Tom’s hunch was right.“No!” replied L’vant.Daniel spoke into his radio “Take the shot.”Frozen Hal was delighted Now you’ll get it YOU FU...K.Nothing happened. They heard some bangs but L’vant wasn’t hit. After a few seconds they heard more shots fired but none seemed to hit the target. Isabella’s voice came through on the radio, “Sir, our live rounds have been replaced with blanks.” Three more Airships swooped in and hovered over the source of the gunfire, they dropped Skitters to apprehend the. He is too big a lump to be in my kitchen when I am cooking," she said, flapping her hands at us. "Besides, he likes to taste and as big as he is, there will be nothing left for dinner. Now go."So my niece dragged me into the living room and ordered me to sit while she went to change out of her soccer gear. Apparently her game had been cancelled due to a water main break in the school, flooding the locker rooms and electrical closet, shorting out the entire school and several blocks around the. I would make four times as muchfor the same time spent. And, if I wanted to take a day off, I couldsimply take a day off. It was an ideal situation, as long as I could keepthe jobs coming in. I finally realized that I'd never have gotten anywherewithout Mr. Hospin's help. I hadn't a clue as to how to thank him. I stopped at the local printers and ordered up a thousand business cards.I put both the home number and my cell number on the cards. I decided toname my company "Painting by Joan". I. It was a last chance effort.I waited for her outside our writing class. When she saw me she turned her head away. I stepped between her and the door. "I just want to say, next time I'll tie you up so you can't run away." I turned and walked to my seat.She didn't look at me again the next day, except for two very curious peeks. I didn't confront her. I'd said what I had to say. After the weekend, I went to class with my writing assignment, confident in its prose. We always read our work aloud..