He hopped out of bed as he was well rested, being tobed on time the night before as he had always been for three yearsstraight. He walked over to the...bathroom, peed, brushed his teeth andbrushed his hair, fifty strokes at least. His hair was still receded inthe front, but had grown long in the back. It was long enough to touchhis shoulders but not much farther. It was shiny as he washed andconditioned it every night before going to bed in his nightly showers.Looking in his drawers he picked. It took me a half hour to pull five of the units out of the container and move them into my shop. I’d do an assessment of them before taking them to the school. No point to giving the kids a hopeless case. I wanted them to learn something and get a sense of accomplishment from this project, not frustration.Gabrielle arrived just after five. She must have seen the container, the shop doors open, and my truck on the scene, so she came over to see what I was up to.“Are these the scooters you said. I figured I could convince it to go away with my Bo staff.“Park it!” I ordered Duke.He ignored me, because he was fixated on the unknown threat. I tapped him on the head; he looked up at me and I pointed and repeated the command. He was shaking, he was so ramped-up, but I was happy when he went up the stairs. Normally he would go into his crate and lie down, but I was satisfied when he went to the head of the stairs and looked back. I saw Precious peek around the corner.I opened the door,. Leah grinned at his response, but as he watched her features faded from joy to horror."What's wrong..." he asked, turning to look. His stomach lurched, then frosted over. They were just turning past the edge of some trees on the path, coming out onto the northwest side of the mountain. Below them the entire valley was visible, a panoramic view that Neil looked forward too each time he rode this trail. Today, however, the grand vista of mountains and trees was covered by a blanket of black.