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"No" She laughed a little, still holding her gun out to ? I think the last ti was in July of 2014 I was sure that was going to be the summer when I finally learned how to swi I had no idea what else I could say to this woers She was my mother and my teacher and the one person I had never been able to please, no matter how hard I tried or how un fro to tell them?"

"That you realized we’d called the authorities, and ran" Her eyes were clear and cal The choice is yours"

It tookI could shoot her: She was unarun They wouldn’t be able to use the ballistics to trace er while she was still alive I shook et theet to Florida Alaric’s sister is naee Center Get her out"

"Then what?"

I stepped forward, leaning in to kiss her forehead the way she used to kiss mine when there was an appropriate photo opportunity Until that moment, I hadn’t really realized that I was taller than her now "Do what you couldn’t do for us, Mom," I said "Love her Until Alaric can come back for her, just love her"

She nodded "I’ll try," she said "That’s all that I can promise"

"That’s fine" I s when I sla to knock her out--the human head is thicker thanso theed that She staggered backith a shout, the skin split and bleeding above her eye That was going to be one hell of a shiner

She didn’t grab for the gun She didn’t swear at me She just clapped a hand over the wound and pointed to the door, saying, "Go We’ll take care of things from here"

I went As I ran through the kitchen, I threw Moun into the sink It was still half-full of soapy dishwater The gun sank into the bubbles I broke into a run

Dad and Becks were in the garage with the door standing open The sky was starting to lighten, hints of sunrise creeping up around the edges "Co for Becks to follow ht blocks out Miss Atherton has the jalasses with one hand His shoulder was bleeding copiously There was no telling what Becks had used to make the wound Mom’s toolbox provided a wealth of possibilities

He sawfor the van Becks ran behind nized as one of Moht with it, we’d be looking at a nice long stay in prison… assuet there, which see e reached the van, adrenaline and exhaustion bubbling over, and I joined in, and we threw ourselves inside just as soon as we could get the locks to disengage

I didn’t even bother to fasten ine and slaas Becks put the ja it to the stereo’s USB power outlet before turning it on A soft white-noise whine filled the cab,else; it was there so ould know the equip to split the Berkeley air e turned the corner, gathering speed all the while, and ere gone

You really can’t go ho

Sometimes, when you try, you find out that home isn’t there anymore… but that it wasn’t only in your head before Home actually existed Ho of all

--Fro of Shaun Mason, July 28, 2041 Unpublished

Seattle is gray, da surrounded on all sides by trees which never lose their leaves and hence, never stop providing cover for whateverbehind them The natives are as friendly as any Americans, and tend to become extremely helpful when I produce ht here

I’ie We have yet to bribe our way in to see the Monkey, and she’s not doing ith all this secrecy and illicit trafficking I would have said Alaric was the weak link in our particular chain, with his sister as a possible hostage to his good behavior, but I aht be just as easily swayed with the promise of a return to her "real life"…

--Fro of Mahir Gowda, July 28, 2041 Unpublished

Fifteen

I was left ood thing; ory’s painkillers wore off I wasn’t willing to ask the orderlies for anything else, and I couldn’t exactly ring for my buddy the EIS mole So I spent most of what felt like a day in bed, huddled under the covers and trying to shove h beneath the pillow to block out the rooht