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Dragon Tears Dean Koontz 45110K 2023-09-01

Psychosis Children Sorcery

Nothing

He decided to stop thinking about Ticktock for a while Give the subconscious a chance to ithout pressure

"I Gotta Know," he said, giving Connie the title of a Presley song

"Knohat?"

"Tell Me Why"

"Huh?"

"It’s Now or Never"

She caught on, sathered"

"Ca another grenade at us, saved our lives"

"To the king of rock-’n’-roll," she said, raising her brandy snifter

The band stopped torturing the Ellington tunes and took a break, so maybe there was a God in Heaven after all, and blessed order in the universe

Harry and Connie clinked glasses, sipped He said, "Why Elvis?"

She sighed "Early Elvishe was so what you want to be, about not being pushed around just because you’re different ’Don’t step on s froolden oldies when I was just seven or eight, but they spoke to ht? Heavy stuff for a little kid I s were about loneliness, heartbreak"

"Sure He was that drea to take any shit, roes, foster homes, so I knehat loneliness was all about, and ht their burgers, and the busboy refreshed their coffee

Harry was beginning to feel like a huhtened hu nonetheless

"Okay," he said, "I can understand being crazy for the early Elvis,ketchup onto her burger, Connie said, "In its way, the end’s as interesting as the beginning Aer in sequined ju, so full of proic flaw, he takes a tu fall, dead at fortytwo"

"Died on a toilet"

"I didn’t say this was Shakespearean tragedy There’s an element of the absurd in it That’s what edy No country in the world has our sense of the absurd"

"I don’t think you’ll see either the Dean anytier was delicious Around a ic flaw?"

"He refused to grow up Or maybe he wasn’t able"

"Isn’t an artist supposed to hold on to the child within him?"

She took a bite of her sandwich, shook her head "Not the sa Elvis Presley wanted freedom, had a passion for it, just like I’ve always had, and the way he got total freedoh his ot it, when he could’ve been free forever well, what happened?"

"Tell ht a lot about it "Elvis lost direction I think maybe he fell in love with fame more than freedom Genuine freedom, freedom with responsibility not from itthat’s a worthy adult dream But fame is just a cheap thrill You’d have to be immature to really enjoy fame, don’t you think?"

"I wouldn’t want it Not that I’, a trinket only a child would rownup, talked like one-" "Sure as hell sang like agrohen he was at his best"

"Yeah But eroas just a costu entourage like his own private boy’s club, and ate mostly fried banana sandwiches with peanut butter, kids’ food, and rented whole amusement parks when he wanted to have fun with his friends It’s why he wasn’t able to stop people like Colonel Parker froe of him"

Grownups Children Arrested development Psychosis Fame

Sorcery Fairy tales Arrested develophter, his , but her voice see from a distance:"so the last part of Elvis’s life shows you how many traps there are

Psychotic child Fascinated by monsters With a sorcerer’s power

Arrested develop

how easy it is to lose your freedom and never find your way back to it"

Harry put down his sandwich "My God, I think maybe I knoho Ticktock is"

"Who?"

"Wait Let hter erupted from a table of noisy drunks near the bandstand Two men in their fifties with the look of wealth about the to live their own fairy tales: the agingof perfect sex and the envy of otherof riches, and happily unaware that their fantasies would one day seem dreary, dull, and tacky even to them