She shrugged her shoulders and said “You never know.” However, what did she really want? Intimacy with a man younger then herself? Is that all she...wanted out of this? Alone, she said it aloud. “We must meet. He does seem like a very nice man and he is so darn cute too, isn’t he?” Then she added “And if that doesn’t work out, I can always call Alec. Alec will come over. He told me he would.” Out of nowhere, Melinda’s life seemed renewed. There was a new spirit within her. She felt renewed as if. And while holding you tightly to me, time begins to ebb away. I only recognize its passage in the smallest of details. My name whispered over and over. A cold wind quietly blowing through the streets and swaying cold branches. I listen to the countless drops of rain, miniature exiles from the sky that collide with the earth on their own calming, unique chorus. I hear thunder roll now, a prolonged muffled boom bellowing across the sky. Lighting strobes outside, illuminating everything for brief. “Nothing bad – well, not bad per se...”“Which means it’s bad,” Calix sighed in exasperation. “Just spill it.”“No, it isn’t,” Octavia reiterated.She bit her lip, looking around the room. “As expected, Mister Gunter failed his re-test. It was nothing but a formality, anyway, since his crimes were grave enough to warrant termination. However, since he failed his test and is scheduled for termination tomorrow morning, we have a bit of a quandary.”She bit her lip again as Calix looked at her. I walked as quietly as I could on the wooden floor, but as I was walking, I heard a noise. The TV in the TV-room was turned on. I saw a flickering light coming from the slightly opened door to the TV-room. Out of curiosity, I snuck up to it and peered through the opening.Maria was sitting in a sofa to the right of the door, watching a news channel. I could not see her face, only the left side of her, but what I saw was quite enough. She was wearing a thin, purple nightgown, ending just below.