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Disclaimer: Not mine…if you sue, you’ll get fifty percent of nothing so HAHAHAHAHA!


Okay… I want feedback. Any sort. But make it creative. I can’t stand people who can’t articulate their ideas creatively. FEEDBACK! PLEASE O PLEASE!!! J Anyway, I like Lyle. He has a very interesting character and I always wondered why he was the way he was. And in my opinion, Douglas Adams was one of the of the greatest minds in history. God rest his soul…::sniff:: I think I’m going to cry…


Hell Hath no Fury
So Long and Thanks for the Fish
by Ice Queen1





Jarod breathed in the refreshing salty air as he leaned forwards on the pier railings. San Francisco, Fisherman’s Wharf, Friday afternoon in mid-summer. No place could possibly compare to the bustling beauty of a renowned city on the Pacific coast, the famous Golden Gate Bridge looming over the bay, its towers shrouded in low hanging fog. Sea lions basked themselves lazily in the sun on a boat dock while seagulls swooped in and out of the seafood restaurant nearby while the angry patrons shouted obscenities. A little way down the street, the Amazon Café workers were showing off a brightly colored macaw at the entrance to entice them to come eat and explore their small gift shop. A homeless man sat in the shadows with a tired looking pitbull resting its head on his knee as he sat cross-legged on the sidewalk begging for donations from the occasional guilty passerby. All around were gift shops advertising the infamous Alcatraz Island with T-shirts and license plates; occasionally there was a restaurant that interrupted the flow of shops. Next to the tours of Alcatraz building was a small aquarium advertising the arrival of the new dolphin and some sort of fish. At the front of the dock, where the pavement ended and the boardwalk began, was an Andes mountain band and several men with beards and hats reminiscent of ZZ Top wearing pink tutu’s and cigars hanging out of their mouth. Every inch that wasn’t under the tutu’s pink material was covered in tattoos. Posted beside them was sign that read ‘Have your picture taken with Freaks.’ Jarod had to laugh at the sight of several tourists stopping by and having several family members take photographs. A sudden sadness filled him when he thought of family. His family was gone…but not forgotten as the Centre would’ve wished.

"Isn’t it almost sick how they dote on one another?" a voice piped up from nearby.

Jarod turned his head and noticed a young, slim looking girl straddling the fence next to a sign that read "Stay off the fence." Her hair was as black as the night sky, her eyes a pure sapphire blue, and her skin looked as if had never seen the sun. A small pendant dangled from around her neck and caught the sun’s rays, causing it to reflect in the sunshine. Small purple flowers were stuck behind her ear, and Jarod could just make out their sweet fragrance over the salt spray.

"I think it’s nice the way they love each other openly like that," Jarod answered evenly.

"If that’s what you like, I guess it’s nice enough," the girl shrugged.

"So, are you a tourist or a native San Francisco-ian?" Jarod asked.

"As of the moment, just a passerby…thought I’d stop by and see the Rock." The girl nodded towards Alcatraz, staring at it thoughtfully. "I betcha I could escape from there and not be eaten by the sharks," she stated.

"Have a lot of practice?" Jarod smiled, following her gaze.

"Just a little. How bout you?"

Jarod shrugged. "Not recently."

"I see," the girl mused, hopping off the fence. "I’m Tadi Hunter." She extended her hand.

"Jarod," he replied, shaking her hand.

She cocked her head to one side. "No last name?"

"Everyone calls me Jarod anyway, so there’s no point in me giving one, is there?" he replied.

"Touché," Tadi nodded. "What are you, tourist or resident?"

"I haven’t been a resident of any place for a long time," Jarod replied truthfully.

Tadi nodded again. "I gotta get going, actually. A tourist’s work is never done, and I’m looking for someone while I’m here anyway. I’ll see ya around." Tadi waved and spun on her heel, and swiftly walked away into the crowd whistling something that sounded like ‘Deep River.’

Jarod shook his head. San Francisco had odd, but very friendly, people in it, that’s for sure. Jarod turned towards the sea lions’ dock, chuckling slightly at the sight of a mother pulling her curious toddler back away from the edge as he tried desperately to peer closer to the strange animals. As he leaned across the fence, his elbow caught something small and black and almost knocked it into the cerulean bay water. Fortunately, he was fast enough to catch it before falling in himself in the attempted dive.

The object as it turned out was a small wallet. Curious, Jarod flipped it open and almost dropped it again. The picture inside was of a teenager with a man; the girl smiling brilliantly, the picture capturing the moment before she would outright laugh perfectly. But that was not why Jarod felt almost repulsed by the picture. The man was giving the girl a piggy-back ride, and in the background, he could just make out a tall, adobe colored building through the fall foliage of Blue Cove, Delaware.

The girl was Tadi. The man was Lyle. But…somehow, not Lyle. He looked the same, brown hair, tanned skin, blue eyes and pristine Armani suit. But something was off beat about him. A thought struck Jarod like a hammer. Lyle was smiling out of true happiness…not sadistic pleasure at somebody else’s pain. No wonder the smile was so foreign on his face. Jarod flipped the picture over and read the year. 1992 – Tadi 13. That made her twenty-one now. He was pulled out of thought when he heard pounding feet behind him. Quickly, he put the photo back in the slip and slammed the wallet shut just as Tadi appeared out of the crowd.

"I dropped my wallet…have you seen it? Small, black, leather…" Tadi explained, then caught it in Jarod’s hand. "Great! Thank you so much! I would’ve been in serious trouble without that." She snatched it back even as she spoke. Immediately, she flipped it open and double-checked her picture was still there.

Jarod cleared his throat. "You look awfully happy in that picture. Is he related to you?" He nodded at the picture.

"Nope. Just a very close friend. I most likely won’t be seeing him anytime soon, so I want to make sure I don’t forget his face. That’s why I was so scared I lost it," Tadi answered as she put it back in her pocket. "Now I bid thee so long and thanks for all the fish. Remember, don’t panic and don’t forget your towel!" she said cheerily and disappeared for the second time in fifteen minutes.

" ‘Thanks for all the fish’?" Jarod repeated. "What does that mean?"




"She found him," he said. "Just like I said she would."

"I knew you wouldn’t fail me, son."

"I did what I said I would. Now you have to keep up your end," he snapped. "Leave her out of this."

The older man shook his head. "I’m sorry, but you know we can’t do that. It has to be this way."

"You promised!" the first shouted. "I’ll call her off. By the time you get there, he’ll be long gone along with her."

"You don’t want that. You’ve tried too hard to capture him to give him up for a girl," the man condescended. "You couldn’t call her off."

"It’ll be worth it to take you down in the eyes of the Triumvirate," the first snapped.

"Then I am forced to use a different form on persuasion," the older sighed. He nodded to one of the guards. "Take him away."

The first man’s eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and fear, but his features soon slacked as the sedative entered his veins. He collapsed against the carpet, a skeleton of a man hovering over him, an empty syringe in his raised hand.

"We’ve got them," the new man wheezed.









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