Last Day of NaNoWriMo

On the NaNoWriMo site, they use a word count verifier to ensure your novel makes the word count. On my software it came to 59,989 or something (I forget exactly how many), and the NaNoWriMo site claims that 60,148 words. So it's added about 200 words for me. If I knew that, I'd have writen only 48,000 words. lol

As I said previously though, my novel is still going, so when it ends, I'll be using my own software to do the word count. I susect it will be over the 100,000 mark.

I have to go through correcting lots of it. I finished it using the Dragon Naturally Speaking software, which allows me to write abotu 2000 words in five minutes (give or take a few), which means you get sentences like:

he speedy to work. face we was lying flat on his back somewhere. Someone was potent in the stick.

Intead of this:

Eddie awoke. He was lying flat on his back somewhere. Someone was poking him with a stick.

So there is still some work to be done, as well as finishing it and all. I just hope the end doesn't upset to many people. lol

------

They had a question today on the NaNoWriMo webpage. They asked Lael Gold a lecturer in literature at UC Berkeley, California, USA this:

Q: Lael, many NaNo participants find that their novels take over their thoughts, day and night. You've had some crazy dreams. Would you stretch out on the NaNo couch and tell us about them?

A: The process of accelerated noveling has definitely affected my dreams. The night following a catch-up day when I'd doubled my regular word count, I dreamed that I encountered a young man in his twenties who, instead of wearing blue jeans, had inked his right leg in blue...

---------

I feel REALLY left out! My novels didn't do that to me ... probably because the Tokyo Gay Hamster Wars is like a surreal dream like thing anyway ... so not much it could do. The official NaNoWriMo novel 'Edmond McCarty's Accident' ... well, that has dream or dream like sequences in it. Maybe that is the secret - or maybe I just write so fast and have most of my ideas worked out in my head well enough that I don't dream any of it. Or maybe I just forget all my dreams.

Anyway, I have to get back to running my business. lol Reduce Oil, reduce oil! lol

NaNoWriMo - Chapter 25

Eddie awoke. We was lying flat on his back somewhere. Someone was poking him with a stick. He looked up, and found he was staring into the sun, with a vague silhouette of someone standing over him. The silhouette turned into the face of America as she leaned forward to get a better look. 'You awake now?' she asked. She prodded him with the stick one more time to make sure. Eddie was slightly frightened. He still had not got over the shock of being somewhere he least expected to be. He still was not sure where it was. He looked around with a scared look on his face. 'You're on my lawn,' said America. 'What?' 'My lawn. You're sleeping on my lawn. Come inside, we'll discuss it some more.' 'Discuss what?' 'What we spoke about before. You remember? Before?' 'Before? Before when?' 'You have no memory of what we spoke of before?' 'No, should I?' Eddie was perplexed. This old woman was considered weird at the best of times. 'Before your accident. We spoke of it before. I thought that was why you wanted to see me the other day. You never mentioned it.' 'Mentioned it? Mentioned ... what? What did we discuss before the accident?' 'Come inside. We must talk again then.' Eddie stood up and was aching all over. Why did he feel so tired all the time? He felt exhausted. Maybe this was what it was like to run a marathon. He brushed himself off a little, and followed America back into her house. The house looked completely unfamiliar. Like he had never been their before. The opposite of de ja vu. It was called jamais vu. He had a sensation he had never ever been in this house before. It all looked totally unfamiliar, yet he knew in his mind that he had in fact been in many times before. in fact, he had visited just the other day. Why did it all seem so weirdly different? He suspected it had to do with the talisman that was now burned into his heart. 'Shut the door behind you,' America said. 'We have a lot to discuss if you can't remember anything.' 'I can remember some things. I remember you.' 'Hmph, so you should young man. So you should. Come into the kitchen and sit down a while.' Eddie felt he could go in to the kitchen and sleep a thousand sleeps. He was just so tired. 'Sit down. Sit down. I'll make us some tea, and I'll read your tea leaves for you.' 'Um, thanks,' Eddie was not sure what to make of it. He had no memory of having tea leaves read for him before. Something in his psyche told him that he had allowed America to read them for him previously. 'The pots already boiled,' she said as she placed two tea cups on the table. She picked up the tea pot and swished it around in the air a little. It came back to him about his previous visits. Jim and Eddie used to visit all the time for about a year. That was why Eddie and Jim were afraid of her and started to avoid her. At first it had seemed exciting. They visited her, she would read their tea leaves, or their palms or tell them something regarding their futures. She told Jim, he was eventually going to be a stock broker and make millions of dollars. Eddie, well, he was going to become a famous artists or something. He was not going to ever be as rich as Jim, but she was certain he would be successful and well known. Both of the boys took it to heart. They became a little freaked out when she revealed to Jim that his Grandmother was due to die soon. Two months later, she died. Then, America started to tell Jim that his Grandmother was visiting her all the time. At first Jim was a little upset, but tried to ignore it. Then came the day that she started to inform him of things he had never shared with anyone. Things that a ghost might just be able to find out. So Jim became convinced that America was really talking to his dead Grandmother. It scared him and Eddie enough that they began avoiding her at all costs. Now she poured the tea and Eddie was going to have her consult the leaves. He drank, making sure he did not drink the tea leaves, then he placed the cup down for her to read them. 'I can see you need help. Help from a friend, but you are unsure how to get them to help you. You need their help, as you are trying to help another friend. Still, maybe there is another who may be of benefit. Someone else who can help you achieve what you want to achieve. Someone different to you and your friends. Someone who knows how to defeat the evil which has your friend ensnared!' America was deliberately trying to be vague. She was hoping Eddie would interpret her as the one he should seek help from. She was hoping Jim was the friend in need of help, and that Eddie would assume Mark was the evil. Eddie's mind did not think along those lines at all. He interpreted it to mean he had to seek the Magi out. The Magi would help him to help Slim. Slim was the friend in need, and the demons were the evil. He started thinking and assumed that the magi would tell him how to bring Jim into the realm of sleep with him. An ally to help fight the evil and to help liberate Slim. America's mind was set on one path to try to bring Eddie back to the fold. To try to convince him to visit her more often. It was the sort of control she loved over people's lives. She could make people love you or hate you, the same way she controlled Lillian, and the same way she made people hate Mark. Power over other people. It was better than money, more important than television and America had honed the art of manipulating people to like who she liked, and hate who she hated. She was the queen, people did her bidding. The power made her feel euphoric. People did what she said, just because she had said it. She felt like she was providing a service. She made people's lives easier by making all their hard decisions for them. Who to marry, who to talk to, who to hate. She felt putting spells on people to make them fall in love was a good thing. The fact that it removed people's free will was irrelevant. As far as she was concerned, love was a good emotion, so making two fall in love was therefore a good thing. The fact they might be incompatible was irrelevant. Her job was important, and people should just do what she says without question. Then there was Bob and Akane. She was going to put a stop to that. She hated Akane, though she never did know why. She was just certain that Akane deserved to be brought down a few pegs and she did not like the fact that Bob had grown so close to her. That was a relationship America was going to nip in the bud, and she was going to stop it for good.

Tokyo Gay Hamster Wars Part 5

Shou Nishimura was the head of the 'Undercover, Monkey Training, Hamster Feed Pellet Shooting Yakuza Gang'. They liked to shorten the name to 'UMTHamFePeShoYa Gang', which in turn got shortened to just 'UMTHam' and lately just 'UM'. His right hand man was Ryota Miyamoto. There wasn't much further these two men could progress in the organisation, especially as they were the only two in the gang. It wasn't always that way though. A few short years ago, when Shou and Ryota were just recruits, the rest of the gang were killed in a bloody shoot out with the, 'Beer Guzzling, Dragon Eating, Power Team Sufficient Yakuza Gang'. The whole incident occurred when a complimentary barrel of beer was delivered to the combined Yakuza Gangs 'Forget the Year' party. Both gangs had decided to split the bill evenly. Ten kegs of beer each, each of the two gangs paying for the kegs they were to consume. As the truck was being unloaded, the truck driver informed them, that as an end of year special, a complimentary keg of beer was being given away with every twenty kegs ordered. What followed was pandemonium. The Beer Guzzling gang decided they should have the extra beer, as they at least had the word 'beer' in their name and as such had a reputation to uphold. UM thought they keg should have been split between the two gangs, for after all, they did pay for half the beer. No one was really sure who pushed who first, but soon many of them were pushing each other. The pushing turned into punching, then kicking, then stabbing, shooting, screaming, and pulling of hair. Shou and Ryoka, being rather young novices at the time, thought it was all part of the proceedings. They grabbed the extra barrel and sat back drinking, watching what they believed was a normal Yakuza party. Two of the beer guzzlers novices noticed that Shou and Ryoka had the extra keg, and immediately joined them in drinking it all. By the end of the night, all four had passed out. They awoke to find themselves the only four survivors of the night and stuck in a police cell. The police questioned them, but were unable to get anything concrete from any of the young men, as they had all been completely blind drunk at the time. Yes, there had been a fight. Yes, there had been shooting. Yes, people had been killed. Who had been killed? Everyone. Who fired the first shot? I don't know! What were you doing at the time? Drinking beer. Why didn't you join in the fight, or try to stop it? We thought it was all part of the proceedings. In the end, the police had to let them go. It was obvious the four young men didn't have a clue. Upon returning to UM headquarters, Shou, who was the senior of the two recruits, became head of that Yakuza gang. Shou had been born on the fourth of January nineteen seventy seven, while Ryoka had been born on the fourth of August of the same year. Those seven months had made all the difference to who inherited the Yakuza Gangs top position. There was no hard feelings between the two rival Yakuza gangs, and the Beer Guzzlers arranged a night out on the town. They had heard about the 'Gay Hamster Bar' and decided it was a good nights entertainment watching gay hamsters getting it on. They invited Shou and Ryota along for the fun. Shou and Ryota had been planning on seeing the new 'Godzilla Versus Joan of Arc' movie. The night at the Gay Hamster Bar sounded a lot better. After all, the Hollywood franchising of movies had got a little out of control. They take one character and exploit it every way they can, T-Shirts, marketing, DVD's, CD's, games, toothpaste, vibrators, glue, bank loans ... you name it, Hollywood was taking a slice of the pie. It was almost enough for Shou to burn his 'Hello Kitty' gun holster, but he decided against it, after all, it was a present from his mother.

Tokyo Gay Hamster Wars

Kenji arrived back at the Gay Hamster bar at eleven in the morning. He was still half asleep with the thumping of techno beats still running through his head. What a night. He was a bit confused too. Niku and Deibetto had turned up with two of the best looking women he had ever seen. They both must have been about twenty years old, and somehow those two geeks had successfully hit on them. Maybe they were both after their money. It did not make much sense to Kenji. He had known both Deibetto and Niku for years, and he had never seen them have much luck with the ladies. Those two girls could dance too. They must have been professionals or something. How do two geeks pick up two professional dancers? What were their names? Megumi and Melisa. Weird. Kenji just could not get it through his head. And why did Deibetto have those huge marks on his neck. Love bites! He had obviously started the romance a little early that night with his new girlfriend. She must have been a go'er, it looked like she'd bitten him a couple of times. He sat at the bar going through the books for the previous night. The beer delivery should arrive shortly, he thought. He was rubbing his head and looked up towards the hamster cage. 'Eh?' he said to himself. One end of the hamster cage was completely shattered. Amongst the shattered glass lay Arlo, unconscious and looking very wounded. The poor hamster had been shot by something. Kenji looked around. James and George were missing. Kenji looked high and low for them. They had to be in the bar somewhere. He did not have time to look. Arlo needed medical attention and he needed it soon. He had to assume George and James were okay. Maybe they had been shot as well and were lying in the dark somewhere. He looked around again, behind chairs, behind tables. He could not see them anywhere. He picked up Arlo, gently craddling him and wrapped him in a bar towel. He raced out the back to his car and drove Arlo to the nearest vetinarian. As it was an emergency, they looked at Arlo almost immediately. The doctor was amazed at the wounds Arlo had suffered. Someone had shot him using Hamster Feed Pellets. What sort of sick maniac creates a gun which can shoot feed pellets? The gun would not be leathal to a human, but hit a hamster enough times with it, and you can possibly kill them. Kenji had made it just in time. Poor Arlo was in need of a lot of attention and was going to be kept in the animal hospital for a few days. The doctor also noticed something else which was unusual. Arlo was beginning to grow some opposable thumbs. Not realising it was a mutation caused by Deibetto's elixir, the doctor wondered at the unusual deformity the hamster had on it's paws. Kenji left Arlo at the animal hospital. He returned to search for James and George. Maybe they were in a similar condition somewhere. Lying in a pool of their own hamster blood. He searched through the bar. Every cupboard, behind every refridgerator and every stove in the kitchen. He could not find them anywhere. He did find something strange though. One of the upper windows had been broken. It was too small for a human to fit through, and there were some hamster droppings on the window ledge. He had to wonder if someone had trained a monkey to use a pellet gun. They then smashed the glass and let the monkey in to attack the hamsters. He assumed it was some jealous rival. Maybe the Yakuza! The undercover, monkey training, hamster feed pellet shooting Yakuza! Yes, it had to be them! He had never heard of them before, but he knew they must exist. What other possible explaination could there be for this to have occurred?

NaNoWriMo - Chapter 24

Eddie needed something to protect him. He needed to find something he could use as a weapon against the demons. He knew they could not harm him as he was still very much alive. Only just though. The accident could have sent him to the city of souls. The souls, all waiting to be judged. Eddie had made it to the cave. He had looked through the scrolls. He dare not open any, as opening a scroll was the same as using it. It would instantly disappear, and whatever the scroll did was done. You had to know your scrolls. Each had a mark on the scroll. Strange writings, and not all the writings were the same. He looked at one scroll. The symbol for water was on it. Eddie did not know that though. It was the Chinese symbol representing a splashing drop. Even if Eddie did read Chinese, he still would not know what the scroll actually did. Water could mean a lot of things. A flood? Rain? A glass of cool water? The symbol only had meaning to a magi who knew what each one did. Eddie took that scroll anyway. He also took a scroll with some viking ruins on it. Another he took, it had an Egyptian hieroglyph. The hieroglyph was so faded that Eddie could not read it anyway. It had a picture of Maahes on it. A lesser Egyptian god, who was a protector. He would go before the sky bark, the sun boat, eating all the evil before him as he travelled through the underworld or darkness. The hieroglyph for Maahes was a strong man, a warrior with the head of a lion. He was the protector of the weak. Somewhere in the cave was the talisman too. Eddie looked. He could not find it anywhere. 'Where is the talisman?' he asked the voice. The voice did not reply. Eddie knew in his heart that the voice only ever said what Eddie already knew, or suspected he knew. The voice could confirm things, but could never give Eddie any new information. The talisman could protect. He needed it. He was sure that the talisman would allow him to walk into the city of souls, take Slim's soul out of the city with him so that Slim would not face judgement and go to hell. It never occurred to him what might happen to Slim's soul once he rescued him. Where was the talisman? The scrolls were in some sort of special order. Eddie knew that. Somehow, they were organised. Someone must come here. Who? 'Who organises the scrolls?' Eddie asked the voice. 'The Magi does it. Only he can discern all that is meant by the markings.' 'Can I learn to read them? Can I learn to tell what they do?' 'Maybe. The Magi knows them all. He has to. He has to arrange them according to their meanings.' 'Where can I find the Magi?' 'He lives somewhere in the forest.' 'We just came through the forest.' 'No, a different forest.' As the voice spoke it, Eddie realised that he already knew that. He knew it was a lush green forest. Very dark. You had to follow the thin path through it. The shrubs were too closely packed to get through the rest of the forest. Only the path took you places, and it sometimes had many intersections. Nothing was marked either. If you placed a sign post up, the people who lived in the forest would tear it down. They knew their way through the forest, and they did not like outsiders to know it too well. The entire forest was known only to a handful of it's inhabitants. Most of the inhabitants only knew what they needed to know, or only what they chose to know. If they had fresh water, food and wood to keep them warm in winter, then they were happy. They did not understand the fascination some people had for always needing to rush around and go places. Animals gave you clothing and food to eat. The natural vegetation gave you wood for fires, fruit to eat, fibre to make cloth. Why the need to travel? Why the need to rush everywhere? Eddie knew the forest in his mind. He had been there sometime before. Had he met the Magi before? Why did he know the forest? Why was he having trouble remembering why he was there? He remembered the actual physical place. He remembered where some of the paths lead too. Why had he been there? He was thinking these things and searching through the alcoves with the scrolls in them. The scrolls piled into the alcoves, little pigeon holes with five to ten scrolls in each. Suddenly his hand hit something solid. As he removed all the scrolls from t he pigeon hole, he saw a small hole in the bottom. In that hole, was another very tiny scroll and a talisman. The hole was cut to exact specifications to accommodate the talisman and attached scroll. Eddie wedged his fingers into the hole to try to get the scroll and talisman out. He succeeded, and grinned to himself as he held the talisman in his hand. He ripped it off the scroll. To his shock, the scroll rolled open. He had not meant to open the scroll. He feared what it might do. he stood in shocked silence as the scroll did not disappear. It did not activate. How unusual, he thought to himself. He had expected the scroll to dissolve before his eyes and lightning to strike or something. Nothing happened. He looked at one hand with the talisman. he looked at the other with the unraveled scroll. It had writing on it. He looked closely. He could not read it. It was in Hebrew. Eddie did not know that. Eddie looked closer at the talisman and found that it had a piece of leather strap to allow it to be worn by the user. He used both hands to unloop it. Still with the little scroll in his left hand, he held the strap in front of him. He allowed the talisman to hang in front, gently swaying back and forth. He placed the loop over his head and allowed the talisman to fall to his chest. To his horror, his arms shot straight out in front of him, so hard it felt like he damaged his elbow joints. He watched in horror as the scroll dissolved and crumbled in his hand, the dust blowing away in a breeze which he could not feel. The talisman and leather strap turned white hot and started to burn into his flesh. 'Wrong talisman,' said the voice. Eddie did not have a chance to react much. He clenched his teeth together do hard he felt like they would break. His clothes caught fire from the intense heat of the talisman and burned from his body. he fell backwards onto the cave floor. As we watched, he saw the talisman burning into his flesh and start to sink into his chest. The intense white heat burning in unbearable pain into his neck and chest. The talisman slowly sank further and further into his chest till it was level with his skin. Then, his skin started to heal over and the talisman burned into his heart. It burned in a way that made it seem like millions of small burning metal spikes were embedded in his heart. He thought he was going to die. The pain was more intense than anything he had ever felt before. He watched the red bloody skin slowly heal over the hole burned into his chest by the talisman. In seconds the hole was gone and the burning had stopped. The talisman and leather strap had somehow burned their way inside of him. It had become part of him. Whatever this talisman did, Eddie now had the power. The talismans power, was his power.

Home From Hospital

I brought my mother home from hospital today. Not immediately though. Started the day going to do some work. Was a bit surprised when I was thrown in the deep end and asked to take a 'training' session. I had originally been asked to just set up internet access for the machines and get all the software registered. I wanted to attach to the internet to register, but alas, the stupid OS wouldn't let me till it was registered! So I phoned Microsoft and got all the OS's registered. Then, I had to do the training. I spent some of the day then trying to get the machines on the internet. I hadn't realised it, but the manager had turned off 'internet sharing' on the PC which attaches to the internet. By the time I realised it, it was almost time to go home. Another training session started, and I had to vamooooos out of there, so I organised to go back tomorrow for an hour. I then did a quick shop and bought some things ready for my mother's return home. I phoned her at the hospital, and she was ready to come home, so I drove there to pick her up. She had to walk very slowly, as she has had major surgury. I wanted to race ahead and get the cat and throw her stuff in the boot etc. She didn't want me to, and made sure I walked almost all the way to the front with her. She was at the back of the hospital and so it was a long long long long long walk. I was surprised they didn't let her use a wheel chair. We got to the entrance, and I was asked to go pay for her pharmacy bill (ie pay for the drugs she had while in the hospital), so I did that. I then brought the car to the entrance for her. A nice lady helped her to get into the car. We got home, and she was surprised to see the floors done. Especially in her bedroom. When she got out of the car, she had noticed some pickets, from the picket frence my brother and I had built. DARN! She asked about them, and I said, 'You'll have to ask Jeff', as I didn't want to give anything away until she had seen the floor. She came in, and was astonished. The place looked like a completely different house. I then showed her the picket fence out the back. She loved that too as it reminder her of England and the countryside where she had grown up around Salisbury. I then told her not to unpack all the stuff for her dressing table (as we had put most of her stuff into boxes when doing the floor), as I had the airconditioning guy coming on the thirtieth to install the air conditioning. My mother was really in shock and started to cry with happiness. I wish my brother Jeff could have been there to see it, as a lot of the work was his and he deserved to be there. I made my mother sit down and I made her a cup of tea. She watched television most of the day and night. I got stuck into my NaNoWriMo novel. Really stuck into it as I wanted to finish it off. I think it's going to be about 100,000 words long or more. Enough to get it published for real (if we go down that path). I finished off a lot of chapters tonight and was really happy. I chucked it through the NaNoWriMo word counter and found that came to over 60,000 words. NaNoWriMo only requires 50,000. Still, the actual novel is still not finished and hopefully a few little efforts will finish it off in the next few days. As I'm posting the chapters one at a time on the site, it'll take a while to get to the end. I'm well past Chapter 23, which I only just posted. I also wrote a little of the Tokyo Gay Hamster Wars tonight. I told you there were robotic vampires ... and now you know there really are! (Don't worry, the Deibetto character ain't dead yet ... well, maybe not! hee hee!) Not much else to tell really, just an awful lot of typing done, and more to come! :-) How is everyone. I feel like I've missed out on the entire world for the last few days as I had so much to do. I heard Georgie Best died. He was one of my soccer heroes when I was growing up. When I was playing soccer in Penang, we all wanted to be just like him. (Even if he did play for Man U). :-) What else happened? How is everyone? Anything major I need to know?

NaNoWriMo Chapter 23

Mark Fisher sat at his home computer. He was on google searching for porn sites. He was a member of many illicit sites and used his credit cards often to join the sites. He used to refer to this activity as 'research'. Being a film producer, he often found it easy to bed young hopefuls who thought his bed was a quick way into a movie, or a project he was working on. Sometimes, it was. Other times, it was just a way for Mark to abuse his position and get free sex. He was amazed sometimes at how young the girls could be. He also found it funny that often he video taped his conquests. Sometimes, they would pose for him in all sorts of positions. With the ease of technology, his collection had moved digital, along with his equipment to record his collection. On one of his bookshelves he had a complete shelf of CD's and DVD's he had created. Admittedly, a lot of those were ones he had converted from video tape into the digital medium. With his connections though, it was not difficult to hire or borrow equipment for this use though. Today he typed 'Japanese School Girls' into the browser. A small part of him was hoping that Akane's picture had somehow turned up on the net. He was certain her flashing him that night was no accident. He was sure her relationship with Slim, and lately Bob was sure to have generated some form of pornography that the boys would have placed on the Internet in an attempt to brag about their conquest. It never occurred to him that not everyone recorded their conquests like he did. He assumed what he did was all perfectly natural and that everyone did it. He was clicking through the sites. Most of them he already had membership for. In fact, some days it was difficult for him to find a site he did not already have membership with. He was not paying too much attention to the links he was clicking. One of them, labelled paedophile, he missed the title on and just clicked. He was a bit amazed to see it was a listing of male paedophiles in his local area. He decided to have a browse through the photographs to see if there was any one he recognised. While browsing, he noticed it had a search and sort facility. He typed in the name of his local suburb and pressed the search button. He was very curious to see the sort of people living in his area who were, what he considered, scumbags. To his complete shock, the first photograph and name were his own. It even listed his home address, his telephone number and many personal details that he did not think people should know. After the initial shock of seeing his own face come up, he became furious. This was right out slander. On top of that, it listed his ways for people to contact him in order to abuse him. He became angrier and started to work himself into a rage unlike he had ever felt. Normally he was a very passive sort of person. He seldom yelled, he was seldom upset and he never ever turned to violence as a way to solve his problems. Now, he felt like he could kill someone. The adrenaline made him get up and pace around the room. He picked up an award he had won. A Best Produce award from some festival he had long since forgotten, and threw the award to the ground. Luckily, it was rather solid and did not shatter or break. He then kicked the award and paced the room swear to himself. He went back to the computer and looked. Sure enough, he had not dreamt it. He had not imagined it. He was wide awake and this was not a dream. He was going to sue someone, and he was going to make them wish they had never ever crossed him. He was going to make them wish they had never lived. He picked up his telephone. He had his lawyer on a quick dial setting. He pressed the number. His Lawyer was used to working on contracts for films, but his connections should give him the ability to recommend the best lawyer for slander in the city, maybe even the country. Mark did not mind paying for a good quality lawyer, and he wanted the best and he wanted that lawyer now. He sat back down in front of the computer. He looked at the date. His details had only been posted the day before. He hoped that the lawyer would act swiftly and all record of this would be removed from the web as soon as humanly possible. Someone was going to pay for this, and he was going to make them pay very, very dearly.

Tokyo Gay Hamster Wars Part 3

Deibetto arrived home late. He politely nodded at the young Japanese man peeing on his tree in the front of the apartment building. He also politely nodded to Tanaka San, the landlady who also lived on the top floor. She was on her way to the local Mos Burger place to buy a whale burger. Deibetto had one of the apartments on the ground floor. He was fortunate as he also had access to the basement where he was able to work on his secret experiments. His friend Niku had a key to his apartment, as Niku was doing the programming on his secret project. He entered the apartment and heard the booming beats of Niku's music. He immediately recognised the tune, 'You Taste Better When I'm Knurd', one of Niku's best. He checked his fridge. Left overs; Rice, rice with seaweed, rice with seaweed and cucumber, sushi with rice, seaweed and cucumber, more rice, one month old rice ... going green. Man! Isn't there anything without rice? He chose a bottle of Johnny Walker and coke, then headed down the stairs to the basement. BOOM BOOM BOOOM 'You Taste better when I'm Knurd' BOOM BOOM BOOM Niku noticed Deibetto come down the stairs. He was pretty excited. He typed a few extra lines and compiled the program. Pressed the transfer button. A little blue bar appeared on the screen of Niku's laptop. It slowly grew across the screen with the words 'Transfer 30% complete', it kept incrementing, forty percent, fifty percent, sixty percent. 'We're almost ready Deibs,' Niku said. 'Cool,' replied Deibetto as he danced to the techno beat while sipping his scotch and coke. Niku had a bottle of the same stuff next to him and took a big swig. 'One Hundred Percent, now for the next unit,' Niku said. He clicked a button, selected the next unit M.E.L. and clicked the transfer button. 'First Unit ready?' 'Yep!' Deibetto picked up a remote marked M.E.G. and pressed a little red button with the international standard 'on/off' symbol on it. Finally they had completed the dream of almost every male geeky nerd in existence. They had their own working Robotic Girlfriends. Meg stirred to life. 'Hello world,' she said as she sat up straight. 'Hello world?' Deibetto asked. 'Um, standard geek program. When most people learn to write a new language, normally the first thing they learn is to write a "hello world" program. It just prints "Hello World" to the screen normally,' replied Niku. 'Oh, guess it makes sense,' said Deibetto. Then continued on by addressing Meg. 'Please, stand up.' The Meg unit stood up. 'Coooooooooooool,' said Niku and Deibetto together. Niku noticed the transfer had finished to the M.E.L. unit and picked up it's remote. He pressed the on/off button. The Mel unit stirred to life. 'Hello world,' said the Mel unit. 'Hello Mel,' said the Meg Unit. 'Hello Meg,' replied the Mel Unit. 'Sooo cool man! We have two working girlfriend units. We'll be the envy of all the guys in Tokyo! We're so cool,' said Deibetto. 'Wait till we finish running some diagnostics on it matey. We don't want one of these babes malfunctioning when we're out in public with them,' said Niku. He pressed a button on his laptop screen marked 'Run Diagnostics Unit M.E.L.' He then pressed the same for the M.E.G. unit. The eyes in the Meg and Mel units rolled backwards, then kept rolling like a Vegas one armed bandit trying to find three lemons. CLICK CLICK CLICK CLICK Both machines moved forward and started performing dance routines Madonna would have been proud to have performed. Then, they started going through Tai Chi moves. They then tried some special 'flying squirrel dirty swamp dragon' moves, a martial art designed specifically for the two units. Then, the both landed together in the middle of the room, stood perfectly still for ten seconds. Then, they opened their mouths, and two silver fangs lowered from the top of their teeth. In one movement, both units leapt at Deibetto. He had no chance to move, or evade. They were both on him, one on the left, the other on the right. Both plunged their fangs into his neck. He didn't have time to scream, they were on him and sucking his blood out of his neck. 'Hmm, I wasn't expecting that,' said Niku.

Jeff and Dabido Floor Another Room

Here are some pictures of my mother's room - complete with MOLD from under the carpet. BEFORE: Ripping Up Moldy Carpet Back To Cement Black Plastic Stage Underlay Stage Finshed Room My brother Jeff and I did a lot of work - in order to fool my mother, we visited her TWICE today. First in the morning, and then secondly at night after Jeff had done her washing for her. The Guy in the pictures is Jeff. Decided to make him famous. We also waited till after twelve before starting as it was a Sunday and we didn't want to disturb the neighbours with the circular saw going. We also made a picket fence for part of the house. I hope my mother appreciates it all. I am very p!$$3d off with something which happened today though. My sister and her husband KNOWS that Jeff and I are doing the hallway etc as well, and tonight he volunteered to my mother to BUY and INSTALL the floor. Now I know that they KNOW I HAVE ALREADY BOUGHT THE FLOORBOARDS BECAUSE I TOLD THEM!!!!!! THEY ALREADY KNOW I AM DOING IT ALL!!!!! SO WHY THE FRIG PRETEND TO VOLUNTEER FOR SOMETHING THEY ALREADY KNOW IS BEING DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can tell you why! So they can say they volunteered WHEN THEY FRIGGIN KNEW THERE WASN"T A FRIGGIN NEED TO! Well, a lot of it has to do with their friggin' sanguine nature! They love being the centre of attention and they FRIGGIN' don't like the fact that Jeff and I have done the majority of the friggin' work! I got this baby rolling! For 22 or 23 years this house has had NO PERMANTENT FLOORING!!!!!!! Only stupid second/third/fourth/fifth hand carpet whcih is friggin' filthy and always in need of being cleaned!!! Even though for twenty of those years NOT ONE of my brothers or my sister ever lifted a finger to help my mother around her, or to get her permanent flooring! I returned from Sydney and did it, and now my SISTER and HER HUSBAND want to look like they friggin' helped or had the idea of doing the friggin' hallway! TOO FRIGGIN" LATE! I WAS THERE FIRST!!!! And as Jeff said, in a year or TWO my sister and her Husband will CLAIM THE WHOLE THING AS THEIR IDEA AND NO ONE WILL REMEMBER WHO DID THE FRIGGIN" THING! WHen I heard of him making the offer WHEN HE FRIGGIN' KNEW I WAS ALREADY DOING IT, I was so p!$$3d off, I said to Jeff that I felt like going back to Sydney, as everything I have ever done in this family gets put down somehow! In this case, the flooring will get recycled and as Jeff said, in TEN YEARS my sister and husband will claim they actually did the work! I am so friggin' sick of this crap happening. Nothing is ever good enough, nothing is appreciated. I was so happy in Sydney! WHY WHY WHY? Why DID I RETURN TO THIS!!!!? Oh, that's right, i thought some of them might have grown up a little ... but they haven't. They still have their stupid petty jealousy things going. It's probably a little hard to explain, but Jeff knows what I am talking about. Everything I do somehow is insignficant or someone else takes credit for it. Plus my mother always friggin' forgets. Jeff thinks she is going mad. (Thank goodness I am already crazy ... no where else to go but sane from here!!!) :-) I better find all the litle errors etc i made and fix them, because the next step is having the sister and brother inlaw come over and critisize it and say how they would have done it better. It'll happen! It always friggin' does! FRIGGIN' ATTENTION SEEKING SANGUINES! I hate them, they're always trying to force their way into soem lime light that isn't theirs! Jeff & I did this nice thing for my mother and already they're trying to turn it into something it isn't! Anyway, Rant mode finished! Visited my mother in hopital, and was being my usual self making her laugh - and being told off, as she's not allowed to laugh in case the stitches break or something, so I was being told off all the time. I really cracked her up when she was talking about the dogs slipping. She said it was probably their fur, and said it was like us slipping on our hair while walking around. I asked what weird position must you be standing in to be able to walk on your hair? My poor mum couln't stop laughing ... yeah, I probably didnt' tell it to well ... it's one of those spontaneous things and i can't remember my exact words ... but, my poor mum was laughing and trying so hard not to. Then, I sat there trying to bite my friggin' tongue, but all these funny thoughts kept coming into my head. I was so temped to say things, but instead I had to sit their giggling to myself. My mother was talking about ome doco she watched where they were making that new HUGE passenger plane. She was talking about how the different bits are being made in different parts of europe. She was saying the wings are made in Wales. I just burst out in sniggers. I was trying so hard not to say something like: How do they get the wings out? Stick their fingers down the wales throat? Or I bet they have a foreman named Jonah who expects the wings in three days! Or I bet there is a big poster saying, 'Don't operate heavy machinery or heavy mammals when under the influence of alcohol!' I had a million stupid things I wanted to say ... but I wasn't game to! I just kept sniggering and my mother kept telling me off for being an idiot! lol Oh, dear! So hard NOT to say stupid things when there are so many sitters! On the way home, my brother told me that I have no respect for authority and I am always making fun of people being serious and stuff. ROFL. Me??? lol

Finsihed Floors Part II

Carpet and Cement in it's natural wild glory, along with our two doggies, Toby and Elly. Sit! Sit! Sit! Okay, rack off then stupid dogs! Pure unadulterated CEMENT! They build the Coloseum out of this stuff in Rome ... then forgot how to do it and had to re-invent it! I had to clean this back to EXTRA SUPER CLEAN! Next Stage, lay the black plastic down. Add the underlay (Underlay, Underlay Ariba Ariba!) When I was half way through, my youngest brother decided to take a snap shot of the fatman himself (aka ME) :-) THE FINSHED PRODUCT! WOO HOO! Three days work, with other things liek WORK thrown in for good messure. I got my brother Jeff to help me clean up, because frankly I WAS EXHAUSTED!!!! But you knew that from previous posts! :-) No, I won't come to yhour place and do yours!! ROFL!

Room is Finished!!

Am I tired or WHAT??? Finally finished laying the floorboards down in the room. 40 square metres of them. I know, it doesn't sound like much, but as a one man job, it was not easy. BEFORE These pictures show the smelly carpet we used to have down. Also the bare concrete. More pictures tomorrow. :-)

Soooooooooo tired!

So tired after another tiring day. Going to bed early too ... yes, I am. Started the day being awoken at 5AM. I know I said I was going to bed at 11:30 ... but I didn't. I was using the circular saw in the bathroom, and forgot to clean the mess, so 11:30 last night I suddenly go, 'Oh yeah! Have to clean the friggin' bathroom' Main reason to clean too, is the wood is made of that stupid sawdust/plastic glue combination, which means the sawdust from the wood sticks to things once it gets a little wet and becomes hard to remove. Made it to bed after midnight. Got too cold with the fan on, so woke up, at 2AM, turned it off. 2:30AM, woke up, way too hot, also needed to pee. Found heaps of spiders running around the house (because of the carpet being ripped up and the furniture being moved). Vowed to myself to spray some surface spray before my mother gets back (she refuses to use the stuff, as she still thinks it's all arsnic. I keep telling her, 'NO, they now use nerve agents - same stuff they use in chemical warfare to kill humans and give them psychological problems!' For some reason she still doesn't want to use it!) Anyway, way too many creepy crawly bugs around the house. My brother mader so much noise he woke me at 5Am. He usually likes to wake mum up, but she isn't here! She's in hospital! So he made enough to wake me up. I pretended to be asleep still! :-) I got out of bed at about 8:30AM - Saw to the dogs etc and raced off to see my Business mentor at a 10AM meeting. Raced to my sisters to give her two book my mother wanted while she is in hospital. (Because my sister was going to th ehospital before me). I raced home, as a lady was delivering something for my mother today. I phoned her the other day to say I would be home after 11AM ... she said fine she'll come then ... she never turned up!!! PPPppptttthhh! Spent a lot of time laying more floorboards etc. Have started using an old Sydney University Top to help batter the boards into place. My mother has always hated the to as it's falling to pieces, and I keep wearing it! Bwahahahaaa! Anyway, she keeps telling me to get rid of it and she never wants to see it again. Today, I accidentally got it caught between two boards I'd bashed together. I tried to prise the boards apart to remove it ... but alas, the boards were just hammered in too tight. So, that shirt my mother never wanted to see again ... she'll see everytime she looks at those floorboards! Bwahahahaaa! [I swear, it wasn't intentional!] My poor back and knees couldn't take much more. I raced off to another business meeting this afternoon. On the way back, I bought and organised for airconditioning to be placed in my mother's room (and in mine as well ... I can't survive the summer nights here any more if they get too hot. Two summer here has almost killed me!) I figured my mother would need the airconditioning once she is out of hospital. Got home, tried to do soem more with the floor boards, but my POOR KNEEEEES! ARGH! My brother arrived home and we went to see my mother in hospital. Spent two hours there cheering her up and stuff. I made her laugh and stuff, and got told off. I tried, 'But I wanted to keep her in stitches' joke, but no one laughed ... or the second time I said it! darn! Anyway, I made her laugh and she said she was feeling much better since our visit. She'd been vomiting earlier, even though they'd given her anti-vomit medication. (Which is funny, I've been given injections to stop me vomiting before, only to have me vomit everywhere! Must be hereditary! Or the 'vomit injections' are supposed to make you chuck!!!) :-) Jeff and I stopped by Hungry Jacks on the way back. I had to order my Vegie burger to be made in the round BUNS specially for me, as those BAGLE things are awful! Now I am feeling sick and I have to go make my bed (as I did all my washing today) and it's 11 PM and I'm tired and I have to be up at 6AM ... blah! I feel sick! Oh, here is something funny - I have been trying to get the dogs used to the new floor boards, but they hate them. It's slippery for them, and it's funny to watch, as I put them on the floorboards, and their little legs go in every direction. It's like watching someone learn to ice skate for the first time. :-)

Update - Mother's Operation.

Sorry, didn't have time to do much writing today. Early start - up at 5 Am. Took mum to Hospital for her Hystarectomy. The Doctor refered to ME as my mother's husband. My mother had a good laugh and told him i was her son. The Doctor then said, 'Oh sorry, you look more mature with the beard. I didn't realise you were still a teenager' WTF???? My mother then pointed out that I wasn't a teenager, I WAS FORTY YEARS OLD!!!! The Doctor looked amazed! He looked me up and down a few times and I could see the wonder in his brain ticking over. Maybe I shouldn't be too surprised, I was mistaken for someone in their twenties a few weeks ago. My family have the two advantages of looking young as well as being short, which means we are alwys being mistaken for younger than we are. [I might add, it was a curse when I was younger. Wasn't allowed into a pub till I was twenty one, and most bounces thought my ID was fake till I was about twenty four]. They discovered my mother was running a temperature, and waited to decide if they would operate. Then the nurse came to get her for the op. and found she wasn't preped or anything. They shoved her into a bathroom and made her shave herself, get into a hospital gown and stuff. They still weren't sure if they would operate. So I had to wait. Eventually a nurse told me I could go. [If they were not going to operate, I was going to have to take my mother home - that was why I had to wait]. Was completely tired exhausted etc by the time I got home. THEN, I started on installing the wooden floor for my mother. PICTURES LATER. (Yes, I took pictures) First, empty the lounge and dinging rooms of all furniture and stuff. A BIG JOB for one man. Second, sweep, vaccuum and generally clean the surface. Third, lay black plastic. Fourth, lay underlay Fifth, start laying floor boards and completely F*K some of them up in big ways. Sixth, at 5:30 PM, collapse in a hepa on the ground. Seven, at 6PM, have youngest brother arrive home. Have him agree we need to use other brothers saw and work bench. Eight, Go to Younger Brothers house with wood to be cut. Nine, brother not home, spend time talking to sister in-law about my mother's operation (yes, I had phoned through by this stage. Mother doing fine!) Ten, younger brother arrives home - decidce too late to saw wood, borrow the workbench and saw instead - load into car. Eleven, phone mother in hospital and have a good chat - note, need to take books in for mother tomorrow sometime., Twelve, arrive home - it's 9:30PM, have dinner. Thirteen, Very Very Very tired. Read a few blogs. 11:30PM Go to bed. NOTE: Thanks to all those who prayed for my mother etc. Much appreciated. Background note: For those who may not remember, or are not usual readers, my mother had soem pre-cancer cell and had to go back to hospital to have bits removed. Operation went well - all seems fine. She's a bit peeved that they haven't given her TV yet, and she can't find the person to sign the form to let her watch it. Time to brush teeth and get to beeeeeeeeeeeeed. So Friggin' Tired!!!!

NaNoWriMo Chapter Twenty Two

Akane arrived home from school to find Mai drunk. She had been drinking heavily since Naoki left. She was sitting on the kitchen floor as Akane walked in. It gave Akane a slight scare, but she was getting used to her mother's unusual behaviour. Mai being drunk was not that unusual. She normally hit the alcohol pretty heavy during any function or party that had free drinks. It was one of the problem Naoki had faced. The wife was always drunk at the office parties and always let things slip. Not always things Naoki believed, but things Mai picked up off other party guests. Somehow, Mai could always make it sound like it was Naoki's opinion. If someone was believed to be sleeping around, Mai would somehow let it slip out. If someone was said to be lazy, or stealing office supplies, out it came from Mai's mouth. Always at the detriment of Naoki. She was an embarrassment. Never able to stay sober, never able to keep her mouth shut when drunk. Always able to make herself the centre of attention. So when Akane arrived home, what she saw was not completely unusual. It was only unusual in the fact that Naoki was not arguing with her over something she said, or Naoki trying to keep her on her feet. Now, it was just Mai, sitting on the floor, scotch bottle in her left hand, empty vodka bottle to her right and a Jim Beam bottle, half empty on the counter. Akane tried to help Mai to her feet. 'Come one mum. Lets get you to your bedroom.' 'Thish ish your fault! You drove him away with your imper ... imper ... it's your fault!' 'Calm down mum. Help me get you up.' 'No! I don't need your helps! I can do it myshelf.' 'Mum, your drunk. Let me help.' 'Go away Yariman bitsssch! I do not need help!' 'Okay, stay sitting on the floor. Just scream when you vomit so I can bring a bucket!' 'Do not leave me here! Do not leave me! You come back right now!' 'I haven't left yet. What do you want?' 'I have not ffffinissshed wiff you yet, Yariman! Thish is all your fault.' 'Yeah, yeah, I've heard it all before.' Akane walked out of the kitchen, taking her school books to her bedroom. She could here her mother screaming insults at her was she walked away. 'Thish ish all your doing! You are to blame!' Then came the sound of the bottle being smashed on the floor. 'Look what you made me doooo! You make me dooo that!' Then the next smash, the vodka bottle. Then, Akane heard the cupboard door open, and Mai started to take the plates out and stack them on the floor. 'You clean this up! You clean this up! You make me do this.' Then Mai started breaking the plates on the floor. One big smash sounded like she had thrown three at once. Akane was worried about returning to the kitchen. She started to get changed out of her school uniform and into some jeans and a T-shirt. The sounds of smashing plates continued, along with Mai's insults and blame. Akane realised she must have run out of plates, but the smashing continued. She must be doing the dishes and cups by now, Akane thought. More smashing, more hysterical screaming from Mai. Akane just sat and waited. Part of her wanted to cry, another part wanted to laugh out loud. Soon, they would have nothing to eat off, or drink from. Akane decided to wait. It was all she could do. She was planning on seeing Bob, but she would wait now. Wait till her mother ran out of things to break and then, Akane would clean up the mess and put Mai in bed. It was a waiting game. 'Akane? Akane? Help.' The smashing had stopped. Good, thought Akane, we must have something left. She went toward the kitchen, but didn't enter. She had a feeling that Mai might throw a plate at her. She was just waiting around the corner, as soon as Akane tried to enter the kitchen, Mai would throw it at her. She was probably just waiting for Akane's little head to peer around the corner. 'Akane? Akane? I am so sorry. Please, help me.' Akane decided a quick look might suffice. Just quickly peek around the corner, and then pull her head back before Mai could get a good shot at her. She looked. Mai was lying on the kitchen floor surrounded by her own blood. At sometime during the plate smashing, a chip of china had hit Mai in the head. Mai's hands were also covered in blood. Akane wasn't sure how Mai had managed it, but she'd hit an artery in her forehead. The bleeding looked worse than it was, but it looked very bad. Akane immediately entered the kitchen, picked up the telephone and called for an ambulance. She then grabbed a tea towel and held it to Mai's head. She made sure the china was not still embedded in her forehead before holding it tight. She waited. The ambulance shouldn't be too long, she hoped. Mai was drifting in and out of either drunkenness or consciousness. It was difficult for Akane to tell. 'You know, this is your fault,' Mai said to Akane. 'How do you figure that?' 'If you were a better daughter this would not have happened.' 'Mum, can you stop blaming me. It's always everyone else's fault but yours. Why don't you have a look at what you're doing to yourself? What you are doing to us!' tears weld up in Akane's eyes. How could she hold the mirror up to Mai that she needed? She felt their roles had been reversed. Somewhere in life, her mother had remained the little girl, and now Akane needed to be the mother. It wasn't right. This was so unfair, Akane thought. I am still too young to take on this responsibility, but I have to step up and take the mantle. I have to wear the role of mother till my own mother can become herself again. Or maybe this was the real her. Maybe she was always like this, and Akane just never saw it. She was so caught up in her own world that she never saw how much her own mother was suffering. Akane held the tea towel to mother's forehead and cradled her head in her arms. She still had the telephone in her hand. She dialed Bob's number. She now knew it of by heart. She waited. Bob answered. 'Bob, I can't come over. There's been an accident.' 'Who are you calling dear?' asked Mai. 'Hush, mum. Yeah, I have to go to the hospital with my mother. I'll talk to you when I come home.' Akane pressed the button to hang up. 'Who are you talking to?' 'Bob, Mum.' 'Who is this Bob?' 'He's my boy friend, Mum.' 'Eh, you grow up too soon.' 'Sure mum. Whatever you say.' Akane and Mai sat in silence waiting for the ambulance to arrive to take Mai to the hospital. Akane was very sad. She somehow felt that the happiness she had found with Bob was wrong. She felt guilty that her mother was in such pain, and she had found love. She knew though, that she could not give Bob away. She would not give away the one thing she had hoped for in her life, her soul mate.

Tokyo Gay Hamster Wars Part 2

Kenji was at a loss. He had a popular bar, but for all the wrong reasons. Most patrons came to pick up men, sing Gay anthems such as YMCA, It's raining men or I am woman, or just to see the two little rodents going for it with each other.

He decided there was not much he could do about the singing, it was after all a karaoke place. He did not want to lose his patrons, sure, they spent more time eyeing him and Deibetto off than the topless waitresses, but they were good customers, not violent and enjoyed themselves. They were after all paying off Kenji's considerable loan to start the bar. The hamster however! What had started them off? He had no idea.

He spoke to Deibetto about it, with Deibetto being a scientist and all, he would know the cause of this phenomena. Deibetto denied any knowledge of what had happened. They called in Deibetto's friend Niku Wilkinson, and English guy who they thought might know a little about hamsters. He suggested Kenji get a bigger macho hamster in order to pull the other two in line. Kenji decided it was a good idea, so he did!

After much searching through pet shops, Kenji found the perfect hamster, Arlo. He was a very large hamster who was also rather muscular. Rather than sitting around all day sniffing things out, Arlo was always hard at it working his muscles on the cute little treadmill in his cage. Perfect! This hamster was the macho male equivalent of John Wayne of the Hamster world, Kenji surmised. This hamster will slap those two homo-hamsters into line.

Little did Kenji know, but Arlo was naturally homosexual. He worked out on the treadmill often trying to hone it into perfect muscular shape to attract the other male hamsters. Arlo often would look at himself in the mirrors around the pet shop.

'Who's a pretty boy then?' one of the parrots would often ask.

'I am,' thought Arlo. 'Oh yeah, check out my abs man! I am the Adonis of the hamster world!'

It was this latent homo-hamster that Kenji stuck in the cage with James and George. By this stage, James and George were a little tuckered out, after many an elixir induced shag fest. Arlo's entry into the cage made rather scarier for them though. Arlo summed up the situation immediately, he was going to make George and James his bitches. Arlo was head honcho hamster! If Arlo imagined he was some sort of sex god before, he now imagined he was double, as he had to bitches to slap around.

At first, Kenji saw Arlo slapping George and James around the cage, and assumed he was putting some good masculinity back into the two. That night however, as the regular crowd and extraneous gay hamster fans wandered in, Kenji was in for a shock. Arlo slammed both George and James flat on their little backs and had his way with them. Poor George and James! They had been violated!!!!

Mari pointed out that maybe, just maybe if Kenji had bought a female hamster or two, maybe the homo-hamster problem would have gone away!

'Baka Kenji!' he cried slapping his forehead! 'Why didn't I think of that?'

'Because you're an idiot,' Mari told him, waving a finger at him, with her long right boob hanging off the end. It had accidentally got caught on the end of her finger. The left one was comfortably hitching a ride on her drinks tray between a long island ice tea and some ribena vodka thing some strange girl had ordered!

Deibetto had been around earlier and had added some elixir to the hamsters drinking water. After being violated by Arlo, James and George had to have something to drink. After all, it was dehydration being slapped around a cage by some monster hamster in a leather biker outfit. Arlo also had some water, this began to have an effect on him too.

The more the hamsters drank, the larger they got, the smarter they got, and the more their sexual appetites increased. Soon, Kenji had the largest, most sexually perverted gay hamsters in Tokyo, possibly the world if it hadn't of been for a similar bar in the Netherlands that had been operating for many more years. (You go past the Amsterdam Moulin Rouge and turn left and keep going a few streets down, turn right and it's down the block about ten doors down, give or take ... not that I was there ... or on stage either, it was someone else who looked like me! honest!).

After a while, a plan formed in George's head and he shared it with James. They needed to break out of the cage, find some female hamster and raise their own hamster army to seek revenge on Arlo. No one made George his personal bitch! James agreed, well, except of course he changed the bit about no one making George a personal bitch to include himself.

It was time to start two things, first the escape plan and second some weapons to defend themselves from Arlo.

NaNoWriMo - Chapter Twenty One

'Where is this?' Eddie asked. 'It's outside the Nacropolis. You must be careful,' replied the voice. Eddie found himself standing in what appeared to be a dry creek bed. On either side were steep slopes, but not too steep that he couldn't climb out of it. There were a lot of trees on either side of the creek bed. Not one of them had leaves, and the ground was very dark and bleak. A strange light shone white from above. Once again, it did not seem to have any source at all. Not a moon, nor a sun in the sky. Just light, as if indirect onto the face of where ever Eddie was standing. 'We must move. They may be coming for us.' 'The demons?' Eddie asked the voice. 'Yes.' 'Which way do I go? If I am outside the Nacropolis, where can I go which is safe?' 'There is a cave nearby, or we can go to the old temple.' 'What's the old temple? Are we safe there?' 'The old temple are the ruins on top of a nearby hill. The cave is closer.' 'Which is safer? Can we make it to the temple?' 'I don't know. We must move.' Eddie started to climb one of the steep embankments. He did not know why, but he instinctively knew the path needed to get to the cave and the temple. He was not sure he could make the temple on this trip. He would try for the cave. The cave was full of magical scrolls. He had no idea why he knew that. He just did. He had to make it to the scrolls. Maybe there was one there that would help him to bring Jim or another ally into this war against demons. He was not sure why, but he believed he could defeat the demons if someone else was with him. Someone to help fight them. The embankment was black and sticky. The dirt, just clung to his hands and fingers. He was slowly getting covered in the dirt as he climbed. 'Have I been here before?' he asked the voice. 'Yes, you have been to the temple before, and the cave. You have been all over the dream scape.' 'That explains why I know where I am going.' He knew that somewhere above him was the path. The path lead to the cave and temple in one direction and the Nacropolis in the other. Somehow, he knew at the end of the path, the very end lay the other city. The city where the souls of the unjudged were. They were the ones who had not faced judgement just yet. The demons ruled it and guarded it. A plan formed in his head. If he could sneak into the city of the unjudged, then maybe, just maybe he could save Slim's soul. 'I would not risk it Eddie.' 'What?' Eddie knew the voice knew his thoughts. Somehow, he found himself playing dumb anyway. 'Do not risk going to the City of Souls. You will not come out of it if you enter.' 'I might. If I can find a way in, then I can get out the same way.' 'No, Eddie. All who enter do not return. They enter and then they wait for judgement. You cannot enter.' 'Yes, but I haven't died yet. I can enter and come out, and I cannot be judged, because I haven't died.' 'You might die while in the city. You are just making the demons job easier.' 'I need to help Slim though. I need to get in there and get him out.' 'You cannot do it Eddie. If you enter you will not come out. The demons will see to that.' 'I survived the demons axe.' 'Of course you did. It does not mean you will come out of the City of Souls alive. They will trap you in there and you will await judgement.' 'But I'm not dead. I can't be judged yet.' 'Must we argue over this. You will do what you want anyway. In the meantime, you cannot go to the City of Souls tonight. We must make it to the cave. You have to get something.' 'It's a scroll I need isn't it. I need a scroll.' 'Maybe. Or maybe you need the talisman. The talisman is there too.' 'Maybe I can take what i need. If I have the talisman and the right scrolls, I can go into the City of Souls and save Slim.' 'Maybe. Or maybe you will just get caught and be judged.' Eddie was onto the path. In the distance he could hear the sound of dogs. He knew they were chasing him. They were the dogs of hell. They had chased him many times before. Many times down this very path. He ran. He ran as fast as he could, because he had been on this exact part of the path before and he knew the way. He remembered the exact same chase time, and time before. Like a dream through a forest in the night ... it was the start of a song, or a poem he had once read. Like a dream ... it was about being chased through a forest of trees. The tress had no leaves. It was cold. It was night. To the left of the path was a cliff, or a wall. Something long, white and he was unable to get over it. Like the song, he came upon that very part of the wall. It was a wall. Some of it was bleached or washed white. White all over. It ran next to the path, and on the other side was a form of safety. If he could get over the wall, he would be safe. Only because he knew the demons could not cross the wall. Maybe the wall was magic. Eddie was not sure. He just knew the demons never could cross the wall, and the wall had always been there as long as Eddie remembered. The wall was solid and unclimbable. At the end though, was where the wall crossed the path, and the path went into the cave. The cave was full of scrolls. Wisdom, intelligence, and more. it was all in the cave, and once in the cave, he knew the dogs could not see him. Though they had chased him into the cave before, they ran straight past him, as though they thought he had ran through the cave. For some reason, the dogs were blind to him in the cave. The inside of the cave was bright white. It glowed. The whole thing glowed, and everything was clear as daylight. He still was not at the cave though. The cave was a long way away. He had to make it along the path, and the path became very narrow and difficult to see. It was almost non-existent in some parts, but Eddie knew the way. Through the trees. So many dead trees. Through the trees, though it lightly snowed, just like in that song. The song mentioned the snow, but he could not remember the words. The only thing he remembered was the first line and the feeling of the song. Run, like a dream, through a forest in the night ... What was the next line? It all gave him clues. It all hinted at what he needed to do. He was lucky he could remember which way to go, otherwise he would need the song. The song spoke to him. Maybe the voice knew the song. Maybe he should ask the voice. He had to get to the cave, it was only a short distance ahead and the path was becoming more discernible on the ground now. Run, like a dream ...

Tokyo Gay Hamster Wars - Part 1

It was the spring of nineteen ninety nine when Kenji Harada decided to open his Tokyo Topless Bar and Karaoke sing-a-long booth centre. Not being the best translator of Eigo (English) he decided to call it the 'Happy Hamster Bar'. Of course, it came out as 'Hippy Hambur', and people began mistaking it for a hamburger joint. He consulted his almost learned friend Deibetto, who, having once lived in been born in Australia told him it was 'Happy Hamster Bar'.

Unfortunately, a bar existed just down th e street called the 'happy Hippo bar', and in order to avoid confusion and a law suit, Kenji looked up another word for 'Happy' in his crazy Eigo dictionary. 'Gay' was the word he found. So was born the 'Gay Hamster Bar'.

Kenji poured his life savings and a considerable loan into the 'Gay Hamster bar'. One of the many oeuvre inducing decorations was a rather large glass hamster cage, complete with two hamsters, George and James. Kenji, unfortunately did not realise that his bar's unusual name would start to attract the homodachi connection of the Tokyo clubbing world, and soon Kenji had the hippest gay night club in Tokyo.

To make matters worse, the topless waitresses were wasted on men who had no better intentions than to meet another man and go home with them. At first, the homodachi thought the topless waitresses were transvestites and transsexuals. imagine their surprise when one of them accidentally took one home. It was the crying game all over, but in a very different context!

After that incident, the homodachi decided that maybe, the reason Kenji was employing topless women, was in order to stop sexual harassment. The gay lobby certainly thought it was a fantastic idea for women's rights. After all, they were topless, so they obviously meant they were standing up for the sexual freedoms. At the same time, as no man in the bar would find them in the least way sexual, it meant they got to work in an harassment free zone. Unfortunately, it also meant less tips and some of the waitresses soon left to take jobs in other establishments. Fortunately, the harassment free zone soon attracted other waitresses who did not mind the lack of tips. Kenji did not go shot staffed. In fact, he was able to put on some older waitresses who were not able to get employment in other topless establishments.

Amongst the new recruits was one, Mari Yamamoto. She was approaching sixty and had always worked as a topless waitress on and off for the last forty years. Unfortunately for her, the last twenty of those consisted more of the off than the on. The Gay Hamster Bar was the perfect work environment for her. The homodachi appreciated her for her good solid work ethic, and her sarcastic biting wit, that developed over the years, another reason for not being employed often in the last few years.

George and James, the hamsters, were not your usual hamster. Deibetto often visited the bar, after all, is was owned by his friend Kenji. He was a bit perturbed to find that it had turned okama on him though. It did not sit well with his latent homophobia which, until finding out men actually found him attractive, he didn't even know existed.

Deibetto worked for a secret Government laboratory developing chemicals. Due to the Japanese pacifistic constitution of the day, Japan needed new and better weapons to defend itself with. After all, it was not allowed an army anywhere near the size of the one it had during WWII. Deibetto's secret work entailed an elixir designed to turn the most aggressive warrior into a love maniac. Or so the specifications from the Japanese Government said.

It was amongst this, that Deibetto had made the potion, but was unable to test it on any adequate test subjects due to a sudden cutting in Government funding. So he had his elixir, but no where to try it.

One day, he decided Kenji's two male hamsters might be the perfect place to try it. One day, prior to the bar opening, he went to visit Kenji. Whilst Kenji was occupied, Deibetto was pretending to pat the hamsters. During this time, he added his elixir to their water.

That night, to the amazement and entertainment of the regular crowd, George and James, over come with lust for .. .well, anything moving or inanimate, decided to get it on. The 'Gay Hamster Bar' had truly become the 'Gay Hamster Bar'. What wasn't known at the time, was it also gave George and James increased intelligence.

Bluh!

I know in my reply to Straymana's comment I said I wasn't blogging tonight, but ... I changed my mind. Mainly as I found there wasn't that much being said out there tonight, and I lost interested very fast. Warning, today's is just a rant to remove some unwanted frustration! Today, very frustrating day. My mother was in one of her moods. It basically came down to the fact that she wants her floorboards put in, and we haven't started. We haven't started for two reasons, first, we are doing it when she is in hospital, so that there will be minimal disturbance to the household etc. Second, my brother in law has the equipment we need, and we haven't been able to contact him yet. All day, my mother kept on complaining that we were procrastinating and should ahve had the carpet chucked out, the cement cleaned and prepared and the floorboards ready to be done ... which is impossible with her sitting in the lounge watching TV. So, she went on her usual attack of me. Something I've faced all my life. First she tells me I am lazy, tells me I never do anything, and accusses me of being a mysoginist. ALL because I didn't drop everything and get her floorboards in NOW. [Which, mind you, she admits I can't do till she is in hospital!] She then wanted us to stop what we are doing in order to entertain her. Scrabble? TV? Anything as long as it involves her!!! How am I supoosed to run a business if I have to put up with this? THEN, she can't deciced if she will be in need of help when she comes out of hospital. Well, we all knows she will, and she keeps mentioning it over and over and over (you get the hint) ... BUT, if I mention I am going to do something for her, she tells me I'm an idiot and says she will be perfectly able to look after herself when she returns home. Then ten minutes later, she is telling me I have to do everything for her once she is out of hospital! It's DRIVING ME NUTS!!! She also had attacks on my medical conditions! I'm really beginning to hate peopel for constantly doing that. Mainly, as they like to use the conditions as something to ridicule when they feel like it. Mainly in the form of them telling me I don't get affected by them or other things. The funny thing being that I feel like chucking everywhere today. It must have been something I ate I think. The weather is now turning hot, apparently if you beleive my mother, that's my fault too. Except when she's in her mood for taking credit that she predicted the weather ... like, yeah, it's almost summer and it's geting HOT! Great prediction mum! Then she really annoyed me. She told me I had to pay for the next electricity bill (as the hot weather is all my fault and I am hogging the air conditioning by sitting in front of my computer ... my study is at the front of the house, the airconditioning unit is at the back!) Anyway, I pointed out that I paid for the electricity anyway. I didn't even split the bill last time. It came to $180 and I gave her $200 ... she tried telling me I didn't pay for it, and she split the money to pay for other things. Like WHAT? When the gas bill came in, I gave money for that too ... where the FRIG is my money going to if it's not going towards the things I am paying for??? On top of that was the usual argumentative crap she likes to go on with. My younger brother didn't help with some of his rantings either. Two of his annoyingly frustration sayings are, 'If you define something everyone will work against it.' & some crap that he believes that higher order thinking in the form of creativity and fantasy had to exist in creatures before they developed the ability to sense anything in the world? What he means by this, is that lower order animals (like aomeba's etc had to dream about the world before they were able to realise that it actually existed ... like, you have to imagine a tree exists before you'll ever be able to see a friggin' tree in real life.) It's pretty much backwards thinking and it is very frustrating when he goes on about it. It reminds me of a kid I knew when I was eight. He used to believe that you saw things because rays came out of your eyes and could sense the objects. Of course, sight is very much the opposite, rays of light bounce off the objects and hit your retina and you see them. It's annoying and FRIGGIN' Frustrating when people have these backwards ideas, as you have to think of ways to disprove them so that they can see why they are wrong. I will be glad when this week is over. So much to do. Alianz was supposed to supply my business with insurance, and they didn't so I'm trying to get some ... and I need it before Thursday when I have a meeting, or else my business goes belly up and the Government will shut it down! My mother is off to hospital twice tomorrow. First in the morning, and then in the afternoon. The reason for this is she has to give blood before her operation as a precaution. (They prefer to use a patients own blood if blood is needed). Then, later she has a pre-admissions interview 9where they ask questions like, 'do you have a heart condition' etc. As such, I need to drive her to and from hospital twice. PLUS, a group want to book me in for some facilitating of computer training. I forgot to renew my library books, so I have to phone them. Wednesday my mother goes into hospital (and I start to put the floor boards down). Before then (on either Mon or Tues) I have to get the equipment off the brother in law. Also means movin all the furniture out of the lounge room, remove the carpet, wash the cement, make sure the cement is smooth ( as it has soem lumps in it), put down the plastic, then the underlay, then the boards. Move the furniture back into the lounge. If I forget to take photo's while I do it, forgive me. I'd love to have them for the blog and everything, but it might be easy to forget to do. On top of that I want to organise some air conditioning for my mother's room before she returns from hospital (so I have to buy it and organise to have it installed within that week). I have to get my PO Box, my business cards, my business paper with letter heads done. Blah Blah Blah - so much to remember. BUT, I am hoping with everyone out of the way for a week, I can actually get a lot done. If I find the time, I want to fix my old computer. My mother keeps hinting she wants the old one, or for me to buy her a new one ... not to mention all the other hints she keeps making for other things she wants. I've somehow turned into Santa Friggin' Claus!!! But WHAT REALLY ANNOYS ME, is everyone thinks that 'Running my own business' means I am just sitting around not doing anything while the money rolls in, so everyone keeps asking me to run this or that errand for them, and when i point out, I'M TRYING TO RUN A BUSINESS!! They say, 'yeah, but it's a home business, so you're just sitting around at home not doing anything!' [And I just remembered ten more things I need to write down on my list of things to friggin' do for other people! Darn it! When did my life stop being my own!!! Oh, that's right, when I was friggin' born!!!] I think i just really needed to write all that to get it out of my system! no one here seems to be able to listen, they won't take no for an answer and they think I am their friggin' slave!!! [And everyone encompasses a LOT of people]. And that's probably another reasons why I loved Sydney so much! Go to work, go home, write/paint/music to my hearts content - but I had awful noisey neighbours at times in Sydney, and the pollution was killing me. Still, I miss Sydney. It'd be nice to return if I could afford a house in a nice neighbourhood which didn't keep me awake often ... or all the time. On brighter notes, 'Lone Wolf and Cub' box set (all six movies) comes out on the 7th of December, Red Dwarf Series VII on the 1st of December and I am thinking about buying the Kurosawa boxed set which has Seven Samurai (my all time fav. movie), Yojimbo, Sanjuro and The Hidden Fortress. I can't find that bloody 'Naruto' Anime anywhere in Australia, and I wonder if it's been released yet. I might send an e-mail to find out! Anyway, it's going to be a long night, as my stomach is refluxing greatly and I can taste some blood. I took an extra tablet for it, so hopefully will calm down soon. Apologies for the rant. I really had to get it out my system. Thanx to anyone who actually read it! :-)

I Write Too Much??? Really???

Chapter Twenty is up, and I wrote it a few days ago. In fact, I didn't write at all yesterday, and I'm going to take a break today. To be perfectly honest, I think I need to spend some time writing something silly, because I keep getting all these stupid ideas in my head. I was considering writing another story simultaneously with the NaNoWriMo one. Mainly as I had this weird idea come into my head involving Toyko, Hamster wars, Mechanical Vampires and a heap of other things. [Actually, the mechanical vampires I've been playing around in my head for a long time. One is called Melisa, and the other one is called Megumi ... after two girls I know ... one who happens to be named Melisa, and the other one happens to be named Megumi, so there is a slight connection there which most of you will be able to pick up ... I think ... maybe ... if it's not to complex.] :-) One of my friends e-mailed me to say she isn't reading my blog at present! Darn, I let someone down! I hate that. Apparently, I am writing too much (so to compensate, I'm writing even more with this post Arrrggghh!) I figure, maybe writing the other story simultaneously might make her happy. That way she can ignore the NanoWriMo one and just read the silly one. Then again, maybe the damage has been done!!! Maybe she'll never return! WHY? WHY? WHY? ... Oh that's right, I write too much! Baka Dabido! To my surprise, I was able to get Patrician II to work on my computer last night! After a LOT of frigin' around, FINALLY I got the game working. I like it, though I haven't mastered it yet. It's a trading game based in the Scandanavian/Germanic Area in the 1300's AD. So far i lost one game when I wasn't able to out run the pirates and they boarded my ship, taking all crew and cargo. Waaahhh! Second game I was loosing really badly. I have perfected the art of hemeoraging cash! Regardless of what deal I get buying a commodity, it always seems to be at a greater price than what I can sell it for. I turn up at a town suffering famine only to find the meat and fish I bought was at double the price starving people are willing to pay. Add to that the cost of ships, crew, workshops etc, and you have a formula which gets rid of all that excess cash you have lying around that your simulated forefathers left you. Yes, I can ruin any dynasty before it even starts! From Jutland to the Russian Steppes, I can lose your hard earned cash! Anyway, though it seems to hard for me at present, it still looks like a lot of fun, and is complex enough to keep my attention. I look forward to wasting more hours playingthe game. Dabido Thumbs Up Rating for Patrician II (Provided you can get it to work ... I tihnk that's the clincher though, took SO FRIGGIN' LONG to get it to work!) My brother Jeff and I went to get the floor boards for my mother's place. I might see if I can take some photo's of this as I lay them down and stuff. My mother's house has NEVER EVER had proper flooring, and after 23 years, I have paid for some, and she is very happy to be getting it. Oh, and Tim Tam's were on special today. Even though I am allergic to chocolate, I bought two packets. So yummmmmyyy ... just wish I could eat them without chuckin' blood! Stoopid food intollerances! Speaking of food intollerances, my mother and borther had BACON the other day! Something I am so highly intollerant to, that I get nausious just from the friggin' smell!!!! How many of you get really badly motion sick out there? Put your hands up! How many of you have been on those rides at carnivals etc which spin you around and around and around ... and you feel like you're going to chuck up your lunch, all that junk food you ate etc etc? [Okay, might take a few rides to do it]. Well, that is EXACTLY the same sickness feeling I get when I smell bacon cooking. I was actually at the keyboard here dry reaching and burping a lot as I was so sick. I can also get motion sickness from playing computer games. Half Life - Doom - Quake etc ... all make me motion sick. I recently bought Jedi Knight II ... couldnt' get too far through it, as I got motion sick and needed to give up. Bluch! I wish someone would spend some money on research and FRIGGIN' FIX MOTIO SICKNESS PROBLEMS. [Yes, I get car sick easily being a passenger in the back of a car!] I've even made myself motion sick while walking. I found if I just looked at a tree in my garden as I approached it, I'd get a funny sensation and eventually motion sick. It's difficult to explain, as I have perfect vision and don't need glasses or anything, but as I walk towards the tree in the garden, it's like ... well it's weird. I starts to make me feel sick. Or maybe it's Perth. Nothing against Perth people - you're the worst drivers in Australia without a doubt - but I really can't stand it here. I really wish I was back in Sydney ... or anywhere else on the planet ... well, not anywhere, I'd hate to be in a lot of places right now ... anywhere with a war springs to mind as somewhere worth avoiding! I realised earlier today, I have not managed to spend as much as half of my life anywhere! Sydney comes close with 20 years (on and off) of my forty years of existence. In fact, when I moved to Perth, I had spent half my life there ... but now, I haven't as I spent quite a bit of my life in Sydney visiting other places - Europe, Hawaii, Gold Coast, Cairns etc. I miss travelling. Anyway, have to rip the mangy carpet up and clean the floors ready to put the houses first REAL flooring down in this house. The first piece of cement will actually get a covering for the first time in 23 years! (The mangy second hand carpet we have is just thrown on the floor. It's not down permantently like normal carpet would be ... it's like giant throw rugs!)

Chapter Twenty

Naoki could not believe his luck. Just when he thought he was about to have his world come crashing down everything landed in his lap. He had finally got rid of that selfish shrew of a wife, and he was now in a position where he had both his mistresses under the one roof. Admittedly, Moe had not found out about him and Kaede yet. If he could help it, she never would. Just when he thought he needed to buy Akane a car to keep her mouth shut, he was free. It did not matter if Mai found out that he had not returned that night, it was now all out in the open. Naoki was now with his boss and mistress Moe. He could divorce Mai and even let her have the house and he was still in a secure position. He had never been happier in his entire life. It was like his bad karma had evened out. In a way, his life had become simpler too. He no longer had to juggle three women, he only had the two. Since moving in, Kaede had also kept her distance, so in reality, he was back to having only one woman. Admittedly, that woman was his boss, but it was so much simpler. What made it even better, was he was less stressed. His work improved and several terrible weights had been removed from his already over burdened shoulders. Another thing that made him happy, was that he did not need to pay any maintenance for Akane's upkeep. Akane was already over sixteen, and as such no longer considered Naoki's responsibility by the courts. As Mai had been the main bread winner in the household he did not have to pay her anything either. In fact, his lawyers hinted that she might even needed to pay him. It was like he had won the lottery. He had swapped two shrews for two princesses. What a deal! Nothing would land in his lap as good as that in a million years, he thought. I am the luckiest guy on earth. Moe was also very happy. She had won the man she had wanted. Since Tatsuya, she had avoided any form of intimacy with people other than with Kaede. Kaede had been her life. Well, Kaede and getting revenge on Tatsuya. Once Tatsuya was out of the way, there was only Kaede. Moe was able to start a new life. With her new life, came a new love. She had started work at the pharmaceutical company, and liked Naoki from the first. At the time they met, he was either engaged or married. She could not remember. It didn't matter that much. Their love affair really only began about a year ago. It began at one of the management weekend retreats. It was strange in a way. Neither of them were looking for love. Both being Japanese, they were a little more reserved than some of the crazy foreign gaijins they worked with. Though married, a lot of the bosses were playing up with each other. It was a casual sort of thing. Moe was certain that some of the people who coupled off actually hated each other in normal working life. The company had rented a resort for the weekend. There was a gym, a swimming pool, a golf course, some tennis courts. Everything for the adrenaline pumping executive needed to release some over energetic exuberance on. Somehow, not much got used. Even during the team building exercises and seminars, people just failed to turn up. Moe was concerned and seriously thought about throwing some of her weight around. 'I'll put the fear of God into this lot,' she told Naoki at the bar on the first night. Naoki had diplomatically avoided the subject. Sometime that night, between a long island ice tea and some green thing with an umbrella sticking out the top, he had kissed her. At first she was shocked. She wasn't sure if it was because she was drunk, or simply because she had always found him so attractive, but she did not dislike it. In fact, the kiss had aroused feelings in her she had long forgotten. The kiss had been nice. Not too hard, not too soft. Not timid at all, yet not forcing his way onto her. It was perfect. It was exactly what she had needed at exactly the right time. It placed her in a peculiar position though. The next day, she was not able to 'get up the troops' as she had been planning. After all, she was as guilty as they were. Admittedly, she had not slept with Naoki at that stage. She had, however kissed him back. Naoki had become something of a hero amongst his peers. Some of them had overheard what Moe had said to him at the bar. They all suspected that Naoki had kissed her deliberately, that somehow he had devised a plan to save everyones bacon. The truth of the matter was Moe was everything Mai was not. Moe was quite, reserved, yet at the same time had a definite sense of knowing who she was and what she wanted to be. She was soft, and yet at the same time as strong and she needed to be. As they had stood their talking at the bar together, Naoki had simply fallen in love. He had kept buying Moe drinks. It was unusual for Moe to let her guard down. She had not been drunk since her teenage days with Tatsuya. Possibly it was Naoki's charm. Maybe she had subconsciously always wanted him. She had suppressed it deep down inside, and now, this very night, she had allowed it to surface. Or maybe it had fought its way to the surface against her conscious will. She had fallen for a married man. By the second night of the weekend retreat, she was well aware that the others knew what had happened. She was determined not to let it happen again. During the day she deliberately avoided Naoki. If she knew he was on one side of the room, she sat on the opposite. If she was presenting during one of the seminars, she always avoided eye contact with him. She was going to be strong, and she was going to set a good example which she expected others to follow. That night however, once again most of the managers had somehow coupled off. She wasn't sure how they managed to do that, because there were in fact more male managers than female ones. She decided it was none of her business. Somehow though, it was the same as the night before. She was at the bar, and the only available person to talk to, was Naoki. A part of her knew she should have gone to her room alone. Another part of her craved for the attention she had denied herself for all those years. No one had been allowed into the inner sanctum of her soul. No man, no woman. No one! She never came across as cold though. She knew that was social suicide. She played the game, she worked the crowds. She laughed at her superiors stupid jokes, she flirted, but she always remained in control and inaccessible. She had perfected the art of being whatever was needed by her audience at the time, without becoming the object they possessed. She could bend like bamboo without breaking, yet be more rigid than the steal of a katana sword. So it was, that as she sat at the bar, with some of the other couples mumbling amongst themselves in booths or at tables, that Naoki sat next to her with his drink. She immediately got up, and gave him a stare. At the time, he couldn't work out if it was more ice or venom. The look did not go unnoticed amongst his co-workers. What they had missed though, was Moe pressing her room key into his hand. The plastic card that opened her room, was with him. She was unable to get into her room unless he followed her. In one move she was off her chair and walking out the bar room door. The swish of her sleeve had upset his drink and it spilt across the bar top. Anyone in the room who had not seen the stare had heard the glass. All eyes were firmly on Naoki, and Moe did not miss a beat. Though the glass had been an accident, she did not stop, did not break stride and did not turn around. She was out the door. Naoki sat there, his face bright red. He knew what it looked like. To everyone, it seemed like he had tried to hit on his boss, and she had rejected him. It was a while before his face returned to a normal colour and the room returned to its normal banter. Only then did he realise that she had given him her key. It hit him. 'I have her key!' he thought. 'I have HER KEY!' He cautiously looked around the room. No one was looking. Even if they were, he was sure they thought he was going away to hide. It had been a great loss of face. He kept looking left and right as he walked along. As he turned the corner into her corridor, he saw her standing in front of her room. She looked fantastic and a broad grin crossed her face. He walked up to her, and looking left and right to make sure no one had seen, he used the plastic key to open the door to her room. Then, they were inside her room. Naoki had heard rumours about her dragon tattoo. He was the first one in his company to actually see the entire thing in full. Other had seen glimpses of it whenever she wore a top or dress which hung too low at the back. This was the complete picture. It was an ancient water dragon. An eastern one. A green one. A lucky green dragon. It swirled through the clouds and rain. Through the red and blue mists across her back. The artwork was amazingly complex and detailed. Every scale, every wisp of cloud captured by the artist. He was intrigued. How did such a nice girl get such a complex tattoo? She was an enigma. That just made her more beautiful than ever to him. He knew he could not resist her every will. He was ensnared by the dragon.