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February 9, 2007

2.9.07

You get a message from an old lover...

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Ted: Acorn Falls

"Hi. Mom says 'hi' too."

I looked at the young lady standing at my door. Her brown hair hung below her athletic waist. I figured her age at about 22 which meant her mother could only be one woman.

"Is you mother still alive? Married?"

"She got killed, car wreck, two months ago. She left me a letter about you. Charlie divorced her about 15 years ago."

"So, are you my daughter?"

"Nope. But mom said you were the best lay she ever had and told me to look you up."

She had her mother's eyes, but fucked much better.

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Stacy: Leanan Sídhe

I knelt in the clearing, skyclad and shivering in the winter dawn, emptying my mind in preparation for the rite. One by one I shut out the distractions…

… hate working in an office…
…wish Steven would grow up…
…want to have a child…

…until I no longer felt the scratch of pine needles or the chill air on my skin.

A breath of heat stole over me, bringing gooseflesh. My mind was suddenly flooded with images of shining skin, silken hair…

“Go away, Gwydion.”

The stag at the edge of the clearing snorted and leapt away into the underbrush.

Read more from Stacy's .

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David: Of Cats And Cradles

We were three subjective years out from Earth, cruising at 0.95 of lightspeed when the communication signal caught up with us. Included was a batch of letters from a girl I’d met just before we left. Suzy, Sara, Shelley, Monica, something like that.

Apparently, I’d knocked her up that night. She named him Brian, and was suing me for child support. She won, and the court started docking my pay. Brain graduated school as valedictorian, and was accepted at West Point. After graduation, he joined the service, did two tours, and retired a captain.

Kids. They grow up so fast.

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Jeff R.: Some Things Just Won't Stay Buried

There was a message on my machine. I popped the tape and played it in the car after leaving. The voice was one I wasn't expecting, one I thought I might never hear again.

"You need to come and see me." she said. "You need to, please." Sasha Tarrent. Takes me back to when I could still remember how love felt. I helped her prove her husband a cheat and a crook. I offered to run away with her to Mexico. She shot him twice in the head instead.

I got onto the interstate, headed straight to the state pen.

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Jim: That Was Then

The email was entirely innocent. Hello, it said. I was just wondering what you’ve been up to.

And it was signed: Lisa.

While I stare at the monitor, my thoughts wander back and the old feelings return. Bright days at the beach rubbing each other with coconut oil. Damp bayou nights with fogged windows and sweaty, clumsy lovemaking in the back of my Camaro.

I remember so many promises made, broken and forgotten. We had our youth, our passion, and each other.

“Hi, Daddy!” The words snap me out of my reverie.

“Hi, Honey,” I grin. And delete the email.

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