" Okay, John, you have made your point. I'll go find Mary and start the ball rolling."The next day, the three ATVs rolled into town and up to the entr...nce ramp of the palace. John and I got out and very carefully made a point of checking our guns. Meanwhile, Mary and Ed had driven up and parked on either side of my ATV. Betty and Bill were manning the Mark 8s, and they certainly looked like they knew what they were doing. They were strapped into their harnesses and standing on the passenger. As they came inside the house I saw right away that they lookedremarkably...the same as they always had. As they came into thelivingroom I looked them over carefully and didn't see anything out ofplace.When Tim saw my mom he just froze. His jaw dropped and he said "MOM?!?Is that you?"My mom nodded. "Yeah it's me"Tim went over to hug my mom. Since Tim lived out of state and my parentsweren't exactly posting to social media lately, I realized he probablyhadn't seen her in the "between," stage. Eyes and forehead had an air of relaxation. Those and the lack ofwrinkles gave the face a feminine touch. Now I could see, why so manypeople told me I looked a lot like my mom when I was younger.I was so taken in by what I saw that I had not registered, when my wifeentered the room right after me. I learned later she had been readingin bed when I rushed through. First she thought I might be sick or hadto relieve myself. But then it began to dawn on her what might havehappened. When we locked. ”“Really,” trying to sound surprised.“How well do you think you are doing in your studies?”“I think I am doing pretty well. I may not be a genius but I will at least graduate with my class.”“Pretty well you say. According to my records you are failing all of you classes, F’s right down the board. At this rate you will never graduate.”“What that can’t be right, there must be a mistake.”“No mistake. I am afraid you are going to flunk out.”“There must be something I can do to raise my grades. I.