And if he was forewarned, he should have been able to save the little girl at her play. But how? What could he have done? # The sight of the woman in ...ellow, standing at the temple, thrust an icicle through his heart. There was death here. Snap. The barrels broke free. There was no shelter in the lee of the steps. He turned for a doorway downhill, ran for it with all speed. Farther down, the little girl played, her head turning to the sound of roaring barrels. He saw the splash of beer that. I don't notice their talk without words, just by facial expressions, they'd developed together at dinner-table back home. I hear them get up and out, without really spending any attention at it, till loud laughter wakes me up from my notes."I can't believe my eyes: under his artificial X-mas tree he has a lovely lil' stone(d) Buddha, pearls around his neck! Indeed, the smell of his huge weed plants is strong, it's so sexy! Sometimes I use an inhaler at one of my dopey lovers.I heard sex is. "Aye well," the dwarf's wrinkled face grew serious. "Murder, theft,whorin'... the usual. But see, I figgered that any imposter wouldn't beso dumb as ter walk in here in broad midday and use the same disguisetwice, ya see?"Mayolin giggled a bit and nodded. Then again, most of the townsfolk wereprobably still terrified, and with good reason."Good thinking. Oh and one more thing. Did you happen to see a half-elfgirl, about this tall, quite pale, blonde..." Aye" the innkeeper nodded after a bit of. I missed her still, but as the saying goes, that ship had sailed.I was sitting in the stands one June Wednesday night, watching a local high school baseball game when my new cell phone chirped. I recognized the number, it was the Alvarez number.“Hello, Mama,” I said with a smile in my voice. I’d long since reverted to calling her Mama. She was as close to a real mother as I’d ever had.“How did you know it was me?” she said after she got over the surprise.“Ah, my new magic cell phone knows all..