Echo

suggested she was childlike and naive. He supposed that being a different kind of species would present some interpretive communication problem. Perhaps he simply misconstrued some of what she said. But what about the gold and the diamonds? The acquisition of these raw materials seems to have been done innocently, although mysteriously. Echo clearly attached no significance to the commercial value of the gold and diamonds. Discovering that they were overjoyed to be rich didn’t seem to effect Echo that much either. If they were happy, then Echo was happy. He had to admit that this was all a bit overwhelming.
    And then there was his tail. He spent the last few years wondering what effect it would have on his life. His periodic visits to the woods to see Echo, never elicited any pertinent information from her. His inability to curb his awestruck feelings forced him to spend most of the time answering Echo’s questions. So he reluctantly managed the problem on his own. Just like always.
    He matured quickly as a boy, intimate with adversity. Emotional trauma introduced itself to him when just a defenseless child. How does a child fill the void left by a beloved family, savaged by mysterious brutal strangers? He doesn’t. He is forever damaged. He is forever different. His changes just made him even more different; nothing new to him. But his tail, not even on his radar now, a part of him just like his arm or his leg, no longer needed to be hidden from his loved ones; a huge improvement to his mental health. Or maybe Abby brought the improvement on. He no longer felt depressed. The hole in his psyche still left him damaged, but now he felt joy and hopefulness. He recognized that he might be part of something that portended to be an adventure of a lifetime. Slicking back an unruly shock of his curly hair, his strong capable hand slid down to absentmindedly scratch his three-day-old stubble. Sliding down in the comfortable leather seat, he shut his eyes. Tiring of the puzzle that was Echo, he cleared his mind for some snoozing. Unbidden, Abby’s face appeared in his mind. As the limo sped quickly down the busy highway taking its strange occupants to their new life, a very special young man inside, simply dreamed of his sweetheart.

Chapter 21
    He sure was having a hard time unloading the hunk of gold he caged from the fucker’s garage. Christ, he gets a spot of good luck and someone still wants to make it tough for him. The sign says, Gold for Cash , for Christ’s sake. He should come back at night and burn the fucking place down. That would show them who they were fucking with. Shaking his head in anger, he realized he might have to drive to the city and find a dealer capable of handling his golden goodie. He should know these country hicks wouldn’t help him; probably just jealous of his good fortune. Yeah, that was it, he shook his head knowingly. He should have realized that from the royal eyeball they gave him. Flicking his cigarette butt out the window, he wiped his nose on his ragged sleeve. He hoped he would get his hands on the cash today and score some fine blow. It’s been a mighty long time since he’s been able to afford goodies like that.
    Thinking of burning down the gold shop reminded him of his plans. He was on his way home to pack now. First thing tomorrow morning he’s going to pay a little visit to the fag lawyer in Newtown. He spent some time watching the deserted office this morning. They sure weren’t doing any business; must be a lousy lawyer. The only person he saw was the stuck up bitch, his secretary, what’s her name? Oh, yeah, Tiffany. Baby Tiff . Well, if he couldn’t get his hands on the fag lawyer, then Baby Tiff would do just fine. His face took on a greasy sheen as he thought about the time he might allow for a little fun before he got down to his real business. Unzipping his filthy pants, he drove down the street grinning and giving himself a happy ending as he imagined the look on Ms. Baby Tiff’s face when she got a gander at this.
    Pulling up to his house, he ran inside to collect some of the necessary tools for his fun time tomorrow. He let himself into Kelly’s bedroom to pick through her knife collection. He nostalgically ran his hand over her babies. Selecting one that looked like it would do the job, he thought about Kelly. He had yet to deal with the effect her fucked up death was bound to have on him. She had been his sister and his best friend. The only one who