the growth of her teeth. Spitting them out into her hand, now paw, she set them on a coffee table a few steps away.
The demon raised himself up again. "Tonight you are mine! I will do with you as I please, as is my right!"
"NO!" Came a yell from the dinning room area. Everyone dived out of the way as Bruce came running, a butcher knife in hand.
The demon wasn't flustered in the least. With another flick of his hand, a second ball of fire flew out, hitting Bruce right in the chest.
He instantly started to change, and unlike Kelly's transformation it was almost instantaneous. His form stretched and blurred, pulling it self into that of a large dog.
The dog crashed at Kelly's feet, tangled in Bruce's costume, the knife on the floor a few feet back.
Smiling, the Demon pointed a finger at the dog that was Bruce. The dog quieted down, then fell asleep. "He won't be bothering me for tonight." Then he looked at Kelly. "You are lucky, you saw me, and I like you. Tonight you shall just observe my fun."
Then reaching into thin air, he pulled out a large leather collar. Before Kelly could react, he had snapped it around her neck. Then again reaching into nothing, he pulled out a leash, which he attached to the collar as well.
Pulling her close to him, he gave her another tooth-filled smile. Then looking over the room he started to size up the occupants.
He pointed his finger at someone's date, who was dressed up as a genie. "I think you will do nicely."
Fire started to build up on his finger, as a smile spread across his lips, but before he could unleash it, the still semi-quiet of the room was ripped apart by the sound of two gun shots. Kelly felt one blast right past her whiskers, and smash into the wall, the other buried it self into the fireplace.
The demon turned his head, his eyes burning, and stared at the door to the dining room. Standing there, holding the fired gun, was Henry.
"You missed," the demon said.
Henry grimaced, then started to run back through the dinning room.
The demon pointed his finger in turn at Dan, someone in a bear suit whom Kelly hadn't been able to place, and another co-worker who was in a Frankenstein costume.
"You, you, and you," he said; at each word a fire ball exploded from his hand. All three were instantly transformed into the same form as the costume they were wearing. The costumes themselves vanished as each person changed, only to show up again in a pile at the end of the fireplace.
"Go get him."
The three turned, and ran after Henry, only a few seconds behind.
The demon turned back to the crowd of people. "Now, where was I?" he asked, an evil smile on his face.
* * *
Henry ran around a corner, cursing himself for missing such an easy shot. Not that he was totally to blame, he hadn't had time to really aim, just point and shoot. Anything longer would have left him open to the same thing that had happened to Bruce.He found himself in a short hallway, that had a staircase to one side. He started pounding up them. In his wake he could hear someone chasing after him. Reaching the top, he turned again, finding that they were covered by a third set of stairs.
Charging up them, he found himself in a short hallway with two doors, one of which was open, and light was shining through it.
"Damn it," he muttered, glancing over the railing, down the stairs. Below him he could see three transformed people coming around the corner, and about to head up the stairs.
Throwing open the door, he ran inside, and found himself in a huge attic. It spanned the whole house, and was covered with graffiti from different college kids who had worked on the place.
Shutting the door behind him, he started to run through the wide open room. The first thing he came across was a large raised area, that covered the entry way. It went back a few feet farther then the rest of room, and was mostly pitch black.
Pulling himself up on it, he scampered back into the darkness; pushing up against the far wall, he hoped he was mostly invisible.
A few seconds after he had gotten into position, he saw the three walk past him, moving slowly, searching for him. Of the three, the bear lingered behind, slowly looking over the room.
Henry took careful aim with his gun, not wanting to miss and do something he would regret. As he fired the gun, the sound of it echoed loudly in the enclosed space of the attic. The bullet ripped through the air, and hit the bear right in the shoulder.
The bear dropped to the floor, his form blurring as he returned to his normal form of a fortyish looking man, with a large potbelly.
Seconds after the bear fell, he heard the other two running over. Sliding out of the smaller area, his ears ringing, he jumped into their path. Then with a better aim then he had before, he hit the Frankenstein in the leg.
He collapsed as well, his form returning to normal.
The lion slowed, and stopped a few feet away, raising his paws. "The Master wants you," he said.
Henry raised an eyebrow. "Does he now? I doubt I will let you escort me." Then, taking aim again, he started to pull back on the trigger.
The lion bolted just as he fired, the slug smashing into the floor. Pushing past Henry, the lion ran out the door to the attic, and down the stairs.
"Damn, that leaves six shots," he muttered, reaching down to check the pulses of the two he had shot. Both were alive, and the bullet wounds were already starting to close up.
Standing, he brushed off his pants. "Mental note, always carry a second full clip." He started back down to the first floor.
This time his path was clear as he slipped back around into the dinning room. Carefully looking around the corner, he saw the demon standing in the center of the room, Kelly held close to him, not looking very happy. At his feet were two more people whom he had transformed into a pair of real black panthers.
The lion stood in front of him, talking to the demon, saying what, Henry couldn't hear, but he could guess. Finally waving the lion away, the demon stood to his full height, then yelled out in a voice loud enough to shake the foundations "O-Saukie!"
Henry stepped out into the open. "You bellowed?"
The demon smiled widely. "What a night, I get to play, and wipe out one of you!" Then in a quick move, he grabbed Kelly, and held her against his body.
"You have to kill her to kill me!" he yelled.
Slowly raising his gun, Henry nodded. "Tell me, what do you know of a Golden Gun?"
This caused the demon to pause. "Nothing."
"Pity," he said, aiming his gun. "That could have saved your life."
The demon laughed. "Fool! Your life shall be the one that needs to be saved!" Then raising his hand, he spread his fingers wide, pointing his palm at Henry. Seconds later a ball of green fire exploded into the air.
Henry grimaced again, but fired anyway. The bullet ripped through the air, and hit the green fire. Instantly both stopped, and the fire changed color from green to red to blue. Then in a flash of light, it vanished, though the bullet remained.
Instantly it was back almost to the speed it had been before, plowing its way through the air, then right into the center of the demon's palm.
The demon look at his hand, then back at Henry. "Silly, very silly."
Henry smiled, still keeping his gun aimed at the demon.
The demon blinked for a second, then looked back at his hand. It's color had turned to dark black, and was starting up his arm. His eyes went wide, as he took a step back, dropping Kelly.
Henry nodded to himself, then said, "Give my regards to infinity." Then with a quick pull of his finger, he fired another round.
The bullet slammed into the demon's chest, sending him back a few paces. Nearly instantly the same blackness spread out from the impact, quickly covering the demon's body. The demon took another step back, before his form started to crumble, then fell into dust on the floor.
As everyone stood captivated by the demon's demise, Henry fired off four more shots. One for each panther, one at the lion, and one at the dog who had been Bruce, who was still asleep in the corner.
Henry aimed at Kelly as well, but as he pulled the trigger, he came up empty. He grimaced again. "Definitely need to always bring a second clip," he said, slipping the gun back into it's holster.
He walked into the room, nodding as he saw that the others who had been transformed had changed back, and were out cold on the floor. Finally Steven, the zombie butler, stopped him. "What the hell happened here?" he demanded.
Henry raised an eyebrow. "What do you think happened? 'Cause that about covers it. Now there are two others up in the attic who should be coming around any time now. These four will be O.K. in a few minutes."
Steven nodded, still looking shocked, then waving to a few people, headed for the attic. Most everyone in the room looked in shock as well.
Henry walked over to Kelly, who was staring at the remains of the demon. "Let's get you back to the boarding house. I can get you back to normal there. Less violently, too."
She looked over at him. "What are you?" she asked.
"Human," he said. Then turned to face the crowd. "Listen everyone. You will all forget about this in about thirty minutes, so don't worry about explaining it. In an hour, all that you will remember is having a good time at the party. Please though, don't leave if you remember this."
They looked like they didn't believe him, but seemed to accept his statement.
Turning back to Kelly, he said, "You'll remember."
This caused her to furrow her eyebrows, as well as twitch her ears. "Why?"
"Because I'm going to have to take you back home to get you back to normal. There for you will move out of the demon's sphere of influence. So when the leftovers of his powers fade, it will take all memories of him from the people in that sphere. The boarding house is well out of that."
She nodded, pulling the collar off from around her neck. "Ok... I guess. I think I want to go home."
Gently taking her arm, he started leading her to the front door. Most of the people didn't seem to notice, as they were talking among themselves.
As he was about to leave, he heard someone calling out, "Stop."
Turning, he saw Steven coming up behind them. "You can't leave yet. You owe me, and everyone else here, one HELL of an explanation."
He smiled. "Listen, I have to go get Kelly back to normal. If you still want one in the morning, call her, and she will get us together. OK?"
Steven glanced at Kelly, then back to Henry. "Fine, but you had better give me one!"
"If you still want me to, I will," he said, then grabbing Kelly's jacket, he went out the door, and started for the car.
Digging out her keys, he opened the passenger side door for her. "I'll drive, if that's O.K."
She nodded, slipping inside the car. Henry moved to the driver's side, and got behind the wheel.
"That was mean, what you did to Steven," Kelly said, moving around in the seat a bit.
"It's true though; if he asks for one, I'll give it."
She looked at him, grinning some. "Yes, but I doubt he will remember to ask."
He 'hummed'. "Yes, there is that," he said, starting up the car.
She sighed. "Damn, it's hard to sit with this tail."
He nodded, pulling the car onto the road. "I would bet."
Finally she settled on a position in the seat. "You owe me an explanation, you know."
He nodded again. "Are you sure you want to hear it?"
"Yes."
Henry licked his lips. "Once upon a time, there was a man who sold his soul for a Golden Gun--"
Kelly cut him off. "Golden gun? Get serious here."
He gave her a sharp look.
She inched back a bit. "Ok, I'll let you tell it."
He grinned a bit. "Silly tigress. Now as I was saying, there was this Golden Gun. Along with it came six bullets, each of gold as well. If you carved someone's name on the bullet, and shot it, it would find them and kill them."
"A real bullet with your name on it."
He nodded. "Now, he used the first five to right what he felt were serious wrongs against his family. The sixth he saved, knowing that using it would then give his soul to the demon he had gotten the gun from. So he buried it, where only he knew, and went off to try and stop the demons in this world."
She paused, "which brings us to you."
He nodded. "Yes, I'm an assassin. Less than a good guy, and more then a villain. A real demon hunter, an O-Saukie. I have been for the past three years."
She leaned forward a bit. "So you're trying to find this demon you sold your soul to, and kill him, so he can't collect?"
Henry let out a deep chuckle, taking the car around a corner. "No... well... kind of. You see, it was my brother Justin who I'm talking about. He went out, signed up for all this, and promptly got himself killed."
Kelly looked down. "I'm sorry."
He shrugged with his head. "It's something I've lived with. So here I am, signed up in the same thing. Searching for the demon he got the gun from, as he is the only person in this universe who knows where it was buried."
"What will you do when you find it?"
He paused, as he pulled the car in front of the boarding house. Then he turned to her, and smiled. "I write a name on the last bullet, then point it down."
She slowly nodded. "I think I see."
He stepped out of the car, throwing her coat to her. "Come on, let's get you inside, and back to normal."
Digging into his pocket, he pulled out the front door key. As he was slipping it into the lock Kelly asked, "What would have happened if you weren't there?"
He paused, "Off hand, he would have had his way with all of you all night long. Then sent you home, with memories of having a great time at the party, and a three hour gap with a thinly buried memory of a mass alien abduction."
She laughed. "Alien abduction?"
He nodded, opening the door. Sticking his head in, he made sure it was all clear. "Ya, in this world, if you said you met a demon that transformed you, and had his way with you, more people would believe that than if you said you were abducted by aliens."
She grinned. "I never thought of it that way."
He shrugged, pulling her up the stairs. "Well, doesn't that explain a lot?"
She nodded.
"Now, I suggest you go get into something a bit more comfortable for your current form, and I'll get all that is needed to turn you back."
She nodded again, then slipped into her bedroom.
Henry sighed and went into his room. Throwing the gun onto his dresser, he pulled out the top drawer. Pulling out his locked box, he opened it, and took out a spare clip, replacing it with the one in his gun. He then took out a small pill, and set it to the side.
Then reaching under the bed, he pulled out his suitcase, and threw it on the bed. Scooping up his clothing from where he had thrown it, he started shoving it inside the case.
He was part way through when he heard Kelly say, "What are you doing?"
Turning, he saw her standing in the doorway, wearing a tight bathrobe. He could see her tail slowly swaying behind her.
"I'm packing," he stated.
She tilted her head. "I can see that, but why?"
He blew air over his teeth. "Because you know, because they may still suspect. Because of many things. I'm just glad the bullets dissipate after they're used, or there would really be problems."
She stepped inside the room, closing the door behind her. "Henry--" she started.
He shook his head. "Don't try, O.K.? I'm just glad my work didn't follow me home this time."
"Happens a lot?"
He nodded, closing the suitcase, and sliding it off the bed. "Too much."
Kelly nodded, taking his hand in hers. "If that is what you want. Now about changing me back. I do hope you're not going to shoot me."
He smiled. "No, no need. I only did that because I didn't come prepared for a demon attack. Usually I carry some pills made out of the same stuff I coat the bullets in. There is one sitting on the dresser for you."
She looked at it, then back at him. Slowly she pulled him down onto the bed. "What would happen if I didn't take it?" He pulled back one side of his mouth. "In a few days you would start changing back, in a week you would be your normal self again. It would be quite painful."
"How long can I wait before I must take the pill?"
"As long as you want." He said. "Why, are you thinking of staying this way for a time?"
She grinned. "Well it does keep the bed warm."
He chuckled. "If that's what you want. Come over any time before I leave so you can get the pill, O.K.?"
She cocked her head to one side. "But I don't want you to leave."
He shook his head. "That isn't an option."
"Bull, you can stay here if you want to, nothing is standing in your way. It's not like I would tell, and no one would believe it anyway, and if you're right, the others won't even remember! What are you running away from?"
Henry paused, looking at her, then down at his feet. "I'm not sure."
She rolled her eyes. "Let's put it this way, is it me?"
He blushed. "Ya... I guess it is. I think I'm kind of attracted to you."
She snickered. "Well, I'll be," she said, a bit of a southern accent creeping into her voice, "the feeling is finally mutual!"
He blinked. "What?"
She shook her head, running her fur covered paw over his arm. "You have to be the densest person I have ever met. I've been attracted to you since the day you moved in! What do you think all those lunches and dinners were about?"
"Ah... food?"
She laughed. "I guess so! But the point is, I was trying to get that across to you."
He shrugged. "I guess it kind of worked."
She grabbed him around the neck, and before he could react, kissed him hard on the mouth.
He stiffened up for a second, then as if unbidden, melted into her arms, the kiss extended between them, becoming deeper and more passionate with every passing second.
Finally the kiss ended. It lasted only a minute, but had felt like years to them both.
Kelly smiled down to him. "Do you like me this way?"
He slowly nodded. "I think I would like you any way. But you are so nice as a real tigress."
She kissed Henry on the cheek. "Then I'll stay this way as long as I can, for you."
He blushed again. "I'm flattered."
Snickering, she slowly moved over to the far side of his bed, by the door. "Good." Then slowly reaching up, she flicked off the lights in the room.
Neither one of them got much sleep that night.
This story is (c) 1999 by Fox Cutter, hardcopy reprints limited to one a person, all other rights reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may not be removed.
Lying and Cheeting
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:42 — dmuthMy holomask flickers as I stand at the bus door, the driver frowns suspiciously at me. Is it through the wonder of seeing someone with the device in the first place? I run my hand across the tag reader, my details and a photo come up on the screen beside him. My mask is displaying the image of my real face as stored on the tag embedded in my right palm. It’s hard to fake tag information; any changes are logged on the tag and if they don't correlate with the information on the government databases the n you are in trouble.
Learning to Fly
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:35 — dmuth
Consciousness came to me slowly, as I drifted from my long slumber and realized that I was awake. I slowly opened my eyes, and blinking a couple of times, my vision cleared to reveal my surroundings: a typical Somani hospital room. I was disoriented at first from my long period of unconsciousness, but then everything suddenly clicked into place, and my memory returned to me. It was then that I excitedly craned my neck, looking over my shoulder, trying to see as much of my back as possible. I didn't
Jevenetenna
Sun, 2006-01-15 16:30 — dmuthBy Chris Wenham
| " |
don't believe in Destiny,
Or the Guiding hand of fate. I don't believe in Forever, Or love as a mystical state. I don't believe in the Stars or the Planets, Or Angels watching from above. But I believe there's a Ghost of a Chance, We can find someone to love. And make it last." |