“Do you hate them?” “Oh no, not at all. I wasn’t expecting –” “—A college girl to have braces. I know, it’s very high school. But wh...t can I do? The University insurance covers me, and my family couldn’t afford them when I was a kid. So, I have them now.” I understood. It is not cheap to seek orthodontic treatment in the U.S. Secretly, I thought they were cute. Something about girls with braces, it had always struck a chord with my sexual preferences (or deviances), and here I had lucked my way. I heard the Rover leave.I looked for Mum and found her scrubbing her hands in the kitchen. "Was I crazy?" she asked."No, just upset. What's for dinner?" I'm not sure what's in the fridge. Ask Sarah if she'd like to go out." Okay." Sarah always wants to go out. She always wants fried shrimp or pizza. Today it was pizza. So we went to Chelsea Pizza in Nedlands. We got a family-size with sausage and a kid's Margherita – for Sarah, she likes plain pizza. It was before 1800, so there was room and. He was Mr. White and he had been running, coordinating, stewarding and sweating over the Haunted House for every year since it began. He stood in front of the bleachers looking at the fifty or so people sitting in the first three rows. All were students at the college who had volunteered to help with the Halloween Haunted House fund raiser. A hand was raised. Mr. White pointed and the long haired guy wearing a gray t-shirt with the words ‘Life Sucks!’ on it asked, ‘What do I hafta do?’ The man. .wide with alarm? Wide with panic? Why? Why panic? Dear Heavens Above! I Am In The Coliseum!! The sounds flooding back…the cheers, the screams, but loudest are the sound of heavy footsteps charging at me from behind. Without turning, I can tell what type of armor my opponent is wearing. By the jingle and squeaking, I know it’s metal. By the sound of his labored breath, I know it’s heavy. I wait and I can see the shadow nearing. Glancing up for a moment, seeing you pull your veil away …starting.