Where Have All The Children Gone?
Not for the first time in quite a while this past week and a half, Mike had difficulty getting a decent night's (or in his case morning's) sleep. It hadn't been coming easily to him, although the same might be said of any time he had started working at Freddy's. But a certain development that had occurred last week had really put his thoughts in a spin.
During the day and while he was working at night, he tried to do what he could to keep his mind off it. But when he lay down to sleep, when it was quiet, it all came creeping back to him. Not just the words he'd read the day that it had happened, but the memories and feelings they brought kicking and screaming that he had tried so hard to keep buried.
But even here, in an apartment that he had secured a tenancy for by himself, he'd managed to pick himself up a roommate. She wasn't exactly someone who could pay rent or that he wanted his landlord knowing about, but her company was something Mike was both grateful for and exasperated by, something that he was reminded of when he heard her voice through his phone next to his bed.
"Good afternoon Little Borealis! It is currently half past two on this glorious afternoon and you're listening to Midas Radio with your host with the golden touch, Goldie! The temperature outside is a brisk four degrees and I know those clouds are looking pretty gloomy, but take heart, folks because those long nights are getting shorter again which means spring is around the corner. I don't know about any of you, but I've already picked out my swimsuit for summer which is sure to be turning heads… in the direction of the eye doctors." She laughed while a wolf whistle sound effect played. And now, we've received another call from this station's biggest fan and patron, Mr Mike Schmidt. Hey, good to hear from you, Mike. You have any words for our listeners, Mike?"
"I'm listening to this against my will…" he groaned.
"Isn't he just a gem, folks? Let's give our Mike a big hand!" The sound of applause played. "We'll be right back with news for you, at the top of the hour. Now, for a very favourite song of mine. With how cold it is outside, I think we can count on Mr George Michael to raise the temperature a bit with little more than a… Careless Whisper."
Mike indeed felt his cheeks warm a little while the saxophone that could be best described as sultry began to play, manifesting images in his mind of half lidded gazes shared in a shady motel room. He pulled on his dressing gown and stepped into the living room where, as he expected, his TV was on with Goldie on its screen. She was swaying in time to the music, dressed in a shimmering golden dress that clung to her muscular frame with a slit in the side that showed off one of her powerful legs.
"Well hey there, stranger," she greeted in a breathy voice. "What's a man like you doing in a place like this?"
"Getting breakfast," he answered, trying to show he wasn't being bothered by her display.
"You don't say." The camera zoomed in on her face and she winked. "Come with me and I'll get you breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you know what I mean."
"Um you um, don't need to do that," he muttered.
"You're right. Let's skip straight to dinner."
"But uh…" He coughed and felt his face grow warmer. "I uh, I'm n-not that hungry."
"That's okay. Neither am I."
"O-Oh. So uh… uh w-what do we do?"
"Well…" She licked her lips. "I might be in the mood for some… dessert."
"Oh God," he moaned, hiding his face in his hands. "Why me?"
"Because, Mike," she said, adopting her usual voice and a flicker of the screen later, her usual clothes, "teasing you is far too easy and far too fun. I can see why Bonnie takes such enjoyment in it."
"Remind me again why we're friends?" he asked.
"Because I'm so intelligent, witty, sophisticated, talented and so overall wonderful that your life would just be so much duller without me in it?"
"Oh yeah. That," he deadpanned.
"Plus, your apartment was the only one I could get with a flat share on my budget," she shrugged.
"You don't even pay rent."
"Well it's not my fault I'm having trouble finding work. I'm perfectly qualified but everywhere just refuses to hire me," she complained. "Just because I'm non corporeal it's apparently okay to discriminate against me."
"Is it too late to put you back in storage?"
"You missed that boat long ago, Mike. Remember, you made this choice and you're stuck with me."
"Yeah. I am." He dropped his sarcastic tone and gave her a genuine smile. "I'm glad I am."
"You flatterer," she said, returning it.
"Okay, I think I'll get a shower first then get some breakfast," he decided while moving to the bathroom.
Goldie clapped her hands. "Oh goody! My subscribers have been waiting some new footage!"
"What?" Mike asked.
"What?" she replied in almost the same instant.
"You said-"
"Don't know what you mean."
"But-"
"Nope, nothing of the sort."
"But you-"
"Mike, I really don't know where you get these ludicrous thoughts from. Now, go on and have your shower," she ushered.
Mike didn't know if she was joking or not. But as he went into the bathroom and the last thing he saw and heard of her before he shut the door was her singing along to the chorus while playing the sax when it came in, he was sure of one thing: she was right that his life was less dull with her around. Her and everyone else they knew.
After washing and throwing on an old t-shirt and jeans, he set down to have some cereal with Golden while she sat in her own 'apartment' on the TV. It was the one from Friends.
"Should I meet you in Central Perk after this?" asked Mike jokingly.
"Yeah, come on by. Phoebe's got a new song she wants to show us." She dipped her toasted soldiers into the egg she had. "Hey, out of the people we know, who do you think would best fit in to the characters in the show?"
"Hmm." Mike pressed a finger to his chin. "That's a bit of a tough question."
"Well you'd be Ross easily."
"Aw what?" Mike complained. "Why am I Ross?"
"You can't deny there are certain similarities. Besides, would you rather be Joey?" she challenged.
Mike thought for a moment. "Good point. Fine, I'll take Ross. I think uh, Foxy would match Joey best."
"Mike!" gasped Goldie. "In what way do you mean by that?"
"W-Well you know, he's always cheerful a-and sincere and he e-enjoys acting," he justified.
Goldie raised an eyebrow. "You sure you're not saying he's stupid?"
"N-No!"
"Okay, okay, but I will say it's suspicious how defensive you're being," she teased. "Hmm, not as easy with everyone else. Bonnie plays guitar like Phoebe but her sarcasm makes her more like Chandler. Plus, she doesn't have enough childhood issues to be Phoebe."
"Yeah and Freddy doesn't really match anyone. I mean, you could be Monica but if I'm Ross that would make you my sister and not Freddy's. And what about Chica?" he added.
"Well, we need a Rachel for your Ross," she smirked. "Just try to have less of the 'on-again, off-again' aspect and stay together because everyone knows that breakup isn't permanent and never will be."
"Goldie…" he muttered.
"Come on, you two are actually managing to hold conversations now. You enjoy talking to her and it's clear she does too. I can safely say you're much better friends than previously and hey, you never know where it might end up going."
"I… I don't know…" he said quietly.
"Why not?" she asked.
"You know why," he replied, looking away.
"Yes, I know why." Her voice became firm. "Mike, I stand by what I said from what I learned being friends with you- you can't hold on to the past forever. Sooner or later, you have to let it go. You have a chance to try and move on."
"I don't want to talk about this now," he said as he stood up to take his bowl back to the kitchen.
"You may not want to, but Lidiya does," argued Goldie. "This could help resolve a few things for you, maybe help you let go. I know it's hard, but if you just-"
"Goldie, I said not now," he responded harshly. "Not now. Please."
"Mike…" She looked like she was considering persisting, but in the end sighed. "Fine. I'll drop it for now. But my point still stands."
He didn't say anything in response. He just silently washed out his bowl while mentally cursing away. Cursing Goldie for bringing this up. Cursing Lidiya for getting back in touch with him now, of all times and in some small way coming back into his life. Cursing himself for what had happened… how could he face that again? He'd been fine before. There was no need to, Goldie didn't know what she was talking about. Her situation and his were completely different, he didn't have to do anything. It wasn't like he'd tried to kill her like she had done and they weren't working together or something.
He didn't have to do anything. That was what he told himself. She hadn't sent any other messages since that one and she probably wasn't really expecting him to either, otherwise she would have sent more than one. He was fine, they were fine, there was nothing to be done. That was all there was to it. Goldie didn't know what she was talking about. She didn't know…
He clutched his head and rubbed his temples. He didn't want to think about this again, there was no point. He needed to clear his head. He grabbed his jacket from his room and slipped on his shoes without undoing his laces.
"Heading out?" asked Goldie. "As long as you are, drop by Freddy's. A peak at Aaron's schedule told me we're getting a new dayshift guard in for an interview."
"W-We actually found someone?" asked Mike in surprise.
"It seems so and considering our relative lack of applicants and the desperate nature of the situation, Aaron may just hire him on the spot. So go on, say hi to the newbie," she suggested.
Mike nodded slowly. "Yeah, I might do that. See you, Goldie."
"Until next time, Mike."
He walked out into the streets. It was that moment of transition towards the end of winter when things were still cold, but the warmth of spring was starting to push against it. Mike didn't mind spring, but he always preferred the colder season. When he was a kid, it had given him an excuse to stay inside where he preferred to be, either reading or playing video games.
But despite the coming of spring, the feeling in town wasn't exactly relaxed. There was a subtle change in atmosphere. People walked at a more brisk pace. Those with children were making sure they didn't stray very far from their sides. Most prominent were the increased frequency of the same five faces on posters asking anyone if they'd seen them. Mike practically had their names and faces committed to memory at this point.
Katie O'Malley. Robert Fitzgerald. Max Boyle. William Davies. Martha Foreman. All around the age ranges of seven to thirteen years old, all local kids and all missing for the past seven weeks. Despite the relatively small size of the town, the police had had little luck in finding them. The only thing they had to go off was they had all been last seen near Freddy's and were considered regulars.
The police had done an investigation a few weeks back early on. It involved a brief search of the restaurant and questioning all the employees, Mike included, but hadn't turned up anything at the site and no one had anything useful to say with regards to the children. But even though they'd been cleared, the townspeople had grown more wary of the restaurant the more time had passed. That was why Mr Johnson had decided to expand the security force and reincorporate the day shift guards. With the stigma surrounding both Freddy's and the night guard position, they'd had difficulty finding candidates.
If Mr Johnson had found someone willing to take the job, Mike hoped he was up to it. It might not make much sense, but he felt partially responsible for those kids. He could have walked past them at any time working at Freddy's and never looked at them twice. He only hoped they were okay.
"Hey, you! Hold on a second there!"
Mike froze and turned. He felt even more apprehensive when a police officer approached him. The local force wasn't very large since the town wasn't either, with only around a dozen officers according to Goldie. As such, Mike recognised at least by face this one from the time the ex-guards had broken in and from the way he was looking at him, he recognised Mike.
"You're the night guard at Freddy's. Schmidt, wasn't it?" asked one of them.
He was a stocky man with thinning dark hair and lines of stubble over his hardened face. Not only were his muscles thick but he was also a head taller than Mike. This combined with his expression and tone plus his authority as a cop was enough to make Mike nervous.
"Y-Yes, sir," Mike nodded.
"Hmph," he snorted. He nodded at a poster that was next to them. "Know anything about this?"
He shook his head. "N-Not much, o-officer. S-Sorry."
"That so? You don't see anything fishy going on when you're at work?" he persisted in a way that sounded like he was accusing Mike of something.
"N-No it's uh, it's usually p-pretty quiet," Mike told him.
"Oh yeah?" He took a step closer. "Because you know about all the stuff people say about your little place of fantasy and fun. That mess back in '87, the stuff those weirdos who broke in were spouting. I even heard there was something that happened at the place before Freddy's. You know about that?"
"N-No," Mike admitted feeling both surprised at this news and nervous at the intensity of his questioning.
"Yeah that's because they tried to keep it hushed up, smooth over the cracks." His eyes were boring into Mike's. "I really hope that's not what's happening here. You wouldn't be lying to an officer of the law, would you Schmidt?"
"N-N-No!" Mike's hands were shaking now and the rest of him soon followed suit. "I-I would never-!"
"Quick to defend yourself there, Schmidt. You sure there's nothing you want to tell me about these kids? Nothing you might know?"
"N-N-Nothing, no, I-I-I d-don't know a-anything! I-!"
"Yeah, you don't know anything." He shoved Mike with a finger and with another pointed to one of the photos. "You see that kid there, Max Boyce? He should be at home, sitting in his room and reading a new book while his parents are making him dinner. But he's not. Instead they're wondering if their little boy is ever going to come home. Them and all of those other parents. You have any idea how that feels for them or how those kids must be feeling? Lost and scared or maybe worse? Do you?"
Mike was unable to form any coherent sentence at this point. He was stuttering parts of answers while the officer looked like he might grab him and shove him against the wall. He hadn't done anything! Why was this guy getting on his case like this? He silently begged for something, anything, to get him out of this.
"Blake, lay off him!" Another officer came striding up, a dark skinned woman with a lined face and closely cropped black hair. "What the hell do you think you're doing? This is a public street, not an interrogation room!"
"I was only asking him if he knew anything, Wilson," defended Officer Blake.
"Oh, so I guess he was just shaking from joy and whimpering from excitement was he?" she challenged. "The guy clearly doesn't know anything about this. How about you give him some space before he has to go home and change his pants?"
Blake glowered at Mike again, but he stood away from Mike. He tried to walk past Officer Wilson but she held out an arm and stopped him. She fixed him in a steady gaze.
"You're not the only one who wants to find these kids, Blake. I get what you're feeling, I do but if you don't keep that in line then you know what's gonna happen. You understand?"
"Monica-!"
"Do you understand?" she repeated in a firmer voice.
His fists started to clench but he gave her a jerky nod in response, then he stalked away. She watched him go and turned to Mike with an apologetic look.
"Sir, I am so sorry for my colleague's behaviour. You okay?" she asked.
"Uh… m-mostly," answered Mike. "Just uh… well…"
"Yeah, I can see that," she nodded. She took out a notepad. "Would you mind telling me exactly what happened? It needs to go in my report so he can be reprimanded."
"Uh sure." He recounted the event for her, then when she was done he asked, "W-Why did he do that? I-I didn't do anything."
"It's nothing against you. He's a good guy usually, just sometimes he can get a little carried away." She hesitated for a moment before adding, "He knows one of the families of the kids that went missing, the Boyces. That doesn't excuse his behaviour though, he was way out of line. I'll be sure to let the chief know."
"Th-Thanks. H-Has there been any uh turn-ups? A-About the kids, I mean. Like, anything?"
She shook her head. "Sorry, Mr Schmidt, I'm not at liberty to discuss an official investigation with a member of the public."
"Right, right, s-sorry. I um, I was o-only hoping you'd be able to find them."
"Yeah. We all are." She let out a tired sigh and she put on a professional smile that did nothing to hide the worn look in her eyes. "Rest assured, Mr Schmidt, we're doing everything we can to find those kids. Hey and for the record, I think that if you've got robots like those things helping you guard that place, I'd say that it's pretty much on lock."
"Oh." Mike wasn't completely sure what she meant by that. "Y-You think so?"
"Well, I was kind of on the receiving end of one." She rubbed the back of her neck. "That bear's really got a grip."
"Huh? Oh!" Mike remembered what she was talking about. She was the officer Freddy had almost escorted out in the aftermath of the break-in. "R-Right. Uh, sorry about that."
"Don't worry about it. Just my dumb luck for standing so close." She tipped her hat to him. "Apologies for holding you up, Mr Schmidt. Have a good day and keep an eye out for those kids? You see anything suspicious, report it straight to us."
"Y-Yeah, I will," promised Mike and set off again, sincerely hoping he would never run into Officer Blake again.
When he arrived at Freddy's, he noted the lack of cars parked outside and the noise coming from the dining room was quieter than he been used to following Foxy's return. In fact the only two people he saw were Susie on the front desk and the janitor Harvey sweeping the floor. It was almost like when he first started working here. Mike was happy to say hello to a friendly face though and approached the front desk.
"Hey Susie," he greeted brightly.
"What?" she snapped in an uncharacteristically sour tone.
"O-Oh." Mike faltered. "S-Sorry I'll uh, get out of your-"
"No, no, Mike, I'm sorry." She breathed deeply and rubbed her head. "Sorry, just… just a little tired, that's all." She managed a small smile that didn't match the look in her eye. "It's alright, I'm just tired."
"Um…" Mike was hesitant to ask at first. "Is uh, i-is your being tired th-the same as me feeling uh… 'yeah'?"
She laughed a little at that. "Maybe it is. But hey, don't worry about it. I'll be okay. We'll get through this."
"I wouldn't count on that," Harvey scoffed harshly, taking his brush through to the dining area.
"Thanks for the optimism, Harv!" she called, though her voice's joking tone wavered slightly. "Don't mind him, he's just being grouchy. Even talked about making this his last shift, if you can believe it."
"Believe it," Harvey's voice called back.
"Wouldn't be the first time!" she countered, though she didn't sound entirely convicted. "Hey, did you hear? You're not going to be the only boy in blue around here for much longer."
"H-How do you mean?" asked Mike, though he knew exactly what she was referring to.
"We finally got ourselves an applicant for the day guard position! He came in just a few minutes ago. Seems kind of young but I think he's just what we need around here right now. How about you wait here for him so you can say hi?" she offered. "If it's anything like when you applied, he might be down in the next minute or less."
"You uh, you don't mind?" asked Mike.
"No, go ahead. It's not like we're busy at the moment." Again, there was the slight falter in her light hearted tone.
"O-Okay." Mike leaned a little more on the desk. "So uh, what can you tell me a-about the applicant?"
"Getting a feel for the possible competition?" she teased. "But yeah, he seems like a pretty nice guy. Looked really excited about having the chance to work here too, I didn't even manage to catch his name because he was in such a rush to get to Mr Johnson's office. It's weird though, I get the feeling I've seen him somewhere before."
"W-Well it's a small t-town," reasoned Mike. "E-Everyone's probably s-seen everyone at some p-point."
"I guess you're right about that. I just wish I knew where. Ugh, it's gonna bug me all day until I get it," she groaned.
"I-I'm sure you'll get it." Mike drummed his fingers for a bit. "How's uh… how's Wendy?"
"She's pretty much the same as ever," she answered. "Been a bit busy at the children's home for her than it usually is but she's doing well with it. It's made her a little bit crankier but nothing I'm not used to."
"Ah. G-Good," nodded Mike. "I-I um… I'm still n-not sure she uh, she l-likes me very much."
"Mike, I already said not to take that personally," she reminded him, though not harshly. "It just takes her a little longer to open up to new people I'm friends with. Come out with us again a few more times or even come round and see us and she'll ease up around you, I promise."
"O-Okay," replied Mike, not completely convinced.
While she had put on a smile for his little birthday outing and made polite conversation, he could still remember her rather mistrustful looks she gave him. Plus she didn't engage at length in talking to him and had excused herself halfway through the evening saying she had work to do, despite Susie trying to get her to stay. He hoped he'd be able to get along with her. He didn't like upsetting people or making problems for them.
"A-And uh," he followed up, "i-is everything e-else good w-with you? Like, recently?"
"Yes, I'm fine. Like I said, just a little tired with everything that's been going on," she repeated with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Uh… a-are you sure th-there's n-nothing e-else? I-I m-mean, w-with what's h-happened with uh… w-with those ki-"
"It's fine, Mike," she insisted, putting on a bigger smile. "Don't worry about me. How's things with you?"
"Uh yeah, they're um okay," he said.
"Better than bad. Any news on the romance front?" she asked teasingly. "Perhaps some progress on that special someone we talked about?"
"I um, I d-don't know a-about that," murmured Mike. "W-We're p-pretty good a-as just f-friends right now."
"Well after what you told me about what happened with her on Valentine's, I think it's great the two of you are able to still be friends following it," she said. "And if you don't think there's anything to develop beyond that, I might be able to help get you in touch with someone."
"W-Wow, you'd d-do that?" he asked in surprise.
"Of course! I'll be your official matchmaker!" Her smile fell when Mike flinched and looked away. "Hey, what's wrong? Was that going too far because if you don't want me getting involved in your personal life like that, that's fine."
"N-No, it's not that. I-It's uh…" Mike's voice became quieter. "I-It's what… w-what L-Lidiya u-used to say t-too…"
Her hands clapped over her mouth. "Oh Mike, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to remind you of that."
"I-It's okay," he dismissed. "Y-You didn't know."
Mike hadn't talked to Susie about Lidiya very much since their conversation on Valentine's Day so her knowledge of her was nowhere near like what Goldie knew, but when Susie had asked for her name Mike felt she should at least know that.
She put on a sad frown. "I don't even know much about this woman, but she really must have been someone special to you if you're still hurting after all this time."
Mike only nodded, but didn't respond. Memories echoed faintly in his mind of her laughs when he made a joke or the way he held her when she was crying…
"I know it's hard Mike, but my advice to you still stands. I'm sure anyone else would tell you the same thing." Again, Mike said nothing to that, not wanting to admit he knew she was right. "And if there's anything you ever need to get off your chest, get in touch."
"Th-Thanks but I'm…" He stopped himself. "A-Actually, there is s-s-something I think I-I should t-t-tell you." She didn't say anything, but she nodded to show she was listening. "I-It's about… a-a-about Lidiya. It uh… i-it happened a-a couple o-of weeks ago. On uh… o-on my birthday… she… w-well…" He hung his head, unable to get the words out.
"It's alright, don't rush yourself," she assured. "What happened?"
"O-Okay… sh-she… she uh… she g-got… sh-sh-she sent…"
New noises in the background made him stop. They both looked around at the sound of people coming down the stairs. Two voices were talking. One belonged to Mr Johnson, the other was one Mike recognised but couldn't place.
"N-Never mind," he muttered and turned away, not wanting to make it seem he was distracting Susie from her work.
He glanced back at her. She looked saddened, but otherwise didn't press further and resumed being ready to greet non-existent customers.
The voices were coming closer and the source of the other one was bothering him. He knew he had heard it before but he couldn't place it. Only when they came into view did his eyes widen in realisation.
"… ruddy marvellous you're able to start right now, Jeremy," Mr Johnson was saying happily.
"Hey it's no problem, Mr Johnson," replied the young man with a proud grin. "Just need to find somewhere to change and I'll get right on…" He trailed off when he saw Mike. "Oh hey! I thought I might run into you here!"
"I-I didn't think it'd be you!" Mike returned the smile and shook his hand when he offered it. "Uh g-good to see you again! J-Jeremy yeah?"
"You got it and you're Mike?" He fist pumped when Mike nodded. "Yes, nailed it!"
"So you two know each other already eh?" asked Mr Johnson.
"Uh yes sir," nodded Mike. "We ah, met on the bus once a couple weeks back. Glad to have a chance to work here?"
"You know it! My mom wasn't too happy about it, but I finally managed to talk her into it. With everything that's been happening lately, I wanna do my part to help so…" He held up his security uniform and tapped the badge. "Looks like I'll be seeing you around a little more, huh?"
"Looks like it," agreed Mike. "Uh, w-welcome aboard. You need t-to know anything, just say."
"Yeah, Mike here's practically a vet of the security guard post. The only one who didn't run screaming out the door on the first night," joked Susie.
"Alright Susie, that's enough. I know you like to have a chinwag but you've also got a job to do," reminded Mr Johnson.
"Yes sir, right." She reached to shake Jeremy's hand. "Welcome to the team, kid. Like Mike said you need anything, come hit me up too."
"Thanks again but you don't need to worry about me. I've had experience in this kind of thing before." He paused. "Well, it was a part in a play as a guard but how different can it be?" He gave them both a wave and went to change into his uniform while Susie went to answer the ringing phone.
Mike turned to say hello to Mr. Johnson, but his boss was already returning to his office upstairs. He frowned at this. The man had never passed up a chance for at least a small chat before. He'd barely even looked at Mike or spoken to him. In the end, Mike dismissed it. This was a stressful time for everyone, Mr. Johnson more than anyone. Perhaps another time.
He stepped into the dining area to see what was happening. It was a disheartening sight that there were fewer children here than there had been since Freddy's had got back on its feet. Even so, the synths were still working to put on a show for those that were. Freddy caught sight of Mike and waved him over.
"Hey there ol' buddy!" he greeted, clapping Mike's shoulder when he came over. "Hope you're having a Faz-tastic day!"
"Th-Thanks, Freddy," winced Mike. "You uh, you guys are going to be getting a new guard here i-in a few minutes."
Chica gasped happily. "Oh that's wonderful news! We'll be sure to make him feel welcome."
"Aye ye can guarantee that!" put in Foxy when he stuck his head out of his cove.
"I knew you would. B-Be nice to him, Bonnie," he warned.
"Mikey, please," she scoffed. "I've seen Chica be sterner than that."
"Bonnie," she warned, planting her hands on her hips.
"See?"
"Yeah well…" He trailed off and made moves to leave. "A-Anyway, you guys have a good day. I mean uh, Faz-tastic."
Freddy chuckled appreciatively but Bonnie just groaned. "Just leave now, you're only making it worse!"
With the scattered laughter of the children in his ears, Mike left for home while feeling somewhat comforted that through all of this, at least he still had them.
Hey folks! My sincerest apologies for such a long absence. Real life has been catching up with me and I've been in a bit of a writing funk recently and have only now gotten myself out of it. Mostly anyway. This is just fair warning that, for this one, progress is going to be slow. There are some details that I'm still mulling over and I may even be going back to previous stories to slightly alter some things so it works out better in the long term.
But rest assured knowing that I am back at work on these stories. I can't promise frequent updates, but I am working on them. Good to be back.
Be strong, be swift, be just.