October 08, 2009 (Thirty-one Shorts on the Wall)

Death by any other Name

Chapter One

She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. He could be honest in this respect. He had seen a lot of women before.

Her name was Mina Jackson; he got that from the registrar’s office. He had seen her several times from a distance, crossing the quad. Walking was something she did with a grace he hadn’t believed was possible. Today she was wearing a bright red sweater that set off the raven black of her hair. Even from so far away; he could taste her on his mind.

Joe Walsh leaned against the tree and watched as Mina walked past. He was looking down at the ground when something thumped him in the shoulder. He looked up into the tree and saw skinny white legs hanging off the lowest branch.

“Talk to her, idiot.” The whisper drifted down; followed immediately by six feet of woman with platinum hair and violet eyes.

“I don’t know how, Rowan.” He sighed.

“It’s easy…” you say “Hi! My name is Joe.”

“Give it a rest, it is not that easy.”

“Yeh, yeh, yeh so says the big bad wolf.”

He reached out then and tried to grab her. She did and impossible looking back flip and was out of his way.

“Dammit! Rowan.”

“Sure, like someone heard me. Are you coming to my match later?”

“Just what I need? Exactly who are you massacring today?”

“Just some hot shot senior who has a (wooooo) black belt in some obscure martial art.”

“Someday you are going to meet someone better.”

“Been there, done that; Shigata doesn’t compete any more. I think he is probably the only one on the planet good enough to kick my ass.”

“Fine! You lead and I’ll follow.”

Rowan Michaels laughed then, and started across the lawn. “As usual.” She said, under her breath.
“I heard that.” Joe yelled, and then took off after her.

“Knew you would.” She replied and lengthened her stride to stay ahead of him.

They both burst though the doors of the gymnasium together, leaning over and huffing slightly and laughing.

“I’ll beat you yet.” Joe grinned at her and went to the bleachers.

“Not today, old man.” She teased as she went to get dressed.

This wasn’t a formal tournament, just fun. Several of the students here at USC were proficient in different arts and it was their habit to have a hands-on practice every Saturday afternoon. This was Rowan’s favorite exercise and Joe’s favorite spectator sport.

Today there were a few new faces. Word gets around and Rowan was good enough she always had some jock from somewhere else trying to clean her clock. It had become a favorite pastime and more than one of her close friends had made money on her.

The thing is, Rowan looks delicate, fragile. The fact she had been training in an assortment of martial arts since she could walk was not apparent by her exterior. People underestimated her. It is a good thing she has the honor of a Samurai, the patience of a saint, and the sense of humor of stand-up comedian. In any less capable hands, her skill would be deadly.

Today as she walked up to the ring, she saw someone she knew. Vincent Nateland was waiting in the center. He was wearing a shabby gi, one that she knew he had had for years. She also knew if he was wearing it, he was serious.

She stepped up to him and bowed slightly,

“Vince.”

“Rowan.”

“Thought I had a different match today. Some one named Matt.”

“You do. Humor me. I need exercise.”

She stood and looked at him. He was her oldest and closest friend. Being the youngest students at the University, they had several of the same classes. Rowan was studying medicine while Vince was studying cybernetics, they both had archeology together. Though Vince was not in the same league as Rowan, they sparred quite often and knew each others movements well.

It started easy, a little Kung Fu, some JuJitsu. Then Vince started to pick up the pace. He put her through every form he knew, knowing all the while, she knew them better than he. It took thirty minutes before she finally got the drop on him. She used an old move straight out of Southern Shaolin and got inside his defenses. This time when he got up, he held his hands out in front of him.

“That was incredibly sneaky.” He said. Then he laughed.

“Left your self wide open. Sorry.”

“I’m not. That was great. Got you warmed up for Mr. (I have a black belt) Matt.”

“We’ll see.” She answered.

It hadn’t escaped her notice that a tall, bulky man of somewhere around twenty or so was watching her match. She picked up a towel and turned her back to him to talk to Vince.

“Were you trying to scare him?”

“Not really. I do think that idiots should be given a chance to back out.”

“You don’t think much of him?”

“He cheats, he’s over confidant, and doesn’t think there’s a woman in the world as good as he is.”

“So?”

“So I thought it only fair to give him a demo, before you got at him.”

“Fine….I think.”

She turned then and faced her new opponent. Matt Sheldon was six feet four and weighed in at two hundred and forty pounds. Not an ounce of it fat. They looked like a terribly mis-matched pair. Rowan was six feet tall but so impossibly thin she was lucky on a good day if she topped a buck sixty, soaking wet.

They bowed to each other and stood off at opposite edges. Matt took a tiger stance and snapped a left hook at Rowan’s head. It wasn’t there. He tried a sweep and she just danced out of his way. She stood off with her left side to him and waited. He came like a truck and at the last moment, dropped his shoulder and caught her in the midsection.

He expected her to fly outside the ring; she flipped a little to the left and landed crouched on the mat.

“I don’t play football.” She told him.

“Too bad. Looks like you could use some new moves.”

The next move he tried was still the linebacker sort of crap that every big bulky human tries on someone they think is softer or easier.

This time Rowan caught him on the jaw and dropped him on the mat. She leaned over him and whispered.

“Said I didn’t play football. Never said I didn’t know how.”

His reaction was anger. He reached up and grabbed her hair and was fixing to drive her face into his knee, when she just wasn’t there anymore.

He looked around and she was standing a few feet away, winding her hair up in a knot.

“That was not nice.” She smiled.

Matt Sheldon was not used to being second to anyone. His family was well off and had sent him to every kind of lesson or training he was interested in. No girl was going to get the best of him. Matt didn’t know how wrong he was. Rowan Michaels was a girl. She was only seventeen, yet she would graduate with her MD this year. She also had been studying martial arts since she was a year old. Sixteen years was a lot of learning and her teacher, Shigata was not only a well renowned master but a member of her family.

Matt stood up a faced her. Rowan could tell that if it didn’t end quickly, it would end badly. She waited calmly for him, watched his face go through several expressions then as he came at her, side stepped and punched him squarely on the chest. She softened the blow at the last minute so she wouldn’t kill him, but he still went down like a stone.

She stood there and looked down at him. She hated bullies, and she had the impression that what Matt Sheldon was. She wondered if he had a reputation for picking on little kids in school. She shook her head and walked away. Matt Sheldon was no longer her problem.

Chapter 2

After she showered and changed, Rowan met Joe, Vince, Lily Ryan, and Michael Hawk at Severn’s Place.

Severn’s Place was a local hangout that students went to that didn’t much care for Mickey D’s or KFC. Severn’s was cheap and good. Students could come and study, eat, shoot pool or just hang out. There was always music and dancing when the mood struck.

Tonight, Severn’s was jumping. There was a band up on the stage and the air was think with steak, onions, and bbq sauce. It was a great place to relax in. Rowan was just sitting down; Vince had ordered her a Coke, when one of the band members came over.

“Rowan.”

She looked up from the table and smiled, “Hey Jake. How’s it going?”

“Mason’s sick. Can you play with us for a bit?”

Rowan looked around the table. All her friends knew that next to fighting, music was her second love.

“Go, Row.” Joe told her.

“In a minute Jake, Ok?”

“Sure, when you’re ready.”

Rowan sat there and scanned the crowd; she was looking for some one in particular. Finally, the door opened and Mina walked in. The change in the room was immediate. Men openly gawked, women tended to draw inwards and Joe? The look on Joe’s face was worth everything.

“Excuse me.” Rowan spoke to the table in general, “I’ll be back.”

Mina stood just inside the door. She wasn’t sure that this wasn’t a bad idea; but Rowan had asked, so she had come.

Rowan walked through the crowded room and stood in front of Mina. ”You came.”

“You asked.” Mina looked around the room, for a moment, Rowan though she might bolt. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled like sapphires.

“I want you to meet some friends of mine.”

Mina followed Rowan back to the table. Every man looked at the two women and every woman frowned. Rowan sat her next to Joe. Joe looked at her with a pained look in his eyes. “Row?” he started.

“I going to play, you all get acquainted.” She left them and went to the band stand.

Rowan closed her eyes and let the music flow. She liked playing with Jake and his group. Tonight she was playing drums, but more often she played bass. Tonight Jake started out with Van Morrison’s Wild Night and it only got better from there, when they broke at nine, Rowan’s hair was soaked and her face flushed from exertion.

She went back to the table and sat down between Vince and Mina.

As soon as Rowan sat, a waitress brought her food. Rowan was never much on subtleties and when she ate, she ate. When she had finished, she stacked the plate and silverware for the waitress and turned to her friends.

“I take you all have been getting acquainted?”

Mina flushed scarlet red and Joe looked out the window. “Sort of.” She murmured.

Rowan looked from one to the other; she had known them both for a long time. Though Mina could easily pass for twenty or twenty-one, Rowan knew she was older, much older. Joe? Well Joe was older than he looked too.

“You know I have had enough of you two.” She said, pushing her chair out, she stood up.

“Mina you have wanted to talk to Joseph here for as long as I’ve known you. Joe you are just as bad. She walks into a room and you just about loose it. The two of you need to get your shit together. I am about to loose my patience.”

“Rowan, don’t.” Joe pleaded.

“Please, don’t” Mina added.

“Don’t what? This is how it is. I love you both. Have known you both almost as long as I have known everyone else at this table. The only person I would fight harder for is Vince. So here goes. Miss Mina Jackson, I would like you to me Miss Lily Ryan, Lily is a witch and could seriously turn you into any number of humble critters, I would like you to meet Michael Hawk. Hawk is the last shaman of his tribe and I don’t think thunder and lightning are beyond him, I would like you to meet Vincent Nateland, Vince turn it on for Mina. Mina looked at Vince and his skin began to shimmer an iridescent purple and his eyes changed from blue to silver. Vince is what you might refer to as an elf. Now to the last two, Miss Mina (vampire) Jackson, I would like you to meet Joseph (werewolf) Walsh.

Mina and Joe just stared at each other. Then they laughed, and then they took turns hugging Rowan.

“Not that that is done; I’m going to go play bass.” Rowan slipped from them and walked back to the stage.

At the table, people looked at each other. “Vince, you knew?” Joe asked.

“Not all of it.” He told them, “But yeh, most of it.”

They quieted as Rowan stepped up to the mic with the guitar in her hands. Her voice was clear and soothing, it flowed around and through. Making everyone feel just a little better, a little saner. Her fingers worked the strings and she coaxed sounds that normally only came from classical guitar. Vince looked at her friends.

“You’re privileged tonight.” He told them “This is Rowan’s magic and very few people ever get to hear it. “Course he neglected to tell them that Rowan was also from a long line of Fae though technically she was a technomage. Her magic was an empathic thing that affected those around her.

Later as they sat around and talked Mina looked at Rowan, “How did you wind up with all of us?”

“You mean me the “human” in the bunch?”

“Exactly.”

“Well number one, I’m a shifter. I shadow walk. Number two my family is what most humans would call fairy and I, “ she paused and bowed to her friends . “I am a technomage.”

Joe looked at her, “I didn’t think there were very many shifters out there and fairy….for real.”

Rowan shrugged, “There aren’t, maybe a couple of dozen. Hawk shifts, so does Lily and Hawk’s brother Lone Wolf.”

Mina shook her head, “What are the odds? A vamp, a were, an elf and three shifters; in the same place, at the same time. Not to mention the fairy thing or the magic. Really? I mean come on.”

“Slim.” Rowan told her, “Now I’ve got to ask, do any of you know any Guardians?”

Rowan looked at all their faces. No one really looked surprised at the question. It also seemed no one wanted to go first.

“I opened this can of worms, so I guess I’ll go first. Any one but me know Phoenix, Charlie, or Morgan.? Nedra, Ankorak?”

Mina raised her hand a bit, “I know Charlie, I met her in France, 1789.”

Joe nodded too “I know Morgan, I met her in England 1576.”

The others around the table looked at the two. Rowan sniffed at Joe, “Old man.” She whispered. “I have met all three. Phena, Phoenix’s mother is my grandmother.”

Vince nodded, “Me too. All three. Over different times and places.”

Lily looked on, then sighed. “My mother is Morgan’s daughter.”

Michael looked at them all them grinned, “Nope don’t know them at all…….but my grandmother is Isis and she and Phena and Charday are sisters.”

So none of us a really human because we are all apart of the Guardians.

These are the first six, over years they expand to become twelve. We ARE “the Weird Bunch.”

October 07, 2009

Along Came….

The car slid off the wall, then bounced off the railing. By the way it was flying, I knew it was going to be a really bad day. It wasn’t my intention to be north bound in the way of a south bound hunk of steel moving slightly less than the speed of light and aiming for my head,face,and other parts of anatomy I wanted to keep intact. I had about two seconds warning, closed my eyes, breathed deeply, and opened the door. Everything slowed down, moved slightly sideways and stopped.

I got out of the rental and walked over and pulled a woman and two kids from a Detroit’s finest that was about to become scrap. Time resumed and a screeching sound of breaking glass and metal filled the air. The children sat on the road and cried, their mother shivering and shaking.

“You’re okay.”

A tearful face looked up at me, then at the wreck on the asphalt.

“We were dead. Something broke, the steering, something.” she gasped. “I knew it, are we dead?”

“No ma’am.” I told her. “You’re fine, you’re all fine.”

She shook her head, then took the wailing kids in her arms. “I don’t understand.” she whispered against the hair of the oldest. “You did something.”

I couldn’t tell her. She wouldn’t understand how a shifter had saved their lives. A slight movement through the Shadow World, a place where time has no meaning.

Most people lived their daily lives side by side with the supernatural and never saw it. Most people didn’t want to see it. They simply moved on with their lives, confident that on this small world, man was the dominant species. They’re wrong.

Right at that moment I just wanted some food and sleep. Shifting that fast used an enormous amount of energy, it left me feeling slightly more human than a limp noodle. Then the Highway Patrol showed up.

Three hours later I was still downtown. Still hungry and getting tired enough I had laid my head down on the desk when the officer had left the room, just to rest my eyes, of course. I woke up to a steaming cup of coffee and a ham sandwich.

“Heaven.” I sighed. “I have died and gone to heaven.” I then proceeded to devour the sandwich. No grace, no manners. Just shove food into face please. I felt a whole lot better.

The officer sitting across the room from me was on the high side of thirty and I guessed he was probably a career guy. You know, the kind with 2.3 kids, a stay at home wife, house in the burbs. Football in the fall, baseball in the summer, bowling with the PD team. An all around average joe. Who was asking me some mighty embarrassing questions.

“The lady says you saved their lives.” he smiled.

I smiled back, mouth full of bread and ham. I picked up the cup and washed it all down. “She does?”

“Yes ma’am. She does. I’ve seen a lot of wrecks in the last twenty years. Can’t figure out how you all walked away from that one, Ms. Nateland”

“But we did.”

“Yeh, you did.”

“Any more questions?”

“Guess not. No one was hurt. No charges are pending.”

“I can go?”

“Yes, you can.” he said. “Ms. Nateland, try to be more careful in the future.”

“Sure, Sergeant.” I smiled again. “No problem.”

I left him there and walked out into the hallway. I looked back through the glass in the door and watched as he picked up the folder. I held my right hand in front of my left and moved the nails down to my palm, mumbling under my breath. Everything that came in touch with the pictures I had handled would now be blurred, out of focus, including the people that touched them. Three months from now, no one would be able to remember the exact details, only the general facts of the crash. Two cars, four survivors. I hummed to myself and walked out of the building.

I should have taken the warning. When things start out that bad usually they get worse before they get better. I know. Thirty years of the R half of R&V Enterprises should be enough to tell anyone. But they were okay. The woman, Marilyn Yeager and her two kids, Jason and Milly. Even if I had know the rest of the day was going to be a pisser, I would have done that way. mainly for the look on their faces

I pulled out my cell phone and called my other half, Vince to let him know I’d be late. PC answered the phone.

“Rowan, Vincent has gone to Michael’s he asked you to divert and meet him there.” PC is an AI, an artificial intelligence. Vince and I had built her back in our college days. When life was simple and the worse thing we usually had to worry about was who was going to buy the beer on Saturday night.

“Have you re-scheduled my flight?”

“You leave in one hour from O’Hare, straight through to Toronto. Phoenix, Matt and Emily are en route.”

“Lily?”

“Not good but she’s stable.”

The cab I had called from the station arrived and as I told the driver to take me to the airport, I looked up at the sky. For a moment I considered using “alternate” transportation and just as quickly rejected it. If Lily had been in dangerous condition I would have done it, but using Shadow World for personal things wasn’t just not nice, it was unethical.

So I got on the 747 and flew. At that moment I would have loved to be able to fly on my own.The Lear being in Nashville and me NOT being of Faerie heritage, I would just have to suffer. Okay, so I was in first class, champagne and etc, etc, I didn’t suffer…..Much.

I used my time to think about Lily. The rest of the Weird Bunch too. Lily is a true witch, a mage. Her magic far surpasses anyone I’ve ever met, including my sister, Amber. Between the two of them, they probably hold at least sixty percent of the magic on the planet. She was a gentle soul, who fought every day to protect others from the darkness that lived and breathed around us.

Someone or something had hurt Lily. I hadn’t heard all the details, but something strong enough to get past all her wards and shields gave me pause to think.

I didn’t know much that could. One of the elder Guardians, or elder Guides, maybe. Seth, maybe. Or Nedra or Ankorak. None of whom would ever hurt one of us. So what else was out there? Michael said he had picked up something in the last month or two he didn’t understand. Something that had kicked his ass out of Shadow world, twice. I’m not sure I could do that. Okay, maybe I could, if I cheated.

I’m no light weight either. None of us are. There are two full blooded were shifters; a tiger and a dragon. A Faery. a Vampire, an Elf, an Empath, a full Guardian, a dead guy, and three, count them, three mages. A witch, a shaman, and a wizard. That doesn’t include myself, technomage and PC, the AI. That’s twelve biologics and an AI. Not a shabby team, and seven of them are shifters. Someone who can walk in both worlds. So what is strong enough to get past a magic threshold and shields and wards. I was getting a massive headache, still needed sleep.

My dreams were filled with terror, death and rage. I woke up in a cold sweat as the plane was getting ready to land in Toronto. Physically I had slept. Mentally, I was a wreck. I called a cab and gave the driver directions to Rivermoor.

October 06,2009 (Thirty-one Shorts on the Wall)

Fast Forward

August 24th, 79 AD

Chapter One

The mountain was coming down, she could feel the rumbling deep within it’s bowels.

“We have to go Severus, it is time.”

The dark haired man looked at the clouds of fire as they belched from the mountain’s summit.

“Where?” he asked. “Where can we escape from this nightmare?”

“You must trust me, my love.” she told him. “We must go.”

Hurriedly they climbed the opposite face, away from the lava that was starting to move down the eastern slope. He carried a child in each arm and the oldest on his shoulders. Through the smoke and heat he followed his wife, two more children clung to her as she moved swiftly over the rocks.

“Hurry!” she yelled and then stepped into the clearing near the summit. He looked to her, then looked again, something was descending from the clouds. He started to turn as she caught his arm. “Trust ME!!” she yelled into his frightened mind, closing his eyes he followed her into the darkness that opened before them.

There were others, several men, three women. They clustered around him and took the frightened children from his arms.

“It’s good.” his wife told him. “It is alright.” Then she led him down a corridor and into a small room.

“Where are we, Phena? What is this place?”

“I know you do not understand,” she told him. “These people are my family. They came to take me home.”

“What home? Our home is gone.” The realization suddenly washed over him. “They’re all gone.” he whispered and slid down the wall.

She stood near him and watched the emotions play over his features. Sighing she turned and left the room.

A tall black woman met her in the hall.

“Isis.” she nodded.

“Phena. It’s been a long time.” The taller woman stepped up and hugged the other. She glanced back into the room. “He’s in shock, sister. He’ll be ok.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. Come with me, get changed, a bath, some food. Cartre will tend to Severus for you.”

Phena followed her sister down the passageway into a larger chamber. As she entered the lights came on and another woman rose from a seat near the window. “Mother.” Phena whispered and went to hug her.

Nedra turned and watched as her elder daughter came towards her. She looked tired, she had scrapes on her arms and legs, her face was covered in grime.

“We couldn’t get here any faster.” she told the weeping woman in her arms. “I’m sorry.”

“They wouldn’t listen, mother.” Phena told her. “I tried to tell them the moutain was going to erupt, they wouldn’t listen.”

“They never do child. When will you learn? It is their destiny. It’s their way. In the last thousand years, have you ever gotten anyone to listen. Anyone that did not love you?”

“No.” she said as she laid her fingers against the window.”Not one, not ever.”

“I don’t understand you, child. You find love in the strangest place. Always somewhere just begging for a natural disaster. It would be easier if you would choose some place that is plain and stable.”

“Like that little country in the eastern ocean that was so very peaceful, just before that chunk of rock came out of space and buried the whole region.”

“You saved a lot of people there,” her mother replied. “We’ve given them a new home in the eastern hemisphere. They’ll be happy there.”

“I know, I know. Why did you and father stay here? You could have left.”

“Your father is my other half, Phena. You know we are of different races, from different worlds. At one time we had planned on returning to Malor. Raising you all there till you went out on your own.”

“What changed your mind?”

“You, your brothers and sisters are the first of your kind, until you were born we weren’t even sure Malorians and Sardians could have offspring and when we were isolated here on this world we came to see that it’s a good place for you to be.”

“Jesup went back to Sardia, Carlid went to Malor. Why am I still here?”

“Do you wish to go offworld now?”

“I’m not sure mom, I’m tired. I’ve watched so many people die. We don’t, why?”

“You know the answer to that, why do you ask now? Do you think anything has changed?”

“Maybe I’m just hoping.”

“For what?”

“I don’t know. Someone to love forever, like you and dad I guess.”

“It’s not the same, you know that.”

“Yes, I know. The elder dna.” she answered. “Why just you and Dad? There must be others.”

“I’m sure there are. Drakians maybe.”

“UUGH, lizards, eecchh to the nth.”

“You are prejudiced.” her mother laughed.

“Sorry, I just am not sure I can relate to someone who is covered with scales.”

Nedra reached out and ran her fingers through her daughter’s hair, “How do you think others relate to this?”

The hair moved around her, touching her. “It’s not scales, Mom. People just think its hair.”

“And when it moves and changes color?”

“Most don’t notice and I keep it wrapped up a lot.”

“We know. That caused a lot of problems too.”

“I swear Medusa was not my idea nor my fault.”

“That’s not fair, Mom.” Isis interjected. “I didn’t like it much when I got that goddess bit because of my eyes either.”

“Kids!!”

“Hey! I could be day and you can be night.” Phena told her sister.

“Been there, done that.” Isis laughed. “I have to get back, we’ll be home soon.”

Phena watched as Isis left the room. “You’d better see to your husband.” her mother told her. “You have a lot to explain.”

October 05,2009 (Thirty-one Shorts on the Wall)

When Darkness Calls

Michael Hawk sat up in the bed with a jerk. “Dammit.” The sheets were soaked with sweat. Looking at his hands, in the dim light, he saw them shake. He dropped his head on his forearms and sighed. Grabbing the notebook on the nightstand, he started to write.

“He was running down a dark hallway. At least he thought it was a hallway. He
wasn’t sure. There was something in the darkness. Something terrible. He ran
and ran. The sweat dripped off him. He tripped, and he woke up”

It had been the same. Tonight he had seen a glimmer. A feeling of color at the
end of the “hallway”. The color had been red. The color of blood. He stood up
and walked down the hall to the bathroom. He thought about going to his
father’s or his brother’s, but he knew neither of them were home. Staring at his face in the mirror, for just a second, a stranger stared back.

He rubbed his hands over his face and sighed. He’d already talked to Jason.
He was the one that had Michael writing down what he remembered. He closed his eyes and breathed. Deeply. He wished his father, brother, Rowan, or Phoenix were here. Maybe one of them could help him.

He went back to his room and opened the dresser drawer. Reaching in, he
touched the silk. Pulling the jacket from the darkness, the golden fabric
shimmered with a life of it’s own. He held the cloth to his face and
breathed in the fragrance. It still smelled like sage.

As he slipped the jacket over his shoulders and tied the sash, in his mind he
could hear the drums. Softly he walked downstairs and out onto the deck. He
closed his eyes and let himself remember Jimmy Blue Eagle, and the day he had taken him home. He listened to his heart and heard the drums on the wind.

Sitting on the deck, he crossed his legs and looked up into the sky. Closing
his eyes, he breathed slowly until the only thing in the world was his
breath. The world disappeared and he walked in fog.

He walked along and looked for his guide, Belinda. In the year since Phoenix
had left, he’d become quite fond of the little girl. They had become friends.
It still amazed him, this place. He had, however grown to accept it as a part of
his life. One of the things in his destiny. He stood and called, “Linny.”

Very slowly, a form took shape in front of him. He smiled as he recognized
her. Belinda. She walked to him. Taking his hand in hers, she drew him with
her.

As they mounted the stairs to the great hall, he saw it. The darkness. It
boiled and seethed. It raged. He tried to pull back, but she wouldn’t let him
go. It was like a caged beast. It roared above him and reached out for him.
*It’s time to wake the hell up.* he thought.

Belinda pulled him down to her. “That” she whispered, “Is William Grey Eagle.”

As Michael watched, the blackness became form. It laughed at him, “Who are
you, human?” it asked.

Belinda hid behind him.”He is very angry.” she said.

*No shit* Michael thought. To the enity that had been Grey Eagle he said “I am
Michael Grey Hawk.”

“I did not call you,” it said. “I wait for the other one.”

“Well you got me. I’m here.” Michael answered.

The laughter echoed around him, “What can you, a mortal do to help one such as I?” it asked.

Michael sat down on the floor and looked up at the blackness. Now that his
nightmare had both a face and a name, it ceased to frighten him.

“You tell me.” Michael said.

The blackness oozed around him. “I am called ’skinwalker’. Do you know what
that means?”

Michael smiled to himself and then turned to Lone Wolf, “Boogieman?” he asked.

Grey Eagle raged around him, it was like sitting in the middle of a tornado.
But Michael just sat calmly. “When you’re done with all the bullshit,” he said.
“We’ll talk.”

Finally the whirlwind stopped and a man-form came and sat next to him. Michael gazed at him. He was Native American, maybe fifty or so. His long black hair, touched the floor. “You are the true form,” Michael asked “Of William Grey Eagle?”

The apparition nodded it’s head, “I am.”

“Good, you’re really being a pain in the ass, you know?”
The figure nodded its head, and then looked at the end of the hallway. Michael had never noticed the warm red glow before. But then, he didn’t usually have to sit here and talk to a pissed off spirit, either.

“They won’t let me in.” it said.

Michael looked at the red glow, and then at the column of light behind them, then shook his head, “I doubt if they’d let me in either.”

He turned to that that had been Grey Eagle. “Are you just now learning the
results of your life?”

Grey Eagle hung his head. “I thought my magic would make me all powerful.
Thought I would be like a king in this world.”

“And?” prompted Michael.

“They want me to go back,” he gestured to the silvery column rising from
the floor.

Michael sighed and looked at Grey Eagle, “Look you have another chance. Everyone does. But most don’t realize it. You’re going to keep going back till you get it right.”

“Right? But what about hell. The demons. All that.” the spirit moaned.

Shaking his head, Michael smiled. “Nope, no such thing. Sooner or later, you
just “grow up.” Then you get to enter there.” And he pointed over his
shoulder to the column of red.

“Dammit, I don’t want to be human again.” Grey Eagle told him.

“I can see your point. Being human is hard work. But it’s the only way.”

“Shit,” said Grey Eagle. “I won’t remember, will I?”

“Nope.” said Michael. “The beauty of this plan is we all start fresh.”

“And my power?” it asked.

“Not real, just illusion.”

William Grey Eagle stood and looked at the light in the center of the hall. “Till I get it right?” he asked, looking down at Michael.

Michael shrugged his shoulders. “Yeh.”

“You didn’t have to help me.” William said.

“Yes, I did. It’s what I do.”

He watched as Grey Eagle walked to the column of light, turning to Michael he
said, “I wish I could remember you….after.” Then stepping into the light,
he was gone.

Michael looked up and the end of the great hall faded away to indistinct fog.
He sighed and looked around for Belinda.

Peeking out from behind him, she smiled up into his face. “Why didn’t you
call me?” he asked.

“I tried, Michael.” she said. “But he was so angry, and so strong.”

Michael smiled down at her and watched as she faded away. He opened his eyes and found himself back on the deck. Alone.

Standing up, he smiled. Sometimes the answer is so simple. He had been
looking in the wrong place all the time. The nightmare had simply been a call
for help. *Maybe I should keep that line open * he thought, and went
back to bed.

October 4,2009(Thirty-one Shorts on the Wall)

Phoenix Knight

It had been the first time she had met Jason Storm. He was angry, pissed off and totally bent out of shape, of course murder does tend to do that to a person. Everyone and everything loved, gone. A whole life wiped out.

Phoenix had sat up and stared at the thing on the end of her bed.

“Why do I get all the flakes?” she thought to herself, pushing the hair back out of her eyes.

“I AM NOT A FLAKE!!!” he shouted.

“SHOOSH.” she said, her fingertips against her lips, “You don’t have to yell.”

“Sorry.”

“Who the hell are you anyway?”

“I’m Jason Storm. The old ones told me to come to you.”

“Thank YOU Cally and Seth.” she said to the ceiling. “Thank you very much.” To Jason she said “How about you put a little more…ummm weight on, I’ll take a shower, the I guess we’ll talk.”

She stood up from the bed and headed for the bathroom. As far back as she could remember she had never gotten over Cally and Seth sending her spirits, dead people , ghosts, what ever you wanted to call them to her for help.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a loud, rude voice. “I am NOT a ghost. Damnit I do not HAUNT!!!”

Leaning her head against the side of the shower she moaned, “Alright, okay.”

Jason paced back and forth in Phoenix’s sitting room. With each step he gathered a little more substance from the air and became a little more solid. He was almost finished when Phoenix returned from her shower.

She was drying her hair with an over sized bath towel of soft dove grey when she raised her head and looked at him.

She was tiny, he guessed maybe five feet in her bare feet. Her hair was silver and hung dripping to her waist. The hair floated around her, touching her, caressing her with a life of it’s own. When she raised her eyes and looked at him, everything he had planned to say was simply gone. His mind was empty and for a moment he floated in the amethyst of her eyes.

She whipped out with the towel and cracked it at him.” Close your mouth and get over it.” she grinned. “It’s a family trait.”

“What family?” he stuttered. “Seth said you’re not human.”

“Seth has a damned big mouth. I’m human. Not like you though, and I have a huge family.”

“Yeh, whatever. Can you help me?”

Phoenix looked up at the ceiling. “Maybe.”

“Maybe? Right, but you know, something bad is going to happen, if someone doesn’t help me.”

OCTOBER 3, 2009 (Thirty-one Shorts on the Wall)
(This shortie was actually written about twenty years ago when I could still hear, owned my own motorcycle and would spit in the eye of the devil, face to face. Guess we all change. Just a bit of revising and now it’s yours. I was suffering at this time , heartbroken and alone.)

Yesterday’s Tomorrow

I got up this morning with the most god-awful headache…I think the
whole symphony has taken up residency, right under my hair….it hurts so
much…no that’s not right…make that a rock band….I held my head in my
hands….make that acid rock…heavy metal…shit……….

Going into the bath, I flipped on the light, and moaned, Damn that
hurts…looking into the mirror, I thought, fucking Southern Comfort, never
again…not if I live to be a hundred..never again..

I carefully kept my eyes away from the toilet as I eased to the
shower…If I can just get in, maybe I’ll feel better. I fumbled with the
knobs….Christ, wasn’t anything gonna go right today….first it’s too hot,
then it’s too damn cold….I just know I’m gonna have a real shitty
day……..

Finally, getting under the water, I leaned against the wall..the water
felt so good…I turned around and let it beat me on the back….putting my
face against the cool tile, I closed my eyes and thought of the night
before….I know better, I really do…I don’t usually drink like that, maybe
a shot or two of tequila….but not much else…Bob and Mike started pouring
shots, to Travis….and damn, I think I drank them all…and if I didn’t, I
sure felt like it………

I let the tears come then, tears of anguish, and grief, god I’d loved
him so much…he’d been my best friend….maybe drinking like I have, I’ve
been trying to erase the memory…..the memory of his death..it kept
overlying all the others…and in the darkness I’d wake up at night
screaming, trying to get between him and the truck….

I hadn’t gone to the funeral…I’d said my goodbyes on the
interstate..holding Trav in my arms…the blood and twisted metal
everywhere…my screams still echoing in my mind…searching his face,
touching him, and knowing he was gone…

The ringing of the phone, brought me back to the present…it rang, and
rang, and rang…I swear, I’m gonna throw that damned answering machine right
out the fucking window…cause I know, I just know, as soon as I get to the
damned thing…the son of a bitch on the other end, was gonna hang up……
But today, they didn’t hang up…it was my agent…Jackson…and the way
he screamed at me over the phone….well let’s say….pissed would be an
understatement….I hung up and walked away…feeling ten pounds lighter in
each cheek of my ass…..damn I was in it again….right up to my
eyeballs………

I stumbled back into the bath…and leaned on the counter looking in the
mirror….Christ, Rena…get your shit together…at least I didn’t see any
signs of brown yet, my eyes were still green, although a bloodshoot
green…and my face was puffy and swollen…yeh I looked like shit….

I washed my face again and put on what makeup I usually wore…reaching
into the drawer I dug around, and finally came up with a bottle of
aspirin…so I popped a handful of them into my mouth and headed for the
kitchen….looking for something to get the shitty taste out of my mouth….I
opened the fridge and looked….I don’t eat at home much…but way in the
back was a carton of orange juice..I grabbed it and tilted it up..the same
time the taste of the aspirin hit my taste buds…. uuuggghhh….shit…this
better help, with a taste like that…Should’ve taken the aspirin “before” I
went to bed….heading back to the bedroom I looked around the
apartment…didn’t see any stray bodies, so I figured I came home alone.
Good, at least I didn’t make a total ass of myself….Mat was gonna
shit…..I could just hear it now…..and I probably would, as soon as I get
to the studio….

I reached in the dresser on my way by and grabbed a pair of
underwear…and tried to put them on…without bending over..keeping my eyes
closed, and one hand on the dresser..I got ‘em on…looking around the room,
I saw my black jeans on the floor…dammit why’d they have to be on the
floor…I walked over and taking a deep breath bent over to pick them up, the
pressure behind my eyes, made me gasp..opening my eyes real carefully I
looked…just to check….no grey shit on the floor…good..I closed my eyes
and slowly stood back up…..

I went to the chair and sat down..at least from this position I can reach
my boots and socks..I pulled my pants up to my knees and then put on my
boots…I am not going to risk, bending over again…standing up I pulled up
the jeans..and walked to the closet…I rummaged through the hangers, came up
with a gray silk shirt…I held it up and looked at it and then decided I
needed an undershirt…..back to the dresser again..I leaned against the
dresser and opening three drawers before I got the right one..I pulled out a
tank top….Raising my arms above my head wasn’t too bad, at least I did’t fall on my
face….I tucked in the tank, and buttoning the bottom buttons of the gray
shirt…tucked it in too….

I’m late…really late…and if I don’t get my ass outta here I’m gonna have
Mat, Jackson, and god only knows who else banging on my door.
Grabbing my jacket from the couch, I headed out the door. Pausing long
enough to grab my helmet and duffle from the closet..

Down it the garage, I fired up my bike…as I listened to it, I strapped
on the duffle. I love this old bike, a gift from my dad…I ran my fingers
down the tank…there aren’t many ‘49 Indians around…I took the earphones
out of my pocket..and put them on..then the helmet over them climbed aboard
and booked….

I was late, so I just let the music carry me..a new recording, I listened
as I drove…pulling onto the interstate, I turned on the scanner, and opened
her up…..

About half way there the aspirin started to kick in and I started to feel
just a little more human. Normally a thirty minute drive…I made it in just under twenty…

Looking around the parking lot, I saw Bob’s Harley, right next to Ray’s
Jag, across the way was Mike’s Jeep, and next to him a dark green
Saab…Jesus, even Shiela and Marylin were already here

It’s pretty bad when I’m the last one here and this thing has got to be
cut today…

I took off my helmet and tossed it to the security guard..”Morning
George.” I said..

“Morning Rena…you’re late.”

“No shit,” I answered, “Has it hit the fan yet?”

“I guess you could say that,” he grinned at me..”Mat and Jackson have been
taking turns calling out here for the last hour.”

I walked down the hall, stuffing my earphones back into my pocket…I ran
my hand through my hair, and then caught my reflection in the mirror on the
wall….not bad, I think..I’ve seen worse…the thought of myself, this
morning..made me think again…yeh I’ve seen much worse…

I entered the studio and eight heads turned to me..Bob and Mike just went
back to their guitars…these guys lived for their music, strains of melody
weaved through the room..sassy, and swing, then blues, and jazz…looking at
me..Bob grinned and let out some really shrill notes…

“You bastard,” I mouthed at him…he did a slight little bow,
and went back to his picking….Ray was
over screwing around on the keyboard..all sorts of animal sounds kept coming
from his direction…Ray could orchestrate an entire piece from that
thing…with all the shit he’d programmed into it…he nodded at me then
popped a whoopee on a key..I just waved at him..and threw my jacket on the
chair..

As I was picking up the sheets for the day’s session, Mat walked over and
leaned near me.”Christ, Rena,” he said..”Are you still hung over?”

I leaned real close to him, and standing on my toes and whispered against
the skin of his cheek….”Nope..still drunk.”

Then I went to my drums…now you’d think with the way I was feeling, the
last thing I needed was beating a set of skins…But it doesn’t work that way…not with me and music…

We began the first set…nine of the songs were already cut…this one
went real smoothly, “Walking Softly” was one of my favorites…we only had to
play it twice…

As I leaned into the mike and sang my last line…”.Walking softly
through the echos of my heart”…I knew it was good…really good…but then
I always seem to be better if I’m just a tiny bit drunk…

Number ten went first try…I didn’t have much vocals in this one…but
it’s heavy on the percussion, so it keeps me busy…at the end Mat was
grinning…and I knew he was happy…

Calling a lunch break, Mat says we can do the other two this
afternoon….as I passed him, he put his hand on my arm…”Rena, you ok?”

“Yeh.” I mumbled back at him…”You need to take it easier..I worry about
you.” he said.

“Sure.” I told him, but I know I never will…know I’m headed to the
light at the end of the tunnel…but he’s a nice man, so I try to ease his
mind…

I don’t go to lunch, but take the Indian up in the hills..I crank up the
volume…and let the bike fly…
The wind whips at my hair, and it flies around my shoulders….One of
these days I’m gonna get pissed….take a pair of scissors, a knife,
something and cut the shit off….But not today……

I’ve got two hours, two hours to fly..so I did…down the narrow asphalt
roads, twisting and turning through the forest..It takes skill and
concentration to drive these roads, the corners are so sharp….but I’ve done
this a lot…leaning into a curve…I know I could drive this
blindfolded…if I had too….

At the top, I stop at the rest stop, and look over the edge…I can see
for miles…some of my best songs have come from here and the feelings this
place inspires in me….It sets me apart and keeps me there……

Looking out over the mountain, I can see Travis’ face on the
clouds…and I hear music in my heart….wiping the tears from my face…I
got back on the bike and headed back to the studio….

As I hoped, I was the first one back…So I can play…for a
while..putting a tape in I go to the synthesizer…first I program the
drums..a little cymbals, and then add a little horn, not much, just a little….then I
add the bass, the lead guitar, and keyboards..as an after thought..I added
some flute… and then listened to the playback…not bad I thought…maybe
on the next album…

But the lyrics, the lyrics came straight from my heart…a song of love
and friendship…a song that soothed my soul..a song of good-bye…..

I stuck the tape in my jacket pocket as the rest of the crew started to
come back..I could see the look on their faces, shock, mixed with surprise,
shit , I’ll bet they didn’t even think I’d come back…but I did…and as I played and sang, and we finished up the album…I knew it was probably some of the best work we’d ever done…..

Leaving the studio, I looked up at the blue sky…funny how it seemed so
black just a short time ago…but then I don’t feel so shitty anymore….so I
cranked up the volume on the tape and turning out onto the highway…I let
the old bike fly………….

cause…Today is Yesterday’s Tomorrow……………………..

October 2, 2009 (thirty-One shorts on the Wall)

It was October, 1908. Northeast of Manila and South of Japan.

She sat at the port and stared out at the waves. The weather was coming in fast. To the southwest over Manila, the sky was black. It was going to be a bad blow. shrugging into her rain gear, she went up on deck. Finding her father hunched over the maps on the bridge she studied him for a moment. His red hair plastered to his head, the beard studded with grey whipped back against his cheeks. His hands gripped the edges of the table as the ship tossed on the waves.

“What can I do?” she asked.

Near the glass that looked out over the deck, her uncle, Norboru, turned and looked at her.

“We will need lots of food, liquid or soup, that the men can hold onto and blankets when they’re tired and come down rest. I don’t feel good about this one, Larrance-san.”

She had known both these men all her life. Larrance Jefferies was her father, Norboru was her grandmother’s brother. She knew the diminutive Japanese had to be at least seventy years old, yet he was still straight, his eyes brillant, his wisdom unmatched. His white hair was shoulder length and usually worn in an old fashioned top knot, the kind that had gone out of fashion forty years before. Even as the ship started to toss on the swells, to her, he still looked immovable.

Captain Jefferies turned and looked at the two, Norboru was his uncle, his mother’s brother. From this old man he had learned languages, mathematics, politics, navigation as well as dozens of other things that had helped build the Jefferies empire and keep his soul together. He knew the old man was right, this was going to be bad.

“Loren, honey. I would really be happier if you stayed below deck and helped the doc.”

She knew then he was worried. Never would he ask her to leave his side unless he thought she was endangered staying there, she hugged him tight, turned and bowed to Norboru and left. It would be the last time she would see either of them alive.

Three days later, she woke up on her face, in sand. It was warm, the wind was blowing, but the sun was out. Next to her lay her dog, Sasha.

Sasha’s nose was pressed against the back of her neck and it was the growling that had finally woke her up.

“We’ll have to kill the bloody dog.” she heard a distinct British accent.

She forced her self to roll over and held up her hand. “NO, please. Sasha, quiet.”

“Miss, you need help, but your dog won’t let us near.”

“She will now.” she whispered and with her fingers tangled in Sasha’s fur she passed out again.

The two men could not believe their eyes when they came upon the woman lying in the breakers. The long silver hair flowed down her back and tangled around the dog that lie against her. It was a shaggy looking mutt, close to the same color, silver, dappled in gray. No tail and long floppy ears. They did notice the dog had very big teeth, for its over all size. Which might have gone thirty pounds in its soaked condition.

They carefully walked over to the lady and motioning the men with them, they moved her onto a stretcher. The dog walked along, her nose in the sandy palm that hung off the edge. Nine men and all of them kept an eye on the small dog that walked beside the tiny woman, they could see her fingers petting the warm snout and hear whispering of words in a language none of them understood.

She woke later with a taste of cotton in her mouth, skin that felt abraided and a headache that put a marching band to shame. She rolled on her side and noted absently she was lying on a tatami mat, (Japan, she thought). She threw her arm around Sasha and buried her face in the soft fur and drifted off again.

Rain was pounding on the thatched roof when she woke again, through the door she heard a soft feminine voice.

“The animal cannot stay!”

“It is important to her, it stays.”

“It is my house, I will not clean up after an animal.”

With difficulty, Loren got to her knees and then to her feet. Pushing the door open, she leaned against the frame.

She looked at the group that sat before her, two Japanese men, a Japanese woman and a man that looked curiously both Japanese and white.

“Sasha and I will go now.” she announced.

The man with the green eyes rose swiftly, “No, you are not going anywhere. ”

She shrugged her shoulders and made to step past him, “It does not matter, Sasha has been my companion for eleven years, she saved my life. Where she goes, I go.”

“My name is Katsumoto.” he said, blocking her way. “These are my brothers Higen and Magojiro and Higen’s wife Nata.”

“I am Loren Jefferies. Survivors from the ship?”

Katsumoto shook his head. “We found bodies. One hundred and eleven.”

‘There were two hundred including myself. A white man with a captain’s uniform and bright red hair.”

Katsumoto looked at the floor and then raised his eyes to hers. He didn’t have to say the words, she read them in his face. Slowly she wilted against the door and slid onto the floor, Sasha licked her face and them looked at the man who stared down at her.

“Are you going to bite me milady, if I return her to bed?”

Sasha nuzzled Loren’s face again and looking up at the man, whined.

Gently he picked her up and returned her to the mat. Sasha stood in the door way and looked first at Loren and then at Katsumoto, she looked to the outside and whimpered.

“I’ll take this one outside for a time, while her mistress sleeps.” Katsumoto walked to the door and then called softly, “Come, Sasha.”

The dog followed him out. He didn’t miss the quickness with which Sasha did her business and then returned to the porch. She stood and waited for Katsumoto to remove his shoes and then wiped her paws on the outside mat.

She walked silently to the door of the room Loren was sleeping in and waited for the screen to be opened.

“I do not believe you shall have to clean up after this animal, if you leave a mat at the door.” Katsumoto said to his sister-in-law. “I think she is quite civilized.”

When Loren woke again, Nata was sitting beside her with a pot of tea on a tray, a bowl of water and a cloth. She wrung out the cloth and gently wiped Loren’s face.

“I need to use the bathroom.” she moaned, “help me, please.”

Sasha waited in the room as Nata helped the smaller woman out. Every step was agony, her left side was raw welts from the rocks on the beach. Her left arm and shoulder were seeping and red, the arm hung limp at her side. While Loren sat on the side of the sunken tub, Nata knelt beside her and gently helped her to wash.

‘I am sorry for your loss.” the dark haired woman said. “There are many things from the wreck, my brother is having them put in the great house till you feel up seeing it all. Katsumoto’s father has sent this salve for you injuries. It will make them heal faster.”

“I am grateful.” Loren looked down at her. Nata gently applied the soothing balm to the raw skin on Loren’s body. “Could you help me back now. Your tea smells delicious.”

Nata wrapped a cotton kimona around the tiny woman but instead of the sash, she only tied the inner ties allowing the fabric to hang free, touching the tender skin as little as possible.

Later in the evening, Nata brought in her children to introduce them to Loren. Yoshida was the oldest son at thirteen. Hajii , eleven. Naki, nine. Shorin, eight. Nobutada. six, and Tashi, four. Five sons and a daughter. They were a quiet group, Loren had never suspected so many children lived there. As they filed out Katsumoto came in carrying a small child and leading two others.

“These are my daughters, he told her touching each girl on her face, “This is Nariko and this is Akemi.” The girls bowed and stood with their eyes down. “This is Ujio, my son.” He sat the young boy on the floor.

“You have a beautiful family.” Loren smiled at them all, “as does your brother.”

Katsumoto looked into the other room, “Do you feel well enough to join us?” he asked.

“Thank you, I will.”

As they knelt around the low wooden table, Loren watched her hosts. It was a quiet family, nine children and four adults, including her. The rice was hot, the strips of vegetables lightly seasoned and the fish freshly caught. Loren sat on her right side and watched them all.

It made her home sick, she missed her family, and then she remembered, they were dead, they were all dead. She excused herself and rose awkwardly from the floor and walked out the door. Nata made as if to rise and follow her, but Katsumoto shook his head.

“She needs time.” he said. “She is in pain.”

He rose from the floor and followed her out. He found her sitting on a large rock in the garden.
He stood slightly behind her and watched; he could tell from her shoulders, she was weeping silently. Sasha came around them and put her head against Loren’s good leg.

He walked around in front of her and held out the tea he had picked up from the table.

“Drink.” he told her.

She took the cup with shaking hands and held it to her lips. “Who was the English?” she asked. “On the beach.”

“James Wickes” he told her. “Comes here every other year, he studies with Sensei.”

“Bushido?” she asked.

“Hai.”

“I would like to thank him.’

“When you feel better I will take you to the Dojo.”

“I would like to meet your Sensei, he might have known my uncle. Norboru.”

“Your uncle is Japanese. Would it pain you to tell me about yourself?”

She turned and looked at him and once again her coloring astounded him and almost left him breathless. She was small, five feet or so, yet he noticed her calves and arms were quite muscular and well developed. Her hair was silver to the point of shimmer and her eyes a soft purple. He had never seen eyes that color before. Her coloring was tanned but not overly dark, he guessed it was a combination of being on the open sea and her Japanese heritage.

“What would you like to know Katsumoto, and do you have a shorter name?”

He laughed in spite of himself. “My bothers and family call me Katsu, you may if you wish.”

“Thank you, she sighed then and leaned a little more onto the boulder. “My father is…was Larrence Jefferies, of Jefferies Shipping. We have docks in Yokahama. My uncle’s family is Sojumiko. It was a very bad storm, wasn’t it.”

“The worst in at least forty years. My father has been here since 1876 and he cannot remember one as bad. Were you born here, in Japan?”

“No. I was born in America, San Francisco, California.”

He stepped around beside her and sat on the gravel. “I have heard of California, but I have never been there. My father is American, but says he will never go back.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, something that happened a long time ago. Sometimes I think it still pains him.”

“A lot of things in our lives usually do.”

“Do you have any other family, Loren-san?”

“My sister. She lives in Boston. She’ll have to know about our father, of course.”

“I can send someone to Yokahama, for you. There is no one else?”

For just a second, her eyes clouded over, then she shook her head, “No, they’re dead. They are all dead.”

He wanted to say more but in her way she had just shut him out and he wasn’t sure how. So he stood and bowed and left her. After a while, she heard soft voices and laughter as he gathered up his children and left. Still she sat. Towards the inland she could see snow capped mountains, far in the distance. She knew where she was, she could read the stars, so far away. Everything she had loved was gone.

Deep into the night, she woke, wet with sweat, her heart pounded against her chest. She shook the hair from her eyes and sat up, Sasha came and laid her head in Loren’s lap.

“Sorry, old girl.” she whispered. “Nightmare.” She scratched Sasha’s ears and stared up at the ceiling. ‘Quakes and storms, I don’t want to sleep any more tonight.”

The next morning, Loren woke and heard soft voices in the outer room. It didn’t sound like any of the people she had already met, the voice was older, more authoritive.

“I’ll join you for breakfast.” the voice said.

“I would be honored father.” Nata replied.

Nata’s father ? Rowan got up and dressed as quickly as she could . As she slid opened the door, she knew she had been mistaken, this was not Nata’s father, but maybe he was Katsumoto’s.

She stood there and looked at the man kneeling on the floor. His hair was silver and he wore it shoulder length. By her count he was probably several years older than her own father. She thought mid sixties. He looked trim and fit and not at all aged, he reminded her of Norboru. Then he rose and she knew why. He moved the same. A life of martial training, she was not surprised to see he was white.

“Domo Arigto.” she murmured and bowed as low as her injuries would allow.

The man stepped towards her and held out his hand, “I am Sam Woods.” he told her. “I hear you are a fellow Californian.”

She took his hand and looked up into his eyes, he stood six foot four and towered over Loren and the rest of the people she had met.

“Do I know you, Mr. Woods?’

“I don’t think so, but I might have known some of your family.” he led her to the table as they talked. “Your father was Larrence, your mother Patrice Smythe?”

“Yes, how did you know?”

“You look like your mother, I knew her in Boston, before she married your dad. She was…..how can I say this? ……Elegant.”

October 1, 2009
12:00a.m…checked all email, Rowan, Vincent, and R&V Enterprises. Uploaded AJ virus to shastabits.com. They refuse to take hint and there were 300 pieces of spam in mail folder.

12:01a.m…Confirmed appointments, scheduled wake-ups. Ordered groceries from Calen’s Market.

12:03a.m…Disturbance on garage level 1..Jason Storm…note to self, new sensor works perfectly.Gave notice before Jason even materialized.

12:03-1:30a.m…Conference