Stacey called room service to order a bottle of iced-down burgundy wine. She merely wanted to relax. A glass of wine would help erase the tensions of the last hour. She held up the three native dresses to check the fit while she waited. Surprisingly enough, they all seemed to be custom made to her precise measurements. Several small cat statues of wood and clay were among the articles she had stuffed into her purse as were two pairs of earrings, fashioned in the likeness of felines. She examined each in turn. The last article was a small, carved, wooden box. The doorbell rang before she had a chance to open it. The box and a ten dollar tip was in her hand when she opened the door. A rather young boy deposited the wine tub and a single glass on the table. He was quite happy with the cash tip added to her signature. Making sure the door was locked behind him, Stacey poured herself a glass of the deep red wine and opened the balcony doors to let the sea breeze inside, but shut them quickly again to the noise of the continuing party on the beach. As an alternative, she turned on the TV and adjusted its angle to allow her to watch from the comfort of the hot tub.

Stacey smoked a cigarette while she stripped to nothing, taking another sip of the sweet drink each time another piece of clothing landed on the floor. Completely nude except for the golden cat pendant on its chain, she grabbed the TV remote and added it to her cigarette case, along with the wooden box on the tray with the wine to take to the bathroom. She stopped for a moment in front of the big mirror to admire the distinct new bikini line on her skin. The bright gold cat contrasted well with the slight tan, looking truly like a firelion. She decided to always call it that if anyone should ask about it. She thought just a little more sun would create an even better presentation and told Crip they would take another walk to the lagoon the next opportunity they had.

The hot bubbling water effectively removed the stress from Stacey's mind and body. Her thoughts drifted to Vince and Anna, probably making love in their own little private kingdom on the other island. She had always secretly wondered what it felt like. Devoting most of her spare time to work during her high school years had left very little time for dating and other social activities, though she was asked out constantly. The school rumors had labeled her as being conceited. In her senior year, most of the guys didn't even bother to ask for a date, having been turned down in the previous years. She wished they all could see her now. Her devotion to work had paid off in a large way, and maybe they would understand her reasons better. She would make it a point to attend their first reunion.

Crip gently pawed at the wooden box. Stacey could feel her curiosity growing when she shook the box and it rattled. She wondered as well. She carefully raised the lid. The surprise was well worth the wait. A unique, black cat stared back at her through pearl eyes! Either chipped or carved from black, glassy rock of some kind, small pearls had somehow been embedded in the stone. The cat was crafted in a fighting stance with both front paws up in the air as if to defend itself. A two inch loop of gold chain was attached to each one. An inscription carved on the inside of the lid was written in the Hawaiian language. Although she could not read the message, the book she had purchased the day before in Honolulu would enable her to decipher it in a matter of minutes. She got out of the tub, quickly drying off and wrapping the towel around her. The book was on the table beside the bed. She grabbed the box and her cigarettes from the deck. Crip followed her out and jumped on the bed.

Stacey turned on the bedside light to enable her to see the carved letters easier. Under the brighter light, a new detail in the piece caught her eye. She removed the cat, holding it near the bulb to be sure her eyes had not deceived her. Several blood-red streaks in the shape of tears were directly under the pearl eyes! No color other than black could be found elsewhere on the body. She figured the chains were to be looped around another and dropped the towel to fasten them on each side of her gold cat. It rested snugly in the cleavage between her breasts. She stood up to admire it in the mirror, deciding to leave it where it was. It felt warmer than the gold and actually felt good. Nobody would be able to see it when she had clothes on. She replaced the towel and wrote the English translation of the words on a sheet of paper as she figured each one out. It read; "The preservation of the tormented spirit cat is one with your heart. Be not afraid."

Stacey read the words aloud, intending to get Crip's opinion. She was not listening. She stared intently at the closed doors to the balcony. A single thump sounded outside the doors. Stacey felt Moon's presence outside before he scratched on the door. She opened the door for him scolding, "How'd you manage to get out there? It is not proper for a southern gentleman to come callin' on a lady at this hour. What's so important that it couldn't wait till morning?" He raced past her to jump on the bed beside Crip. The party was still going strong on the beach below. Stacey looked right and left, puzzled at how Moon got to her balcony. Every one was at least twenty feet apart. She shook her head, leaving the doors open in spite of the noisy crowd. When she turned back to Moon she could sense a feeling of helplessness and fright. He was obviously disturbed over something. She told him everything was safe and stepped into the bathroom for her glass of wine.

Stacey thought she had slipped on the wet floor when she first reached for the glass. Pulsating, concentric rings in the wine warned her it was the beginning of an earthquake. She retreated instantly to the bed with the cats. The tremor lasted about two minutes. Stacey dressed hurriedly back into her jeans in case a larger one followed. She wisely traded the sandals for a pair of sneakers, consoling the cats as she tied the laces.

Pictures on the walls were almost shaken loose. They hung at odd angles. The table lamp had vibrated to the edge. Both her glass and the wine tub had fallen into the jacussi, staining the hot water to the color of blood! The TV remote was somewhere within the murky mess. She silently scolded herself for leaving it on the edge and turned up the set manually, searching the available channels for a news update.

Only one channel had been fortunate enough to have a camera crew in the air. A lava tube had collapsed on the east side of Mauna Loa during the quake, sending a torrent of molten rock down the slope towards several coastal towns. A map of the area was shown on the screen to show the terrain in the actual path of the flow. It was explained that the flow wasn't caused by an actual eruption and the tube would probably seal itself off within the hour. The towns were not expected to be affected at all. Only one residence would invariably burn, the home of the famous Japanese naturalist, Wongton Ming. The northern access road had been crossed by the lava. The flow would have no other route to take other than an old collapsed tube in a gorge leading directly to the small valley where he resided by special permit along with a small zoo containing the animals he studied in the park. The second flow from the breached tube also followed a gorge, running parallel to the first. They would eventually merge above the house and burn the entire valley within the next 45 minutes!

The animals contained in the zoo were being released to give them a chance to escape certain incineration. The station then switched to an aerial live view of the lava consuming everything in its path. A second camera showed the man's family being winched up to the chopper. He could be seen in the powerful lights on the ground opening cages of certain death to brightly colored birds, lizards, various rodents, chickens, a few pigs and two horses. Only the front of a single large wire cage was visible to one side of the lighted area beneath the dangling sling to safety in the chopper. Its contents were partially shielded by a shingled roof. Stacey thought she saw a black paw and wondered what was in the cage. She watched intently as the man tied a length of rope to the latch. Holding to the other end, he climbed into the sling and began the ascent. Ten feet up, the rope's slack ended, releasing the restraint on the door. A huge black cat lunged to clear the door! Stacey watched in horror as the great cat's feet went out from under him when he reached the end of a chain, clearly visible in the light for a tenth of a second! The upstretched paws were the last thing she saw as the man's body then blocked the view as he got closer to the helicopter.

Stacey's mind raced with her understanding of the situation. The great cat would burn cruelly to his death! She jumped when her phone rang. It was Andy, frantically looking for Moon. She told him not to worry about Moon, he was with her. She frantically asked him if there was any possibility of getting a chopper in the next ten minutes. He informed her it would take at least an hour. Andy noticed a dramatic change in her voice after a few seconds of silence. Swift and sure, she ordered, "Call the airport and have the Horizon on the runway and ready to fly whenever we get there, and tell them to reserve us a chopper from anywhere to be picked up later. I'm getting us a ride to the airport when I hang up. Be in front of the lobby when it gets here." She hung up the phone, calling the manager to get her a cab fast. To her amazement, one had just stopped out front to drop off a guest. He promised her he would make the driver wait for her. She thanked him, dropped the phone and snatched up her camera bag on the way to the door. Moon and Crip followed at her heels.

Two doors down, Andy and Earl's door slammed at the same time. Stacey hollered at them to hurry. She ran down the stairs instead of waiting on the elevator. The men had to run to keep up with her and the cats. Each had a packed flight bag in their hand. The driver waited with the doors open. Stacey and the cats jumped in the front, the men got in the back. She handed the man a fifty and told him to make the airport ASAP. She asked Andy if he knew where Mauna Loa was. He told her it was only a few minutes away by jet. He wanted to know what the rush was. The quake had awakened them from a dead sleep. She asked if either of them had heard of Wongton Ming. Earl said he had taken Anna there a couple of years back and knew exactly where the house was. The information pleased Stacey. She told them his house and what was left of the zoo would soon burn from a lava tube breach caused by the quake. She had seen something on the newscast she had to check out before it did go up in smoke. She expanded no further on her plans but spent the remaining minute to the airport reloading her camera and attaching the telephoto lens. A double gate in the chain-link fence had been opened near the end of the entrance road to allow them direct access to the jet. Stacey directed the driver through it.

The tail end of the Horizon shimmered in the heat waves of her own idling exhaust. The warm-up pilot was just stepping out when their cab slid to a screeching halt. Andy and Earl beat Stacey to the jet. Earl secured the door while Andy buckled up and called the tower for clearance. Earl buckled in beside him before the radio crackled a reply. Andy switched on the audio so Stacey could hear. They had been granted clearance, but the Honolulu Police Commissioner sternly requested that they hold their position until he talked to them. He was headed to the jet from the tower in his car.

Stacey flatly told Andy they did not have time to wait. He replied that even the big boss waited on the police. Stacey asserted her authority expertly, "I AM the "BIG BOSS," Mr. Mitzhoff! You get this ladybird into the air NOW, or you will answer to MY boss for insubordination of a DIRECT order!" He needed no other coaxing, but requested she buckle her seat belt. Andy throttled the jet forward with one smooth, continuous motion to full power. Lights flashed behind them and intermittent blasts of a car horn faded with the whine of the engines. In less than ten seconds the plane left the ground, banking sharply to the right as it gobbled up the blackness in its quest for more altitude. Stacey asked Earl where the best spot would be in the plane to film the backside of the house. He told her that would be his seat. He moved out to let her in.

Earl directed Andy's flight path from a squatted position in the cockpit doorway where he could brace himself for the tricky last minute turn necessary to give her a clear shot. He informed Stacey that she would only have four or five seconds with each pass in which to film at the slowest speed they could go without stalling. She would have to be ready. When the plane suddenly banked, she would be looking at the rear of the house at a 45 degree angle. Their focus distance would remain the same throughout the pass. He would count down the seconds so she would be ready at the zero point.

Stacey took a five second burst across the entire sweep of lava before they made the first pass. She focused on the structure, dimly lit by the orange glow of the advancing lava while Earl counted. Disgusted, she aborted the shot for lack of light and demanded a new plan. One lighted pass anywhere between the two to three hundred yard range would give her what she needed.

Andy suggested a low-level, banking dive with the landing lights on. She would have 2-3 seconds to continually focus and shoot because the range would decrease dramatically between the scant margin of seconds after he leveled off and then had to pull up sharply to avoid crashing. Stacey understood perfectly. Earl would count again.

Lights made all the difference, displaying all shades of the green spectrum during the bank along with the contrasting browns of the dwelling becoming clearly visible on the outer edge before Andy leveled off. The intense beams would flood the rear structures with light when he did.

While Earl started a five second countdown, Stacey aimed the camera slightly to the left corner, where she knew the cage to be from the newscast, her focus hand deftly adjusting the lens to compensate for the decreasing range. Stacey held her breath as the scenario unfolded in the lights. She held down the button, allowing the machine to fire the shutter as many times as possible. It was still clicking when Andy pulled up sharply, cramming the throttle to full power to avoid stalling. She almost blacked out from the sudden change, but knew the shots would be good, provided she had managed to keep the camera in focus.

Excited now, Stacey hollered, "Did you see it?" Earl told her he did and cursed Wongton Ming under his breath. All Andy had seen was the pair of glowing eyes. Stacey told him to check on the chopper while she traded places with Earl. The airport said they would have one in fifteen minutes. Stacey looked out the window to calculate time against the advancing line of hot destruction. She looked stricken with the stark realization that time was against them. "Is there any way to land this baby?" she asked. It was out of the question. The only way off was to jump.

Without hesitation, Stacey furthered the query, "You have parachutes?" Andy answered with a question, "You ever jumped at night before?" Her quick reply was, "No, but I'm sure you have." Earl interjected, "Those chutes are in case the plane is going down and there is no other alternative. You'll probably splatter on the tail section at the speeds we have to fly at in order to stay in the air!"

Andy confirmed Earl's unfortunate prediction. Stacey would not give up, "Damn it! There has to be a way." Andy snapped his fingers, "I've got it! De-pressurize the cabin, Earl. Then, take her straight up to four thousand feet, back off the throttle, and stall her out. We'll go out the cargo door when she falls over at the apex. What could be simpler?" Earl had a simple answer, "Dying!" Stacey's answer was quick, "We're insured. Let's do it."

Andy led Stacey to the back and buckled her chute, explaining they would jump together on his command, stay together through the free-fall, then separate to open their chutes. She would be able to control her direction of descent by pulling the main rope on the corner of the chute which was in the direction she wished to go. He warned her that any hesitation to jump might kill them all. Also, she must pull the ripcord as soon as they separated to allow the chute plenty of time to open, or she might die by herself. He snapped a survival kit to her belt, explaining that it contained a flashlight, flares, and a loaded tranquilizer pistol. Andy grabbed another chute, pitching it underhanded to the cockpit doorway.

Earl's voice came through the intercom,"Thanks, buddy." Andy replied, "You know what that's for. If you stall her too bad and have a flame-out, she won't recover! Don't waste any time getting out. Like the boss said, we're insured. Let the two horizons meet on their own terms!" He told Andy to save it for the ground and hold on. They were going up.

Andy unlatched the hatch and it disappeared into the darkness, leaving a howling combination of wind and engine whine like Stacey had never heard before. Their ears popped as the jet accelerated toward the heavens. A squeeze from Andy's hand let her know to get ready. She could feel the jet slowing as Andy positioned her in the doorway beside him. Time seemed to stand still when Andy tightened his grip on her arm and yelled, "Now!" Her stomach felt like it highsided for a brief instant. The only way she could tell she was falling into the night was by watching above her. The orange lava glow from the ground glinted on the belly of the Horizon as she hung suspended for a fraction of a second in mid-air, then arced over gracefully and passed them fifty yards away in a headlong dive for the ground below. Tense seconds ticked by. She could tell by the straight path of the beacons that Earl could not pull up for some reason. Andy's grip had tightened on her arm again. She thought Earl was surely going to crash. Stacey closed her eyes and didn't see the orange-blue flash between the beacons, signalling the restart of the engines and that he had showered down on the throttles, speeding away from them instead of downward. Andy pointed him out to her, racing for the visible paths of runway lights, betraying the airport's presence back over their right shoulders.

Andy tapped Stacey on the shoulder and pointed down. The lava now looked as if it were rushing up to meet them with astonishing speed. She gripped the ripcord tightly. Another second of thinking might have let her feel the fear of dying; however, Andy shoved her away and she instantly pulled the cord. She watched Andy's chute unfurl above him, suck in a piece of the night sky, and yank on the brakes. The same jolt assaulted her. She lost sight of him briefly until she recovered from the shock.

A feeling of grace and freedom drifted through her being. Stacey floated along in slow motion as if riding on a cloud. She tested the steering, veering slightly to the right, away from Andy. He pointed at the house on the ground. The lava was close enough to cast a shadow into the preferred landing zone. She could see where the adjacent lava rivers had come together at one point, then split again to swirl around a slight ridge. She calculated she would hit the soil in less than ten seconds, bending her knees slightly to help absorb the shock.

Stacey glanced over a last time at Andy for assurance, only to see him sucked back up in the sky from a pyroclastic thermal updraft! Her concentration interrupted, she hit the ground hard, pitched forward, and wound up with a mouthful of volcanic, Hawaiian soil. She recovered quickly, sputtering and spitting the gritty dirt from her teeth, trying vainly to yell for Andy at the same time. She unbuckled the harness and let it fall from her shoulders. Andy would have to fend for himself since she did not have the luxury of time. The taste of blood told her she had busted her lip on the fall. She spit again while racing around the front of the house. At the same time, she freed the pendants from her blouse, gripping the lower one tightly. She could feel the distinct fear of fiery death in the helpless, trapped animal around the corner.

Ten feet away, the lava sucked up a foot of new ground every second. Stacey knew it would cut off her retreat in that direction. She side-stepped it to the left, hugging the house for support. The startled leopard growled and slapped the cage when she cleared the corner. She involuntarily screamed, almost stepping backwards into the boiling mass of brimstone. The end of the house suddenly burst into flames. Stacey wiped the sweat out of her eyes, scanning for a safe path to retreat. There was none, except the high point between the flows. They could move up the slope for perhaps seventy-five feet. Clutching the pendant, she turned to face the great cat, holding it between them while she spoke a revised version of the inscription on the box, "I am the Lion Goddess. I have come to save your tortured spirit, for it is one with my heart, and I am not afraid!"

A placid calmness swept over the huge animal. He made no move to stop her as she reached in, unsnapped the chain, and pointed to the high ground with the command, "Go now!"

The rear of the structure crackled, and violently burst into a raging wall of flames, singeing some of Stacey's hair as she ran behind the sprinting cat up the old flow. He easily sailed over a seven foot span where the rivers had joined previously. She didn't think it would be a problem for her, either, even though she was running uphill. Halfway through the jump, a splatter of the molten rock landed on her ankle, instantly searing the flesh! She screamed in pain, instinctively reaching for the spot while in the air! As a result, she landed on the other side with only one foot solidly on the rough stone. Stacey tried to compensate with her arms to break the fall, but her head still hit the rock with enough force to knock her cold. She was aware of only one final blast of heat near her feet before darkness swallowed up all sense of reality.

Earl had managed to save the Horizon in spite of the flameout of one engine. He waited ten long minutes on the ground before a news helicopter picked him up. In the interest of saving time, he agreed to go with them. Nothing else available on the island was equipped with search lights. They found Andy snagged in a tall tree by his chute, a hundred yards from the contained inferno in the valley. With his left arm broken, he could not free himself without falling forty feet to the rocks below. After the lava totally consumed the house and trees, the flames had subsided, allowing him to spot Stacey and the leopard from his vantage point. Seeing no movement from her, he thought the big cat had killed her, and waved the chopper on to get her first. The chopper crew could not tell if she was dead or alive from the air. She did not respond to the lights or the sound of their loudspeaker hails in any way.

Stacey was badly scraped up and blood had trickled out of her hair and across her ear, creating a small puddle on the rock. Her blouse had been pulled up to a point where it exposed the lower curves of her breasts. What was displaced below was visible above her head in the form of a large, shredded triangle of cloth. The cat had obviously dragged her up at least the ten foot span of rock between her and the lava below. Earl feared the worst. Leopards were characterized by the dragging of their victims up a tree!

Even though Stacey did not respond, the cat did violently, in explosive fits of savage energy, rearing up on his hind legs to slash defiantly at the blinding lights and the unseen sounds of the rotors behind them. Earl decided to dart the enraged cat before he inflicted any more injury to the limp victim at his feet. His worst fear was of hitting Stacey with the dart. The cat followed the light in every direction, putting himself effectively between it and her with every change of angle or direction. While the cat slashed futilely at the light, a crewman lowered Earl halfway down to the hot lava with the winch to present him with a nearly level, side-shot. A miss there would not endanger his friend.

Earl carefully took aim from the swinging perch while the beast was up and slashing. The cat dropped his stance just as he pulled the trigger, causing the potent dart to fly harmlessly over him to incinerate in the lava backdrop. He reloaded and tried again while the animal was down on all-fours. The tranquilizer dart hit him cleanly in the hip muscle, a preferred shot for the drug to act swiftly.

Within three minutes the cat was down, sleeping peacefully for at least two hours. Ten minutes later, Stacey was on her way to the hospital trauma center in Honolulu.

The crew let Earl off in the tree-top with Andy after determining that Stacey was only unconscious rather than dead. The big cat had clearly saved her life and was protecting her to the best of his feline ability! Andy shook his head with relief, "She may be a goddess after all!" Earl managed to swing him over to the main body of the tree and fashion a splint onto his arm to immobilize it before the chopper returned to effect the rescue from above. The crew wanted to take him on to the hospital, but he made them pick up the cat first. It was taken to a zoo near the hospital, put in a large holding pen and left plenty of food and water. Doctors at the zoo would check him over and administer any immediate first-aid he might need. They assured Earl and Andy he was in efficient and capable hands before they went on to the hospital. For publicity reasons, the media was informed not to reveal which medical facility they had gone to.

Stacey was cleaned up, X-rayed, and treated for heat exhaustion, dehydration, multiple abrasions, a slight concussion, and first-degree burns on all exposed flesh areas. The one third-degree burn, caused by the lava splatter, would leave a nasty scar for sure. It was dressed with antibiotic cream and wrapped with a gauze bandage to keep out infection. She was placed in a private room with an IV in her left arm. Sheets were suspended on a wire cage above her to avoid contact with the burns. The doctors told Earl and Andy she would probably not regain consciousness until she was over the dehydration treatment. It would most likely occur near noon of the following day.

Andy was simply X-rayed and treated for the fracture. He had cleanly broken only one of the bones near his wrist. He sported a white plaster cast on his left hand, extending up to the elbow. Earl drew a little cartoon of Andy hanging in the tree on it and added his signature underneath. It was supported by a sling around his neck. They debated on whether they should contact Vince and Anna. Nothing more could be done except wait for Stacey to wake up. All points considered, the situation was well under control. They decided against the contact, but to stay with Stacey until she awoke. They slipped in quietly, turning on the TV without the sound. The film shot by the station crew in the chopper was being shown on three different stations.

A short hour later, the sun was rising. Andy and Earl decided to grab some breakfast in the cafeteria while Stacey was out of it. They would go one at a time in case she woke prematurely. Andy was planning to call Rex when he went. Earl intended to drop off Stacey's film down the street and have it delivered back to the hospital when it was developed. Earl went first. Stacey rested peacefully and did not wake up while either was gone.

Andy told Earl that Rex had informed him that they were on the news all across America. Half laughing, he had added that he really looked ridiculous hanging in the tree. Stacey; however, had definitely captured America's heart as the beautiful heroine, not to mention the brains behind the rescue! He lastly asked them where they were. No information had been released in that department. When Andy told him, Rex said he was leaving on the first flight out since Andy could not officially pilot the jet with the broken arm. That particular thought hadn't crossed his mind yet, but Rex was right. He would be grounded on medical leave until the arm healed. The mere thought of it depressed him. He told his brother they would see him when he got there and hung up. Earl grinned, "Little brother works quick when he sees a good chance." Disgusted slightly, Andy nodded in agreement.

A nurse slipped in, took Stacey's vital signs, and changed her IV solution, during which the men were shuffled outside. Andy poked Earl in the ribs to get his attention, "You want to see quick, Earl? A Jackson says that bunch of roses is going to Stacey!" Earl accepted the bet, explaining that he didn't think Rex was that quick. Andy coughed up a twenty when the delivery boy passed them by, snatching it back grinning when he realized the boy had passed the room accidentally. Shaking his head in disbelief, Earl paid up. The nurse opened the door and invited them back in with the flower boy.

Earl and Andy dozed intermittently for brief periods. Neither wanted to be asleep if Stacey awoke. Andy heard her babble something about the cat, fire, and a spirit, but the jumble of words made no sense to him. He and Earl snapped back to reality when she suddenly tried to sit up while yelling, "Go now!"

Earl turned off the news as Andy calmed her, "Easy now, Stacey. Welcome back to the world of the conscious." She was disoriented, asking, "Where is my black leopard?" Andy told her the cat was safe a short distance from the hospital. A tear trickled down her cheek as she confessed, "I thought I was dead!" Earl answered her, "We did too when we first found you. It appeared as though the cat had killed you. I'm sorry I had to dart him, but he wouldn't let us near you. He was, . . protecting you. He evidently dragged you up the rock, away from the lava, saving your life. We couldn't tell if you were breathing from the chopper. I drugged him before we were able to get to you to find out anything. You scared the hell out of all of us."

Stacey questioned, "Us? Explain, Earl." He stammered slightly, "Well, the only chopper available was a TV station news crew. I wanted to come alone, but I couldn't wait any longer. Actually, I couldn't have gotten to either of you without their help. Andy was hung in a tree with a broken arm, you were on a tiny rock island surrounded by lava, and there was no place to land." Andy smiled and waved his new cast at her. Uncertain who to ask, she directed her next question to him, "Does Anna know?" Shaking his head, he confided, "We don't know. Earl and I decided not to disturb her honeymoon since there was nothing more that could be done except wait on you to regain consciousness." Earl interjected, "She knows if she ever turned on the TV!"

Stacey looked at Earl with a "I can't believe this" look. He side-stepped to give her a clear view of the blank TV, "Relax and check this out!" Earl punched the button. The station had just started the entire series of films over again. They all got to hear it this time.

About The Author

This space RESERVED For LATER USE--LKH

Author's Note: Feel free to copy/paste the text contained herein to build your personal copy of "MOON Madness". As this is COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL by ME, the ORIGINAL AUTHOR, please DO NOT copy for UNAUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTION in any form or fashion. "ALL RIGHTS RETAINED & RESERVED" by Larry K. Hockman! Please don't hesitate to E-Mail me for permission to use my works in the classroom, etc. ThanX for Visitin'! I hope you enjoyed the story and pass it on to your friends. LKH

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