Christmas; the time in everyone's lives where they feel they need someone to share their good feelings with. A time when everyone wants-no- NEEDS love. Everyone...

Except me.

I'm always kind of lonely around this time of year, but I eventually get over it. By New Years, I make a resolution to find love, but it blows up in my face. It was the same with my Chemistry classes in college. Boom! No more, all gone, pa-tooty! Right in the kisser.

Of course, love isn't all THAT bad. I had a girlfriend in college, and she was beautiful, funny, smart, sexy...even good in bed! Don't get me wrong, we never had sex, but it got close several times. I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Aside from that, she was all a man could want...but she dumped me for her cousin. I said okay and got out of there faster than I'd ever gone before. I never looked back.

I finished college at Hartford University, gathered whatever money I could from my coffee shop job, and bought a ticket for a shuttle to the nearest colony. Smooth sailing, right?

Wrong.

When I arrived at the SP(a.k.a.: Shuttle Port), I was taken aback by the crowd. People all around me were rushing to and from their ships to catch the next one out. In the middle of the pandimonium, I noticed a lit screen displaying arrivals and departures, and made my way towards it.

After much pushing, my polite "Excuse me"'s quickly turned into "Watch where you're going!" as an increasing amount of people trampled my feet. By the time I reached the Arrival/Departure board, my shoes were scuffed and my tie was turned around backwards. When the last person was out of my way(an elderly man who looked like his feathers had been ruffled), I straightened myself up and looked for a listing.

But then, something hit me: I didn't have the slightest idea of where I was going!

As I scanned the screen, trying to decide where to go, I heard an incessant humming beside me. I turned just as my eyes reached Colony SX0036 to see a man with what looked like a chestnut rope trailing down his back. I stared wide-mouthed; that "rope" was his hair!

Apparently, he took no notice of me, for he was far too busy glaring at the screen and humming to some tune on his iPod. I tore my eyes away from the scene and tried to think of a good place to go.

"Oh, godDAMMIT!"

The sudden scream made me jump. I dropped my belongings and bent swiftly to get them. As I was gathering up my toothpaste, my eyes fell upon the type of shoes the man with the long hair had on. They were a pair of plain, all-black tennis shoes with...pink laces? I had heard of teenage "emo" boys with such fashion, but a grown man? I observed further to find the logo: a circle(also black) with a star and the words "Converse All-Star, Chuck Taylor" in black printed around it. Strange I thought. Why would you make a shoe entirely black? Nevertheless, I found that it slightly appealed to me...slightly. The pink laces, however, were anything but appealing.

"Pretty fuckin' sweet, aren't they?"

I snapped my head up so fast that I heard it snap. The man with the tacky shoes was looking down at me from under his baseball cap and smirking. I stared; the baseball cap was also black.

"Something on my face, handsome?" He grinned wider. I secretly thought to myself that if he smiled any wider, his face would break in half.

The man seemed to see on my face what I was thinking and outstretched a hand to help me up. I went to grab it, and then pulled my hand back, startled. There was a small black snake wrapped around his wrist and through his fingers. He smiled again. So much for that theory...

"Don't be bashful! What, you never seen a snake before?"