Chapter 1

Noitisopsnart ranmuloc

Hint: 25341

A flock of bird, red as the sunset, flew rapidly over the towering pines of Oregon State. After a few meters one bird broke off of the flock and flew down towards a quiet town. The citizens were unfazed by the twittering red song bird above them as it flittered this way and that, dodging power lines and telephone poles before it flew over the last building on its little escapade and re joined the flock. Out of that same building stepped a woman with long blond hair. She was adjusting a light blue scarf to stave off the cold as she smiled at the light dusting of snow all around her. She sighed in contentment before she went towards her destination.

"Morning." The female cop leaning against her cruiser greeted with a gruff voice but gentle smile. The woman smiled and waved.

"Morning, Grenda." She responded. On the woman walked. From the diner window the head waitress with long red hair smiled and waved. The woman waved back. After a while she reached her destination, the party store. She stepped inside with a cheer smile for the aggravated shopkeeper. An hour later she stepped out with a bag full of party hats and noise makers. With that she walked back to the building she had left earlier that morning. As she closed the door behind her a bright yellow blur surrounded all the windows and doors.

"LLAMA FACE! Did you get the stuff?" the inn owner asked appearing with a happy face.

"yep, everything we'll need is right here." she responded, though she looked disgruntled with his nickname for her. He dug into the bag and pulled out the party hats and noise makers and frowned.

"What the… these are made of paper!" he commented with a frown.

"Of course they're made of paper… they're party hats… what else are they made of?" the woman asked in apprehension.

"I thought party hats were made out of tanned kitten flesh."

"WHAT! BILL! TELL ME YOU DIDN'T MURDER KITTENS!"

"I didn't murder kittens?"

"OH GOD!"

"What? Wait… am I not allowed to string up banners of living human flesh either?"

"NO!"

"Why not?"

"BILLLL!"

"Man… I was excited for my first modern human party… now it's starting to sound like it's going to be more boring than the second dimension…"

"Ugh… let me see how you decorated."

"Yeesh you don't trust me?"

"Not anymore."

"Aright fine. So I've got the fairy light made of real fairies, they're chained to the ceiling so they can't move, heh heh. Then there's my grandfather as a clock… it's what I sorta almost remember what my grandfather looked like, watch, I'll just speed up time real quick."

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

"AH! BILL!"

"What?"

"Get rid of it!"

"Fine! But what are we supposed to do without a grandfather that works as a clock?" the blond groaned and pulled out her phone.

"This is what a grandfather clock is bill." The woman said showing the owner the picture.

"Oh… woops."

"Also when I said fairy lights I didn't mean literal fairies. It's tiny lights on string like Christmas lights."

"Oh." The owner snapped his fingers. "Like that?"

"Close, but all white… can you make it so they glitter at midnight?"

"Of course! What kind of multi dimensional being would I be if I couldn't?!"

"Bill… did you at least give out the invitations?"

"Relax! I sent invitation to everyone you said and not invitation to everyone else."

"Not… Bill what's a not invitation?"

"It's a piece of paper that says 'don't come to this awesome party that I'm hosting.'"

"BILL!"

"What?! What did I do now?!"

"You're not supposed to send out not invitations!"

"Then how do people know not to come?"

"You don't tell them about it!"

"…oh."

"Ugh Bill!"

"What!"

Miles away a tall brown haired woman answered her message box.

"Philips! Just hold all my calls! I'm not in the office tonight or for the next few nights for that matter!"

"But-"

"Just tell the corporate offices that I contracted some kind of contagious disease!" she insisted before she released the button and wrapped her hand knitted scarf tightly around her neck.

"Get me out of here Richards." She groaned with a touch of stress. The man in the driver uniform smiled sympathetically and stepped into the elevator with his boss.

The blond was sitting around waiting excitedly when the first people trickled in. An olive skinned woman was there with her pale husband. He flinched when the owner offered him a drink but the blond calmed him and directed him away from the bar before shooting the owner a dark glance. He had the decency to look sheepish.

"For the last time I didn't know he wasn't being literal!" He muttered. The blond merely rolled her eyes and continued greeting the trickle of guests that were appearing. Soon the party was in full swing but still the blond was glancing around expectantly. "Don't worry llama face, they'll be here." The blond sneered at the name.

"Don't call me that Bill." She insisted at a whisper. The owner rolled his eyes.

"What else can I call you?"

"How about my name?"

"Names are dull." The blond rolled her eyes at that comment and continued her vigil over the door. Hours later she was rewarded.

"You made it!" she cried happily encompassing the somewhat tall brown haired woman wearing the hand knitted scarf in a tight hug.

"Was there ever any doubt, the party doesn't start till I get here. I BROUGHT MULTI LAYERED DIP!" the woman cried. A resounding cheer rose up from the small crowd as the driver walked in with said bowl of dip. The blond laughed even as the brown hair woman looked around.

"Wait… is he not here yet?" the blond winced.

"No… I'm not sure if he'll be here for midnight…" the blond said weakly. The brown haired woman frowned but didn't let her displeasure show as she joined the party. The blond sighed and stared out the window as the snow started falling.

On route 95 just past McDermitt Oregon a man was caught in traffic. Several cars ahead of him there'd been an accident due to rough weather. The man glanced at his watch and cursed. At this rate he'd miss midnight. He revved his engine in impatience as the minutes ticked away.

"5!4!3!2!1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the crowd cried in jubilation, celebrating another new year. All around the blond couples were kissing to celebrate the New Year. She sighed morosely at the rough weather outside.

"Hey! No frowns!" the brown haired woman said pulling the blond away from the window and to the bar.

"So Ceasar, what's your new year's resolution?" the olive skinned woman asked. The owner stared at her with an excited look.

"Wait? Revolution? You mean I get to burn something? Awesome!" the blond smacked herself in the face.

"No Caesar, not revolution, resolution. It's a goal someone sets for themselves at the start of the year to have completed by the end of the year. Like… err… well what's yours?" the blonds asked the brunette.

"To send a birthday card to every single one of my employees… I set the same goal each year." The woman said with a smile. "I get new employees all the time, so the challenge is keeping up."

"Oh… so it's like a bet?" the owner asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No… it's a personal goal. You're in charge of keeping it… it's a promise you make to yourself." The blond reasoned. The man scoffed.

"That's pointless. You'd never have the will power to achieve the goal if you didn't have something to lose." He said giving the woman a smirk. She just smirked right back.

"Is that so… well then… how bout this Caesar… my goal this year is to solve twice as many cases as I did last year? You set a goal for yourself right now, whoever achieves their goal by the end of the year gets to make the other tell them one embarrassing secret." The blond offered. The owner chuckled darkly, rubbing his hands together.

"You've got yourself a deal. Shake on it?" the owner offered. The blond hesitated before she nodded and took his hands. He cackled evilly after that at which point the blond punched him in the shoulder. "Hey!"

"No maniacal laughter." The blond frowned at him. "So? What's your goal?"

"To better understand humanity." He said off hand. The blond frowned in annoyance.

"You should want to do that anyways!" the owner looked like he was about to respond but was called to the other end of the bar for a drink before he could. As he walked away the blond looked out the window and sighed. The brunette stepped up and frowned.

"He'll be here… just… maybe not just yet…" she reasoned with a sad frown. The blond sighed again and went back to her drink.

"Bye! Have a great new year!" the olive skinned woman cried as she left with her husband. The bar was empty now. The blond slowly made her way over to a table and stared sadly down at a small notebook in her hands. The brunette was at the bar with the owner. She looked angry.

"Oh when I get my hands on him." she growled out angrily. The owner was frowning.

"I'm telling you, something held him up. He looked pained to leave last time I think he'd be scratching to come back."

"The term is itching bill."

"Right anyways" the owner was cut off by a banging on the door. "WE'RE CLOSED!" he shouted with a twitch of annoyance. "Can't humans read?"

"BILL, OPEN THE DOOR!" cried out a familiar gruff voice. The blond leapt off her seat and threw open the door. She stood there for a few second smiling at the tall man covered in snow. After a few seconds she threw herself at him with a wide smile!

"You made it!" she cried as the man chuckled as he stepped in. the owner snapped his fingers and once again the door was locked and closed.

"Glad you could make it…"

"Pine Tree"

YEAF HNAVA PWGTL PYRYS AERIL