Andersonville 16 – Venus Child

by: Kelly Davidson

 

"Good morning, Mrs. Stover. I’m Mark Merrick and this is Vickie Marshall. We’re here to drive you to your appointment."

Mrs. Stover looked carefully at the two people standing outside her door. They were both dressed in uniforms that medical people typically wore these days. Unfortunately Mrs. Stover had seen too many doctors and nurses over the past couple of months to know that. They smiled, and she felt at ease with the strangers.

"I’m sorry you had to drive all this way for nothing, Mr. Merrick," the elderly woman explained. "You see, my daughter came over this morning, and she’s going to drive me to my appointment."

"I see," Mark frowned and turning to Vickie for guidance. "Your daughter does realize this treatment will last all day?"

"I understand," a woman from inside the house replied. Mrs. Stover’s daughter, Sarah Sharp, came to the door. "I want to go with mother for moral support."

"I see." Mark looked back at Vickie a little uncertain. He didn’t like it when things didn’t go as planned. "Why don’t I drive both of you there anyway. After all, the insurance company has already paid for the trip. You can relax and not have to deal with the hassle of fighting the traffic there and back."

"Okay, Mr. Merrick, let me get my purse," the daughter accepted. Both ladies disappeared into the next room.

"Now what?" Vickie asked.

"We take both of them with us," Mercury told her. "Linda Anderson is going to get a bargain, two for the price of one."

When they came back, Mark helped both ladies into the van and drove off.

"You look tired, ladies. Why don’t you close your eyes and take a nap," Mark suggested.

"I don’t feel – feel sleep – sleepy." Sarah noticed her mother nod off quickly and started to panic.

"Mom, mom, are you okay?" she shouted. Sarah looked at the two medical people in terror. "She’s unconscious, do something."

"It’s okay, Mrs. Sharp," Mercury explained. "Your mother is very ill, so my suggestion worked a little faster on her."

"What are you talking – talking – about?" Suddenly Sarah found she couldn’t keep her eyes open anymore. She tried to say something else, but fell into a deep sleep before any words came out.

"Nightie night, you two," Vickie whispered softly.

********************************************

"Her mother is here, as well as her sister," Mark told me.

"Her sister?" I asked. That hadn’t been part of our agreement.

"It’s a long story," he sighed. "Let’s just say I couldn’t separate them without raising their suspicions. Where’s Ashlee?"

"At home with her kids. I called earlier and told her I would be dropping by the house to give her something." I looked a Mark Merrick in a questioning manner. "They do know, don’t they?"

"I told them as soon as we got here," he replied. "Vickie is with them now, as is Mr. Cupler. They both took the news quite well. The mother is very anxious to meet Ashlee, but I think the daughter has some reservations."

"You and I can drive them over to her house in my car," I told him. "We won’t need Vickie anymore. I understand she has an appointment this morning." I stopped and gave the Roman God Mercury a grateful smile. "Mark, thank you for doing this."

"You’re welcome, Linda. I’ll have to stick around and keep an eye on them, but I’ll try not to get in their way. Why don’t you meet with them now and explain what you have in mind."

I agreed, and we both walked to the conference room where they were being held. After a quick introduction and explanation of what I had in mind, we got into my car and drove to the modern, two-story home of the Gangs. I found Ashlee sitting in the backyard with her baby, watching her older kids play close by. She was working on some kind of needlepoint pattern. I smiled, thinking how much of a typical mother she looked just then. When Ashlee saw me walk in, she smiled and rose to greet me."

"Good morning, Linda." Ashlee gave me a big hug, a common practice here in Peace River. I maneuvered her around so she was facing away from where I had come in. "Now what’s so important that I had to cancel all my plans for today?" she asked pleasantly.

"I have a surprise for you." I smiled. I watched the two ladies walk carefully up behind her. They stood silently, the daughter unsure about all this and the mother with tears in her eyes. "Turn around slowly, Ashlee."

She gave me a funny look and did as I asked. When she saw the two ladies, her body froze. She gasped loudly.

"Mom!" Ashlee blurted out with emotion.

"Matt? Matt, is it – really you?" her mother questioned softy.

Ashlee slowly moved closer as if she wasn’t sure they were really there. She reached out and touched her mother on the arm. Convinced that they were real, she gave them both a big hug.

"Oh God, mom – Sarah! I thought I would never see you two again," she sobbed. "Oh mom, I missed you. I’m so sorry for how I acted before. I’m so damn sorry."

"It’s okay, honey," Mrs. Stover replied with tears in her eyes. "They explained what happened, and how you’ve changed. I forgive you, honey. I love you!" She kissed her new daughter on the cheek.

Ashlee’s children watched the ladies embrace, and became concerned over their crying. The oldest walked over and asked, "Mommy, are you okay?"

"You have children?" Ashlee’s mother asked while wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Yes mom, three kids" Ashlee replied with a joyful, emotional laugh. "This is Nathan and Andrew. Over here," she pointed to the car seat close by, "is Calvin."

"He’s so beautiful," Mrs. Stover commented in a way that only a grandmother could.

"Mommy," Nathan interrupted, "who are these ladies."

"This is your Aunt Sarah and Grandma," Ashlee announced while laughing and crying at the same time.

"But – she’s white," the young boy stated in a confusion.

"Yes I am," Mrs. Stover said while kneeing down to get a good look at her grandson. "And you’re black! But you know what Nathan, it doesn’t matter. I love you so much." She gave the boy a big hug, and Sarah followed suit. I turned and walked to where Mark Merrick was standing.

"I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes," he said while staring at them in disbelief.

"What?" I asked, a little bewildered by his reaction.

"Someone who is totally happy and yet crying at the same time – tears of joy I think you call them. Humans are really strange at times."

I chuckled at the irony of his statement. "You’re in no position to talk about others being strange, Mark." That comment earned me a grin. "So by showing you something you’ve never seen before, I guess that makes us even?"

He laughed. "Hardly, but I’ll take that into consideration when I need your help. You do realize that Ashlee’s mother and sister won’t remember this visit."

"Yes I know. But you’ll make sure they leave here feeling at peace over Matt's disappearance, won’t you?"

"After this is over, they’ll both know Matt Stover is safe and happy and they shouldn’t worry about him anymore; although they won’t have any idea how they know that. I’ll make sure of it, Linda"

"Thanks Mark. This was a good thing you did here. I only wish I could stay and watch, but I need to get back to work in case Judge Jasper calls."

"I’ll fill you in on all the details," he said with a smile as he watched the three ladies hug and laugh some more. "Have a nice day, Linda."

"You too, Mark." I took one more look at the happy reunion before heading to my car.

Fade out…

*****************************************

Voice of Judge Jasper – We are the Roman Gods, who fell to your world long ago when your people were still learning how to crawl. We have guided you through the years, rewarded you for good deeds, and punished you when needed. With our leadership, we helped you defeat the Titans in a terrible but glorious war. Once your path was set, we went to sleep, waiting for the day you would reach for the stars and take us home. But the Titans interfered, and turned you away from your destiny. When we awoke, we found much work to do; so we established a base and called it Peace River.

The Titans, with our help, established their own base later on. It’s a town where we can work together, a last ditch effort to avoid another war that may destroy the human race forever. Some would like to see the town and your people destroyed, others would like to see it work – to have peace at last. There is much hatred between our people, and the road ahead won’t be easy but the rewards if we do are great. The name of this last chance for peace is called Andersonville.

*****************************************

 

Andersonville 16 – Venus Child

By Kelly Davidson

Edited by Geoff and Nelson T

This story dedicated to The Professor, whose Ovid stories and support inspired me to write the Andersonville series. Helping a fellow writer is what makes our community so strong.

 

Fade in…

My big Buick was cruising down the deserted, two-lane blacktop somewhere in the Wyoming vastness. A lot of people think the United States is crowded with people, but the truth is there are plenty of wide-open spaces left to visit. For the past forty years I had traveled this road on my way to one small town or another. In this case I was heading for a town called Thermopolis, located near the middle of the state. There wasn’t an expressway close to Thermopolis, which suited me just fine. I was happier traveling the back roads than the interstate routes choked with cars. There were so many interesting things to see along the way. It bothered me that in a couple of years I would have to give it all up.

I felt sorrow at the thought of retiring as I fiddled with my business card that read, "Henry Mills, salesman – Craftmaster Tools". Every storeowner in every small, northwestern town knew my name. Many of them thought of me as a member of the family; having me over for dinner after our business was complete. Some even invited me to weddings and other family events. I had watched their children grow up and start their own lives. I had watched in sadness as some of the older people I dealt with passed away. Over the years these shop owners weren’t just my customers anymore, they were my extended family. Now the Internet was changing all that.

While there were more efficient ways to sell tools, I still brought in enough sales for the company bigwigs to keep me on the payroll. That and the fact that many of the smaller towns still didn’t have easy Internet access yet. I knew that was rapidly changing. Soon I would be forced to retire and then – and then I didn’t know what I would do. Traveling and selling tools had been my life; I didn’t know anything else. My home at the time was a small apartment in Indiana, but I was rarely there. Over 300 days of the year I was on the road going from one place to another. The thought of finally staying in one place was alien to me. Oh, I suppose I could still travel, but for what reason? The idea of randomly going from one place to another without a purpose didn’t appeal to me. My job had given me both a reason to travel and a balance to my life.

As I looked back at my life, I had no real regrets. The truth was, traveling was in my blood and I loved my current life. Of course it meant I had no wife, since no woman could put up with her husband being away so much. Still, that didn’t bother me too much. Sure, it got lonely on the road at times. Except for the occasional one-night stand I didn’t have much human contact.

Until he died, I’d kept in touch with my brother, but only at times like Thanksgiving and Christmas. The stroke he’d suffered five years ago left me with no living family. So I lived and traveled alone, calling into the office periodically to order supplies and visiting my regular customers who’d become my surrogate family. All in all it wasn’t a bad life and I was content.

My thoughts were interrupted when something in the road caught my attention. I looked twice and blinked my eyes hard. In all my travels I had seen many strange events, but this one took the cake. In the middle of the road I spotted a half-naked woman being chased by two guys. She had a pretty good lead on them, but they were quickly gaining.

The car lurched forward as I pressed down on the gas. When I got close enough, I honked my horn several times. This startled the two men, and caused them to slow down just a bit. I ignored them and drove up next to the woman who was clearly running for her life.

"Jump in," I yelled while slowing down to match her pace. She took my suggestion and dove in through the open window. I pulled her in the rest of the way and accelerated away. In the mirror I saw the two men stop running and watch with anger.

"Are you okay?" I asked. She sat up in the seat and I could see her breasts hanging out of her ripped blouse. "Here, take my suit coat," I offered while pulling it from the back seat. She gratefully took it and wrapped herself in it.

As I watched her do this, I couldn’t help but noticed how incredibly beautiful this female stranger was. She was tall and skinny, with long, blonde hair that curled down the sides and was feathered in front. Her body was a young man’s fantasy, and even that of a few women. She wore very little makeup, but then with a face as pretty and feminine as hers, she didn’t need to wear much. That’s when I noticed her eyes, how wild they looked. It was clear she had been drugged with something.

"Don’t worry Miss, I’ll take you to a hospital. Everything will be okay," I reassured her.

"No," she said sharply. "No hospital or police."

"Miss, are you sure that’s wise?" She didn’t seem to hear my question though. Instead she stared straight ahead as if in shock. "Who were those guys back there?"

"Titans!" she answered in an angry tone.

"Titans?" I questioned. I had read about them in a Greek Mythology book when I was a kid. The stories were long and somewhat confusing as to whom they really were. Sometimes people referred to the Titans as the Gods who came before Jupiter and his family. Others thought of the Olympians as the Titans."

"What’s your name," I asked softly, hoping it would give me some clue as to what was going on."

"My name?" she said in a daze. "My name is – Venus."

Well, I could see why she would say such a thing. She looked like what I would expect Venus to be. Still, I wasn’t convinced I was in the presence of a goddess, or that they were even existed for that matter.

"Look, isn’t there someone I can take you to?"

The lovely woman stared ahead puzzled, as if not knowing how to answer the question. Finally she said, "I have a home – somewhere around here. I’m not sure. The men chasing me know where it is."

"I don’t think going back and asking them is such a good idea," I told her. "Look, you must have friends around here. Can you tell me where they are?"

"I can’t – I can’t remember," she answered bewildered.

"Look – um, Venus. I really think we should go to the police about this. It’s obvious they did something to you. You’re not thinking straight right now."

"No, I mustn’t," she insisted. "We can’t let your people find out."

"You mean humans?" I asked. This woman was really whacked out. "Why were these, um, Titans, after you, Venus?" I felt it was better to go along with the game until she got control of her senses again.
"They were going to use me to make Jupiter give them power that they could use against us. They were waiting for me out there. I tried to run, but they caught me. They forced some coffee down my throat. I got away just as you were coming by. You saved – you saved me."

"I’m just glad I showed up when I did," I smiled. "Look Venus, are you sure you don’t know where any of your other friends are?"

She shook her head and her long hair moved very seductively across her face. "I can’t – I can’t remember where they are. I know – I know it’s a town. Peace – Peace – I can’t remember."

"It’s okay. Look, I think they put something in your coffee. You’re acting a little confused right now."

"No, it wasn’t a drug. Coffee makes us act this way. It’s like a drug to us. I’m sorry, I wish I could – could remember. It will come in time."

"Then I think we need to get you somewhere safe until then. Oh SHIT!" I looked in the mirror and saw a green corvette coming up behind me at a fast clip.

"It’s them," she cried out fearfully. "I can feel their presence."

"Don’t worry, I can’t outrun them, but my car’s bigger. All we have to do is drive to the next town where we’ll be safe."

"If only it were that easy," she whispered. Then I saw what she meant. The passenger was leaning out his car holding onto what looked like a gun. I noticed he was aiming it right at us.

"Hold on," I yelled. I swung the car into the opposite lane just as he took a shot. Something fiery flew past us and struck a tree ahead, exploding it into splinters. Chunks of wood hit my car as we drove by, and I fought hard to keep the car under control. The only satisfaction I got was seeing the Corvette spin out as the same material belted them. Quickly the driver put the car back in gear and started chasing us again.

"We’ll never make it if we continue this way," I told her. "Put your seatbelt on and brace yourself."

I waited until they were a few feet from my rear bumper before making my move. Just as the passenger of the Corvette started to lean out of the car, I slammed on my brakes. The driver of the ’Vette was taken by surprise, and hit his brakes hard to avoid rear-ending me. I watched with great pleasure as the passenger was flung around from the sudden jerk and quickly slid back into the car.

"That’ll teach them," I told her with satisfaction as I sped up again. Indeed, I could see the passenger yelling at the driver. Slowly the car started to drift back. When it was a safe distance behind, the passenger made his move again. I knew it was time for another desperate measure.

"Hang on," I told Venus. I turned the wheel hard and drove off into the high, prairie grass. This time they were at a disadvantage, since their car was lower to the ground making it harder to see over the thick grass. The driver tried to follow my trail, but I made a few sharp curves to mess him up.

Ahead I spotted a shallow creek; at least I hoped it was shallow. I drove my car down the creek a little ways then went back up into the grass. The driver of the Corvette had no choice but to follow me, only he came out of the creek bed a different way and struck a small gully. His car took a hard jolt and stalled. Smoke began pouring out of the ’vette’s engine compartment from the abuse, but the driver managed to get the car started once more. As he chased us again, I headed back toward the highway.

"They’re still there," Venus told me in a frightened tone.

"I know," I reassured her. "That creek bed gave me an idea. Hang on, this is going to be rough."

I turned the car almost parallel to the road and hit the ditch at a shallow angle. Still, at the speed I was going it flung the car high into the air and onto the road. The front end being heavier struck the asphalt first, and here was a horrible, grinding noise as the front bumper scraped along the road for a second. Then the rear wheels hit the ground and the car bounced wildly up and down before the shocks caught. They squeaked painfully under the impact but held firm. The Corvette wasn’t so lucky.

The driver wasn’t thinking, and was going much faster than I had been to make up for lost ground. He went over the ditch at a steeper angle and higher speed. This resulted in the Corvette being launched higher into the air. The car wasn’t meant for such punishment and when it landed back on the road, the Corvette couldn’t take the strain of the impact. Pieces of fiberglass flew everywhere as the car’s body literally broke into pieces. The suspension let go, and the front tires came off leaving the car uncontrollable. The Corvette slid across the road on its frame and crashed into the ditch on the opposite side. I knew that it would never run again.

"I hope they’re all right," I said while slowing my car down some.

"They’re a little shaken up, but no worse from the ride," Venus stated firmly. "We’ll be safe now."

"Maybe," I frowned, "but I still think we need to go to the police."

"No, please. I – I know that’s the wrong thing to do. Just get me as far away from here as you can."

"Okay," I told her speeding up. The car started to shimmy from side to side and made a horrible noise. I suspected our little joyride had bent or broken a suspension bar. It was going to cost me a pretty penny to get it fixed.

"Head – head east when you get a chance," she told me. "No! Northeast, toward the Dakotas.

"You remembering something?" I asked.

"Maybe, I’m not sure. My mind is in such a tizzy right now. It seems like – oh, fuck that coffee!"

Hearing a curse word coming out of her mouth just didn’t seem right. She was just too pretty and charming to say anything foul.

"Maybe if you talked about your home you’ll remember more about where it is, Venus. What’s it like?"

"It’s wonderful," she began.

**********************************

Back at the crash site the two men pulled themselves from the wrecked car. The passenger of the Corvette, who went by the name of Lucas, looked at the car and shook his head in disgust.

"Brilliant driving, numb-nuts," he told his partner.

"Hey, you were the one who told me to follow them into the field," Leo replied defensively. "I told you the car couldn’t handle the terrain but you insisted. So what do we do now?"

"We head back to Andersonville and make new plans," Lucas said.

"Are we going to try kidnapping Venus again?" Leo asked.

"No, too risky," Lucas shook his head. "Besides, her charms work too well on us. No, this time we’ll hit old Jupiter where it hurts. This time we’ll go after one of his sons."

"Which one?" Leo wanted to know.

"We’ll figure that out later. Let’s go." Lucas pulled out a small, black box and pointed it in front of them. Seconds later a glowing portal appeared.

"What about the car?" Leo asked.

"Leave it," Lucas answered. "The cops will trace the plates back to a fictitious address. Lets go."

Both men walked into the portal and moments later it blinked out of existence.

****************************************

We talked for hours about her home, which she finally remembered was called Peace River. It sound like a place I wouldn’t mind visiting. By late afternoon we had managed to get as far as Rapid City, SD. Venus spotted a nearby motel and asked me to pull in.

"Henry, I need to – to sleep for an hour or two," she told me. "The earlier events have really drained me.

"I’ll get us a room," I replied pulling up to the office. I checked us in, making sure I got a room in the back and out of sight from the main road.

After we got settled, I gave Venus one of my T-shirts to wear. Ten minutes later she was sleeping soundly. While she slept, I thought carefully about the tale she had told me.

According to her, no one grew very old in Peace River and everyone lived in peace. Venus, if she really was the Goddess Venus, had told me humans were needed for their town but not why. I guessed she had enough sense within her to only babble about certain things.

One of the things she said that concerned me was that they never took in anyone over 32 years old. Whatever they did in their transitioning process put a great deal of stress on the person’s body. I was 60, almost twice the age of their cutoff limit. If I went with this woman back to Peace River, I would be a liability to them.

My mind was numb with that realization. I knew the smart move would be to leave before she woke up, but somehow I couldn’t pull myself out of the chair. I couldn’t abandon her, even if she was who she claimed to be. I felt a deep obligation in my soul to see this thing through. Once I knew she was safely home, then I would leave, but not before. It was a noble but stupid gesture on my part. Still, I wasn’t going to change my mind. I had to make sure she made it home safe and sound.

From the corner I watched Venus sleep, hardly moving the entire time. After a couple of hours she gently stirred and sat up.

"How are you feeling?" I asked softly

"Much better, Henry," Venus replied. She stretched her arms, and I could see her large breasts pushing out of my shirt.

"Do you remember where you live now?" I questioned.

"Yes," she smiled. "It’s not to far away, five hours at the most. I think – I think we should be going soon. Do you have something old you don’t mind not getting back?"

"Well, I have a couple of old shirts and some sweat pants you can have."

"Great, give them to me please," she grinned.

I handed her the items and she placed them on the bed. Next she picked up one of the shirts and ran it through her hands a few times while whispering something. Right before my eyes, the shirt turned into a black dress. If I had any doubts about her story, they were now gone.

"Much better," she smiled while looking at the dress.

"Do you need anything else?" I asked. "I mean for, you know, underwear and stuff." Venus giggled at my embarrassment.

"This will do fine." Then she gave me a seductive grin. "Henry, come sit down on the bed next to me please."

"Why?" I asked nervously.

"Because, I want to give you something. Please don’t be afraid of me, I wouldn’t hurt the man who saved my life. Sit down." She patted a section of the bed right next to her

Slowly I did as she asked, unsure of what would happen next. Venus looked at me with her big, dreamy eyes and smiled. Without saying a word, she reached over and kissed me. My body immediately began to tingle with sexual activity.

"Wait right here," Venus whispered while picking up one of my old shirts. She went into the bathroom and a moment later re-appeared dressed in a fire red, baby-doll nightgown. The Goddess of Love smiled seductively, and I found myself bewitched by her beauty. She waltzed over and sat down next to me again. Then she leaned over and stuck her tongue in my ear, causing me to go crazy with lust

"I – I don’t think we – we should --- I mean – I should," I stuttered out. Oh, I was making brilliant conversation today. "What about Ma—Mars. I’m sure he would be up – upset."

"Shhhh," she said softly while putting her feminine finger up to my lips. "No one is going to be upset with you. Mars, of all Gods, will understand my actions. You see Henry; I want to do this. I can’t tell you why right now, but you’ll understand later. Let me help you get undressed."

Venus moved quickly, removing my pants, shirt, and underwear before I had a chance to react. Then she positioned me in the center of the bed, whispering softly at me to relax while stroking what little hair I had in a calming fashion. The goddess was somewhat forward, yet at other time’s passive, especially when she seemed to be enjoying our actions. We kissed, and my mind was bombarded with sexual emotions that had long been dormant. It was different making love to her than with other women. Not only did I feel sexual pleasure in every part of my body, but in my soul as well. I was joined with her in more than just a physical sense. I could feel all the pleasure and joy she was receiving from our simple act – and it was much more pleasurable than I had ever experienced. We bonded as lovers, and in ways I couldn’t begin to describe.

The moment passed all to quickly, but that’s how wrong I was. When I looked at the clock next to the bed, I discovered it had taken over two hours to make love to Venus; and we had done it at least ten times. No, I couldn’t have done it that many times. It must have been me feeling her orgasms. Totally spent, I snuggled up next to her warm breasts.

"Thank you," I whispered with gratitude.

"No Henry, thank you," she replied while kissing me gently on the top of my head.

"Now I know why you’re a goddess of love," I sighed contently. "I’ve never felt this way before."

She smiled. "You’re a great lover, Henry. It’s too bad you never got married. You would’ve made some woman feel real lucky. I guess your job wouldn’t have allowed that to happen."

"No," I agreed. "I love being on the road, I always have. The thrill of driving down a new road and visiting a town I’ve never seen before. It’s all so appealing to me. Have you ever felt that way before, Venus?"

"A few times," she commented while gently rubbing my back. "When we first came out of stasis, all I wanted to do was explore. However, we had a mission to perform, which is why we came to the United States."

"Stasis?"

"It’s a term we use to refer to the time we were away. You see Henry; we were asleep for thousands of years, but not in the way you may think. We slept but watched over your world in our dreams. Then one day the people we left behind stopped worshiping us, and we lost our contact with the outside. That’s when we woke up and discovered what had happened."

"The Titans!" I said angrily. "They really kept us from growing?"

"I’m afraid so," Venus explained. "Your people should’ve reached the stars by then. Imagine our shock and disappointment when we found you still getting around on horses."

"Why not just kill them all?" I asked bitterly while massaging one of her warm breasts. Her nipple turned hard with excitement.

"I can’t tell you, Henry. We could kill the Titans, but we don’t want to. The reason is a secret."

"I understand," I sighed happily. "I guess we have to be going now."

"Not yet," Venus said playfully as she kissed me again.

****************************************
Hours had passed since my sexual encounter with the goddess of love, and my body was still tingling with excitement. As I drove, I dreamed about the experience over and over again. I didn’t want it to end, but knew I would never touch her that way again. I also knew I would never be satisfied making love to another woman, although at my age it was unlikely such an opportunity would present itself.

Venus gave me directions to get to Peace River, but I found myself wondering if she really knew where we were going. She would have me head north for while, then turn east. After a while we would head north again and then make a couple of turns and head south. For the past hour it seemed as if we were going around in circles, but she smile and calmly told me we were almost there. Suddenly we drove over the crest of a hill and I peered down at a town lit up in the night. From a distance it didn’t look too spectacular. In fact, it looked like a lot of other towns I had visited in my lifetime. The only thing that made it the least bit unique was the wide river we had to cross first.

"Henry," she said softly. "You can drop me off here if you want. I can walk the rest of the way in."

I shook my head slowly. "I can’t do that Venus, even if I know it’s the right thing to do. I have to – no, I need to see this through to the end. Besides, I wouldn’t get very far if I tried to leave. We both know that."

"I know, and I’m sorry."

"It’s okay, Venus," I said trying to cheer her up. "Look, I’ll drop you off then leave. Maybe your people will be so happy to see you that they’ll forget about me. You know I won’t tell anyone, perhaps you can convince them."

"I know you won’t tell, you’re that kind of man," she whispered although I don’t think she meant for me to hear her.

After crossing over a bridge that stretched for more than a mile, she directed me to the north. About a mile out of town we came to a rather modest house on top of a small hill. I pulled into the driveway and stopped in front.

"Goodbye, Henry," she told me, and followed her words with a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodbye, Venus. I’m really going to miss you." A twinge of sadness filled my heart. I wanted to stay with her forever.

Venus smiled and opened up the door. However, when she tried to stand up she stumbled back into the seat.

"Are you okay?" I asked concerned.

"I’m still a little shaken from what happened," she answered weakly. "I guess I should’ve rested a little longer."

"Here, let me help you inside," I offered. It turned out I didn’t have to. A tall, muscular man suddenly appeared next to the car.

"Dear, are you okay?" he asked tensely. "What happened, we have people looking all over for you."

"The Titans," she replied. "A couple of them tried to kidnap me."

Venus wrapped her arms around his neck and the man, the God Mars, picked her up as if she were as light as feather. Then he turned and looked at me sternly.

"You’d better come inside." He said it with such authority that I knew it was more than just a suggestion. Figuring it wouldn’t be very smart to piss him off, I did as he commanded. I only hoped Venus was right, that he would understand and not beat me to a pulp for having sex with her.

He carried his wife inside the house to a room that appeared to be a study. Carefully he placed her on a couch and said, "I’ll get something to make you feel better."

As Mars was mixing her a drink at the bar, I took the time to look around the room. I was immediately drawn to a set of armor hanging on the wall. It looked like something a Roman solider would’ve worn into battle.

"That’s original," he told me while handing his wife the drink. "I brought it with me from Rome. I used to wear it in battle. Today your armies are more worried about speed then protection. But imagine 10,000 of us standing on a hill, the sun gleaming off our armor plates. We did that to blind our enemies before attacking. Another one of those small but historic tactics lost forever to your people."

"Then this must be over 2,000 years old," I stated raising my hand to touch the fine metal. I stopped myself from doing so. I wasn’t sure how he would react if I did.

"More like 2,500 years old," he replied with a slight smile. "Go ahead, touch it if you want. You don’t know how refreshing it is to meet someone who appreciates war artifacts like I do."

I rubbed my hand across the cool, metal surface. I had read of such armor in books, and now here I was touching the real thing.

"This helmet," he picked it up off a stand, "was worn by me in battle. Please, try it on."

He handed it to me with a slight grin, and I accepted it with gratitude. I placed it over my head and stared at myself in the mirror.

"You would’ve made a fine-looking Roman soldier," he said with pride.

"I’m afraid I’ve let myself go too much to be one," I admitted looking down at my potbelly.

"Yes, well, that wasn’t a problem back them. Many of my men didn’t live long enough to retire from service. Oh well."

He took the helmet from me and placed it back on the stand. I heard the front door open and a young girl rush in.

"Mother, I just heard. Are you okay?"

She looked to be no older than 18 years old, and was almost as beautiful as her mother – almost. Then I thought about her words – she had just heard? How could that be? Neither Venus nor Mars had called anyone since I had been there.

"I’m fine my love," Venus answered. "A little shaken up but otherwise I’m okay."

I looked at the two ladies and then at Mars, who was giving me a curious stare. That’s when it hit me – he was trying to keep me occupied until someone else got here. Who could that someone else be? Maybe old Jupiter himself.

"Can I fix you a drink, Mr. Mills," Mars asked. "I have an excellent selection of wine in my basement."

"I’m sure you do, Mars," I replied.

"He knows?" Tammy gasped while looking at her mother.

I realized it had been a big mistake to say his name, not that it really mattered anymore. Somehow I sense Mars already knew everything that had happened. He smiled slightly at his daughter’s question but didn’t answer her.

"You know, I’m being rude here," I told Mars. "I should go so you can tend to your wife. Why don’t I stop back in the morning before I leave."

Of course I had no intentions of sticking around. I was going to jump in my car and leave Peace River as fast as I could.

"You’re my guest," Mars announced dryly. "I can’t let you leave without showing my appreciation for saving my wife."

Another woman rushed into the room to join us. This Goddess was shorter then the others, with long curly dark hair that went down to her back. The rest of her body was rather pleasant to look at as well, but she had a look of wisdom on her face. Tammy whispered something to her and the woman looked up at me with reservations.

"Taking care of your wife will be thanks enough," I answered nervously. Two more gods, both male, rushed into the room. It was becoming a Roman God convention, and I didn’t want to wait around to see who showed up next.

"I’ll show myself out to the door." I stuttered as I backed out of the room.

Venus stood up with the help of her husband, and they all followed me out the door. I notice the sad look on her face, and it told the story. I would never be allowed to leave Peace River again.

"You know you shouldn’t leave, Mr. Mills," Mars said in a pointed manner. "When my father finds out what you did, he’s going to want to meet with you personally to thank you."

"You can tell him that knowing I made him happy is thanks enough," I answered. "It was nice meeting you all, but I really have to go. Bye."

I turned and started toward my car while fumbling with my car keys, knowing it was a useless effort on my part. Still, I hoped against hope that maybe I was wrong.

"Mr. Mills, a moment please," Mars called out.

"Yes, what is it?" I turned to face Mars again only this time I noticed a cop standing next to him. The police officer was grinning from ear to ear. I swear he wasn’t there a moment ago.

"This if Officer Merrick." Mars explained. "He would like to ask you some questions about the two men who attacked my wife." I thought fast.

"I’m really tired, Mar – sir. How about I talk with Officer Merrick in the morning."

"It’s late Mr. Mills. Where do you plan to spend the night?" the cop asked, who I knew was really the God Mercury.

"Well, there’s a motel about 30 miles up the road in –"

"We can’t have you staying in a motel," Officer Merrick interrupted. "You’re a guest in Peace River. Besides, your car looks to be in pretty bad shape. I have a friend who is a great mechanic. Why don’t I have her look it over in the morning?"

"I have my own mechanic, officer. Nothing personal sir, I’m sure she’s a fine mechanic and all, but I’d rather have him check it out."

"I don’t think you’ll make it that far," Officer Merrick stated, shaking his head. "As an officer of the law, I can’t allow you to drive such a dangerous vehicle on the road."

"It’s fine," I argued, then took a breath to calm down. "Okay, just point me to the nearest motel. I’ll spend the night and have this mechanic check it out in the morning."

"We can’t have you spending your own money on a motel room after everything you’ve done," Mars pointed out. "Officer Merrick, isn’t there some place you can put Mr. Mills up for the night?"

"Well, there’s my old room down at the police station," he smiled. "It’s quiet and comfortable, more so than the motel. I’ll make sure no one disturbs you until the morning."

"You know, that’s all right," I answered with a nervous laugh. "I’ll find that motel and get a good nights sleep. See you both in the morning. Goodnight."

I turned quickly, only to find myself looking directly into Officer Merrick’s eyes. He grinned at me.

"How in the hell did you get behind me?" I demanded to know.

He ignored my question and replied, "Really, Mr. Mills. I think it would be better if you came with me quietly."

I turned left to run but he was already in front of me. I turned completely around to run the other way but he was already there. The officer grabbed my arm and in a low voice said, "You can’t get away Mr. Mills, and I don’t want to use force to take you in. Please, just step over to my car."

I ignored his advice and jerked away, trying to find a direction to run. No matter where I turned he seemed to be standing in front of me. In fact he seemed to be enjoying himself, like a cat playing with a trapped mouse.

"That’s enough, Mercury!" Venus yelled out. Everyone looked at her, including Officer Merrick. They all seemed surprise that she had used his real name in my presence.

Venus looked at me sadly and said, "Henry, please don’t fight this. I know it’s not what you want, but we won’t hurt you, I swear. Please, go with Officer Merrick peacefully. Do it for me."

I glanced over at her dejected. How I wanted to hold her again for support, but I was sure Mars wouldn’t be too happy if I tried. I lowered my head in defeat and nodded. I knew I couldn’t escape them. Slowly I made my way over to the parked police car with Officer Merrick right beside me.

"Henry," she called out. I stopped and looked back at her. She smiled as if to comfort me. "I’ll meet up with you in the morning before – before you meet with the Judge. It’ll be okay, I promise." She gave me another smile to let me know everything would be okay

"Goodnight, Venus," I said. I watched everyone go inside, and found myself wishing I could join them. It had to be better than jail.

"Let’s go, Mr. Mills," the officer said politely then added. "I’m sorry about my actions, I got carried away."

"It’s okay, Officer Merrick. I guess I did too." He sat me in the back of the police car and closed the door.

***********************************************

The room Officer Merrick put me in wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was large with its own private bathroom. There was even an oversize tub that I used to soak my worn body in. That night I slept like a baby and woke up feeling refreshed. I shaved, showered, and got dress in the clothes Officer Merrick had provided me with the night before. As I stepped out of the room another officer wearing mirror sunglasses greeted me. His nametag said Officer Deimos.

"Mr. Mills, I hope you slept well," he commented with a slight grin. "Here is a menu from the diner down the street. If you give me your order, I’ll have the food delivered to you."

"If it’s all the same to you, Officer Deimos, I’ll rather go to the diner," I explained. "Eating breakfast from a bag in a police station doesn’t appeal to me."

"I’m sorry, sir, but I’m afraid I can’t allow you to do that," he replied rather curtly. "Now, if you will look at the menu and – "

"What do you mean you can’t allow that?" I interrupted. "All I want to do is have breakfast in town like a normal person. What’s wrong with this?"

"Nothing, Mr. Mills, except well, you’re a guest here."

"And you treat all guests like this?" I asked harshly. "Look, I’m going down the street to have breakfast and I’ll be back after that."

"No, you won’t," Officer Deimos explained sternly. "You’ll look at the menu, give me your order, and I’ll have it delivered to you; but you’re not leaving."

"Here!" I held up a twenty-dollar bill in front from his face and in a brusque tone said, "I have enough money for both of us. You can join me, Officer Deimos, my treat."

"I’m sorry, but that won’t do," he replied more abruptly. "Now, if you give me your order I’ll have – "

"Yes, yes, I heard you already. You’ll take my order and have it delivered," I mocked. "Look young man, I’m not interested in eating cold food while you watch. I’m not a criminal, so don’t treat me like one!"

"Mr. Mills is correct!" someone announced. "He’s not a criminal and shouldn’t be treated like one."

I turned to see who had spoken with such authority and saw an older gentleman with a well-trimmed beard standing in the doorway. For some reason the name Jupiter came to mind.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Mills, I had hoped to see you first thing this morning. Unfortunately, I got delayed with other matters. I’m Judge Jasper, although I know you have a pretty good idea who I really am."

"Please to meet you, Your Honor." I shook his hand and looked into his kind, fatherly face. I couldn’t get over the fact I was shaking hands with the Roman God Jupiter.

"I don’t think it’s fair that as a guest, you should pay for your meal. Officer Deimos, please take Mr. Mills to whatever restaurant he wants to eat at and pay for his meal – my treat." I saw him hand the officer a hundred-dollar bill.

"Yes, Your Honor," he answered obediently.

"Mr. Mills, I’ll see you later after my other business is complete." Judge Jasper smiled and left the room.

"Do you still want to go to the diner, Mr. Mills?" Officer Deimos asked after he was gone.

"Why not?" I replied, still a little shaken over my meeting with Jupiter. "I’m just a simple man at heart."

***********************************************

The food at the diner was remarkably good, and I found myself eating more than I usually did. Afterwards Officer Deimos rushed me back to the police station and gave me some magazines to read while I waited. A couple of times I tried to slip away, but the officer was keeping a very close eye on me.

"Where do you think you’re going?" he asked sternly as I made my way toward the side door.

"Nowhere," I lied. "I was just going to the bathroom."

"The bathroom is the other way," he remarked, unimpressed with my answer. "That door leads outside. What were you planning to do, go behind a bush?"

"I thought the bathroom was this way," I lied.

"Uh huh," Officer Deimos remarked. "And why would you think the bathroom had moved since the last time you visited it?"

"I just got confused, that’s all. I’m old, I forget things all the time."

"Perhaps you should tell me the next time you need to use the bathroom," the officer commented. "That way I can make sure you don’t get lost along the way. After all, we wouldn’t want you wandering off, would we?"

"No, at least one of us wouldn’t," I answered glumly.

"Now, do you really need to use the bathroom?" he asked rather annoyed.

"I guess not," I confessed. "I sort of lost the urge."

"Then do me a favor, Mr. Mills, please sit down. I have a lot of paperwork to catch up on this morning.

I sat back down in my seat and pouted. Less then twenty feet away was the door to my freedom. I had tried crawling out one of the bathroom windows earlier, but Officer Deimos had been right there to stop me. I told him I was checking to see if it could be done but he knew better.

A couple of other police officers floated in and out of the station but they paid me little attention. Sometimes they would ask Officer Deimos a question about some prior police business, but for the most part they left him alone. Their actions made me realize how normal everything seemed to be here. I had expected a place run by Roman Gods to be something totally different, but it was almost as if they tried to copy the movements of regular humans to appear more like us. Finally the phone rang, informing Officer Deimos that they were ready to see me now.

"Follow me," he stated. He led me down a long hallway with doors on both sides. The signs above the doors indicated they were offices for different departments, such as water and trash pickup. One thing I didn’t see was a door for the mayor’s office.

When we got to the main lobby, Officer Deimos kept walking toward the courtroom doors. Instead of following, I headed off to the main entrance. Just as I cleared the door I ran into Mars and Venus coming up the steps.

"Henry, where do you think you’re going to?" Venus asked with a knowing grin. Before I could reply Officer Deimos showed up behind me with an angry frown.

"Mr. Mills, did you get confused AGAIN?" he asked sarcastically. "It seems I have to keep my eye on you all the time."

"Officer Deimos, I really don’t want to see the judge," I explained meekly.

"And I’m telling you, ‘AGAIN’, Mr. Mills, that you don’t have a choice in the matter," he stated firmly. "You’re going to see the Judge even if I have to drag you in there kicking and screaming."

"Son," Venus intervened sweetly. "Why don’t you and your father go inside while I talk to Henry."

The officer looked a little skeptical but nodded and left us alone. Venus sat me down on the steps and put her arm around me.

"Henry, I know you’re scared," she started out. "However, you must know by now that you can’t get out of this. It’s okay, really. I promise that Judge Jasper will treat you fairly. You don’t need to worry about being harmed."

"What’s he going to do to me?"

"I’m not really sure," she said with some apprehension. "I do know he wants to reward you for saving me."

"If he let me go that would be enough of a reward." I sniffed.

"I know my dear, Henry," she replied somewhat sorrowfully. "I’m afraid he won’t do that. You see, I told you things while I was drugged that I shouldn’t have said. If it had happened inside the town limits, he could’ve made you forget those things. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case."

"But I won’t tell anyone, I promise!" I pleaded with her.

"I know you won’t," Venus agreed with sincerity. Then she shook her lovely head slowly. "Unfortunately, we already have a problem with someone who knows about our town. Judge Jasper doesn’t want to take the chance of anyone else finding out. I know because I talked to him last night about this. I can tell you he was very pleased with your actions concerning the Titans. Come on now, I’ll be right next to you the entire time. You have nothing to fear from him."

She helped me up and led me to the door. Inside the courthouse lobby Officer Deimos met us. He took us into the courtroom and sat us down in front. I noticed there were about 20 other people inside staring at me, most likely other gods. Mars joined us, sitting down next to his wife who was still holding onto my hand to show her support. A door opened up and I saw Judge Jasper walk out followed by a rather attractive teenage girl. They both took a seat and the judge looked at me with a comforting smile.

"Mr. Mills, we would like to thank you for what you did. You could’ve kept on driving, but you stayed to help. This was a very commendable thing you did."

"Thank you, Your Honor." I was hoping that would be it, but he continued talking.

"Mrs. Marshall…" He stopped to look around the room then continued. "Venus has spoken very highly of you, Mr. Mills. Because of this, I’m going to honor the request she made on your behalf.

"You mean, you’re going to let me go?" Hope rose up inside me that I might be set free. However, that hope was quickly snuffed out by his next sentence.

"That wasn’t what she requested," he answered with a thin smile. "Please stand still."

Judge Jasper closed his eyes and raised his arms. He placed the palms of his hands together as if he were holding onto something. I noticed Jupiter was whispering something softly, and his hands began to glow. I knew what that meant; Venus had told me all about this beforehand. I watched to see if the ball of light/energy was blue, which would turn me into a female, or pink, that would keep me a male. To my surprise, it was neither. What appeared out of his hands was ball of light/energy that was dark green with white spots.

I looked over at Venus, but she just smiled letting me know everything would be okay. The transformation ball raced toward me and was absorbed into my chest. I felt a lot of tingling and then everything went black.

**************************************

"Sandra, breakfast is ready!"

"Okay," I moaned as I sat up. Long, blonde hair fell into my face and I used my small hand to brush it way.

"What the hell?’ I cursed coming to my senses. I looked around and noticed everything seemed so big. No, that wasn’t right at all. Everything hadn’t gotten bigger; I had just gotten smaller, a lot smaller.

"What did they do to me?" I whispered while moving my hands over the cotton pajamas with the powder puff girls imprinted on them. I climbed out of bed and looked at myself in the mirror.

"Oh no!" I almost yelled. I was little girl, maybe no more than 6 or 7 years old. I had long, blonde hair that went down well past my shoulders and the same blue eyes that Venus had. In fact, I looked a lot like her, only much younger. I put my hands over my mouth to keep from screaming as I continued checking out my new body. Okay, I was cute, but I didn’t want to be cute. I wanted to be me again. Tears formed in the little girl’s eyes, my eyes now.

"How could she?" I asked myself. After everything I’d done to save her life, how could Venus have asked Jupiter to turn me into a little girl?

"Come on, Sandra," the female voice called out. "I have a business appointment this morning.

The voice sounded familiar, as did the name. I didn’t know why, but I knew that my name was Sandra and the person calling me was my mother. I also knew I had a sister named Tammy. But why did I know these things, and where was I? I shook my head to try and shake the cobwebs loose.

Okay, I could do this. I could pretend to be a little girl until I figured out what to do next. I took a deep breath to calm down and opened the bedroom door. I found my new mother and father waiting for me in the dinning room. No wonder my new mother’s voice sounded so familiar, it was none other than Venus.

"You must’ve been really tired this morning," she exclaimed sweetly. Then she looked over at her husband and added humorously, "I told you not to keep her up past 9:30."

"It was a great war film and she wanted to watch it with me," he smiled. "I couldn’t refuse her request any more than I could yours."

"She's not like me yet," Venus scowled at him softly. "Although I understand what you mean. Her smile could make you agree to anything. Sit down honey and I’ll get you your cereal. Captain Crunch okay?"

"Yes – mom." Venus stopped dead in her tracks, then turned slowly around and looked at me. Her actions caused me to fidget a little in my chair.

"I’ll be right back, honey," she smiled slightly. I just nodded and looked away.

Across from me was Mars reading the Wall Street Journal. He was dressed in an expensive white shirt with a red and white striped tie. His face was stern and rugged, with jet-black hair that was neatly cut and styled. He looked to be some kind of businessman.

"I’ll be late tonight," he told Venus as she returned. "I’m having dinner with a New York banker concerning some stock options he wants to sell me. You’ll be okay, won’t you?"

"I’ll be fine, dear," she replied while placing a bowl of cereal in front of me. "The attack happened weeks ago, it’s history now." She smiled at me again, making me squirm just a little. "Sandra, why aren’t you sitting in your usual seat?"

"I guess – I just wanted – to sit here – mom." Her humorous smirk indicated I was blowing my cover. I tried to fix the problem with a question. "Where’s Tammy?"

"In Boston, where’s she’s been all week," Venus answered very amused.

‘Damn,’ I swore to myself. I only made the situation worse.

"Oh, I guess I forgot," I told her weakly.

"You seem to be forgetting a lot of stuff this morning, sweetheart," she smiled knowingly. "Where Tammy is, your seat at the table, and the fact that you always used to call me mommy until this morning. Is there anything wrong?"

"No mom – mommy. I guess I’m just a little excited this morning." I took a bite of my cereal hoping that would be the end of it.

"Yes, I’m sure you are," she grinned. "You always have so much fun at daycare."

"DAYCARE!" I choked, spitting out my cereal. Even this caught Mars attention, who put down his paper to look at me.

"Are you okay, Sandra?" he asked a little concerned.

"I think our little girl has woken up, dear," Venus explained.

Mars stared at me for a moment then grunted. Picking up his suit jacket he said, "Why don’t I leave you two ladies alone to talk? I’ll see you later on tonight."

"Chicken," Venus told him humorously as he turned to leave. My new father rubbed my hair in a playful manner as he walked past.

"So Sandra, am I right?" she grinned. I stood to face her, although I was probably taller sitting in the chair then I was standing.

"If you mean by being awake that I now have all my memories back, the answer is yes. What’s going on here? What did you do to me?"

"Sit down and I’ll tell you," she smiled gently while patting the seat next to her. In a typical gloom and doom mood, I did as she asked.

"You weren’t suppose to wake up yet," she informed me, "at least not for another month. I was hoping to have more time to prepare."

"To prepare for what? How long have I been like this?" I demanded to know.

"You’ve been my daughter for almost three weeks," she said touching my shoulder. "Now, think hard. If you do, you’ll remember this time."

I tried and suddenly my mind was bombarded with new memories. There was the family BBQ they held last week with all their friends to welcome me into the family. I remembered the gifts I received, mostly clothes but some toys, and how excited I was at opening each one up. Then there were the afternoons playing dolls with my sister, Tammy, and the tea parties with my mother. I even had memories of going to daycare and having fun with the other little boys and girls there. So the last three weeks hadn’t been lost, just forgotten in all the excitement of remembering my past.

"I don’t understand. Why am I here?"

"Sandra," Venus said sadly. "Henry Mills was dying. I could sense this very clearly when we first met. At best, he had maybe five years left."

"But, I’m not dead. Why are you speaking to me as if I’m not him?"

"Because you’re not, Sandra, you’re one of us now."

"You mean – I’m a – a Goddess?"

Venus giggled. "Not quite, but pretty close." Then she got serious again. "Do you remember when Henry and I made love, how he commented that it felt like we were one. Well, sugar, we were for a while. I was preparing him, planting my own seeds into his body so Jupiter could change him into my daughter. It was like giving birth without the pain. Unfortunately, the oldest he could make Henry was six. And since they were from my seeds, Jupiter could only turn him into a little girl."

"That’s why you told me Mars wouldn’t be upset, that he would understand." Then a thought crossed my mind and I became sad. "That’s also why you wanted to go to bed with me. I was a fool to think you really found me sexually attractive."

"If only you knew," she sighed. "Why do you think I made love to Henry for so long. I wanted too, as much as he wanted too. I wasn’t being nice to Henry when I told him he was a great lover – he was."

"So, will I look like you when I grow up?"

"Close," she smiled while stroking my hair. "You won’t be my twin, but there’ll be no doubts you’re my daughter. Part of Henry’s DNA was used in the process, so you’re as much his daughter as you are mine. You’re the closest thing to giving birth without having it happen."

"But – but I’m still Henry. This is still my body, just modified."

"Well, yes and no," Venus explained. "You see, you’re an Olympian now. Judge Jasper used Henry’s body to transform you into Sandra. Your body is no longer human, at least not in the way you think. Your organs are different, and you will live for a very long time."

"So – I am a Goddess," I replied softly.

"One day you may be," she smiled. "I’ll have to train you how and when to use your powers. You’re still too young to have any powers; that’ll come when you reach puberty. And we don’t know what kind of powers you will have, if any. Some of our offspring don’t develop any at all.

"I’m – I’m kind of –" I couldn’t say the word.

"Scared," she finished for me. "That’s understandable, Sandra. You’re my child, and I’ll give you plenty of love and guidance through all this – so will Tammy, so will Cupid." She gave me a soft hug.

"Do I really have to go to daycare – now that I’m awake."

"I’m afraid so, sweetheart. We have to keep up the appearance that everything is normal, otherwise it won’t be. I’ll tell you what though. I should be done with my meeting by 11. If you’re good, I’ll swing by and pick you up and we can go have a picnic, okay?"

"I would like that, Venus."

"You need to start calling me mommy, or mom if you prefer," she corrected me. "Remember what I said, we don’t use our real names around other people. I guess I’ll have to tell the daycare director that you’ll be there all day tomorrow. It’s a pity; I was going to take you with me to San Diego tomorrow to look at some new fashions. Afterwards I thought we could go to the zoo."

"San Diego," I said excitedly. "I love San Diego. Why can’t I go with you tomorrow?"

"Because, dear, you’re awake now. Jupiter wouldn’t allow it."

I started to pout. The one thing I loved to do was travel and now, through no fault of my own, I wasn’t allowed to.

"Aww, don’t be upset, sweetheart," she cooed. "I’ll bring you back a gift from there."

"But I want to go with you," I sniffed. "It’s not fair. I won’t tell anyone and I won’t try to leave you. I just want to spend time with you and have fun. It’s not fair."

She looked at me carefully, with loving eyes. "Let me think about it, Sandra. Now finish up your cereal so we can go."

********************************************

Being in daycare wasn’t so bad. In fact it was even kind of fun. I had forgotten the days of being a kid and doing things that didn’t have anything to do with furthering my career. I drew pictures and colored them in. I made a drawing of our house with my new mom, dad, and sister out front. It didn’t look that great but I was proud of it. When we were allowed outside, I ran around playing tag with the other kids until I was out of breath. It was different than when I had been sixty. I had so much energy to burn.

After we went inside to have a snack, one of the female workers read to us. I should’ve found this boring, but the way she told the story using her hands and voice, kept me captivated. Before I realized it my mother was there to pick me up.

"So, did you have fun today," she asked pleasantly as we drove home.

"Yes, mommy," I smiled. "We played tag and I drew this picture. I’m kind of – kind of enjoying being a kid again. Is that strange?"

She laughed. "No, Sandra, it’s not. You see, things have changed inside your mind, just as in your body. This was done so you could grow up normally and one day become one of us. So don’t fight the feeling, just enjoy being six years old again."

"Okay, mommy," I told her as she pulled into the driveway. I was surprised how quickly I was accepting my new life. My old life seemed so long ago.

"Go to your room and change, Sandra. I’ve laid some clothes out on the bed for you."

On the bed was a pair of riding jeans, a plaid shirt, and a cowgirl hat. I put my clothes on and met Venus in the family room, dressed in a similar fashion with her long golden hair tied in a single ponytail.

"Why don’t I do the same to your hair so we can look alike," Venus giggled. She went behind me and pulled my hair together, then fastened it with a tie.

"Perfect," Venus smiled. "Lets go to the barn and load up the horses."

The barn was located behind the house and hosted seven beautiful horses. The one I rode was a black and white pinto named Oxford. Venus put the saddles on our horses then packed the food in one of the saddlebags. With a quick jerk on the reins we rode off toward the lake.

One thing I noticed on the way to the lake was how plentiful the wildlife was. We saw wild turkeys, possums, and even a red tail fox before it darted away. In the trees were birds of every kind, even those that I knew didn’t belong in this area. There was something wonderful about this place. I couldn’t dream of anyone wanting to leave.

We ate lunch then walked around the lake talking about our family history. Venus was remarkably candid about their past in most cases, even telling me about some of the others gods she had had affairs with. That all changed when she married Mars, my father.

Later that evening we rode back home just in time to watch the sun set in the distance. We didn’t say a word to each other as Venus held me in her lap while we watched the last ray of sunlight disappear. I felt so content sitting there in her arms; I could’ve stayed there all night. Unfortunately she told me it was time for my bath and ushered me to the tub. I sat there soaking in the hot water and bubbles thinking how incredible today had been.

After my bath I changed into my pajamas and had a quick snack. The day had been long, and found myself very, very tired even though it was just after 8:30.

"Mommy, I feel so tired," I complained.

"Of course you are, sweetheart, you’re only six years old," she replied as if that explained everything. "Come on, I’ll tuck you in."

With a flip of my blanket and a kiss on the cheek I was all settled in for the night. Venus turned off the light and closed the door part way, allowing the light from the hallway to filter into the room. In a matter of minutes I was sound asleep.

************************************

"Have a seat sweetheart while I get your cereal ready." Venus was dressed in a royal blue skirt suit with a pale, silk blouse. She looked absolutely stunning walking around in her heels, with her hair curled and fixed just right. I began to dream about the day I would look as lovely.

"Mommy, do I really have to stay here today? I promise I’ll be good."

She looked at me carefully. "You know what the judge would say."

"Yes, but it could be our little secret," I pleaded. "I even have a dress picked out to wear. My yellow dress with the animal prints. Please, can’t I go with you just this one time?"

"Well," she smiled, "I was looking forward to spending the day with you. Okay, just this once. Now eat your breakfast and go change." She set the bowl down in front of me.

"Yippy!" I shouted while shoveling down my cereal.

"Slow down, you’ll get a stomach ache," she warned me. I didn’t care, I was just happy to be going somewhere. I finished my cereal in less than three minutes and rushed off to my room to change, almost knocking over my father who was walking into the room.

"Where are you off to in such a rush?" he asked in a curious tone.

"I’m going with mommy to the zoo," I replied excitedly.

Mars watched his new daughter disappear and frowned. He turned to Venus and said, "You know you can’t take her with you."

"Not now, honey," she brushed him off.

"Yes, now," he said sternly and in a tone that meant business. "There are rules we must follow. Rules that you and I helped set up and agreed to live by. She’s new, maybe in time."

"By then she’ll be an adult," Venus answered in a stubborn tone. "If she hadn’t woken up this wouldn’t be a problem."

"But she did wake up and it is a problem," Mars reaffirmed. "At the very least you need to see my father about this first."

"Why, so he can turn me down. Honey, I need to do this. She’s my little girl, and I want to do things with her like I used to do with Tammy."

"This isn’t very wise thinking, dear."

"You’re more guilty about not thinking clearly than I am," she giggled.

"This isn’t a laughing matter," he responded forcefully. "I’m going to tell my father about Sandra – tomorrow. Just make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble today."

"How much trouble can one 6-year-old get into," Venus grinned.

**************************************

We were ten minutes out of Peace River when I asked my mother for the umpteenth time, "Why aren’t we flying to San Diego, mommy? It’s going to take us all day and a night to get there."

"I told you honey, mommy knows a shortcut. Look, it’s just ahead of us!"

What I saw was a circle of shimmering light in the middle of the road. It was perhaps 10 feet in diameter and was glowing, no, radiating around the edges. The middle was shiny and almost too bright for me to look at. I noticed it didn’t seem to bother my mother who was wearing her dark sunglasses.

"Hold on, Baby," she grinned and gunned the car towards the light. When we entered everything went black, and then I saw stars in all directions.

"It’s so beautiful," I muttered in amazement. "Where are we mommy?"

"It’s call a tunnel warp, sweetheart. You wouldn’t understand the technical side of how it works, so think of it as a subway tunnel from one station to the next. We’re going about 450 miles per minute so our trip won’t take very long."

"Wow," I said pointing to a comet passing close by. "I can almost reach out and touch it."

"Actually, it’s not even close," she explained. "Maybe just under a hundred light years away but no closer. See that red star over there? That’s our home."

"Can we go there, mommy?" I asked. Venus frowned slightly.

"I wish we could, sweetheart, but that’s not possible, at least not yet. We need the humans to help us build such a craft. Unfortunately, if we gave them the technology to do so, we fear they would destroy themselves once we left. You see, there are certain gaps in our technology that only the humans can figure out."

"I hope we can go there one day," I told her.

"So do I, honey, so do I. We’re just about at the drop-off point. Brace yourself for a small jerk."

I saw a dot of light speeding at us, that grew in both size and brightness as it got closer. When it got closer I could see the road and trees on the other side. The circle of light seemed to consume the blackness, and suddenly we popped out into the bright sunshine that blinded me for a few seconds. When I looked back the circle of light was gone.

"Where are we now, mommy?"

"In California, baby, about 30 miles outside San Diego. We should be at the outlet store in about 45 minutes. How are you feeling?"

"A little dizzy from the warp."

"Of course you are, sweetheart, you’re only six years old. It’ll get better as you get older." Venus rubbed my head gently and kept driving.

********************************

The outlet store was located in the middle of mall heaven. There were at least three major shopping centers within walking distance of each other, each containing a hundred stores or more. In addition there were several smaller strip malls close by. Everywhere you looked there were cars and people going to and from. I felt so small and helpless, and made sure I held on tightly to my mommy’s hand. We walked upstairs to the office of a huge outlet store where a man and an older woman greeted us.

"Ms. Marshall," the lady greeted us pleasantly. "How nice to see you again. And who is this pretty little girl with you?"

"This is my daughter, Sandra," Venus announced proudly.

"What a lovely young lady," the older woman fussed. "Charles, why don’t you see if you can find something for Sandra to play with while Ms. Marshall and I discuss business. Let’s go to my office where we can talk."

The middle-age woman led us to a large, decorated office that had pictures hanging on the wall of models wearing the latest fashions. "I must say, Ms. Marshall, you came just at the right time. The new fall fashions arrived less then a week ago. Here, why don’t I show you some of the items we have in stock."

While they were talking shop, Charles came in carrying a Malibu Barbie dollhouse. "Here you go, Sandra," as he set it down in front of me. "I’m sure you’ll have lots of fun playing with this."

I thanked him like I meant it, although I wasn’t really interested in playing with dolls despite my new age. Then I remembered my mom’s warning; that if I didn’t behave like a proper, little girl in front of everyone I wouldn't be allowed to travel with her anymore. So I opened up the house and started moving the furniture around inside as if I was enjoying myself, which I wasn’t. About a half-hour later my mom interrupted my playing.

"Sandra honey, I’m going to go with Charles and Mrs. Setter to look at some of the merchandise. Will you be a good girl while I’m gone?"

"Yes mommy," I smiled while looking up from where I was playing.

"Good," she replied. "We shouldn’t be more than 20 minutes or so."

I watched them leave then laid down the doll in relief. Alone, with nothing to do, I went to the window and looked out at all the cars in the parking lot. There must have been a thousand or more vehicles parked there. I noticed a mother walking toward the store holding a little girls hand. She couldn’t have been much older than me.

Another woman came out of the store talking to a much older woman who could have been her mother. I watched them walk away, both of them talking and acting so normally – unaware that there were Roman gods and goddess walking among them. I wonder what their reaction would be if they knew?

I saw another man sitting in a van reading a paper, obviously waiting for someone. It reminded me of myself, when I would arrive early at a customers store. I used to sit in my car and read the paper. It seemed like I spent a lot of time in my car, maybe almost a third of my adult life. How much time had I wasted? How much time did anyone waste on things they thought were important? Yet through fate I had been given a second chance. I vowed not to waste this life like I had my last one. I wanted to make a difference in someone’s life. I wanted to have a family, kids, a white picket fence, and a family dog. All the things I had promised myself I would have, once I stopped traveling, only to discover that no matter how much I traveled, it was never enough.

I saw three girls, two teenagers and an 8-year-old, riding toward the store on their bikes. The little girl was struggling to keep up and one of the older girls kept yelling back at her. When they parked their bikes in front of the store, the one teenager started lecturing the little girl about something. Instantly I knew they were sisters, and the older girl wasn’t happy about her younger sister tagging along. Most likely she had been forced to babysit for the day. I chuckled, and wondered if Tammy would ever feel that way about me at times.

I glanced around the parking lot and I noticed I wasn’t the only one watching the girls. The man in the van had put down his paper and was paying close attention to them. A cold chill went down my spine; this didn’t feel right.

The teenager finished lecturing her sister and left with her friend, leaving the little girl alone. While they went inside the store, the little girl sat down on a stone wall close by and started looking for rocks in the dirt. I glanced back at the van and noticed smoke come from the exhaust pipe as it started up. The man looked carefully around then drove to the spot where the little girl was sitting.

It was like watching a horror show on TV, knowing something bad was about to happen and not being able to tear your eyes away. The man stopped his van next to the little girl and waved her to come over. I wanted to scream at her to stop, that he was a bad man, but I knew she would never hear me through the glass.

I saw him ask her something, which she excitedly nodded at. He smiled at her and stepped out of the van. They walked to the rear of the vehicle and he opened up the door and pointed. She moved closer to look while he looked carefully around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Sudden the stranger grabbed her and jumped into the van, closing the door behind him. All this took less then 15 seconds.

"NO! I screamed. I ran out of the office looking for my mom but there was no one around. I had to find someone and stop this man. I ran down the steps and out the side door. I arrived outside just in time to see the van pull away. The driver of the van gave me an interesting smirk as he left.

"Please," I said to a middle-aged lady who was walking out of the store carrying an armload of packages. "The man in that van just grabbed a little girl."

She looked at me with concern and asked, "Where’s your mother at little girl? Here, take my hand and I’ll help you find her."

"No, you don’t understand. The man in that van just grabbed a little girl and is going to do something horrible to her. I think he’s a child molester?"

"How could someone your age know that?" she chastised me. "Didn’t your mother tell you not to fib like that?"

"I’m not lying, he really took a little girl," I tried to tell her.

"Come with me, young lady. I’m taking you inside to find your mother right now." She grabbed my hand but I broke free and started running after the van.

"Little girl, come back here right now," she yelled. I ignored her and concentrated on catching up to the van that was waiting to leave the parking lot. I saw the traffic light turn green and the cars ahead of him start to move forward.

‘Please God,’ I prayed. ‘Don’t let him get away.’

Just as the van got to the light, the car in front of him stalled out, blocking his exit. By the time the driver got the car restarted the light had already turned red.

‘I got to save her,’ I kept telling myself. The problem was I had short legs and couldn’t run very fast. Just as I got near the van, the light turned green and it started moving. I lurched forward and was able to grab hold of the handle on the back door. I pulled myself up on the bumper just as the van started to turn the corner.

Immediately the car behind us, a young man with his wife, started honking his horn trying to warn the van driver about me. Mistaking it for something else, I heard the van man curse and flip them the bird. I tried opening the back door but was unable to do so. There was paper over the windows so I couldn’t see inside. Other cars behind us started honking their horns and yelling at the driver of the van to stop. He either didn’t hear them or was ignoring their pleas.

Luckily for me, a police car was passing by in the opposite direction. The drivers behind me started flashing their lights to get his attention. When he saw me clinging onto the rear of the van his eyes nearly bugged out. He flipped on his lights and quickly made a U-turn. The cars following us quickly moved out of the way, and in moments the cop car was behind the van with his lights flashing and siren blaring. To my surprise, the kidnapper decided to pull over instead of trying to outrun the cop. He was outside the van as soon as it stopped. The police officer rushed up to me.

"Are you okay, little girl?" he asked. I reached out to the police officer with tears in my eyes. I was trying to pretend I was lost and scared, which wasn’t far from the truth.

"How did she get back there?" the van driver asked. "I swear officer, I didn’t know she was back there."

It’s okay," he answered while hugging me tightly. By now the couple behind me was out of their car and had joined us.

"Is she okay?" the woman asked greatly concerned.

"I saw her jump on the back of the van just as he pulled away, Officer," the young man said. "I don’t know what she was doing."

Seeing my chance, I whispered into the officer’s ear, "I saw him kidnap a little girl and put her in the back of the van." I could feel him tense up slightly.

"Do you mind?" he asked the woman, who graciously took me from him. "Can I have your name, please," the police officer asked the van driver

"Arnold Shafer," the man stated.

"Mr. Shafer, do you mind if I check your van?"

"What for?" he asked defensively. "You heard what the man said, she jumped on my van as I was leaving the lot. I didn’t do anything wrong."

"Then you won’t mind if I check your van, would you?" he smiled while speaking a code into his radio.

"I mind very much," he stated defiantly. "This little girl almost gets herself killed and you want to check my van

"Look, Mr. Shafer," he explained politely but in a very professional manner. "You can either let me search the van now or we can wait until my supervisor arrives who will allow me to. If we do it my way, you’ll be on your way in less then 5 minutes. If we do it your way, we may have to wait an hour and I’ll still get to search the van. It’s up to you, but either way, I’m searching that van."

"You Nazi storm trooper, I know my rights!" the van driver spatted out. "You can’t search my van without a good reason."

"The little girl just gave me one," the cop replied with a great deal of suspicion. "So what’s it going to be?"

The driver stopped talking and tried to make a break for it.

"Check inside," the cop yelled to the other driver as he gave chase.

"In the back," I told him. The young man opened up the door and there, lying tied up in duct tape, was the little girl I had seen before. She was scared and I could see tears on her face. She tried yelling for her mommy but the tape across her mouth stopped her from doing so. The woman holding me set me down and went over to comfort the little girl. Her husband carefully started removing the tape from her arms as not to hurt her more.

"I want my mommy! I want my mommy," she kept crying. A couple of minutes later the cop returned with Mr. Shafer in tow. He looked at the little girl lying there still tied up and placed him carefully in the back of his cruiser without saying a word. The man just glared at me, but I wasn’t afraid of him.

"I’m going to need you to stick around," he told the couple.

"Of course," the woman agreed while comforting the crying child in her arms. The officer turned and walked over to where I was standing.

"What’s your name," he asked in a businesslike tone.

"Sandra," I replied slowly.

"Sandra, that was a very dangerous thing you just did," the officer frowned. "Supposing that man hadn’t decided to stop? You could’ve been badly hurt today."

"I’m sorry," I sniffed. "I saw him pull away and didn’t know what else to do. I tried to tell someone, but they wouldn’t listen to me." Tears welled up in my eyes and the cop took pity on me.

"Next time call the police and let us handle it," he lectured softly. "Still, your heart was in the right place." He gave me a quick hug as if to reassure me he wasn’t really mad at me.

"I need to get back to my mommy now," I told him.

"You’re not going any where," he told me firmly. "I need to make sure you get back to your mother safely. Plus, there’ll be lots of grown-ups showing up wanting to ask you questions.

"But I need to get back to her so she won’t worry about me," I tried to explain. It sounded more like the ramblings of a little girl.

"Officer," the young man called out. "I think you should see this."

"Stay here and don’t move," the police officer implied firmly. He walked over to look inside the box the man had discovered. The young woman holding the child moved closer to see what they had found. Seeing my chance, I backed away and then turned and started running to a nearby mall. I was hoping to find a place to hide from them.

"Sandra, stop!" I heard the cop yell out.

"I’ll get her," I heard the other man say. I didn’t bother looking back, I just kept running for the door as fast as I could. I knew I had to get away before they found out about Peace River and me. I ran into the mall with the man not far behind. Fortunately the mall was pretty crowded and being small, I was able to dart between the people and lose him temporarily.

Spotting a telephone both, I ran to it and closed the door. I fished around in my pocket for an emergency number my mother had given me in case we got separated. I dialed the number followed by the PIN number and waited for someone to pick up.

"Judge Jasper’s office, Linda speaking."

"Linda, help me!" I almost screamed. "I need to speak with Judge Jasper."

"Excuse me, who is this?" she asked carefully.

"It’s me, Sandra Marshall," I replied in a state of panic. "Please, I need help!"

"Hold on, Sandra, I’ll get him." I looked around and saw the man from outside standing nearby looking around. I turned my back to him hopping he wouldn’t see me.

"Sandra?" Judge Jasper asked, "what’s wrong."

"I’m in trouble, sir," I cried out in desperation. "I’m lost and can’t find my mommy, and there’s someone trying to catch me."

"Okay, slow down child," he ordered. "Where are you?" I heard him tell Linda to call Mark Merrick.

"I don’t know, Your Honor! I’m sorry, I made a mess of things. I didn’t mean to, I swear."

"We’ll deal with that later," he explained. "Now, tell me where you’re at?"

"I’m in a mall in San Diego, but I don’t know which one. It’s near the outlet store mommy was buying clothes from."

"I know where that is," I heard Mark Merrick say in the background.

"Okay, Sandra, that helps. Now, tell me about the mall. What other stores do you see?"

There was a tapping on the door that startled me. I turned to see the driver of the car standing on the other side of the door. "It’s okay, Sandra, no one’s going to hurt you," he told me.

"Oh God, they found me, Judge!"

"It’s okay, don’t panic," Judge Jasper reassured me. "Just tell me what you see."

"Well, there’s a store called CD’s and Videos. I can also see a Little Professor book store nearby. And I ran past a K-Mart on the way in."

There was some muttering in the background and Judge Jasper said, "We know where you’re at, Sandra. Just hang in there, Mr. Merrick will be there in a moment."

"But it’s almost a thousand miles away. He’ll never make it in time."

"Look behind you, Sandra." I did and saw Mercury standing outside the phone booth with the man and a security guard. "Go to him now."

Relieved, I opened up the door and jumped into his arms. "Uncle Mark," I yelled. I gave him a big hug and kiss on the cheek. I felt so safe and secure sitting there in his strong arms.

"Boy, am I glad you showed up," the man said sheepishly. "Your niece gave me quite a chase."

"She’s a handful," Mark smiled while patting me on the back.

"There’s a police officer waiting outside to see you," the man told him. "Your niece saved a little girls life. It was the bravest thing I’ve ever seen anyone do."

"Then I guess we better go outside and see what all the commotion is about," Merrick replied.

"We?" I asked. That’s when I saw Judge Jasper walking toward us.

"Grandpa!" I squealed as I jumped out of Mercury’s arms. I ran up and wrapped my arms around his leg. "Grandpa, I missed you so much." I heard Mercury snickering.

"You’ve been a very naughty girl," he scowled me. "You know better then to run off on your mother like that. She was worried sick about you, as was I."

"I’m sorry, grandpa," I said with a pout. "I was just trying to help out."

"Well, at least you’re alright," he said while picking me up in his massive arms. "Lets go talk to this officer."

By the time we arrived there were seven other cop cars on the scene, as well as a news reporter. Venus pulled up just as we got there.

"Mommy!" I cried as I ran over to her. She knelt down and I wrapped my arms around her. "I’m sorry mommy, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause all this trouble."

"Shhh," she whispered. "It’ll be okay. Mark and Judge Jasper will take care of all this. She placed me in the back of her car and went to join the others.

"There’s a warrant out for his arrest," one of the officers was telling Mercury and Jupiter. "We found a bunch of little girls clothes in the van. They most likely belonged to his other victims."

"How many?" Venus asked bitterly.

"Five that we know of," the officer replied quietly. "All of them between the ages of 6 to 8 years old."

Venus wanted to reach out mentally with her mind and punish the monster in the back of the police car. He actually had the nerve to smile at the TV camera that was pointed at him. She scanned his thoughts and saw that there were even more victims than the police knew about.

"Vickie, let’s go," Judge Jasper told her firmly. He could sense the anger building up inside her.

"We’ll call you tomorrow morning," the police officer said as he pocketed both Judge Jasper’s and Officer Merrick’s business card. He had never handled a case where a judge and an off-duty police officer from the same, small town had shown up at the same time. It was one for the books. He walked back to the car where Mr. Shafer was sitting enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame. The officer could only hope that the judge gave him at least life for his crimes.

***********************************

Venus was in the back seat, holding onto me firmly as I leaned my head against her chest. Mark Merrick was driving, and Judge Jasper was sitting in the front quietly looking straight ahead.

"How much trouble am I in?" I asked in a whisper.

Judge Jasper sighed slightly and looked back at me. "I haven’t decided yet, Sandra. What you did back there was both brave and stupid. Brave I don’t think I need to explain, but stupid I do. First, you could’ve blown our entire operation. Second, and more important, you could’ve gotten yourself killed. Unlike us, your body is still developing and can be overcome with life-threatening injuries. What were you thinking about when you went after him?"

"I don’t know, Your Honor. I wasn’t really thinking. I didn’t want to see that poor little girl get raped and murdered. I had to do something, but there wasn’t anyone around to help me."

"Still, you were told not to leave, and you did anyway," Jupiter pointed out. "How can I trust you outside our town again if you won’t listen to what we tell you to do?"

"I guess you can’t, sir," I answered. "I wish I could say I would do things differently if we could replay this day over again, but the truth is I wouldn’t. I’m sorry for all the trouble I put you through, but I don’t regret saving that little girls life."

"Well, at least you’re honest," he answered. "I’ll have to punish you for this, Sandra; and not because I want to, but because I feel you deserve it. However, what you did was a very unselfish act, so whatever I do won’t be too hard. And it’ll be some time before you’re allowed on any more outside trips with your mother."

"I understand. Your Honor, do you mind if I call you grandpa from now on?"

Mark Merrick started to chuckle but a stern look from Jupiter shut him up.

"I would prefer you didn’t however, it seems like the natural thing to do in this situation. And since we all have to make our sacrifices in life, I guess I’ll allow it."

"Grandpa," I asked with curiosity. "How are we going to handle this? The police are going to want to ask me a bunch of questions, not to mention I’ll probably have to testify to what I saw in court."

"Don’t worry about it, my child. I’ve already worked it out." The three gods shared a common thought among themselves, Mr. Shafer wouldn’t live to see the next sunrise.

It must have been all of the running around, because I found myself feeling very drained and sleepy.

"Mommy, I’m so tired."

"Of course you are," she smiled, "you’re only six years old." Venus pulled me close to her and I found myself falling asleep in her arms.

Fade out…

 

Next episode – Childhood

 

 

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© 2001 by Kelly Davidson. All Rights Reserved. These documents (including, without limitation, all articles, text, images, logos, compilation design) may printed for personal use only. No portion of these documents may be stored electronically, distributed electronically, or otherwise made available without express written consent of the copyright holder.