*sings* IIIIIIIII GOT THIS CHAAAAAAAAAAPIE UP!!!!!!!!!! *suddenly window
shatters* CRAP! NOT AGAIN! DAD'S GONNA KILL ME! *sits there for a while and
then shrugs* Oh well, I'll just tell Dad my brother threw a shoe at me and
it hit the window like last time. *cackles*
The Thief of Eternity
(Part One~Come and Go.As Always)
Chapter Two~Pine Fragrance
The sun beat down on the beach of an Island where magical creatures and humans can live peacefully. The Island had been peaceful-up until a few moments ago.
The creatures of the Island, some gentle, some wild, did not and would never know about spectacular face off that had occurred just 20 minutes ago. Well, all except for one little wolf would ever know, but that story must be saved for another chapter.
The birds chirped and sang their songs, oblivious to anything that had gone on about a half mile out at sea.
Bucks watched proudly as their does helped their newborn fawns learn to walk, while leopards hunted for food and squirrels tried to find acorns they had buried. (None of them could find any-and they all wondered why there was a new tree exactly where they buried their acorns.)
The sun's rays shone down on everything- and seemed to give a special blessing to a life form that lay motionless in the sand. The girl lay face down, braids had once tamed these unruly threads of gold that spread across her back, and with each wave of cool, ocean water that lapped against her waist there was the smallest trace of crimson blood that quickly disappeared into the vast, sparkling sea.
A sand crab inspected her, and then scuttled away when she stirred.
The next wave retreated with incredible force and another wave twice the last one's size crashed over the girl's head leaving her in water one foot deep.
Serena jerked her head up with a start, spitting out sand and wiping the stinging saltwater from her eyes. She clambered to her feet, pulled a long slimy strip of seaweed off her arm and flung it into the ocean in disgust.
Serena mumbled words she had forgotten she even knew as she squeezed the water from her hair. This wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she ran away.
She spit again as she looked down at her clothes, which were soaked through. Another wave crashed down around her knees with such force it almost knocked her back down.
'It'd be a good idea to get out of the water,' she thought as she trudged up the white strip of sand.
'I'm so sleepy,' she had fought with her mind until she decided on that fact.
'And cold.' She realized and longed to bathe in the sun as her brother's Bearded Dragon had done all day back at home.
She scanned the beach in front of her. She was amused at the fact that 20 meters up the sand abruptly collided with lush, green ferns and then faded back into beautiful wood.
She forced her aching eyes to stay open and looked for a place to rest.
Her eyes fell on a huge boulder that sat on the edge of the beach; the trees standing proudly behind it with ferns crowding it, making it look inviting.
She started over to it, but suddenly her foot caught on a piece of driftwood, making her stumble. Sand sprayed the area before her and she cursed under her breath as she turned around.
Her voice caught in her throat as she saw the piece of wood. It was about two and a half meters long and it was practically straight.
It would be perfect.
She grabbed hold of the end and dragged it to the boulder. By the time she had gotten there, her hands were raw and full of splinters, but she tried to ignore it as she found and retrieved two more pieces of driftwood of the same size.
She erected two of them in the sand right in front of the boulder and tore a strip of cloth off of the bottom of her shirt. The shirt was too long anyway. She then tore the long piece in half with her teeth.
She propped the third piece of wood on top of the other two and tied them together with the strips of damp cloth.
Then she found a twig and broke it so that it was only about five centimeters long. The girl took out her pocketknife and started carving one end into a point. After that she poked a hole in the other end. She then ripped off one of her short sleeves and started to unravel it.
Serena picked the ferns by the boulder and started to sew them together with her hand-made needle and the thread from her sleeve.
She worked hard as she weaved the ferns together with incredible ease and speed, ignoring the pain of her now bleeding palms.
When she was done she draped the blanket of ferns over the driftwood to create a curtain.
Serena had always been conscious of her need of privacy. Ever since she was a little girl, whenever she went into a room she always had to close the door or pull down the blinds.
Serena sighed. She was sure people must've been on the Island if she was really in Neverland. She took off her shoes and socks and put them in the sand. She then tugged her shirt off and hung it up on the curtain. She did the same with her shorts and lay back on the boulder, drinking up the warmth of the sun.
The girl closed her eyes and started to doze.
***
A small girl stood by a church's door. She stared at the people passing.
'Grampa?' The three year-old girl said, 'What do the atheists do on Sunday mornings?'
A kind old man smiled down at her. 'I don't know.'
'Of course you do Grampa! You know everything!' The girl peered up at him, his eyes just as blue as hers.
The man smiled at his granddaughter and ruffled her blond hair. She giggled and reached up to him. The man took her hand and they walked down the steps toward the parking lot.
'Can we go swimming today?'
'Sure. But first lets go to the store and get some candy.'
'Yay!' The girl squealed and hugged the man's hand.
***
Serena woke up with a start.
How long had she been asleep?
The sun was in the same place, so maybe just about ten minutes.
She found that her clothes were dry and quickly got dressed.
The girl was just pulling on her shirt, but then stopped. Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered her dream. Her eyes began to water as she finished putting on her shirt. She groped at her aching throat as she remembered that vision she had just seen.
"No." she held back sobs. "I.I thought."
She didn't think she could keep from crying for long. But.she thought the dreams had stopped.
"I.I guess they haven't."
Suddenly Serena stiffened. Her stomach lurched and she heaved.
"Ugh."
She gasped for air.
She gripped her stomach and thought bitterly about all those blows to her gut she had taken.
Serena's gazed drifted down and her eyes widened in horror.
She stared in shock at the puddle of blood at her feet.
"No way."
She knew without medical help that soon she would.
Serena shook her head. She couldn't think about death right now. It would bring back to many painful memories, and after that dream.
She discarded all of her thoughts and looked towards the woods. She put a determined look on her face and set off into the maze of trees.
***
Peter dodged a blade aimed for his head. After the strange girl had left, Hook turned his men on the boy. He normally would have been having fun, but he wanted to find that girl.
He knew she had a bad temper-it had become obvious after she had pushed him off the mast.
'It would be fun to make her mad again!'
Peter grinned.
But he had more pressing matters to attend to right now.
As he scooped up the strange carrying pack at the edge of the deck (he assumed it was the girl's), he used his dagger to block another blow and flew up to the mast. He stood up there and grinned down at all of the pirates.
"Are you guys done yet?" He called down cheerfully. "'Cause I've got an appointment, and I can't be late!" Hook scowled at Peter. He had let the girl get away; he wouldn't do the same with the boy.
But it was too late. Peter was already flying towards the Island.
"Come on, Tinker Bell!" He called back.
She followed him and was quiet for a few moments.
So Why do you want to meet this girl? She finally said.
"I want to know how she beat up that guy so easily." He grinned. "And why she acted like she was so hurt when he barely even touched her," he added. "Are you going to bother her too?" He teased.
Tinker Bell only remained silent.
They combed the beach, looking for any trace of a human, any clue of where the girl could be.
Hey, look! Tinker Bell finally spoke up.
She pointed down to a curtain made of ferns. Footprints in the sand led up to it.
Peter landed by it and examined the curtain carefully. The ferns were bound together with white thread and seemed to be hiding a boulder.
'Why would it be hiding a boulder?'
He walked around the area, inspecting it carefully.
"Well, she must have been here."
.
"You go home, Tink. I want to take a look around the Island."
To Peter's surprise, Tinker Bell obeyed without even saying a word.
He watched as the gold streak of gold dust faded away as he scratched his head.
'Oh well.'
He turned to continue his search.
After about three hours of searching, Peter gave up and decided to go home. He had searched everywhere and had asked the Indians and the mermaids if they had seen the mysterious girl; none of them had.
Peter sighed.
'Oh well, maybe I'll find her tomorrow.'
He glanced back once more at the Indian tents and the undulating curl of smoke that creeped up to the clouds.
Then he slowly started to head back home.
***
Serena gasped for air as she stumbled along the rocky forest floor. She winced as the reaching fingers of the trees clawed at her arms, legs, and face.
She suppressed a cry of pain as a sharp twig scratched at her face, leaving a thin crimson streak on her cheek.
At that instant, she tripped on a rock and fell forward toward a long flat boulder. She landed on her right arm and she slid along it. She lay still for a few moments, and then clumsily climbed to her aching feet.
She looked back to see a long, thick scarlet trail, marking the path of where she had skidded. Her eyes watered at the brightly colored blood smeared across the rock, and looked down at her wounded arm.
It was torn and bloodied, but she was thankful it wasn't broken.
Then she noticed the smell.
The salty smell of the sea had faded a long time ago and now there was a fresh, clean smell.
She closed her eyes and focused on the smell. She licked her chapped lips. It was no use. Her sandpaper tongue slipped back into her dry mouth. The throat was sticky with dryness, and she was starting to fight the light- headed feeling that had just swept over her.
Then came the sound.
She opened her eyes and had completely forgotten all off her pain.
The smell and the sound fit together like a puzzle.
Serena was surprised to find her self laughing like a child as she ran toward the wonderful sound.
Water!
She came to a beautiful little stream and knelt down beside it.
Serena almost fell back in shock when she got a closer look at it.
The stream was as clean as filtered water!
She dipped her fingers in it and drew them back immediately.
How could the stream be that cold? It must have been 102 degrees out!
She leaned forward at closed her eyes in content as her lips touched the ice cold water.
She drank for a few minutes. When she was satisfied she sat up and started washing her wounds.
As she was cleaning a scratch on her arm, she heard a twig snap behind her.
Her back stiffened and a chill ran up her spine. She turned her head slowly and gasped as she spotted the mountain lion five meters away.
She gulped as she tried to stand, but lost her footing on a slippery rock and fell, just missing the waters edge.
The mountain lion attacked. (Everyone must thank the author for not ending it here.)
Serena opened her mouth to scream, but only a hoarse grunt came out. She dived to the side as the animal plunged into the steam.
It yowled as Serena scrambled to her feet and started running.
She suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her right arm and was dragged to the ground as she struggled under the grip of the animal. She struggled but it was no use. She felt another sting across her forehead as one of its claws was dragged across it.
The mountain lion put his paw on her shoulder and unlatched itself from her arm. The crushing pressure made her cry out in pain.
'What did I learn in karate?'
Serena forced her self to try to think as she gagged under the creature's fowl breath.
'That's it!'
She threw the overgrown cat off her with ease and rolled to the side. She then rolled over her shoulder and ended in a crouch. She got up as the mountain lion started stalking her.
Suddenly Serena's stomach lurched.
'Oh no!'
Her internal bleeding must have filled her stomach with blood again. She fought to keep it down, but she couldn't keep it in.
She heaved, and it took her a second to realize she was heaving right on the mountain lion.
Blood splashed into the creature's eyes and it yowled in pain and thrashed around.
Serena staggered back and watched in shock as the creature clawed at his eyes.
She stumbled back and then turned and ran.
She ran for 5 minutes and eventually slowed down. She panted as she leaned against a tree; her eyes focused on the forest floor.
Something caught her eye.
Was that a pine needle?
She sniffed the air and found it was heavy with the scent of pine. She stumbled forward, following the smell and the needles. She wiped the stinging blood from her eyes as best she could, but more just clouded her vision.
Suddenly she stopped. She looked up and discovered that that section of the forest was all pine trees.
She made her way through the thick tees as sap stuck to her hair and branches scratched at her.
Suddenly the endless array of pine trees came to an abrupt end. Serena found herself standing in a large opening. No sunlight came through; the pine trees that circled the opening seemed to bend over, blocking the sunlight with their countless amount of pine needless.
Serena stepped forward and stood in the middle for a few minutes and then wobbled a bit.
'I'm so tired.' She thought sleepily.
Every part of her body hurt, and where she wasn't wounded, there was a muscle that ached. She let her self slump to the ground and lay down on the thick mattress of pine needles.
Her eyes slowly closed and a soft smile spread across her lips.
"What a lovely place." she murmured, '.To die.' she finished the sentence in her mind and the words echoed through her head.
The sweet fragrance of pine was her lullaby as the unbearable pain and the loss of blood rendered her unconscious.
Hehe. Hope you liked it. *Watches as her brother gets yelled at for "Throwing a shoe at Stephanie and hit the window instead." Stephanie (Sharky) gets out some pop corn as her brother is being grounded* WAHA! Hehehe..
OH! YA WANNA KNOW WHAT'S REALLY CREEPY?! I JUST FOUND OUT I HAVE A SIXTH SENSE! IF YOU WANNA HEAR MORE ABOUT IT, IM ME AT Sailor1689 Actually I'm probably using this just as an excuse to talk to some of my wonderful reviewers, but o well. ^_^ Speaking of reviewing....REVIEW NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Thief of Eternity
(Part One~Come and Go.As Always)
Chapter Two~Pine Fragrance
The sun beat down on the beach of an Island where magical creatures and humans can live peacefully. The Island had been peaceful-up until a few moments ago.
The creatures of the Island, some gentle, some wild, did not and would never know about spectacular face off that had occurred just 20 minutes ago. Well, all except for one little wolf would ever know, but that story must be saved for another chapter.
The birds chirped and sang their songs, oblivious to anything that had gone on about a half mile out at sea.
Bucks watched proudly as their does helped their newborn fawns learn to walk, while leopards hunted for food and squirrels tried to find acorns they had buried. (None of them could find any-and they all wondered why there was a new tree exactly where they buried their acorns.)
The sun's rays shone down on everything- and seemed to give a special blessing to a life form that lay motionless in the sand. The girl lay face down, braids had once tamed these unruly threads of gold that spread across her back, and with each wave of cool, ocean water that lapped against her waist there was the smallest trace of crimson blood that quickly disappeared into the vast, sparkling sea.
A sand crab inspected her, and then scuttled away when she stirred.
The next wave retreated with incredible force and another wave twice the last one's size crashed over the girl's head leaving her in water one foot deep.
Serena jerked her head up with a start, spitting out sand and wiping the stinging saltwater from her eyes. She clambered to her feet, pulled a long slimy strip of seaweed off her arm and flung it into the ocean in disgust.
Serena mumbled words she had forgotten she even knew as she squeezed the water from her hair. This wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she ran away.
She spit again as she looked down at her clothes, which were soaked through. Another wave crashed down around her knees with such force it almost knocked her back down.
'It'd be a good idea to get out of the water,' she thought as she trudged up the white strip of sand.
'I'm so sleepy,' she had fought with her mind until she decided on that fact.
'And cold.' She realized and longed to bathe in the sun as her brother's Bearded Dragon had done all day back at home.
She scanned the beach in front of her. She was amused at the fact that 20 meters up the sand abruptly collided with lush, green ferns and then faded back into beautiful wood.
She forced her aching eyes to stay open and looked for a place to rest.
Her eyes fell on a huge boulder that sat on the edge of the beach; the trees standing proudly behind it with ferns crowding it, making it look inviting.
She started over to it, but suddenly her foot caught on a piece of driftwood, making her stumble. Sand sprayed the area before her and she cursed under her breath as she turned around.
Her voice caught in her throat as she saw the piece of wood. It was about two and a half meters long and it was practically straight.
It would be perfect.
She grabbed hold of the end and dragged it to the boulder. By the time she had gotten there, her hands were raw and full of splinters, but she tried to ignore it as she found and retrieved two more pieces of driftwood of the same size.
She erected two of them in the sand right in front of the boulder and tore a strip of cloth off of the bottom of her shirt. The shirt was too long anyway. She then tore the long piece in half with her teeth.
She propped the third piece of wood on top of the other two and tied them together with the strips of damp cloth.
Then she found a twig and broke it so that it was only about five centimeters long. The girl took out her pocketknife and started carving one end into a point. After that she poked a hole in the other end. She then ripped off one of her short sleeves and started to unravel it.
Serena picked the ferns by the boulder and started to sew them together with her hand-made needle and the thread from her sleeve.
She worked hard as she weaved the ferns together with incredible ease and speed, ignoring the pain of her now bleeding palms.
When she was done she draped the blanket of ferns over the driftwood to create a curtain.
Serena had always been conscious of her need of privacy. Ever since she was a little girl, whenever she went into a room she always had to close the door or pull down the blinds.
Serena sighed. She was sure people must've been on the Island if she was really in Neverland. She took off her shoes and socks and put them in the sand. She then tugged her shirt off and hung it up on the curtain. She did the same with her shorts and lay back on the boulder, drinking up the warmth of the sun.
The girl closed her eyes and started to doze.
***
A small girl stood by a church's door. She stared at the people passing.
'Grampa?' The three year-old girl said, 'What do the atheists do on Sunday mornings?'
A kind old man smiled down at her. 'I don't know.'
'Of course you do Grampa! You know everything!' The girl peered up at him, his eyes just as blue as hers.
The man smiled at his granddaughter and ruffled her blond hair. She giggled and reached up to him. The man took her hand and they walked down the steps toward the parking lot.
'Can we go swimming today?'
'Sure. But first lets go to the store and get some candy.'
'Yay!' The girl squealed and hugged the man's hand.
***
Serena woke up with a start.
How long had she been asleep?
The sun was in the same place, so maybe just about ten minutes.
She found that her clothes were dry and quickly got dressed.
The girl was just pulling on her shirt, but then stopped. Her breath caught in her throat as she remembered her dream. Her eyes began to water as she finished putting on her shirt. She groped at her aching throat as she remembered that vision she had just seen.
"No." she held back sobs. "I.I thought."
She didn't think she could keep from crying for long. But.she thought the dreams had stopped.
"I.I guess they haven't."
Suddenly Serena stiffened. Her stomach lurched and she heaved.
"Ugh."
She gasped for air.
She gripped her stomach and thought bitterly about all those blows to her gut she had taken.
Serena's gazed drifted down and her eyes widened in horror.
She stared in shock at the puddle of blood at her feet.
"No way."
She knew without medical help that soon she would.
Serena shook her head. She couldn't think about death right now. It would bring back to many painful memories, and after that dream.
She discarded all of her thoughts and looked towards the woods. She put a determined look on her face and set off into the maze of trees.
***
Peter dodged a blade aimed for his head. After the strange girl had left, Hook turned his men on the boy. He normally would have been having fun, but he wanted to find that girl.
He knew she had a bad temper-it had become obvious after she had pushed him off the mast.
'It would be fun to make her mad again!'
Peter grinned.
But he had more pressing matters to attend to right now.
As he scooped up the strange carrying pack at the edge of the deck (he assumed it was the girl's), he used his dagger to block another blow and flew up to the mast. He stood up there and grinned down at all of the pirates.
"Are you guys done yet?" He called down cheerfully. "'Cause I've got an appointment, and I can't be late!" Hook scowled at Peter. He had let the girl get away; he wouldn't do the same with the boy.
But it was too late. Peter was already flying towards the Island.
"Come on, Tinker Bell!" He called back.
She followed him and was quiet for a few moments.
So Why do you want to meet this girl? She finally said.
"I want to know how she beat up that guy so easily." He grinned. "And why she acted like she was so hurt when he barely even touched her," he added. "Are you going to bother her too?" He teased.
Tinker Bell only remained silent.
They combed the beach, looking for any trace of a human, any clue of where the girl could be.
Hey, look! Tinker Bell finally spoke up.
She pointed down to a curtain made of ferns. Footprints in the sand led up to it.
Peter landed by it and examined the curtain carefully. The ferns were bound together with white thread and seemed to be hiding a boulder.
'Why would it be hiding a boulder?'
He walked around the area, inspecting it carefully.
"Well, she must have been here."
.
"You go home, Tink. I want to take a look around the Island."
To Peter's surprise, Tinker Bell obeyed without even saying a word.
He watched as the gold streak of gold dust faded away as he scratched his head.
'Oh well.'
He turned to continue his search.
After about three hours of searching, Peter gave up and decided to go home. He had searched everywhere and had asked the Indians and the mermaids if they had seen the mysterious girl; none of them had.
Peter sighed.
'Oh well, maybe I'll find her tomorrow.'
He glanced back once more at the Indian tents and the undulating curl of smoke that creeped up to the clouds.
Then he slowly started to head back home.
***
Serena gasped for air as she stumbled along the rocky forest floor. She winced as the reaching fingers of the trees clawed at her arms, legs, and face.
She suppressed a cry of pain as a sharp twig scratched at her face, leaving a thin crimson streak on her cheek.
At that instant, she tripped on a rock and fell forward toward a long flat boulder. She landed on her right arm and she slid along it. She lay still for a few moments, and then clumsily climbed to her aching feet.
She looked back to see a long, thick scarlet trail, marking the path of where she had skidded. Her eyes watered at the brightly colored blood smeared across the rock, and looked down at her wounded arm.
It was torn and bloodied, but she was thankful it wasn't broken.
Then she noticed the smell.
The salty smell of the sea had faded a long time ago and now there was a fresh, clean smell.
She closed her eyes and focused on the smell. She licked her chapped lips. It was no use. Her sandpaper tongue slipped back into her dry mouth. The throat was sticky with dryness, and she was starting to fight the light- headed feeling that had just swept over her.
Then came the sound.
She opened her eyes and had completely forgotten all off her pain.
The smell and the sound fit together like a puzzle.
Serena was surprised to find her self laughing like a child as she ran toward the wonderful sound.
Water!
She came to a beautiful little stream and knelt down beside it.
Serena almost fell back in shock when she got a closer look at it.
The stream was as clean as filtered water!
She dipped her fingers in it and drew them back immediately.
How could the stream be that cold? It must have been 102 degrees out!
She leaned forward at closed her eyes in content as her lips touched the ice cold water.
She drank for a few minutes. When she was satisfied she sat up and started washing her wounds.
As she was cleaning a scratch on her arm, she heard a twig snap behind her.
Her back stiffened and a chill ran up her spine. She turned her head slowly and gasped as she spotted the mountain lion five meters away.
She gulped as she tried to stand, but lost her footing on a slippery rock and fell, just missing the waters edge.
The mountain lion attacked. (Everyone must thank the author for not ending it here.)
Serena opened her mouth to scream, but only a hoarse grunt came out. She dived to the side as the animal plunged into the steam.
It yowled as Serena scrambled to her feet and started running.
She suddenly felt a stabbing pain in her right arm and was dragged to the ground as she struggled under the grip of the animal. She struggled but it was no use. She felt another sting across her forehead as one of its claws was dragged across it.
The mountain lion put his paw on her shoulder and unlatched itself from her arm. The crushing pressure made her cry out in pain.
'What did I learn in karate?'
Serena forced her self to try to think as she gagged under the creature's fowl breath.
'That's it!'
She threw the overgrown cat off her with ease and rolled to the side. She then rolled over her shoulder and ended in a crouch. She got up as the mountain lion started stalking her.
Suddenly Serena's stomach lurched.
'Oh no!'
Her internal bleeding must have filled her stomach with blood again. She fought to keep it down, but she couldn't keep it in.
She heaved, and it took her a second to realize she was heaving right on the mountain lion.
Blood splashed into the creature's eyes and it yowled in pain and thrashed around.
Serena staggered back and watched in shock as the creature clawed at his eyes.
She stumbled back and then turned and ran.
She ran for 5 minutes and eventually slowed down. She panted as she leaned against a tree; her eyes focused on the forest floor.
Something caught her eye.
Was that a pine needle?
She sniffed the air and found it was heavy with the scent of pine. She stumbled forward, following the smell and the needles. She wiped the stinging blood from her eyes as best she could, but more just clouded her vision.
Suddenly she stopped. She looked up and discovered that that section of the forest was all pine trees.
She made her way through the thick tees as sap stuck to her hair and branches scratched at her.
Suddenly the endless array of pine trees came to an abrupt end. Serena found herself standing in a large opening. No sunlight came through; the pine trees that circled the opening seemed to bend over, blocking the sunlight with their countless amount of pine needless.
Serena stepped forward and stood in the middle for a few minutes and then wobbled a bit.
'I'm so tired.' She thought sleepily.
Every part of her body hurt, and where she wasn't wounded, there was a muscle that ached. She let her self slump to the ground and lay down on the thick mattress of pine needles.
Her eyes slowly closed and a soft smile spread across her lips.
"What a lovely place." she murmured, '.To die.' she finished the sentence in her mind and the words echoed through her head.
The sweet fragrance of pine was her lullaby as the unbearable pain and the loss of blood rendered her unconscious.
Hehe. Hope you liked it. *Watches as her brother gets yelled at for "Throwing a shoe at Stephanie and hit the window instead." Stephanie (Sharky) gets out some pop corn as her brother is being grounded* WAHA! Hehehe..
OH! YA WANNA KNOW WHAT'S REALLY CREEPY?! I JUST FOUND OUT I HAVE A SIXTH SENSE! IF YOU WANNA HEAR MORE ABOUT IT, IM ME AT Sailor1689 Actually I'm probably using this just as an excuse to talk to some of my wonderful reviewers, but o well. ^_^ Speaking of reviewing....REVIEW NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!