We lived in the same neighborhood, one block apart. I guess you could say we grew up together, as close as brothers. My actual brothers were 10 years ...ounger than me. During the summers we played tennis together at a neighborhood public park. Once when Jim was staying at my house to keep me company while my parents were out of town, I got him a blind date with a girl I knew. I warned him to go easy because this girl was very shy. Well the short version of the story is, I was looking for him and. Another sob rolled off her chest, at the sound of that nickname. "I am part of our defence force -"She shook her head. "Shan wasn't this person. Shan was a sweet boy -" Exactly! He was a boy!" Captain Shay, roared. "I do what I do, Renny. There are some creatures that do not deserve to exist. And some of us do. I do what I do to protect those of us -"She shook her head, again, weeping. "You don't HAVE to kill them, Shan -" I HAVE TO, RENNY! Or they will kill us! Just how they killed Ruby -"Both. He’d even kept tabs on their survivors – still kept tabs on them now, as best he could. He knew the names of every husband, wife, child, parent or sibling. He admitted to himself there were some nights when he’d see them all one by one – vier Soldaten, zwei Soldatinnen, und jede ihre Familien - in his nightmares. Those dark dreams had eaten at him for years until he finally couldn’t stand it anymore and retired.When the Confederacy had come along, he’d been ambivalent at first. He’d seen more. The skitter of her silver-glossed toes on the pale oak floor is a choreographed performance. I watch the arch of her soles, the rise and twist of heels, the convexity of her calves as she stalks the dancers, circling the kiss-locked couple. Izzy's dress clings, emphasising those essential places and evoking memories of her lithe frame beneath. The limber of her muscles, their costume of ethereal flesh, her all too real bones. I focus on the shift of her hips as she moves, remember her buttocks.