I had had a few Bacardi’s and kept my eyes posted on the door. There were some familiar faces coming in, but mostly Matt’s and Ellen’s work budd...es. T he party was getting crowded as more guests arrived and I felt I had to step out and have a smoke. “H ey Jake, listen”, it was Matt. “The garbage in the kitchen is overflowing, could you take it out round the back yard” “S ure thing”, I said as I gulped down the smooth rum. T he kitchen was crowded and I wriggled in between. ’ ‘Nah, it’s good, I don’t drink. What kind of music do they have here?’ She showed him the catalog of songs and helped him pick out a song to start with-Mr. Brightside by The Killers. He was amazing. His voice was awesome and he made the song sound great. She was very impressed. When he sat back down and she told him this, he blushed just a little and gave her a smile that made her heart skip a beat. As they sat listening to the others singing, he placed his hand on hers and gently stroked. We break up that shit's gonna backfire on you.” “Prob'ly,” he said with a laugh. “Maybe we can share.” “I'm down,” I said. “Maybe he was offering advice on how to run a threesome with military efficiency.” “Can't hurt to ask.” “Probably can, actually,” I said with a laugh. We ran another couple minutes in silence. “I don't have to top all the time,” Sam said. I laughed at the defensive tone. “Ain't a thing, big fella,” I said. “I enjoy it.” “Don't make you feel...” His voice trailed off. “Weak?. An attack which, like all his previous attempts, would proved unsuccessful due in no small part to the fact that years and food had taken a couple of yards of his pace and the bell his owners had placed around his neck thinking it necessary to protect the fauna. The summer drone of the cicadas stopped. A kookaburra tilted its head to one side. It had almost located a particular juicy snack on the branches of large camphor laurel when the cicada stopped its song. The magpies stopped their search.