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tightrope

the parameters utilized when faced with the task of dening any

metaphysical concept such as, being alive, or deceased, or

predeceased, present as semantically spun sugar. These states

of matter are not bound by traditional rules of language, but seem

to prefer languishing in the loftier realms, where they are free to

bathe in the perpetual light of open interpretation and unlimited

uidity. tandard utilization is accessible to all, however , it is a

scant few specialized and privileged that are bold enough to

reach past the barriers of convention and bend the rules of

!tilitarianism" in essence reshaping the concept so that it serves

their purpose.

Tranquility Park

#oppycock$, !nfair$, shout the masses, enraged by such

discrimination, but their protests go unnoticed by the powerful,

who patronize them with constitutional crumbs devised for this

purpose in order that they may be assuaged with feelings of

victory for having e%ercised their inalienable rights to publicly

assemble and speak freely. &ot true they e%claim, while ailing

about wildly and pointing to past successes. 'hat about (ivil

rights$, )*ual +ights$, 'omans +ights$- They ask, strutting

about like roosters in a hen house hung and pung and

slapping each other on the back$ The lawfully assembled crowd

started to shout in unison, sts pumping the air, +ights$ +ights$

+ights$

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Europe

/ar away in the manicured grounds of a (hateau in #rovence,

/rance, at the end of a meticulously manicured row of blooms a

little girl stopped running, her long braids midair seemed to pause

a split second as she turned *uickly to address her twin ,

0tticus, she whispered, did you hear that- 12ear what, /i- 3

didnt hear anything. &othing but the dumb birds, and all

mothers loud guests. 0tticus turned and looked back towards

the (hateau" he could see the people all moving towards the

large rectangular Te%as pine table which had recently arrived from

home. 2ey /i, we better start back its time to eat. /i looked

deep into her brothers eyes and said, 3 know you heard it, 3 know

you did because were twins and you cant hide anything from

me. 0tticus /leming, age 4, grabbed his sister by the hand and

began to pull her back towards the house, 5our correct /i, 3

heard it.

The dinner gong sounded and peals of laughter carried by the

fragrant heather rolled over the eld towards the children. 0tticus,

always the proper little gentleman pulled /i faster up the hill to

the pool side of the (hateau.

5ou know /i dont you think it *ueer that 6ummy brought that

big pine table all the way from Te%as- /i crinkled her nose,

&o 3 don7t, and 6ummy is always moving things around until she

gets them 8ust right like she says. 0tticus shook his head,

&o /i, 3 meant how all the stu9 here is from Te%as and all the

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stu9 at home is from /rance. 3ts as if 6ummy has stu9

backwards.

0ss backwards you mean$ /i looked at her brother and smiled

her eyes twinkling.

5ou better stop saying that" you know how mad 6ummy gets

when you say that. 0tticus spoke rmly. :ut /i always did

whatever /i wanted to do 6ummy doesnt like it because 0untie

#am says it all the time$ 0tticus shot /i a reproaching look and

continued walking.

5eeehaaa, yeeehaa;the whoops and hollering from the dinner

party sliced the pastoral calm, somehow tearing the very fabric of

time.

+ights, +ights, +ights$ The twins stopped moving and turning

towards each other said in unison,

there it is again$ /i *uickly added,

Twin 8in%$ 0tticus yanked her wrist and pulled her up the nal

hill to the (hateau.

0tticus, /i, there you are my darlings, go wash up from your

adventures and 8oin us at the table dears.

16other always smells like a spa, thought 0tticus"

1and wine, thought /i, they both broke out giggling" their mother

raised one eyebrow and said,

6y angels, what is so funny- abrina /ranzheim /leming

reached her arms out towards her children, as if cued they both

ran and each clung to a side of her owing silk caftan and gazed

adoringly into her face. 'ith faces upraised one noticed that the

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twins7 skin was almost translucent and if one were to look closely

one could see the blue blood coursing through their delicate

veins.

+un up to the nursery and change /rau chmidt is waiting for

you. 2olding hands they left their mothers side and skipped,

weaving in and out to avoid 6others guests, all who were, as /i

called it, blasted.

Houston Heights

he stood in the doorway of her tudio and looked to the sky" a

single white (essna ew directly overhead. )very

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he turned towards the house and noticed a van at the end of her

driveway" the back of the van was open, an assortment of cables

and wires hung from hooks. 0 man appeared from the far side of

the van holding a rectangular wire cage by a handle... she

couldn7t believe her eyes,

0re those rat7s- she asked, startling the man who had a black

ponytail, he *uickly slid the cage into the van, slammed the doors

and briskly drove away.

>h my ?od, >6?$ he said aloud, shaking her head,

3 never even entertainedthe idea that they played any part... but

of course they did$ 'hat a stroke of luck that 3 was in my

driveway so early$ They had done a nice 8ob with this round of

interference, really it was e%tremely clever and so well

implemented, 137d like to meet whoever came up with that idea

she thought to herself. @ittle did she knew, she already had.

he tried to remember e%actly when the rodent problem started,

the rats seemed to have appeared overnight, and at rst she

thought there must be a citywide epidemic of rats. 'hile in her

back yard one evening, she watched as her two shepherds ran

back and forth, chasing things in the yard. >pen closer

e%amination she s*uealed, the rats were running up the drainpipe

to her neighbors garage apartment by the dozen. ince that day

the wires and power lines around her home appeared to be the

preferred route to and from anywhere a rat would travel. 3t was

soon thereafter that the smell began" rats were dying in between

her walls, a horrid putrid smell that made her want to vomit.

)ventually her childrens father came around and tore the siding

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o9 the house and diligently removed the maggot lled carcasses.

That had been about two weeks ago, since then she had taking to

shooting the rats at night with a pellet gun much to the chagrin of

her neighbors, and now a man holding a cage full of live rats in

front of her houseA (oincidence- !nlikely.

he took one last glance at the street before going inside, and at

that very moment, a di9erent manAonAaAbike slowly peddled past,

his eyes dead ahead, a wicker basket attached to the front, and

whatever he had in there Ait was always covered with a small

towel.

'hats in the basket- she called out from her front door. :ut the

manAonAtheAbike kept looking straight ahead and road past,

nevertheless she still caught him looking at her in the rear view

mirror.

he threw her head and laughed,

Thats it$ 3 have had enough$ 3t7s time to do something about all

this. 3f she wasnt crazy she sure acted like she was.

Umbrellas

Bid you see what 3 got you- 2er e% asked her, C3ts out backC.

he could only imagine what it would be this time, an old pot, a

slate blackboard- 0ll gifts from the street, harvested between

midnight and dawn prior to the municipalitys heavy trash pickA

up, which only occurred once every two months. &ot to say that

there werent treasures to be found in another trash, indeed at

times there were" but this new group of derelict loafers seemed to

relish in both the hunt and the harvest. 3n fact there e%ists a

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microcosm in our culture whose only livelihood is found through

the e%ploration of trash heaps, commercial dumpsters and

donation bo%esA those large wooden containers which dot every

0merican suburb, all packed full with new or gently worn discards

from a culture whose idolatry with self has created a misshapen

monster. . This was her 0merica, 0 godless place, where a soul is

bought for a penny and traded for a pound, only to be sold for a

penny again.

'hat is it- he asked,

?o see for yourself, #andora loves it, so you will too. 2e led the

way through the kitchen then through her bedroom to the back

door. he had added onto the house after her father died, 8ust a

bedroom suite for herself, so she could have some privacy and

some needed peace and *uiet, but the contractors had messed

up and put the back door in the wrong place and now the back

yard was only accessible from her bedroom resulting in a never

ending stream of animals, children and friends, which seemed to

saunter through DE hrs. a day.

he opened the back door, the heat, even at midnight, was

overwhelming, it was like walking into a steam bath.

0n umbrella, a very big umbrella. 'ithout a stand she

commented, raising an eyebrow at her daughter who sat on the

steps te%ting, #andora arched her eyebrow in response and went

back to her interface.

&ice, 3 guess, where7d you get it-

3n heavy trash, he said.

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(ool and then she turned and went back into the cool connes

of her room.

2er children7s father, mike was at the center of all her problems,

although they were never married they divorced in DFFE due to

his indelity, and since then he had become sketchy. /or years

she wasn7t privy to the basics such as" where he lived, or what his

phone number was or how to reach him in case of an emergency

with the children. That being said it suces to say he didn7t really

care, or that he wasn7t concerned per se for their safety, but was

more focused on him. 3n fact she didn7t even know what he even

did to survive, but here and there she was piecing together truths

which leaned towards his being a bit of a predator, picking hard

working women and forcing himself into their lives and then

torturing them with mind games. +egardless he still found time to

interfere with her life on a regular basis. 0nd lately he was

dropping by way too much, usually at E pm. /or a status report

she assumed. 3t did not matter how many times she had him

arrested or led restraining orders, simply put he would never

stay gone" and for the record let it be said that this was no love

a9air, they hated each other and it showed.

The ne%t day one of her weird friends stopped by and wanted

her to see his pool. he could only imagine what kind of set up it

would be so she went for a look, there in the driveway of his

garage apartment was a kids blow up paddle pool complete with

life guard stand , no diving g signs and of course the lifeguards

umbrella. To be e%act a rather pricy new umbrella complete with

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stand which hung from a curved arm directly over the makeshift

lifeguards chair.

(ool she said, where7d you get it-7 2e started cranking it shut,

uh a friend of mine found a couple and gave me one. 'e always

share our nds , he kept one and gave me this one. of all of her

weird crowd, this guy was near the top of the list, ?ondola ?uy, is

what we call him, #andora named him the rst night we saw him

riding a super long skate board e*uipped with twinkly lights, but,

this wasn7t your usual skateboarder who gains momentum by

pushing with their feet, this dude used a long homemade paddle

to push the ground rst on one side then the other, as if he was

guiding a canoe on water.. Their rst encounter she was at a

stop sign in the neighborhood and he poled past her, nice ride,

she said in his direction, he stopped, turning around to look at us,

and swooped up his board and walked back to the E was stop.

That initial meeting was probably a random encounterA before the

devils who do the powerfuls bidding, viewed him as one who

might be benecial as yet another recruit in this new war.

'hen she was a kid she liked the techni*ue used in checking long

subtraction problems, you 8ust add up the two bottom rows and

they should total the top number her fth grade 6ath teacher

6r. 'ilson announced. 0nd check she did, and not 8ust with math

problems which were few and far between. he liked to check up

on other things, like facts, leads and hunches" she thought she

was pretty fucking well at it, and, unfortunately, she was right, too

right.

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@ater that night she 8umped on her bike and rode nine blocks

north, upon reaching the alley she *uickly ditched her bike and

started walking down the dead end. The upstairs lights in the

garage apartment were on, so she tiptoed and looked through the

fence" and there in all its opened glory stood an umbrella e%actly

like the others, all about G ft. tall and cranked open.

o be it, she thought, as she 8ogged *uickly down the darkened

alley to where she had dropped the bike.

10nd 3 thought she was my friend she said to herself. )%cept that

about a month ago her so called friend had stolen her purse and

her with it her complete identity.

The simultaneous appearance of the three !mbrellas bothered

her" she saw it as a bad omenA for herAa symbol of protection over

her enemies. This interpretation t nicely in e%plaining the triads

collective shift in behavior and manner of speech, knowing they

were safe they acted boastful, aggressive, and patronizing.

he considered the !mbrellas as an indicator of upcoming nality"

freedom from an onslaught of mind games and power plays

orchestrated by minds considered far superior then hers. The

past seven years derailed her at every opportunity, and from

every direction, and now the devils were boldly placing symbols of

protection over their soldiers" 8ust thinking about it caused the

hairs on her neck to stand on end.

Early morning

he couldnt sleep at all and neither could her children" so here

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they sat, =HDD am, and no one has slept, they sense it too, she

thought. 3ts close, she thought, but she had thought it would end

years agoAwrong, now all the signs came at her at once, the

e%pressions the lasses faire attitude, the knife point at the back of

her neck Icourtesy of her e%J, the lies, so many lies. he stood up

from her bed, sleep would certainly not come this late, and she

walked outside. 0fter checking up and down the street, for

1creepers as she called them, and seeing that in both directions

there wasnt a sole or headlight to be seen, she walked over and

got on her bike, 1shit, 3 guess 3m not going anywhere on this

thing$ 1The tires were both at most likely knifed by 6ike in the

night. he was pissed, looking around she saw the %, she took

the back wheel o9 her sons bike and after removing the attened

rear tire on hers she maneuvered the tire on the chain and the

derailed and promptly peddled away. The two bikes had had

di9erent gear ratios and the new conguration made peddling

awkward, 3 should have taken the car, she said aloud. 0nd what

go to 8ail- &o, this was the right choice, she told herself.

)verywhere she went, the (onstables seem to follow her, she had

come to dread white vehicles and they arrested her too. Trips to

court only to be releasedA never given paperwork, no paper trail

of the harassment, nothing but her word versus theirs. They

seemed to en8oy putting her in 8ail" she asked one ocer how

much the reward for her capture was. They locked her up in the

county 8ail, where she stayed until #andora managed to bond her

out. o she avoided her car, law enforcement ocers preferring to

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stay home. That decision did not provide a guaranteed sanctuary

from incarceration and when one day she did not promptly open

the door, she was arrested for evading arrest and contributing to

the nonattendance of a minor. The report said she ran" where-

he was already inside her house-

he rode right up to the door and knocked, but something was

strange, the blinds were all shut and bo%es of 8unk were stacked

by the trash. he peered through a small crack the place was

completely empty. 2er mind suddenly became a blender, bits and

pieces of conversation, gestures, and glances all resurfacing at

once. he had stopped by yesterday with 6ike for

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she made some e%cuse to leave his very basic company, fuck,

what is happening around here-

>n her way back from discovering the vacant and very large

garage apartment she noticed she had drawn some attention,

very new and very e%pensive silver #orsche K

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life, at least nothing since her /athers death , when she had

attorneys le a will contest.

within LF or so days , secret emails started owing between her

attorneys and the attorneys from 0ndrews Murth, who, as

independent administrators, represented her fathers )state. The

email e%change continued, in addition to re*uests for documents

from the @ouisiana 0bstractor 3 had contracted so that 3 might

understand and study division orders, assignments and other

such noteworthy transactions, re*uests for documents previously

unseen by me prior to the will contest nor during it. 3n other words

my attorneys shared the information between them, and then

discussed it with the other side, leaving me, their client,

completely out of the loop, no mention was ever made of these

documents, it was months laterA after the settlement agreement

that 3 came upon them. 3t wasnt long after that one by one her

attorneys, who had agreed to stay on the case for seven years,

shortly after she had ac*uiesced by signing the /amily ettlement

0greement. he had avoided any law suits, although she believed

she was well within her bounds to do so, and was certain legal

action must be endured if ) could sustain long enough but the

barrage of interference, the kidnapping threats, the murder

threats compounded by the continued surveillance had forced her

to hit the pause button. he was certain that she had made no

overt action which might have initiated this never ending hell, at

least not purposely, but one thing for sure, she certainly knew

who had.

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FACTS, ON! FACTS

Nwp;. Nup;Nup;Nwp;.Nup;.Nup;.Nwp;.Nup;..Nup;.

The repetitive sound of the blades turning nally crossed the

barrier of her unconscious mind. he turned and opened her eyes,

the room was blackened, all shades pulled down and curtains

closed, entombing her in the pure black. he forced her eyes to

stay open and allowed them to ad8ust to the pitch. 2ere and there

about the room, minute shafts of pure white made attempts to

pierce through the darkness. 3nstantly she recognized the sound,

its accompanying vibrations passed through her slight frame with

resounding rhythm, she could tell that it was close by.

Too close, she said aloud to herself. he had developed the

habit of sleeping in her clothes. 3n fact she had been doing so for

years now, her acute hyperAvigilance Iwhat others referred to as

her paranoiaJ kept her in a constant >& state. &o longer could

slumber o9er her a retreat from her worries. 0s of late she

regarded sleep as an inherent human weakness, a waste of timeA

and her time, she felt, was on running out, ready to be snatched

from her at any moment.

omething dark watched her" she could feel its covetous gaze

focused on her. he had always felt wanted, but this desire was

searing, she felt it crave for her. 0nd whatever or whoever it was,

she felt their presence more often than not.

3t was her resilience and determination which the ?ods found

amusing" who now, in one of their surprise visits circled

impatiently over her cottage. he 8umped from the bed, the back

door of her house was to her immediate right, by the time she

had undone the locks and bolts thrice,

2er shepherds were at her heel, always ready to defend her from

whatever was on the other side of that door.

1:ack, get back, she yelled. The pup had not yet learned to

submit and stubbornly attempted to go out before her. he

reached down into the inky black and snatched the pup by her

collar dragging it away from the door. lowly she cracked the door

open and slipped out into the bright sun.

he moved instinctively down the stairs, staying close to the

house so that she might be provided with some cover from those

that were viewing her from above. he continued to edge along

the side of the house looking skyward" it was early /ebruary and

the pecan tree was bare of leaves, allowing her to see through its

limbs to the sky above.

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70h...there you are,7 she said to the bird circling

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72mmn. >M. 5ou got that one, well how about this one-7 she

*uickly ran to % another sail, once it was fastened, she pulled

hard on the ropes hoisting it skyward.

The bird was already heading her way. 3t dropped for a betterview. he signaled to the sail, then to herself. The bird stopped

circling and hovered directly above her for about a minute, her

body shook from the vibration it produced. 3t then lifted skyward

and turned to leave, she waved goodbye, and it made one last big

circle and then gained altitude and ew northward.

he watched it until she could no longer distinguish its form, and

then 8umped down from the overturned trough she had climbed

on to signal to the bird, she started to walk towards her backdoor now under the canopy created by the sails, she gazed

upward viewing them in reverse,

>h shit, now what have 3 done-

:ehind her house was an alley which had been there since the

neighborhood had rst been established over a hundred years

ago- 'hen she rst moved into her house the 2eights was still in

1transition, predominantly poor, 2ispanic and black, with asprinkling of bohemian types, artists, musicians and liberals, who

saw the charm of the 2istoric homes and en8oyed the small town

feeling which the 2eights then o9ered. +ecently things had

changed and now only a few 2ispanic families remained, the

:lack population had switched from poor to professional, and

homes that sold a decade ago for

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piece of paint splattered duct tape which she had used a while

back to make a wallet. 2ow the tape could have traveled all the

way to the pressed down undergrowth disturbed her, so she

*uickened her pace and followed the dogs out of the dark alley.

0 couple of months earlier she was cutting through the alley with

her dogs when a small white ob8ect had caught her eye. he

picked it up and rolled it between her ngers, it appeared to be a

fragment of bone, the shape puzzled her, and it was round and

about the size of a large pea. he leaned over and picked up a

stick and began to scratch around in the dirt at her feet,

immediately the ground gave up its treasure, dozens of

fragments, most all were the same size and shape. The female

dog pulled at her leash she was panting, it was probably

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was dark red in color and spongy to the feel, the smell from the

dirt grew pungent as she lifted several smaller oyster shaped

bones, which looked as if they might be part of skull" an e%tremely

small skull.

The spongy tissue was home to a variety of blood worms,

centipedes, beetles and other scavengers" 8udging by the amount

of insect activity the bones were probably no more than a year in

the earth.

0s she was bagging her samples a man approached her and

in*uired as to what she was doing. he held up a small white

chunk and from behind her mask said,

:ones, possibly, teeth, perhaps a graveside, cannibals or maybe

a serial killer-

Rust dont tell my wife, >M- 3t will frighten her. 'ithout awaiting

a response he turned away and walked into the garage of the

house closest to her.

>M. he said to no one in particular.

he was cleaning the bone fragments when she found a smallcurved copper rod, about an inch and a half long with a loop on

one end. 2e was back again, having appeared in the garage the

night before, she went to the garage and asked him what it was.

0 fastener he said in a matter of fact tone.

1&ah, it looks more like a clip, or an early tool used to cut the

umbilical cord, and its copper. he announced.

3ts copper- he asked taking it from her and striking it on the

concrete oor. ure is., he handed it back to her.

1o you still think its a fastener- she asked him.

&o, its probably an 3!B.

12ere we go on the crazy merry go round she thought to herself,

sure, why not. he said as she went back to her trays of

fragments outside. he continued to sift and sort through the

fragments but her mind wasnt on what was before her. he was

trying to remember when she had found the little one inch piece

plastic shaped like a snake. 3 think it was about D weeks ago she

thought to herself, she had found the item under the surface ne%t

to some bone chunks" the greenish plastic was a sharp contrast

to the brown earth. 3t was too small to have been a toy of any

kind, measuring appro%imately an inch at most. he remembered

asking him at the time what he thought it was, his reply was

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instantaneous,

0n 3!B.C he looked back to his laptop,

>utside under the shade of one of her painted sails she said

aloud,

2es doing it again.

he put down the sifting tray and removed her gloves and mask,

then headed back to the garage, she pushed the door, and it was

locked, so she knocked once,

2ello-

2e unlocked the deadbolt,

5es, he answered.

2ow do you know so much about contraceptives- 'hen would

you have ever even seen an 3!B-

3 wanted to be a gynecologist he replied.

'hy- o you could look at pussy all day-

#retty much. 2e never looked up, not even once.

'hy werent you then-

:ecause 3 realized they didnt know anything he said, never

looking up from whatever it was that he was doing.

the truth was he didnt have the stick to it nessC re*uired to

bear the years out. 2e thought he was smart and there were a

handful of those who thought he was a genius. omething wasodd about his knowledge" recently she had an epiphany moment,

3ts as if whoever made you downloaded whatever the current

version of the )ncyclopedia :ritannica was at that time into your

head. he shook her head,

:ut they forgot to add any social nuances to your program" 3

dont need a reference point to things 3 ask you, 3 am looking for

an opinion. 3ts as if you dont have one of your own or rather that

their programming supersedes any thought that you might be

cable of creating on your own. C2mmn interestingC but she knew

that without her, his life was meaningless. !nfortunately she

failed to see that her demise was what kept him around.

>M, she said, so you want to hear my skew on whats

happening in the alley-

&o comment.

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he was used to his aloof silence" he used it like a shieldA not to

defend but to conceal, and, to provoke his enemies, and now he

used it especially to provoke her.

5oure kidding right-&ope.

he threw her head back and laughed like she hadnt in decades"

it was more like a roar and she continued laughing for some time.

F"ANCE

0tticus, did you hear that- /i cocked her head, 0tticus$

0tticus who was dressed in his nightclothes, sat perched on the

large window seat"

(ome look /if, another one 8ust pulled in the main gates, and its

coming down the driveway. /rom the twins vantage point, which

was above the trees, the lights of the car appeared to icker and

ash as it slowly wound its way to the (hateau.

o whats new- 3ts probably another one of 6others stupid

parties, /i went back to combing her curly brown hair.

3ts almost midnight and so far 3ve counted seven cars and not

even one of them unloaded any luggage.

/i climbed o9 her big four post bed and ran lightly across the

room to the window seat,

@et me look she said pushing her brother.

They watched as the large black :entley slowed at theguardhouse, it then pulled into the circular drive and stopped at

the front door directly below them.

&ow watch /i, youll see, there is no luggage at all, not even an

overnight bag. 0tticus leaned forward for a better look.

The twins bedroom suite was directly over the front door of the

(hateau, /is room was in the east wing and 0tticus was in the

west wing, the rooms were 8oined by a spacious parlor whosecentral architectural feature was the deep bay window which

actually 8utted out like a ying buttress, a9ording the occupants

of the room a uni*ue birds eye view of the driveway and the

entrance below.

The driver sprung from the car and spun around to open the rear

door, he then leaned forward and e%tended his arm as if o9ering

it for support.

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@ook, 0tti, the chau9eur is wearing white gloves, /i whispered,

hhh$ 0tticus said.

/rom within the :entley a long suited arm emerged and grasped

the chau9eurs arm, the twins leaned forward until theirforeheads touched the two hundred year old leaded frames of the

window,

@ook, a cane, /i held her breath,

0 face suddenly appeared from the blackness of the car and

sharply looked up at the window, the twins 8umped back as if

caught in the act of committing a horrible prank.

?rand #ere they gasped simultaneously. They 8umped down

from the bench and ran *uickly to /is large bed. /i then pulled

the drapes closed on all sides and they sat still in terror, waiting

to see what would happen ne%t.

:ut no one came to get them, no one knocked, not even

6ademoiselle" in fact since they had washed and changed into

their sleeping gowns, not a soul had entered the nursery.

#erhaps they forgot about us, 0tticus whispered to his twin,

Boubtful, /i said, 3m going to take a look.

#erhaps you shouldnt 0tticus said, grabbing his sister by the

arm.

Then perhaps you should. /i yanked her arm away and climbed

down the little stairs from her large bed. he tiptoed to the door

and leaned over to look in the keyhole"

2ere goes, she announced

/i, dont$ but it was too late, /i had already turned the knob"

3ts locked$ she s*ueaked in horror" she turned and ran back to

her bed.

@ocked- 0tticus asked his eyes wide with disbelief.

5ou try, 0tti, go on be brave, you go try. /i was frightened" she

had turned pale, if a porcelain doll can get any whiter. 0tticus

*uietly slid o9 the bed and crept to the door" he started to turn

the ancient doorknob then stopped and motioned for his twin to

come to the door. he crept down the little stairs, and she

stepped on the last one it creaked, causing both of them to freeze

momentarily, then she tiptoed to the door.

@isten, 0tticus said,

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To what-

Rust listen 0tticus stood frozen at the door his head turned

slightly" /i held his arm and stood still"

(ant you hear that- 0tticus asked, his sister turned her head tolisten,

>h that- 0tticus you are so stubborn, thats e%actly what 3 asked

you before you started about the silly cars on the driveway.

+emember- 5ou 8ust ignored me.

The twins both turned towards the window and tilted their heads,

as if tuning into the sound" although it was distant it sounded

familiar and friendly. The sudden sound of footsteps on the spiralstaircase caused them to dart for the bed"

&o 0tti, get out of my bed, *uick go to your own bed, hurry. /i

stretched out her hand as if reaching for a drowning man, come

right back when theyve gone, okay- she pleaded in a small

voice.

0tticus slid down and bolted across the wood oor, a oor which

had felt a thousand souls pass over it, his slight frame barelyregistered on the oak planks permitting him to cross the room

without making a sound.

>nce in bed he pulled the blankets over his head 8ust as someone

pushed a large key in the keyhole and turned it, unlocking the

door and swinging it open.

HOUSTON Heights

The ma8ority of the people who lived on either side of the alley

were all new to the neighborhood, or to put it another wayA these

newcomers had all moved in afterher fathers death, and, oddly

enough, they all had ties to one oil company or another. >ne

could reasonably argue that such a high concentration of

petroleum professionals, living in close pro%imity to downtown

2ouston, was to be e%pected" however, what made it odd wasthat none of the new people worked, and, what was even more

bizarre was that all of the remaining original residentsA the old

timersA had stopped working as well. 2owever one approached

the sub8ect, the end result was the same, that being said, all was

not as it seemed on these two blocks in 2oustons premier

2istoric Bistrict, akaA the 2eights.

>uch, theyre on me again

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he could feel the bugs on her hands, arms and ankles. he

*uickly dropped the tweezers she was holding to e%amine a small

fragment of skull, and reached for a ashlight" with the other

hand she tried to focus the large magnier on her hand. he

aimed the ashlight and looked through the large loop" her skinresembled an arid, parched desert, cracked and dry,

?osh, 3m ancient she said as she continued searching for the

bugs,

There you are you little shit, she said to the microscopic clear

centipede which crawled out from behind a crack on the surface.

he stood up *uickly and grabbed a bottle of bleach from the

shelf under the window, pushed the door open, stepped outsideand began to pour the bleach all over her body, rubbing it into

her arms and legs,

0hh, better, much better.

'hy do 3 keep going back there she said aloud. atised that

the itching had stopped and that she had killed whatever it was

that was living on the surface of her skin, she walked back into

the garage.

2ow long do you think those bugs can survive on the bones-

she asked, it was obvious that she had interrupted whatever it

was that he was working on because he suddenly shut his laptop

and said,

'hat is it youre asking me- clearly irritated he lit a cigarette,

3ve rinsed them with bleach but they are still there, she said as

she plopped down in the big oversized leopard print armchair she

had moved from her oce to the garage months earlier.

0nd you want to know what to do ne%t- he asked

5ou never listen to me" 3 asked you how long will they continue to

live-

3t depends, mike said, never looking up from his laptop, Con

whether or not they were there before.

:efore what- she asked him, before the beginning of time-

'hat does that statement even mean- she asked" this was 8ust

another e%ample of the stupid games he played.

/orget it, she walked out of the garage letting the door slam

behind her. he looked around for a leash, one was lying by the

trailerA her Boomsday Trailer, she reached down and picked it up

and then called her dog" she saw that he was already waiting by

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the gate at the end of the driveway. eeing her approach he

began to wag his tail, she clipped the leash to his collar then

unlocked the padlock and walked outside the gates, turning back

to lock them behind her.

2er destination was the alley, she had collected all the samples

she needed, and she was tired of the bugs. 0s she walked she

kept in the shadows as much to avoid being seen. /or the past

couple of days she had thought about every plausible e%planation

for the bones to be in the alley. he had even searched the

internet for cemetery locations and discovered that there were

numerous databases available which used latitude and longitude

and ?# tracking to accurately record the location of any and all

types of burial sites" including mounds, cemeteries, grave

markers, family plots and so on" but she was unable to locate any

site registered or recorded at her location,

0s she walked, her mind wandered back to the time she spent

with 'hitney O her e%Ahusband, at /riendeld, his familys

plantation in ?eorgetown, outh (arolina. 6any a cold morning

she could be found on her hands and knees, sifting through the

soft white sand as she collected shards of pottery, bullets,

buttons and other treasures that through time had worked their

way to the surface. he wondered if the cemetery registry had a

listing for the one she had discovered on /riendeld. :ehind her a

horn honked , snapping her out of her daydream, she turned

around as it drove past, and for a brief second she was looking

straight into the pale blue eyes of the passenger, she read the

plates :++SDL, it was the same black #orsche that had followedher a few weeks earlier.

he entered the alley and focused on the problems it contained.

/irst the surface scatter didnt make sense for several reasonsH

the fragments were almost all the same size, she had not been

able to nd an adult long bone, the adult teeth which she had

found were in good condition and free from decay, indicating they

were from young adult between the ages of

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to e%amine the white rocks which were scattered everywhere

outside his gate,

'ell, well look at that, she said to her :o. he picked up a few

fragments,ame type e%actly. he was standing about DF feet from the site

where, the day before, she had made another attempt to pry

some answers from the dirt. 0rmed with a small garden shovel,

zip lock bags, gloves and a surgical mask, she had persevered

through the heat of the day in an attempt to nd clues which

could e%plain the site. 2er determination paid o9 when she

discovered several separate groupings of what she thought to be

fetal bones. he had painstakingly swept away the dirt with apaint brush, taking care not to disturb the mound of small white,

oysterA shaped bones, which, at the time, she believed were

fragments of an infants skull. The other bones in the mound were

so small in proportion to the large pieces that for a split second

she wondered if they might belong to a primate.

6aybe if 3 were in >lduvai ?orge, she laughed to herself.

3 probably should keep theses together, she thought as shenished brushing the area o9. Then using her small garden

shovel she cut down into the earth below the tiny mound of bones

and lifted it up in one piece.

o far so good, she thought, until she slid the sample into the

plastic bag, once there it collapsed and settled at the bottom of

the bag. &ot wanting to hold the bag of bone, tissue and living

organisms any longer then she had to" she *uickly tied a knot at

the top of the bag, set it down behind her and then proceeded to

do the same with the ne%t small mound.

0t least 3 have each skeleton in its entirety, she thought maybe

3 can reconstruct them at home, she laughed suddenly, or,

maybe 3ll use thick 8ewelers wire so that 3 can pose them like

those 6e%ican frogs playing the violin.

3 think the heat is getting to me, :o, lets go home. he stood

up and gathered her bags of bone, then after *uickly covering thearea, she headed home.

@ittle did she know that this time she was being watched, and her

actions had 8ust been transmitted via a private satellite to a group

of highly inuential and interested individuals around the globe

and to places far beyond.

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F"ANCE

/i and 0tticus played possum, sort of that is, because they both

dared to open their eyes to see who it might opening the door.

The keys 8ingled as they turned in the lock, and the door swung

silently open. :ut it was not 6ademoiselle, with her pretty face

and iron grip" nor was it 6other with her owing linen and fruity

scent. 3t was a newcomer, a very large man, towering well over G

feet. 2e had sandy red hair cut close to his head, but not too

close because it still retained its natural tight curl. 2is light

comple%ion was speckled with freckles which spread across both

cheeks and crept up his nose and across his forehead.

3n each of his ears was an ear bud with its telltale black curled

cord tucked neatly behind each ear, visible until it disappeared

inside his shirt at the collarA the twins had seen them before, worn

by the men who followed the #resident around when he visited

The (hateau.

The 6ans most noticeable feature was his hands, huge and

rugged. The hands looked as though they belonged to one of the

shermen the twins had seen once while accompanying 6other topurchase fresh seafood.

:ut this was no sherman, he wore polished black wingtip shoes,

pants which were pressed with a crease in the front, an

immaculate white shirt which was buttoned up to his neck, a dark

blue vest and a navy blue neck tie with a canary yellow and

purple stripe centered crosswise" the tie fastened to the shirt with

a gold stick pin topped with an odd shaped skull with oversized

ruby eyes.

The man stepped inside the room and from his pocket pulled out

a small but very bright ashlight which he aimed at each of their

beds causing them to *uickly shut their eyes. The beam of light

swept over the room, momentarily pausing at the window seat

before disappearing back into the mans pocket.

(lear he said aloud, stepping back into the hallway and shutting

the door. The twins remain frozen, praying that they wouldnt

hear the key go back into the lock" but it did, and with a swift

8angle of the keys they were locked in their rooms for the second

time that day. They listened as the 6an continued down the

hallway, stopping at each door and repeating his, 1all clear,

procedure.

'hy is he checking the empty guest rooms- /i whispered.

6aybe the guests are really important, like those Biplomats that

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arrive in those cars with the ags. 0tticus replied.

:ut you said the guests had no luggage, didnt you- /is voice

had a slight *uiver to it, as if she was about to cry.

2ush /if, and stop that crybaby stu9, be still, 3 didnt hear the6an go downstairs yet.

/rom the end of the hallway they heard the )ast wing guest suite

door close, the 6an spoke his nal, all clear.

0tti- /i whispered,

'hat /i-

The 6an didnt lock any of the other doors, 0tticus could tellthat his twin was on the verge of tears"

3 know, /i, 3 know. (alm down, it will be all right, 3 promise.

0tticus spoke calmly trying to soothe his twin.

5ou promise, 0tti-

3 promise /i, 3 will protect you. 5ou have my word. 0tticus

wondered how he could protect his sister from such a large and

powerful man.

0tticus-

5es, /if.

3m scared 0tti, please come back to my room they are probably

not going to come back any time soon. /i leaned over and

turned on her small bedside reading lamp and then she reached

out towards her twin, like a drowning man begging to be rescued.

0ll right /if, but you must promise to *uit crying, we dont want

them to hear us. >kay- 0tticus bravely crept across the room

and climbed up onto /is bed.

3 promise no more tears from me 0tti. /i put on her brave face

and leaned over and hugged her twin"

0tticus /leming, youre the best twin a girl could have. :lushing

0tticus said,

3 know /i, 3 know.

Sky#ar$

0 story, a story;tell us a story, as the words were spoken so

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their embodiment, in the form of li*uid spheres, perfect in weightand measure, began to fall from the sky. The drops which fell tothe earth contained the essence of pure innocent anticipation.

The storyteller, where is The toryteller- they shouted as onevoice,

tory, story, 'e want a story, the children were growingimpatient, their caretakers, ever wary of their charges, soughtabove all to please the (hildren, for that was their sole purpose ,their glorious and singular duty. 0nd ?ods forbid that there waseven a whisper of a complaint from the (hildren to their mostglorious #arents" the (aretakers knew that the punishment wasinstant death" the guilty would be tossed to the massive gorgonsas would a master toss his favorite dog a delicious mortal.

The (hildrens ethereal chanting oated across the cotton ballclouds as it traveled along the ridges of endless pure whitewhipped cloud foam which moved constantly across the heavens.&ow and then the chanting would get caught up in an eddy andbe forced downward in a tumultuous spiral only to rise up throughthe foam and burst out in a choir of droplets which wouldreconvene as one voice singing,

tory, tory, we want our story, the sound was as unmistakablyangelic as it was loud.

0 gust or two downwind tucked within one of the few e%istingclouds with silver lining, an e%hausted ?od of Thunder lay on hisback, mouth wide open, snoring furiously. #ersephone with herbeauty forever unchanged, stirred slightly and gathered an armfulof cloud to u9 up her pillow, for a hinge in time she continued totoss about trying to sleep until she nally turned towards herhusband and said, eus, she nudged him in the back, eus, do

something, the (hildren,they are making that sound again.$

The massive ?od of Thunder rolled over to face his wife" thesudden motion unleashed a storm of tornadoes upon those whoinhabited the small spinning sphere directly below him.

3t was common knowledge amongst those who were so graced toinhabit the heavens, in fact it was recorded by the heraldicscribes in books of law Iso it was whisperedJ that not one person

or a group of persons, not directly or indirectly" not purposely orby accident" not for good cause or unwarranted reason could give

8ust cause for waking The ?od eus from his slumber. 2owever,there was one e%ception, #ersephone, his wife, could awaken himfor any reason she desired. The 2eavens chuckled at that, yes,there were many elbow nudging and slaps on the back when thatglorious e%ception entered the law books. !nfortunately, for allthose involved, even in the remotest way, this was not the reasonthe ?oddess woke her ?od that morning, and when eus realized

that it was not the reason he became mildly upset. 0nd when the

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?od of 'ar becomes even mildly upset, the result is cataclysmic

eus stood up and started for the silver passage which ledskyward,

6ost handsome and powerful of all, his wife spoke, reaching out

to him, he turned, perhaps she had woken him for ?odlike workafter all eus thought.

yes my most perfect pearl in all the seas.

#ersephone reached for his tunic, should you go war againstformidable foes without your tunic- she smiled and he wasmomentarily blinded,

and when 3 return,we have business to attend to.

3 will be awaiting , should you not fall to slumber after battle sheturned and u9ed some cloud, carefully arranging it on either side

of her headA so she might cover her ears, which rang with thesound.

eus called for his chariot leaping within the golden basket beforeit slowed to stop" the shrill sound of the children7s singing wascausing the celestial winged horses great distress, re*uiring eusto put forth signicant e9ort and strength simply to gather themunder control.

3 do not believe my beasts would have stopped for me at this

pace he said aloud catching his breath, the creatures had not yetslowed their pace, and thus they ew through the heavens, eyeswide in terror, frantically galloping to escape the sound.

The cries of the (hildren of the ?ods had created *uite a bustlein the heavens, as the servants of the ?ods searched for thetoryteller, who , as of late, was seemingly unavailable or as thecaretakers referred to the anomalyA was completely and totallymissing.

The cause of this delay could clearly be placed on the toryteller,who, as one of the few who could walk in either realm, hadbecome increasingly dicult to locate. The problem stemmedfrom the (aretakers7 dimensional myopia, which conned them tosearching the 2eavens only, so they frantically ran about muchlike chickens which have spotted a fo% outside of their coop.

3n the nursery the children were starting to anger, and in virtue oftheir combined inherited abilities and characteristicsA as yet notfully developedA the mi% of their brew was such that (alamity wasat the lead, her red air tossed in the air as if frozen in its ownwhirlwind.

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tory, story story, story.

The children, now being led by (alamity chanted in unisonA a

dicult task for any group of children, save this particular group

of (hildren. (alamity stood up and clapped, the sound produced

was thunder, loud e%plosive thunder. 3n an e*ually loud voice she

spoke,

2ere, here, fellow (hildren of the ?ods, seek to be still a moment

and listen, 3 have a strategy.

(alamity was the only dasughter of Rupiter and Runo, thus she

possessed the attributes of both her parents" her father was the

Ming of ?ods, the god of skies and thunder" her mother was the

daughter of aturnand sister Ibut also the wifeJ of the chief god

Rupiter. he was also the mother of 6arsand Nulcan.

(alamity7s ability to wage war had yet to be tested" but she had

been the victor of every mock challenge put to her. 2er fury at

times so violent wreeked havoc on the dwellers below, for her

anger summoned the ercest storms, and her impatience with

planning strategic moves could hatch a hive of cyclones in a

moment.

Tappping her lightning bolt on the surface before her she began,

(ome to order, come to order$ instantly she had the attention of

all the (hildren.

Thank you my fellow cohorts of the ?od7s, 3 have decided that we

must take it upon our ?odly selves to locate our most beloved

toryteller, the entire room gasped, the (hildren, the (aretakers,

the enuchs, the satyrs, the maidens, the sirens, the gorgons" all

those who e%isted solely to amuse, console or defend the

(hildren"

(alamity climbed onto a pedestal so she might better command

her audience by being above them" from there she continued to

outline her plan. he was the rst to speak outright of things

unspeakable continuing her speech,

5es we must take it upon ourselves to nd her because these

imbecils cannot$ she waved the lightning bolts in a sweeping

motiont towards the caretakers who had assembled to one side of

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(mythology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_(mythology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_(mythology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(mythology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jupiter_(mythology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_(mythology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulcan_(mythology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(mythology)

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the hall.

They, she said pointing with the lightening bolt directly at

them,lack sight, and thus they see with only one eye.

This is not the case for us, blessed (hildren of those most+ighteous, 'e have the ability to see past the great barrier, and

'e can do so without e9ort.

3n fact, 3 already know where the storyteller is, but 3 hate to spoil

a 8oyous timeA her time, that is. (alamity chuckled and the

clouds gathered behind her, *uickly turning color from white to

numerous shades of charcoal as she spoke,

let me demonstrate, everyone be still and focus past the whitebarrier, let your ?ods given minds provide each one of you with a

vision of the place where our toryteller is resting. (alamity

surveyed the room all of the (hildren were silent, it was perfect,

3 see her. (alamity spoke in a hush whiseper, the (hildren

leaned in to catch her words,

where- 'here-chorised the (hildren.

There$ (alamity had leaned out over the edge of the cloud and

peeled back a long strip. !sing her thunderbolt she cut another

line in the thick grey clouds, then taking a giant step out onto the

billowing white she cut a third strip. atised with her work she

turned back to her audieance,

2ush, and everyone watch me.

he carefully knelt and lifted the slice of cloud peeling it upward,

then she looked below. )veryone held their breath, for they all

knew that the (hildren of the ?ods were forbiddent o look upon

the primates below" not only because they were prone to all types

of violent outbursts but mostly because there was nothing to be

gained from watching them grunt and bumble around.

'hat does it look like-7 asked 0ltheus sitting on the edge of the

marble bench,

2ave you located the toryteller like you said-7

There was no answer, (alamity was entranced by the sight below,

the creatures were all contained in rectangular bo%es, either alone

or with others, and they formed long lines which would move

forward a small bit then stop, only to repeat this action over and

over. Their were ying creatures who also formed a straight line,

until one by one they made a terric noise and then were

airborne, some were leaving lines of cloud behind them.

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( a l a m i t y$$ the yell was so enourmous that it could only

belong to (haos

'hat (haos-7

3n actuality she was beginning to notice that time was speeding

up. )ither that or she was slowing down.

&otwithstanding all the events which she perceived as deliberatedistractions, she preferred Iand sincerely hopedJ that the rst

possibility was the more likely one" only because she observed

that the others seemed to be plodding along at their regular

cave man speed" and she continued, like a tornado to spin around

and around, tearing up the ground and creating havoc

everywhere she touched down.

This tornadic circling was not only repetitive, but it seemed

apparent to her that lately she was more prone to lingering within

the spiral. 2er determination knew no boundaries, driven by a

need to prove to herself that what her insight told her was true,

was indeed so, no matter what the others said.

he continued her search for the truth solely to prove to herself

that she could rely on her insight and premonitions. &ot that

anyone cared what she did, and not that she cared what they

thought. he did it for self 8ustication, for the satisfaction she feltin a 8ob well done, for the support of herself by herself. 3t was true

that her way of looking at the world was di9erent from the

others but, she had yet to nd the proof which she knew e%isted

and right or wrong there was nothing else she could do, at least

thats the way she looked at it.

:ut toryteller, 0rchimedes 3N asked, why didn7t she 8ust use

her powers- The toryteller looked around the room for answer.

:ecause she didn7t have them yet. said 6edilles, her baby

serpents hissing in agreeance.

&o ignorant ones, boomed (haos, its because she didnt know

how to truly use them. Bown there she had no one to show her

how.

The toryteller continued,

he had already found the bones not far from where she lived

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and little by little she was trying to t the pieces together.

5ou mean she was trying to put them back together-7 asked

#enology.

&o little one, she had tried that many rotations earlier but shedid not know what they formed, she kept trying to build a human

from them.

The room burst into laughter and the sun shone brightly upon all.

0 human- 2umans are not ?ods$ shouted (haos.

'hy don7t 3 continue the story without too many more

interruptions. o as 3 was saying, let me put it a di9erent way, shewas trying to make sense out of all the strange things which were

going on around her. The bones were 8ust one part of it, there

were all the areoplanes which were ying back and forth over her

house all day and night, and also the arrival of the strange people

who did look or behave like the ordinary humans no matter how

hard they tried, and her gift allowed her to spot them right away.

>f course she could , we knew about that part of her gift.

interrupted (alamity who had been bung her nails with a softrag and staring o9 into the clouds for most of the story.

That7s right (alamity, and she knew by then that she did possess

the ability to recognize anything that was out of order, and it was

that ability which was causing so much disorder in her life.

)verything around her was not what it appeared to be, this she

knew, but she did not know what it was in its true form.

he was probably better o9 not knowing, if she didnt have herpowers yet, otherwise she would have been *uite

frightened.(alamity stated.

5es indeed that is a possibility. :ut we must remember that those

things which she knew were not as they seemed, chose not to

show themselves to her in their true form at that time. :y then

she knew that they were shielding their true selves from her and

it caused her much pain that they continued to appear to her in

their familiar form and then behind her back transform and go

about their business sneaking around in another.

The closer she got to the truth re*uired them to spend more of

their time in their native state, sneaking about in the dark trying

to push their work forward and purposely fouling hers. 3t had

become a battleground for all, but they had the advantage

because they knew who she really was and since she had not yet

found her proof, they were determined to keep her from it.

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to be continued...................

.