Can I stay at your place downtown for a while?"Jill said, "It's ours, get the fuck out."Doug said, "Why did you do that? Your half is worth millions."...I needed the write off, and I hate to mow grass. I love you guys, and I only got in to help you out in the first place. Now that you've built the business you can reap the rewards." What about the cash in the capital account? What about the money for the apartments?" You just bought it for a dollar." I don't want your charity." Take me for a ride. A woman. You mask your disappointment, and straighten up to welcome the hooded woman to the altar. As she crests the last step, she lowers the violet hood to reveal a scarred, green face. The half-orc priestess indeed showed great promise, as the swell beneath the front of her robes suggested. Filistria bowed her head and placed one hand upon Shugga's cloth-constrained middle before tearing it away in a flourish.The vein-laden swell of a full-term pregnancy lay bare for all. You knew Shugga had. Nobody told me the walls and eyes and ears of this place swallow you until nothing remains. Nobody told me the ones you love, watch. Everything is fine. Don’t worry about me. Did you get my letter? Will you write to me? I’m fine. **************************************** I took a deep breath, and exhaled. “Let your words be honest. Let me hear your voice.” Wasn’t that what she had said? I carefully slid the poem in beside the letters and sealed the envelope. Thankfully, the state allowed each. The sixth Christmas Eve we'd celebrated at the ranch. It seemed almost impossible. I counted my days by the birthdays of my cónyuge, clan mates, and babies. The time between was simply filled with work. I enjoyed my job. I was never going to have the audience Letterman had, but he wasn't going to get high school kids tuned into his show every night, either. And that wasn't the reason I was on anyway. The reaction my audiences had to hearing words that simply suggested they respect each other..