We all were together to rehearse since it was a double wedding. Pastor Jim said, “Who comes down first?”Melissa said, “Karen will make the call....She and Brad started this joy. As long as I get there and Paul is there, I will be happy.” Everyone laughed.Karen smiled and said, “I understand. I want to nail Brad down. I will go first. I want to watch Melissa as she comes down the aisle to Paul. Both of us made big, different steps to get to this point. It truly will be a celebration of. He moved his eyes to glance at me. "The sea, I mean ... it's just home."Almost to a shock, for the first time in the hundreds of times I'd seen him, he spoke. "Yeah ... yeah, it is."He had a deep voice, but a quiet one."Shame about all the crap we've dumped in there over the millennia ... the origin of life, the biggest gem on the globe," I continued.He'd brought his own sack lunch with him, as he often did ... he reached in, grabbed some baked fish, letting his shepherd eat it from his hand.. They told me I could go home in the morning. How are you?’ I was tempted to use Mike’s ‘I’ve been better, but it costs more’ line, but I knew this visit to the hospital was costing a small fortune. ‘I’ve got some bruises, but they tell me I’ll survive. It’s good to see you, Liz.’ Liz used her tongue to move the white plastic tube aside. ‘I want to thank you, Ray. No one has ever done that with me before.’ ‘Well, I should hope not! And I hope you never take a swan dive like that again!’ ‘I’m not. ”“Who are you?,” you ask. Meanwhile she has approached you and now places her slim arms over your shoulders.“You still can‘t tell? Boy, I really must have changed, haven‘t I?”What happens next makes your stomach spin. Maybe just because of the amount of beer in you or because the girl embracing you starts to morph. And suddenly you recognize her. This nose, those eyes, that wicked smile: You know that person more than you know any of your friends.“Ava!” Your girlfriend‘s teeth-showing smile.