From the first moment of my arrival at the International Airport in Tokyo, I could not help but notice the subtle changes in the scene around me. The ...nflux of western travelers into the sacred city was booming in a way that I am certain the elder statesmen had never anticipated and I was just as astonished at the growing influence of foreign words, signs and style of dress on the society as a whole. The place had changed from within and from all indications there had been little resistance to. My note had eventually found her; it had taken nearly three months to travel from Odessa to her home village, via the Cruise Company’s head office. Like me she had hoped to catch up again, and she explained that she left the boat early as she had not wanted to ruin the lovely experience by showing her upset at it coming to an end. It was only on the bus that she realised she had not way of contacting me, nor me contacting her, so it was a stroke of good fortune that I requested the message to. "I am going to bury you. I just want to make sure you understand that."Gerald spent the next three weeks working out in the gym harder than he ever did. He had switched rooms with another teammate, his friendship with Stacey was completely over, the two hardly spoke to each other.The whistle blew hard. One night at practice. "Goddamit!" the coach yelled. "Do you even know what an out route means?" he yelled at Gerald."Yes sir, I was heading that way, but the ball came early," Gerald said."The. But don’t dawdle, because that thing you mentioned, the thing about the arousal side-effect?”“Yeah?”“Whoo boy, it works! I’m crazy, unbelievably horny, and it had to be that. Today, stud, is the day that I can’t wait any longer to test out all of your skills.”I laughed. “Music to my ears! You sure you want to hear this other nonsense now?”“Yes, and no distracting me with sex.”So I told her. She knew all about my accident, of course, so I began with waking up to Ella’s feelings, my confusion.