1.1 Chapter Five
Link strode over to the one table where it held a glass dome filled with water. There were two glass balls floating in the water, one blue labeled "Transmission" and the other one a red glass ball labeled "Reception." Upon closer look, he saw a wire connected to each ball, where they exited out of the dome through separate thin tunnels that went through the wall. He played around with the blue ball and muttered, "Cool."
Upon his remark, the red ball began to hum in reply. "Is there anything you wish, sir?" the receptionist's voice echoed through the ball. Link jumped back a bit and answered the blue ball curiously, "Uh, nothing, thanks. I uh, really admire the room." "Glad to be of service," the red ball replied and stopped humming.
Link nodded in approval of the toy and bit off another chunk of the sweet, grainy candy bar, "…wholesome and delicately sweet to the last bite". It was then that he heard a faint thumping sound from around the room. Link spun around, ready for something to come out. Nothing happened, but the thumping sounded again, this time accompanied with a, "Link! Get me out of this place!"
His eyes fell on the white box. "Navi?" he questioned it. "Come on! My wings are freezing off!" the voice replied harshly. With a jerk, Link pulled the door open. A ball of ice floated out, shivering in midair as shards of ice fell to the ground. A quivering voice snarled, "Y-you…"
Link smiled sheepishly and held out half a candy bar. "Hungry?" he asked innocently. Navi attempted a torrent of curses before she hovered out near the sunlight to thaw. Link went to apologize but thought better of it. He'd leave her for a while and let her vent out whatever anger was left on a full stomach.
Quietly as to not make a sound, he left the hotel room and made his way downstairs. He nodded courteously at another occupant of the hotel and went outside. He followed the road, looking for somewhere to eat. Two men carrying a huge cargo of liquor bumped into him. "Fluio ikle dyu (I'm sorry)," one of them said as they struggled with the container to a small building next to Link. He held out the door for them as they crawled in. "Henti dyu (Thank you)," the other man said as they went in. Link nodded and slipped inside after them.
The place was fashioned like a diner, with music playing onstage and lights faintly bright in color. Barmaids served around the tables or along the booth that lined the walls, where a bartender was polishing glass and serving drinks. Ignoring some of the rude stares at his abnormal clothing, Link made his way across the room to an empty table near the wall. He sat down and checked the listed menu displayed in front of him, fingering the rupees in his wallet.
He noticed from the corner of his eye several people staring at him. They seemed rather rugged and dirty, and kept around two single men near the center. One of them was burly and big, while the other was slightly skinny with rat-like eyes and appearance. The bigger one had a few barmaids under his arms, and from the manner of those around him, he was to be feared and respected here.
Link felt tense, as if they were trying to size him up, but kept a calm appearance while he read the menu. 'Fish fried rice, seafood platter, shrimp surprise…octopus shishkabob? Ugh…' he thought to himself and made a face. This must have been some special day for seafood. He never had a fondness for fish; especially that a Zora on a stick did not appeal to him. Link resorted to a drink instead and let a barmaid come to serve him.
The woman had a face too powdered with makeup and long fingernails. Her appearance looked of someone who might have been very pretty when she was younger until age loosened her figure and turned her skin more sallow. She held a small notebook and a pen and eyed him thoroughly and smiled. "What can I get you, pretty boy?" Link checked the price and answered, "I'll have a sangria on ice." She marked this and stared at him humorously. "Anything else?" "No." "You sure?" she said with a coy look, "Do you want a reservation?" Link asked, "For what?"
She seated herself on the edge of the table, one bare leg poking out from under a very short pair of frilly black skirt. "Well the party could start later on, and there's a lot of people in line. You don't want to miss out now do you, Hon?" she said slyly. 'Is this her idea of a come on?' Link thought amusedly and kindly averted his eyes towards the stage. Her attempt failed to arouse him in any way, and he simply replied, "No, I won't be needing any. Just a drink, please." He brought out his wallet and obtained seven rupees and laid them on the table.
The barmaid sulked and went ahead to bring his drink. Link noticed the two men and their companions ogling at his fat wallet when the barmaid returned and set the cocktail down with a clunk. She snatched the seven rupees from his hand and marched away. "Thank you," Link said as she turned away huffily. He began to sip when the two men were motioning towards each other and pointing at him. Link pretended not to notice and continued to drink when the two of them stood up and went towards him.
He looked at them in a feign of surprise and asked politely, "Can I help you two gentlemen?" Noting the mockery in his voice, the skinnier man advanced when the other held out an arm to stop him. "We noticed your lot there," the one who stopped his friend answered, pointedly looking at the wallet. Link followed his gaze to his own wallet and smiled back. "Yes, my birthday money it is," he said, "My old man gave it to me to spend it in a day, me being a spendthrift and everything."
"Such a waste that it would go to one man," the man said, fingering a porky finger over a knife on his belt. "Shouldn't you let it go to some more beggared, and needy others when you obviously have too much?" "Ah," Link said with amusement, "And are you suggesting that I hand it over to you two?" The man's friend who had nearly attacked Link grinned and remarked, "You had better, or you'd be facing Draconian here for your life."
Link grabbed his wallet and stood facing them, a bemused expression on his face. Draconian reached for it when Link absentmindedly stuffed it back into his pocket. Immediately the skinny ratman lunged at him with a pocketknife that was hidden from behind his hand. Link twisted his body away from him, grabbing his cocktail just before the man's body could spill it.
The man crashed into the table, and at once the music stopped and several women began to scream when one of the men's companions headed towards Link with a knife.
The Hylian drained his drink and stopped the knife inches from his face with the beer glass. When the man came at him again, Link let the knife caught into the glass handle and began to twist it.
Upon the final twist the man's wrist was sprained and Link broke the knife from his grasp and took it. The man began cursing obscenities into the air and held his shaking hand, now twisted in a grotesque angle.
Two other thugs sprang in with daggers, in which Link managed to break from with the knife. He blocked another blow and jabbed one of them with his elbow to the chest, and the other he kicked in the crotch with a booted foot. "You dirty bastard!" the man screamed as he clutched his privates.
The rest of them jumped in, and Link started a dash across the room to prevent them from ganging up on him. One thug's dagger nearly had him when he sprang away and the blade only caught the wood of the bar booth. Several people screamed and the bartender swore mad words to the thug about the booth.
Link rolled over a chair and grasped it by the sides, letting three of them run before he spiked them with the chair's tripod legs. The lights flickered as they crashed over the bar booth and into the neon signs. Finally, the last thug advanced quickly bearing a crude double-edged sword.
"Whoa!" Link ducked as the sword sliced horizontally then vertically.
Link twisted from the second slash and grabbed a serving plate from a startled barmaid. "Could I borrow this-thank you!" He turned and shielded the mad strokes. The momentum from each stroke forced him back further each step until he hit the wall. The serving plate was dented and poked with small holes and Link threw it aside in frustration. A triumphant smile was on the thug's face as he rushed towards Link for a stab.
He managed to jump aside and rolled across the ground, the blade catching only a few blond hairs and sunk into the wall. Link began to kick furiously as the thug tried to pry the sword from the wall. He rolled back and jumped onto his feet, his foot catching the man's chin and drawing blood.
Link delivered one last punch, and the body spun towards the wall. When the man slid to the floor, Link turned around. Draconian stood, mouth hanging.
Link caught his attention and smiled. Draconian, instead of approaching, ran as fast as his legs could carry him out of the room. A woman shrieked as he made his way past her towards the door. Everyone else stood with expressions shocked as they looked at the chaos and then finally, at Link. Link didn't know the attention that was given towards him until the silence of everyone watching him. Blushing slightly, he made his way towards the bartender and handed him a gold rupee. "Sorry about all the damage," he said as he placed it in the man's hand, "I hope this covers everything."
He turned to leave the diner as quickly as Draconian. When he was out of the stifled place, his stomach had rumbled in hunger. "Aw, shit," he complained to himself. Link headed down the street in search for a food- stand or a small, discreet restaurant when a familiar voice stopped him.
"…And if I catch you around my horses again, I'd have you flogged!" Link turned down the street and found the owner of the voice to be the man who was talking with the inn receptionist earlier before he came in. He was grasping a little boy by his wrists, and from the child's struggling voice Link recognized Gatle. "Fluio ikle dyu (I'm sorry), gahtan! I didn't mean to go in the stalls, I just heard a noise, that's all!"
The man sneered cruelly and answered harshly, "That would have worked if it hadn't been the third time since I started staying at this town!" "Excuse me," Link interrupted, "I couldn't help but notice that you could get arrested for this kind of child abuse."
"Arrested?" the man turned to him. He had light blond hair, cut short just above his ears and trimmed to less than an inch around his head. His face was lightly shaved and young, very young: almost less than three years older than Link himself. A fierceness was in the green eyes that completed him as a go-getter for the ladies, for he was no doubt handsome, complete with a circlet around one ear, and lithe but strongly built from horse training. "It's this little brat that should get arrested for trying to get too close to my horses."
"That's no reason to get arrested," Link said calmly and approached closer, "Besides, he just tried to look at them, right?" "Just look at them?!" the man's face was taut with fury, "This little scoundrel nearly took off with one of my horses the last time I was here! No doubt he's come back to take one for good." Upon this, he wrenched Gatle's wrist, who winced and looked hopefully at Link. He gave him an assuring smile and stared back at the man.
"You seem very proud of your horses," he stated plainly. A serene look came across the man's face, and from under his harsh expression was a faint smile. "They're the best there is, no other can outrun them! I've given my prize stallion to King Dykat himself five years ago upon permission, and I'm raising the colt that he sired to be the fastest legs known in the Northern parts!" Link felt a surge of pride for Epona, but he compressed the emotion and said with a smile, "I don't think you'll stand a chance."
Both the man and Gatle's expression were of shock, the man demonstrated more of fury. He released Gatle in anger and faced Link's dancing blue violet eyes with his smothering green.
"Are you challenging me?" he whispered. Link tilted his head slightly to match his expression. "I hate to say it, but the fastest horse is my own mare. No damn horse can beat her." The man looked furious and asked, seething with anger, "Just where did you get this so called great mare?"
"Lon Lon Ranch from Hyrule," Link replied defiantly. To his surprise, the man began laughing hysterically. "Lon Lon Ranch? Hah! You mean you got a filly from that old cow's bin? And you think you can beat one of my horses with that thing? Haha!"
Link suppressed his anger to punch the man and retorted, "Why don't I whip your ass in a race tomorrow morning?" The man's laughter quelled and he eyed Link testily. "If you think your filly can beat one of my smaller ones, I'll give you a bit of credit."
Link smiled and answered, "Don't get your hopes up. If you show up with that colt you've been crapping out about, I might go easy on you." The man's green eyes flared. "All right, bastard," he breathed heavily, "We'll go at tomorrow at down. The race would be a two-part length, from the town road to the mainland and back. When I win, I'll take that donkey of yours and donate it to a farm."
"And when I win," Link answered angrily at Epona's denouncement, "Gatle gets to choose one of your horses." Gatle's eyes bulged at the statement, but the two men were staring each other down in a fierce silence.
The man held out his hand and replied, "Fine." Link shook it, their grasps and expressions so dark as if to break the other's bones. Without another word, the man strode off down the street, leaving Gatle unnoticed.
Gatle stood lost for a moment before he said, "Um, Mr. Link?" Link looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, gahtan," the boy said. "No problem," Link answered when his stomach rumbled again.
Link laughed lightly and Gatle returned the expression. "Come to my house, I have to let you meet my family and my ma's cooking, it's the best in town." Link nodded politely and followed the boy through the streets. "So, who was that guy anyway?" Link asked. Gatle gave him a look of horrific shock. "You mean you don't know who you're even up against tomorrow?" "Well, no," Link admitted.
Gatle swallowed a bit and answered, "That was Rufio. And from what I know now, Mr. Link. Well…" His voice trailed off as he gave Link a sympathizing look. "You know, a farm's not that bad for a horse. I'm sure your Epona would do fine."
Link sighed at his lack of trust in Epona. 'Tomorrow,' he promised himself, 'I'll give that filthy son of a bitch something to cry after.'
*Hello again! As I promised, a bit more of the plot that's yet to come and a lot of events that occurred here. Draconian: a leader of his group of thieves who messed with the wrong boy, and Rufio: a horse trainer (met earlier at the inn talking to the receptionist before Link came in) who is just as proud as Link with his horses and quite hot-headed with everything else. Did anyone notice that a lot of things in this story have to do with water? The seafood, the hotel, the little made up communicator that's also functioned with echoes passing through water and all that, just to mention. I promise that the race would be filled with surprises and laughs! Thanks for reading this far!
Link strode over to the one table where it held a glass dome filled with water. There were two glass balls floating in the water, one blue labeled "Transmission" and the other one a red glass ball labeled "Reception." Upon closer look, he saw a wire connected to each ball, where they exited out of the dome through separate thin tunnels that went through the wall. He played around with the blue ball and muttered, "Cool."
Upon his remark, the red ball began to hum in reply. "Is there anything you wish, sir?" the receptionist's voice echoed through the ball. Link jumped back a bit and answered the blue ball curiously, "Uh, nothing, thanks. I uh, really admire the room." "Glad to be of service," the red ball replied and stopped humming.
Link nodded in approval of the toy and bit off another chunk of the sweet, grainy candy bar, "…wholesome and delicately sweet to the last bite". It was then that he heard a faint thumping sound from around the room. Link spun around, ready for something to come out. Nothing happened, but the thumping sounded again, this time accompanied with a, "Link! Get me out of this place!"
His eyes fell on the white box. "Navi?" he questioned it. "Come on! My wings are freezing off!" the voice replied harshly. With a jerk, Link pulled the door open. A ball of ice floated out, shivering in midair as shards of ice fell to the ground. A quivering voice snarled, "Y-you…"
Link smiled sheepishly and held out half a candy bar. "Hungry?" he asked innocently. Navi attempted a torrent of curses before she hovered out near the sunlight to thaw. Link went to apologize but thought better of it. He'd leave her for a while and let her vent out whatever anger was left on a full stomach.
Quietly as to not make a sound, he left the hotel room and made his way downstairs. He nodded courteously at another occupant of the hotel and went outside. He followed the road, looking for somewhere to eat. Two men carrying a huge cargo of liquor bumped into him. "Fluio ikle dyu (I'm sorry)," one of them said as they struggled with the container to a small building next to Link. He held out the door for them as they crawled in. "Henti dyu (Thank you)," the other man said as they went in. Link nodded and slipped inside after them.
The place was fashioned like a diner, with music playing onstage and lights faintly bright in color. Barmaids served around the tables or along the booth that lined the walls, where a bartender was polishing glass and serving drinks. Ignoring some of the rude stares at his abnormal clothing, Link made his way across the room to an empty table near the wall. He sat down and checked the listed menu displayed in front of him, fingering the rupees in his wallet.
He noticed from the corner of his eye several people staring at him. They seemed rather rugged and dirty, and kept around two single men near the center. One of them was burly and big, while the other was slightly skinny with rat-like eyes and appearance. The bigger one had a few barmaids under his arms, and from the manner of those around him, he was to be feared and respected here.
Link felt tense, as if they were trying to size him up, but kept a calm appearance while he read the menu. 'Fish fried rice, seafood platter, shrimp surprise…octopus shishkabob? Ugh…' he thought to himself and made a face. This must have been some special day for seafood. He never had a fondness for fish; especially that a Zora on a stick did not appeal to him. Link resorted to a drink instead and let a barmaid come to serve him.
The woman had a face too powdered with makeup and long fingernails. Her appearance looked of someone who might have been very pretty when she was younger until age loosened her figure and turned her skin more sallow. She held a small notebook and a pen and eyed him thoroughly and smiled. "What can I get you, pretty boy?" Link checked the price and answered, "I'll have a sangria on ice." She marked this and stared at him humorously. "Anything else?" "No." "You sure?" she said with a coy look, "Do you want a reservation?" Link asked, "For what?"
She seated herself on the edge of the table, one bare leg poking out from under a very short pair of frilly black skirt. "Well the party could start later on, and there's a lot of people in line. You don't want to miss out now do you, Hon?" she said slyly. 'Is this her idea of a come on?' Link thought amusedly and kindly averted his eyes towards the stage. Her attempt failed to arouse him in any way, and he simply replied, "No, I won't be needing any. Just a drink, please." He brought out his wallet and obtained seven rupees and laid them on the table.
The barmaid sulked and went ahead to bring his drink. Link noticed the two men and their companions ogling at his fat wallet when the barmaid returned and set the cocktail down with a clunk. She snatched the seven rupees from his hand and marched away. "Thank you," Link said as she turned away huffily. He began to sip when the two men were motioning towards each other and pointing at him. Link pretended not to notice and continued to drink when the two of them stood up and went towards him.
He looked at them in a feign of surprise and asked politely, "Can I help you two gentlemen?" Noting the mockery in his voice, the skinnier man advanced when the other held out an arm to stop him. "We noticed your lot there," the one who stopped his friend answered, pointedly looking at the wallet. Link followed his gaze to his own wallet and smiled back. "Yes, my birthday money it is," he said, "My old man gave it to me to spend it in a day, me being a spendthrift and everything."
"Such a waste that it would go to one man," the man said, fingering a porky finger over a knife on his belt. "Shouldn't you let it go to some more beggared, and needy others when you obviously have too much?" "Ah," Link said with amusement, "And are you suggesting that I hand it over to you two?" The man's friend who had nearly attacked Link grinned and remarked, "You had better, or you'd be facing Draconian here for your life."
Link grabbed his wallet and stood facing them, a bemused expression on his face. Draconian reached for it when Link absentmindedly stuffed it back into his pocket. Immediately the skinny ratman lunged at him with a pocketknife that was hidden from behind his hand. Link twisted his body away from him, grabbing his cocktail just before the man's body could spill it.
The man crashed into the table, and at once the music stopped and several women began to scream when one of the men's companions headed towards Link with a knife.
The Hylian drained his drink and stopped the knife inches from his face with the beer glass. When the man came at him again, Link let the knife caught into the glass handle and began to twist it.
Upon the final twist the man's wrist was sprained and Link broke the knife from his grasp and took it. The man began cursing obscenities into the air and held his shaking hand, now twisted in a grotesque angle.
Two other thugs sprang in with daggers, in which Link managed to break from with the knife. He blocked another blow and jabbed one of them with his elbow to the chest, and the other he kicked in the crotch with a booted foot. "You dirty bastard!" the man screamed as he clutched his privates.
The rest of them jumped in, and Link started a dash across the room to prevent them from ganging up on him. One thug's dagger nearly had him when he sprang away and the blade only caught the wood of the bar booth. Several people screamed and the bartender swore mad words to the thug about the booth.
Link rolled over a chair and grasped it by the sides, letting three of them run before he spiked them with the chair's tripod legs. The lights flickered as they crashed over the bar booth and into the neon signs. Finally, the last thug advanced quickly bearing a crude double-edged sword.
"Whoa!" Link ducked as the sword sliced horizontally then vertically.
Link twisted from the second slash and grabbed a serving plate from a startled barmaid. "Could I borrow this-thank you!" He turned and shielded the mad strokes. The momentum from each stroke forced him back further each step until he hit the wall. The serving plate was dented and poked with small holes and Link threw it aside in frustration. A triumphant smile was on the thug's face as he rushed towards Link for a stab.
He managed to jump aside and rolled across the ground, the blade catching only a few blond hairs and sunk into the wall. Link began to kick furiously as the thug tried to pry the sword from the wall. He rolled back and jumped onto his feet, his foot catching the man's chin and drawing blood.
Link delivered one last punch, and the body spun towards the wall. When the man slid to the floor, Link turned around. Draconian stood, mouth hanging.
Link caught his attention and smiled. Draconian, instead of approaching, ran as fast as his legs could carry him out of the room. A woman shrieked as he made his way past her towards the door. Everyone else stood with expressions shocked as they looked at the chaos and then finally, at Link. Link didn't know the attention that was given towards him until the silence of everyone watching him. Blushing slightly, he made his way towards the bartender and handed him a gold rupee. "Sorry about all the damage," he said as he placed it in the man's hand, "I hope this covers everything."
He turned to leave the diner as quickly as Draconian. When he was out of the stifled place, his stomach had rumbled in hunger. "Aw, shit," he complained to himself. Link headed down the street in search for a food- stand or a small, discreet restaurant when a familiar voice stopped him.
"…And if I catch you around my horses again, I'd have you flogged!" Link turned down the street and found the owner of the voice to be the man who was talking with the inn receptionist earlier before he came in. He was grasping a little boy by his wrists, and from the child's struggling voice Link recognized Gatle. "Fluio ikle dyu (I'm sorry), gahtan! I didn't mean to go in the stalls, I just heard a noise, that's all!"
The man sneered cruelly and answered harshly, "That would have worked if it hadn't been the third time since I started staying at this town!" "Excuse me," Link interrupted, "I couldn't help but notice that you could get arrested for this kind of child abuse."
"Arrested?" the man turned to him. He had light blond hair, cut short just above his ears and trimmed to less than an inch around his head. His face was lightly shaved and young, very young: almost less than three years older than Link himself. A fierceness was in the green eyes that completed him as a go-getter for the ladies, for he was no doubt handsome, complete with a circlet around one ear, and lithe but strongly built from horse training. "It's this little brat that should get arrested for trying to get too close to my horses."
"That's no reason to get arrested," Link said calmly and approached closer, "Besides, he just tried to look at them, right?" "Just look at them?!" the man's face was taut with fury, "This little scoundrel nearly took off with one of my horses the last time I was here! No doubt he's come back to take one for good." Upon this, he wrenched Gatle's wrist, who winced and looked hopefully at Link. He gave him an assuring smile and stared back at the man.
"You seem very proud of your horses," he stated plainly. A serene look came across the man's face, and from under his harsh expression was a faint smile. "They're the best there is, no other can outrun them! I've given my prize stallion to King Dykat himself five years ago upon permission, and I'm raising the colt that he sired to be the fastest legs known in the Northern parts!" Link felt a surge of pride for Epona, but he compressed the emotion and said with a smile, "I don't think you'll stand a chance."
Both the man and Gatle's expression were of shock, the man demonstrated more of fury. He released Gatle in anger and faced Link's dancing blue violet eyes with his smothering green.
"Are you challenging me?" he whispered. Link tilted his head slightly to match his expression. "I hate to say it, but the fastest horse is my own mare. No damn horse can beat her." The man looked furious and asked, seething with anger, "Just where did you get this so called great mare?"
"Lon Lon Ranch from Hyrule," Link replied defiantly. To his surprise, the man began laughing hysterically. "Lon Lon Ranch? Hah! You mean you got a filly from that old cow's bin? And you think you can beat one of my horses with that thing? Haha!"
Link suppressed his anger to punch the man and retorted, "Why don't I whip your ass in a race tomorrow morning?" The man's laughter quelled and he eyed Link testily. "If you think your filly can beat one of my smaller ones, I'll give you a bit of credit."
Link smiled and answered, "Don't get your hopes up. If you show up with that colt you've been crapping out about, I might go easy on you." The man's green eyes flared. "All right, bastard," he breathed heavily, "We'll go at tomorrow at down. The race would be a two-part length, from the town road to the mainland and back. When I win, I'll take that donkey of yours and donate it to a farm."
"And when I win," Link answered angrily at Epona's denouncement, "Gatle gets to choose one of your horses." Gatle's eyes bulged at the statement, but the two men were staring each other down in a fierce silence.
The man held out his hand and replied, "Fine." Link shook it, their grasps and expressions so dark as if to break the other's bones. Without another word, the man strode off down the street, leaving Gatle unnoticed.
Gatle stood lost for a moment before he said, "Um, Mr. Link?" Link looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, gahtan," the boy said. "No problem," Link answered when his stomach rumbled again.
Link laughed lightly and Gatle returned the expression. "Come to my house, I have to let you meet my family and my ma's cooking, it's the best in town." Link nodded politely and followed the boy through the streets. "So, who was that guy anyway?" Link asked. Gatle gave him a look of horrific shock. "You mean you don't know who you're even up against tomorrow?" "Well, no," Link admitted.
Gatle swallowed a bit and answered, "That was Rufio. And from what I know now, Mr. Link. Well…" His voice trailed off as he gave Link a sympathizing look. "You know, a farm's not that bad for a horse. I'm sure your Epona would do fine."
Link sighed at his lack of trust in Epona. 'Tomorrow,' he promised himself, 'I'll give that filthy son of a bitch something to cry after.'
*Hello again! As I promised, a bit more of the plot that's yet to come and a lot of events that occurred here. Draconian: a leader of his group of thieves who messed with the wrong boy, and Rufio: a horse trainer (met earlier at the inn talking to the receptionist before Link came in) who is just as proud as Link with his horses and quite hot-headed with everything else. Did anyone notice that a lot of things in this story have to do with water? The seafood, the hotel, the little made up communicator that's also functioned with echoes passing through water and all that, just to mention. I promise that the race would be filled with surprises and laughs! Thanks for reading this far!