The city was not like it used to be. The new council was both greedy and violent. They had also allied the city with several dark temples other countr...es had outlawed. War was coming and it was just a matter of time. I woke to dawns light through the greenish glass in the shed roof.I glanced around before standing and crossing to the long trough against the back wall. The water was running and drained out into clay ditches that fed the garden. Since there were no snakes in the trough I slipped. The perfect gift is not a one-sided gift. A Valentine's Day present has to unite the lovers, it's not from one to the other, it's from each to each, from us to us. And that is what is here, ready for the red and pink wrapper and the opalescent ribbon. Emily already knows the content, but she will now see it all differently. Isn't that what art does? Allow us to see the familiar in a new way? To appreciate it, to contemplate it, even to adore it? What is here, on this newly-edited DVD, is the. She said she had an idea. She grabbed me by the hand, and she rushed me into my open garage. She told me to shut the garrage door. I complied. She grabbed my camera, then my arm. She wrapped my arm around her shoulder then held the camera out and took a picture of us. We looked at the picture. "We look good" she said. I agreed. She then did somthing I did not see coming, she lifted her shirt a little, exposing her perfect mid-section. I still had my arm around her as she clicked another. "What?" That you'd get tired of having me around," she muttered, barely audible.Ertha tutted and stroked Julie's knee through the quilt. "Now that's not it at all, and you know it. God, how can you say that after we've been friends... roommates for awhile... as a matter of fact, since college? Man, you've got to get your head together, Julie. That's what I'm concerned about. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want. Move in, if you wish. But it's that crazy head of yours that concerns.