Rayne watched detachedly as the council members began to disperse, the object of their debate having been hurriedly withdrawn from their prying eyes and curious questions. She was vaguely aware of the fact that the meeting fire had been extinguished, thin wisps of gray smoke hovering in her line of vision before evaporating as though they had never been.
Above Kakariko a storm had begun, dark clouds gathering to conceal the night sky from view. The villagers scampered into the safety of their warm homes just in time to avoid getting drenched by the downpour. Lightning lit up the sky and thunder rumbled in the distance while the rain saturated Rayne's clothing. She would have like nothing more than to follow the rest of the village's example and run to her house to drink steaming hot mugs of cocoa while speaking in hushed tones about the young stranger.
Unfortunately her place of residence was currently housing said topic and, to her chagrin, she realized that she was in no way ready to face him. Rayne was reluctant to speak with Link due to a reason she dared admit only to herself.
Malon.
The name sounded strangely in her mind, echoing like a single word lost in a cavernous space.
'A horse.' She thought morosely, drawing her knees up to her chest in an ineffective attempt to retain her body heat, 'How could I have thought he was talking about a horse?'
The actual question of the day had become 'what else was she supposed to think'? It wasn't as though she knew Link well; her relationship with him so far had been finding him in the shambles of the Temple of Time and taking him home with her. While her mind had been trying to fill in the blank spaces, such as why he was at the Temple and what the blue light from the sky had to do with him, she hadn't had time to dwell upon the more personal aspects of the young man.
He was obviously from Hyrule if he knew Talon and Impa, but from Link's earlier questions she realized that he was not from this particular time. He hadn't known that Ganondorf was the King of Evil, or that Lon Lon Ranch along with the rest of the Hyrule had been taken from the people. The Kokiri had been gone without a trace for nearly seven years and if her guess was correct so had Link. But there were still so many holes, so many unexplained things centered around him. He was like a peculiar book she was trying to read with half the pages missing.
He was supposed to be a stranger, an outsider, but he seemed to fit in better than she did. After all, he was in her house, more than likely drinking her tea, talking with Impa and Talon. And here she was, out in the freezing rain, facing the remains of a defeated fire, alone.
With all things considered it seemed unfair. She had found him, had brought him to Kakariko Village against her better judgement, her, Rayne, not Talon, not Impa, and definitely not Malon. But she had once again been left out of the circle; she was the only one who didn't know what was going on.
Perhaps the thing that irritated her most was the simple fact that she had no idea who this Malon was. Albeit, the name itself was familiar, but there was no face in her memory to match to the name. Rayne really had no notion of who she was.
She rose slowly, surprised to find herself thoroughly soaked and shivering.
'If Talon is so well acquainted with this Malon girl why have I never seen her before?' she kicked a pebble as she walked, taking some of her exasperation out on the poor rain soaked stone. 'More importantly, why hasn't he ever mentioned her?'
Left out again apparently.
Rayne stopped walking, an unreasonable rage welling up from deep within her. She gave the pebble a last savage kick, watching it skitter across the ground until it was lost from sight while trying to ignore the pain it had caused in her barefoot.
No one ever told her anything! Why did they treat her differently? Not just Talon and Impa but everyone? Did they think she was touched in the head? That she wouldn't understand? Every other member of Arcana had known who Malon was, their reaction to her name had made that painfully obvious. The only conceivable explanation was that Talon and possibly Impa were purposely keeping her in the dark.
But why?
"That's it." She snarled, turning back the way she had come, back toward the house Talon had ushered Link into, "I'm going to get some answers now."
A small voice in the back of her mind warned her that she was being irrational, childish even, but it was drowned out by her white hot anger.
She was so caught up in her feelings of fury that she initially missed the fact that the door was ajar, soft firelight illuminating the rain eroded ground. When her brain had finally caught up with her body she was already in the doorway, frozen by the sight that lay just beyond the opening.
The table had been thrown over, one of its legs broken and hanging on limply by a thin sliver of wood, swinging in the breeze from outside. Several shattered glasses lay nearby, doubtlessly broken by the same force that had sent the table sprawling. The jagged glass pieces cast eerie shapes onto the walls as they reflected the flickering light from the fireplace, whatever dark liquid they had held before now creating puddles on the floor. Impa stood in a corner of the room, her usually neutral face allowing one to see that she was visibly shaken. Her dark violet eyes were wide and she was tugging on her white hair in a gesture of apprehension, her face was ashen.
It took her a moment but when she finally spotted Rayne in the doorway she gestured weakly for the girl to enter.
Rayne did so uncertainly, closing the old wooden door behind her as quietly as possible, for it was just then that she had spotted Talon and whatever remained of her wrath from before dissipated like the smoke from the smothered council fire.
Talon sat a chair, shoulders hunched over, face hidden behind his large, calloused hands. Everything in his posture indicated resignation and sorrow, Rayne could hardly believe that this man was the same Talon she had seen just some time ago playfully dodging Impa's lecture with an unsatisfactory excuse. She felt overwhelmed; plagued by both her righteous anger at him from before and by the sudden compassion she had for him now.
"What happened?" her voice sounded alien to her ears, foreign in the silence that had before enveloped the room.
Impa gave Rayne a feeble imitation of her customary reproachful look, but Rayne wasn't looking at the Shiekah, the young girl was focused on Talon.
When the rancher finally looked toward her she saw strain in his face and for the first time in her life she realized how old he was, it was as though every wrinkle, every usually imperceptible flaw was magnified by the firelight.
"He's gone." His voice was hollow but his eyes were piercing, "Link's gone."
"You did the right thing." Impa said hesitantly, "Telling him was the right thing."
"Did I?" Talon was still looking at Rayne, his eyes trying to bore holes in her, "I ain't so sure."
There was something cold crawling up Rayne's spine, her throat was constricting with a feeling akin to dread.
Talon rose from his chair, his gaze never leaving her face, "What 'ave we done Impa?' he croaked, holding out a shaking hand toward Rayne, "What 'ave I done?"
Rayne felt dizzy, Talon kept going in and out of focus while the room around her seemed to be changing. The wallpapered walls were fading away to be replaced by practical wooden ones, the room itself seemed to be getting smaller. The broken table and ruined glasses disappeared and a carpet materialized.
Talon came back into focus but he looked different, younger somehow, and taller almost as tall as she was. "No," she realized "He isn't taller, I'm just smaller, perhaps I fell?"
He was crying, translucent tears coursing down his cheeks while he spoke words she heard but couldn't comprehend. What was happening?
She knew this room, she knew this younger Talon, but how?
Her stomach was rebelling, her body trembling, her head ached. It was wrong, all wrong, it made no sense. Why did Talon look that way? Why were the edges of the room blurred?
Younger Talon was holding her, she was looking straight over his shoulder, but she couldn't feel anything, no warmth from him, no grip from his embrace. Was this all an illusion?
Or was it a memory?
Talon's words began to make sense, "She's dead." He croaked.
Who was dead?
"I'm so sorry, honey."
Why was he calling her honey?
"I'm so very sorry."
Why was he sorry? Why did her heart feel like it was breaking?
"Stop!" a female voice, her voice.
Rayne caught herself just in time to avoid hitting the floor. The room was back to normal now, the busted table the floral wallpaper was there again. Talon was still crying but he wasn't as youthful anymore.
"I'm so sorry." He repeated.
She felt cold all over and terribly ill. When she managed to raise her head she found Impa, the woman was looking at Rayne in horror, her hands over her mouth.
"Talon," the Shiekah's voice was strangely high-pitched. "Talon, stop."
"I'm so very sorry." The rancher said, looking straight into Rayne's eyes. The tears continuing to run unheeded down his face, "Please forgive me."
It was too much.
Rayne jumped up, pulled open the door and ran, dimly registering the fact that Impa had called her name. She fled out into the rain filled night, toward the doorway out of Kakariko.
She tried to push open the wide expanse of metal and wood but found it securely locked. Rayne began pounding on it, the need to escape overriding all sense she had. She hit the door until her fists ached and bled, the crimson diluted by the rain that still poured down from the heavens.
It was just too much.
Finally, weak with both physical pain and indescribable emotion, she sank to her knees on the muddy ground and wept for things unknown.
Link was in the graveyard, staring up into the dark sky with empty eyes, oblivious to the rain. He was huddled miserably on the ground, hand clenching something so hard that his knuckles were white.
Navi sat on his shoulder, wings drooping, her usually bright glow now dim. Her face was in her hands, small liquid droplets falling from between her splayed fingers that had nothing to do with the weather.
Chronos was nowhere to be seen.
Link didn't notice either his missing companion or Navi's crying. His mind was focused upon other things, like what Talon had just told him.
It was amazing how quickly your world could grow dark.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Link watched silently as Impa placed the glass of hot tea in front of him while Talon took a chair across the table from his. The adults' movements were methodical, practiced, as though they had done this many times before. Impa set another glass near Talon, and then stepped into the corner, arms folded across her chest. Neither the rancher nor the Shiekah had exchanged words ever since they had entered the house and the resulting atmosphere was one filled with apprehensive tension.
"Okay Talon, you've weirded us out enough now." Navi's voice was annoyed as she flew out from Link's hat. "Tell us, what exactly is going on?"
Talon took a sip of his drink and Link followed suit, flinching when he found it burned all the way down. The hot tea had been laced with rum, and it left a funny taste lingering in Link's mouth, warming his body while dulling the sharper edges of his mind.
Talon watched him carefully for a few moments, his fingers tapping against the polished wood of the square table the only noise in the room, measuring his words carefully before speaking.
"We never expected fer ya to return Link." It would have sounded like a meaningless beginning to anyone who had just walked in to the room but Link, who had been sitting tense under Talon and Impa's probing stares, knew that it was filled with hidden messages. He waited.
Talon licked his dry lips, "We thought that ya had died, that Ganondorf 'ad killed ya inside the Temple of Time and destroyed yer body. Malon took it 'specially badly."
Link watched Talon, silently willing the rancher to go on.
Talon sighed sadly, closing his eyes for a moment, it seemed easier to say when he wasn't looking straight into Link's own dark blue eyes, "She's dead Link."
Link's rum warmed insides suddenly went very cold.
"She died seven years ago."
"You're joking." Navi's voice was falsely bright, but the nervous giggle starting to rise in her throat was quickly silenced by the look on Talon's face.
"No." he said quietly, "I'm not."
"Then you're lying."
Navi and Impa stared in astonishment at the conviction in Link's statement but Talon seemed unfazed by the accusation.
"No, Link. I'm 'fraid not."
Link stood suddenly, he had been taller than the rancher when sitting but now Talon was dwarfed by the difference in their size. Still the older man seemed calm, collected, even when facing a very angry, armed warrior.
"Prove it." Link snarled, hands curled into fists on the table as he glared down at Talon, "Give me proof that she's dead."
Navi was stunned, she had never seen Link act like this, it was as though a completely different person was in the room. His eyes were burning beneath his bangs, his jaw clenched so tightly it had to have been painful. It was almost as if the child in Link had escaped into blissful denial and all that was left was the hard-bitten fighter, demanding to see evidence or do violence.
Talon saw the warning in Link's eyes and carefully stood, making his way toward a shelf on the wall that held many odds and ends. From the shelf he removed a small, dust covered wooden box, and then he seated himself once more, placing the box on the table before him.
"When ya disappeared seven years 'go we all thought Ganondorf had killed ya." Talon's voice was amazing matter-of-fact considering the circumstances and the subject. "Malon took it the worst, and wouldn't eat nor sleep no matter what we tried.
"One night she snuck out'a the Ranch and took off to the Castle where Ganondorf 'ad made his home. By the time we figgered it out and got there she-"
Talon's sentence abruptly choked off into a sob. Link realized that the entire time the rancher had been speaking he had been feigning indifference, his daughter's death still hurt him no matter how many years went by. Some of Link's anger left him at the sight of the older man trying to maintain his precariously hold on his emotions.
"She was gone, we found 'er at the front of the Castle, she-" he took a deep breath, "It woulda looked like she was sleepin' if not fer all that blood."
Link was shaking, he didn't want to hear this, he didn't want to know.
But he had to.
"She was still clutchin' this, even though there was no life left."
Talon opened the box before him with shaking hands, the hinges squeaked from disuse as the lid was pulled back and a small amount of dislodged dust fell onto the clean table. The rancher took out an object wrapped in cloth and set it before Link, clearly unwilling to touch it for long, much less unveil it.
Link picked up the item, a forbidding feeling rising in his throat. Did he want to see what lay just underneath the faded blue rags? Would it confirm or deny the death of Malon?
He unhurriedly began to unwrap the object, lifting away blue sheet after blue sheet of material, mouth dry, eyes narrowed in concentration.
When the last piece of fabric had been removed he could only stare at the revealed article in his hands, his eyes distorted by unshed tears.
The fairy ocarina.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After that everything had become an indistinct blur in his memory. He hazily recalled tossing the table onto its side and hearing the sound of glass breaking and then he had ended up here, in Kakariko Village's graveyard, looking up into a hostile sky.
It was morbidly funny how fragile life was.
He looked at the ocarina in his hand, relaxing his grip enough for it to be visible. Seven years ago it was a beautiful instrument, made from the wood of a long forgotten tree. It had been a creamy brown color, crafted by a master instrument maker. But now a crack had broken the smooth surface and splotches of a darker color had been randomly situated across on the exterior of the instrument. The discoloration had not been induced by age; he knew that, the murky red brown stains were something of an entirely different sort.
Blood. Her blood.
Rayne didn't know how long she sat there in the mud, crying for things she didn't understand. It could have been minutes, hours, even days, she had lost all track of time.
A small sound behind her made her turn slowly around, having been facing the door throughout her entire breakdown, to see Chronos, sitting quite tolerantly up to his chest in muck, obviously not enjoying the weather but not moving from the spot.
She reached out and picked him up from the ground, hugging him to her chest and burying her face in the wet fur of his head, completely forgetting for a moment that he was an otherworldly being while she cried brokenly into him.
The cat allowed this without question, suffering both the water from the clouds and from her eyes while remaining silent.
Finally, when her body could produce no more tears and her throat was raw from sobbing the realization that she was holding a surprisingly docile Chronos in her arms occurred to her.
"I'm sorry." She sniffled, lowering the cat back down to the ground, "I wasn't thinking."
"It's quite all right." His voice was surprisingly kind and Rayne had to resist the temptation to pick him up again, "I'm glad I could be of service."
When she had completely regained her composure the young girl offered Chronos a weak smile.
"That's much better." He purred approvingly, "Unfortunately it may not last long, I'm afraid someone needs to talk to Link and that someone is going to have to be you."
Rayne recalled the broken table in Impa's house, "He did that?" she questioned tentatively.
The black cat nodded solemnly, "Yes, he received some rather troubling news and took it as expected."
"And what would this 'troubling news' be?"
"It's about Malon."
'Typical.' She thought resentfully but aloud she asked, "What about her?"
"She's dead."
"What?!"
Chronos gave her a slightly impatient look, "She's-"
"I heard you." Rayne interrupted, a deep frown creasing her forehead, and guilt rising to form a knot in her throat. For a moment she quietly considered the situation she found dumped into her lap.
"Why should I be the one to talk to him?" she questioned at last, noticing that the rain had begun to let up. "I'm so lost right now. How am I supposed to comfort him when I'm not sure I'm wholly sane?"
"Well I've found you so you aren't lost." The cat jumped up onto her shoulders and settled into a comfortable position, "And to be perfectly honest I doubt anyone in this world or any other is 'wholly sane' so you're fine. You are confused and rightfully so, but the fact of this matter is you're trying to finish a puzzle with only a handful of the pieces.
"If you truly want to find out what is happening you'll need Link, preferably a Link who is rational and unarmed."
Rayne was looking at the cat suspiciously, "Do you know what happened to me in Impa's house?"
Chronos peered up at her through heavily lidded eyes, "I have an inkling."
"But you don't want to tell me until you're sure." Rayne sighed knowingly.
"My, what a clever mind you were hiding beneath all that teenage angst." Then the cat smirked, leaving Rayne to wonder if she should be flattered or not.
"Link's in the graveyard, you may want to find him before he does something irreversible."
Rayne shook her head and took off in the direction of the cemetery, sending a silent prayer up to the Goddesses that all would soon be revealed.
Link wasn't sure how long he sat staring at the blood-spattered instrument in his hands. He was trying to accept what had happened, trying to swallow the fact that he would never see her again. If only he could say goodbye one last time.
He felt numb, unaware of what was going on around him. It was like death and destruction followed him everywhere and rid the world of everything he held dear.
It seemed ironic that he was supposed to be the Hero of Time when he couldn't even save one little girl.
Link found himself wondering what Malon would have looked like had she been alive. Her delicate face arose in his mind, framed by her beautiful auburn hair. She was smiling, causing her wide sapphire eyes to crinkle in the corners from amusement. But then the image was replaced by another that made his heart lurch painfully. It was still her face but it was marred by bruises, her hair was matted to her skull with her own congealing blood. Her eyes were glassy and devoid of anything resembling life, accusing him.
"Oh Goddesses." He whispered, "It's my fault."
Malon had pleaded to accompany him into the Temple but in an effort to protect her he had insisted that she stay outside. And now she was dead while he was still alive.
"Link." Navi's voice was barely audible and husky from weeping, "Link you aren't to blame."
But Malon's dead eyes said otherwise.
He hated himself.
"Listen to me." Navi's voice was resolute, encouraged by his prolonged silence. "Do you honestly think that you could have taken Malon into the Temple of Time against the wishes of the Goddesses themselves?"
"I should have tried something!" Link exploded, "If I had known-"
"And that's it right there." Navi broke him off, "How were you to know."
He glared at her but the look was tinged with doubt and Navi lunged at what would either make or break her chance to convince him.
"It was fated to end up this way Link."
'Wrong thing to say.' She thought sadly when he replied angrily, "I don't believe in fate."
"No?" Navi fought an uphill battle, "Well I hate to say this Link, but she appears to believe quite strongly in you."
It was at that point in time that Link realized that he didn't hate himself as much as he despised his place in the world. He had never wanted to play the part of the hero but, as Navi had previously pointed out, Fate didn't care for his sentiments.
When Link became aware of someone watching him he glanced up to see a dark haired woman had entered his sanctuary in the damp graveyard.
"Link?" she looked worried, her eyes were full of concern. Did he know her?
Then it all came back to him in a flash of memories, he was still in Kakariko Village which was now the hideout of a rebellious group called Arcana. The young woman was named Rayne and the cat he had just spotted curled around her neck was Chronos.
He knew he should have spoken, greeted them in some fashion, but he felt so tired, the whole thing seemed pointless to try.
Rayne took a step forward, watching his face for a reaction as though afraid that at any second he would attack without warning. Link didn't move, didn't even blink, he just stared at her, his eyes dark and haunted.
When she was only a few inches away from him she sat down, ignoring the fact that the ground was wet and cold. She didn't speak but there was something about her presence that soothed the aggrieved warrior. She smelled faintly of lavender and she was close enough for him to feel the warmth of her body. Chronos had abandoned her shoulder and taken up Link's lap, he purred softly, and the young blonde felt the agony in his heart recede. They sat like that from some time, taking comfort in each other's company.
"Thank you for not filling up the air with empty words." Link quietly broke the companionable silence, patting the velveteen fur between the black cat's ears.
Rayne nodded, rising to her feet, "Think nothing of it."
"It's just- I can't believe she's gone." Link put the stained ocarina into his travel pack before Rayne could spy it. "It doesn't seem real."
"I know it's hard to accept." Chronos said quietly, "But you must persevere. The people of Hyrule need a hero, Time needs a hero."
Link flinched at the reminder but it was Rayne who spoke, "So then the legends are true." She was observing Link thoughtfully, "There is a Hero of Time."
"Yes." Chronos jumped off of Link's lap and back up to Rayne, "To make a long story short. Link drew the Master Sword out of its pedestal and was taken to the Sacred Realm to protect the Triforce from Ganondorf. Unfortunately he was much too young at the time and so for seven years he slept in the Realm until he came of proper age."
"But what about the other Hero of Time?"
Chronos turned to Link with a perplexed look. "Other Hero of Time?"
"Yes, when I found the Master Sword inside the Temple of Time it said that there should have been another person with me, another hero."
The little black cat was looking at him incredulously, "You are certain?"
Link looked at Navi who nodded, "Yes."
Chronos cursed colorfully, "She changed it!" he growled, "That bitch changed it without informing me!"
Link and Rayne exchanged confused looks, "Who changed what?"
Chronos' black fur was standing on end and his ears were flattened against his skull in an unquestionable gesture of rage. "Hundreds of years ago there was only destined to be one hero, one warrior, not two! Something must have happened, something that Kali originally hadn't planned!"
"Kali?" Rayne asked, hoping to dispel some of Chronos' anger, "Who is Kali?"
Chronos didn't immediately answer so Link replied, "She's Fate, the Weaver of the Threads of Life."
"Who was the sword talking about?" Chronos finally asked, exasperation clearly expressed in his body language, "Do you know?"
"I thought it was Zelda but the sword couldn't confirm that, it said something about having to see her to be positive."
"But that's impossible!" the cat yowled, "That would mean that at the exact moment you pulled the sword from the pedestal Kali decided-"
Chronos stopped in mid-sentence, his yellow eyes going wide, "Link, was there someone else with you when you went to the Temple of Time?"
"Navi was with me."
"Anyone else?"
Link raised an eyebrow, what exactly was this cat getting at? "Malon was outside."
The cat's eyes were mere slits of yellow against his black face, "Why didn't she accompany you inside?"
"She was told not to."
"By whom?"
Link's brow furrowed, he was missing something, "By the Goddesses."
Chronos' tail twitched and his eyes got slightly wider, "I see."
"What?" Rayne couldn't help but be annoyed at the cat's evasive nature. "What do you see?"
"I need to confirm something." He leapt off of Rayne's shoulder, "You all wait here."
Link, Rayne, and Navi watched him go, his black tail held high in the air like a banner while he marched off.
"Where do you think he's going?" Rayne asked Link quietly.
Link shrugged, "I don't know."
All he knew was that the sun was rising over the mountains and that it had finally stopped raining.
Chronos sat atop the watchtower in Kakariko Village, fur turning orange from the sunlight that was beginning to cover the land. He was concentrating fiercely, standing perfectly still, eyes half closed in a meditative state. When he finally spoke there was a certain measure of frustration in his voice. "I know you can hear me Kali."
"So I can." Her disembodied voice was dry and displeased, "What is it now?"
"Zelda isn't the other Hero of Time is she?"
Silence, then, "No."
"And Malon?"
"Is also a Hero of Time."
Chronos shook his head, "But how can she be? She's dead."
Somehow he wasn't entirely surprised when Fate didn't answer.
Author's Notes: The ------ thing means flashback. Sorry I didn't say so earlier.
This chapter was a bit longer than I first expected. When I made my younger sister read it she said I should change the genre of Dreamers to angst, although I think she was just overreacting.
These last few chapters are ideas that I originally wasn't going to include. Arcana for instance was an afterthought. Rayne was in the story that I had played out in my head but the children of the goddesses were not.
Thanks to all those who will read and review. I know I suck at writing sad stuff but this is the best I could come up with at the time.
In response to Kalyana:
I knew from your review of chapter 14 that you wouldn't be pleased with the rebel group of twenty plus people. I quite seriously considered throwing the whole thing out the window so I wouldn't lose you as a reviewer, but my sister disagreed with that idea and told me that I couldn't aim to please everyone. I am, however, very happy that you enjoyed it.
In response to The Pilot:
Let me start by saying that your review scared the hell out of me when I first read it. "Oh no! Someone's already guessed the plot twist!" but then it occurred to me that this would have to happen sooner or later and I figured you would be the first to find out anyway.
Thank you for your appraisal of Dreamers; it's always fun to hear how well you can write. Oh, and by the way, never apologize for your reviews being late, as long as I hear from you I am content.
In response to Grrr666:
I'll take your compliment along with just about everything else you said, although I sincerely doubt you'll be able to drag me to the lake.
In response to Sai:
Rest assured that all will be revealed very soon, I'm getting sick of all this dramatic confusion. I'm sure everyone has guessed what's going on after this chapter but if people haven't please be patient with me, I'm getting there.
In response to HylianPotato:
I knew someone would crack up over the names for the rebel group, though I must admit I thought I would get more responses from the name 'Hanged Man' than 'Wheel of Fortune'. Can you guess why?
For those of you who didn't know it all the rebel code names from 'The Fool' to 'The World' are names I stole from, get this, Tarot Cards. I built every character from the meanings of the card deck and tweaked them enough to make it interesting. Funny how no one asked me about that, I suppose everyone knew? /cries/
In response to Girl with Many Names:
To be perfectly honest I have been watching Miyazaki's Spirited Away far too much as of late and it influenced the making of Arcana greatly.
Sorry this chapter took so long, I'm afraid my brain took a vacation even while my body stayed at home. All I could manage was a couple of words on paper before throwing up my hands and screaming, "It's crap! It's all crap!" and bursting into tears.
Another big thanks to all those who will review. I would prefer no flames but that may be asking a bit much of people.
-- Ourania
