As we left the store, my wife commented, ‘She sure was pretty, wasn’t she?’ That was an understatement, but I had to agree. When we had encounte...ed in the mall, I thought Stephanie was a little taller than I was, but in her store, I noticed that we stood eye to eye with her in her heels. About a week later, I was back in the mall to pick up some things that I needed before closing time and as I walked by the furniture store, I noticed that Stephanie was working late. On the premise of inquiring. The man had an air about him as if he had once been powerfully strong and time had taken its toll."Where is Kay?" Benni asked suddenly."I don't know. I thought she was supposed to be here with me," Qi repeated. Was the patriarch distracted or was he slipping? Qi calmed himself and waited for clarification."We are too few and there is far too much to do," Benni said. "Kayetti is up to her eyeballs in administrivia and Chemung is running from situation to situation like a fireman hyped on. .”A chill swept through me. Had Sayuri said anything about coming over? Was Mom suspicious?“Yeah?” I turned back.“You won’t have to do much of that patting thing, will you?”“No, Mom. Most people will go for the scans. It’s easier and faster. Some people might refuse the scan to make a point but they’ll soon tire of it. At least, that’s what my boss says. But they’ll need more people at first so they’re hiring and that gives me a chance to stay on.”“So, you think the scans are ok?”“Yeah, just. As the red ball faded, the yellow streaks arced towards the ground like a meteor shower.Erin was bouncing up and down, cheering and yelling for more as the third firework raced towards the sky. It popped and then white streaks went everywhere with a sound like crackling plastic. There wasn’t a streak for the last one, when out of nowhere it burst with a large mass of blue specks in a large circular ball that transitioned to red specks. As they were dying out, a bunch of small circular white.