Patrick

Inspired by Wyvern's top 10 here is also my top 10. From a completely different style, as I neither haven't heard of any of the bands Wyvern wrote about. Some of the decisions had been quite hard, but I'm sort of happy with the order. Note that not all of the albums are from 2005, I just acquired all of them last year. Honourable mentions: Salvus - an amateur hungarian band, who haven't released a full album yet, but the demos you can find on their site (3 demos so far) show an immense amount of development and I think in the future can become one of the best Hungarian metal bands. Stream of Passion - Embrace the Storm (2005) A side project by Arjen Anthon Lucassen (more below) featuring recently discovered singer Marcela Bovio. Only barely missed the list. Kamelot - Karma (2005) Also only barely missed the list. And now for the list: 10. Dream Theater - Images and Words (1992) And with number 10 I'll immediately contradict my statement of having acquired all of the albums last year, as I've had this one since 2003, but I can still listen to it very happily. In my opinion the best of Dream Theater's albums, it's definitely the one, which has aged the best. Tracks like Another Day, Pull me Under and Take the Time are still as good, or even better than when I first heard them. 9. Katatonia - Viva Emptiness (2003) Katatonia are a not very widely known Swedish band. This album, which I got my hands on in July was a pretty pleasant surprise to me. Despite the sometimes simple style of the songs, they are all well written and performed, alltogether a great album. If I had to choose then Burn the Remembrance would be the favourite song from this album. 8. Ayreon - The Human Equation (2004) A double-album created by dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen Anthony Lucassen, this album has around a dozen singers on it, three of them representing characters of a story, while the others represent the emotions of the lead character, who after finding out his wife has cheated on him drives his car into a tree and is in a coma. A nicely done concept album, the singers are very well chosen (includes James LaBrie from Dream Theater and other well known metal/rock singers), as are the instrumentalists. Favourite tracks would be Love and Loser. 7. Evergrey - A Night to Remember (live) (2005) In 2004 and the first half of 2005 Evergrey were my favourite band. I went to see them twice in concert during the spring, and this 2 disc live CD was made during that tour. The songs are superbly recorded, and the whole atmosphere of the concerts comes through in a way, which gets close to that during the concerts. I even bought the live DVD for this one and the video is also very professionally done. Favourite song would definitely be A Touch of Blessing, which is much much better live than on the album version. Tom S. Englund, the singer has one of the most powerful (not shouting-wise, but by the ability to make it carry emotions) voices I have heard in the metal bands of today. 6. James LaBrie - Elements of Persuasion (2005) Solo album by Dream Theater's singer, who puts together a great album, which is capable of beating nearly any Dream Theater album (with the possible exception of Images and Words). His vocals are possibly even more powerful than on various Dream Theater albums. The song Slightly out of Reach was my altogether favourite song in the first half of 2005, with the awesome guitar solo and the very well fitting vocals in the middle. 5. Orphaned Land - Mabool (2004) I had never heard of Orphaned Land, an Israelian group, when a friend passed me one of their CDs during the summer. They play a very interesting blend of metal and middle-eastern music. The album is a concept album about a flood coming and then an ark, which resembles the story of Noah's ark too much for it to be coincidence. The mixture of instruments makes for a very interesting sound, which made me able to listen to this album on repeat for several hours. An interesting fact is that they sing in five different languages, which are English, Latin, Hebrew, Arabic and I think greek, but I'm not sure of that last one. Lots of favourites to mention. 4. Therion - Lemuria/Sirius B (2004) Therion started out as a death metal band and kept that approach on their first two albums but since then have made an about turn and now play progressive metal. Another double album on the list (makes already three). Their most recent album and definitely the best so far. One song especially, The Voyage of Gurdijeff captured some very interesting images. 3. Opeth - Still Life (1999) Opeth were nearly the discovery of the year for me (read below for continuation). I had heard of them previously but never bothered to check out their music. I should have checked them out earlier. Mikael Åkerfeldt is a great singer, mastering both normal singing and grunts and the music is really built around his vocal talents. 2. Haggard - Eppur si Muove (2004) The discovery of the year for me (thanks Sweet!), a mixture of metal and classical music (the group has some fifteen members). I had honestly thought that they would make number one on my list, but after a listen to both of the top two albums I had to push it down to number two. A concept album about the life of Galileo Galilei, I was blown away by how much I liked this album. The third song of it Per Aspera ad Astra is definitely my favourite song of the end of the year. And finally... 1. Opeth - Ghost Reveries (2005) Another Opeth one. Their most recent album, and one of the very rare albums in recent years that I bought within a week that it came out. This album is very consistently strong and although none of its tracks can beat the above mentioned Per Aspera ad Astra they are following closely in its heels. Ghost Reveries was voted album of the year or 2nd or 3rd on a lot of metal sites around the world, and has helped Opeth a lot. I recently read an article where metal group bandmembers described their favourite albums of the year and Ghost Reveries figured quite prominently. I could mention nearly all of the songs from this album as favourites, so I won't. So that was my top 10 (ok, really 13) of 2005.

Laughing loudly, Laura leaves.

Ming hadn't understood a single word of what the strange man had said. She frowned deep in thought, then with a sudden movement broke off a large chunk of bark from the tree next to her. She took out her knife and etched a drawing into the bark's inner surface. She divided the piece of bark into three parts, in the first part she drew a crude picture where she was arriving on ship to the shores of this land. On the second she drew herself seeing Troy from afar, and finally in the third part she drew a very rough, albeit recognizable sketch of herself, and next to it her name written down. The whole process took but ten minutes. She handed the piece of bark to Robby, and tried explaining at the same time with gestures the message she was trying to transmit with the piece of bark.

Procuring this particular present had not been easy, and keeping it hidden was even harder. But he had managed so far. He crept into #thepen and pointed out Panther to the baby panther, who at three weeks old was just discovering the world. "But which one is it? The one with the _ or the one with the -?" - the little panther asked. Patham frowned. Indeed there was one P-Away and a P_Away. He thought for a moment, then nudged the baby panther in its backside. "Oh, just go there." The little four legged animal cautiously approached the two unmoving Panthers, then when it got there licked the paw of one of them, letting out what it thought was a roar, but in reality was just a small miaou. The ribbon around the little panther's neck, along with the small card told that he was a gift from Patham.

Thanks for the character idea Mynx. I'll play Cedric Fernsworth, a man in his early fifties, who has retired rich from a life of trading. Upon settling down he started looking for a wife, and fell in love with Susan, a 16 year old young girl. After negotiating with her parents, and giving them a large sum of money to help them out of their monetary difficulties the wedding was arranged. Cedric genuinely loves Susan and does not realise that she might not want this marriage. *rushes back to study for his two upcoming exams*

As stated in the Q&A thread I'm also interested. Character will follow later, as now I should be studying.

Jacob is dressed in fine livery, which however does not reveal his origins, since the message he is carrying is of secret nature, and if he were captured it would be quite important to not be able to tell where he came from and where he is going to. He has shoulderlength brown hair, and almost matching colour brown eyes. In case someone stumbles upon Jacob and his horse: Yellowmane was directly hit by this most recent bolt of light and all that remains of him are charred pieces of bone and flesh, which vaguely resemble a horse's shape. Jacob has badly hit his head on the rock and by the time someone would find him it would have bleeded quite a lot onto the rock behind him.

The storm overtook Jacob, just as he cleared the forest. At least he would not be under the trees as lightning struck. As he rid hard west on his trusted companion, Yellowmane he saw lightning alight a tree on a distant hill. He kicked his boots hard into Yellowmane's sides, and the stallion added more speed to his already considerable pace. Speed was essential. Being the king's most trusted messenger, and carrying the one message, which could save the kingdom from ruin made speed an utmost necessity. His health and that of Yellowmane were only secondary. The rain dripping from his hair obscured his sight, and he relied more on Yellowman's instincts than his own judgment. He had been through much with this horse and it saddened him that soon he would have to abandon him. Already some signs of age were showing in the stallion's movements, and he was not as fast as he had been in his golden days, but he was still the fastest horse available to Jacob. The rain increased in intensity as did the lightning, striking more and more often. Thunder rolled almost continuosly over the plains. Suddenly a bolt of lightning struck within 100 yards of the galloping horse. Yellowmane almost bolted in fear, but Jacob's grip kept him going. The next bolt of lightning fell much closer, and sent Jacob flying off of Yellowmane. His head struck a rock as he landed and all went black around him.

The way I had been writing so far was writing the whole story and then going over it to make corrections and add or take away a few parts, but with the story I am writing right now, I write the draft of one chapter, go over it several times and then go on to the next chapter. So I guess I have a bit of both swooper and basher in me.

Wyvern had asked me to note in the co-written post the parts written by him, if anyone else wants me to do this with the parts they wrote with me, just tell me either in PM, IRC, MSN or here in this thread.

Written by me Heather looked around to see who, of the remaining two, she could interview. She had wanted to interview Wyvern as last, but she would have to interview him now, as the other contestant had not arrived yet. She sighed, and motioned to Dave to follow her, as she made her way through the vegetation to reach the reptilian elder. Written by Wyvern The chirping of the cicadas lost its resonance to the roaring currents of the waterfall as Heather and Dave approached the area where Wyvern had last been seen. Heather carefully lifted a vine and twisted her nose at a buzzing mosquito. She ducked her head, careful not to let the vine touch her fine hair, then let it fall into Dave's face. The large waterfall crashed down craggy cliffs into an ominous pool of rapids, like a feral jumbo-sized celebrity hot tub. "Wyvern?" Heather scanned over the clearing while Dave panned out and filmed the nature scene, fufilling his secret ambition of making New Age music DVDs. A high-pitched squeal of distress caused the two explorers to turn. "Haaaallllllllllllllllpppp!" Heather squinted and covered her forehead with a hand as she glanced up in the direction of the studio lights. Her eyes widened as she spotted Wyvern near the top of the highest tree, clinging to an unstable branch that swayed up and down. "Uuhhh, Dave?" Heather motioned with one hand, her eyes glued to the branch. "Could you, uhhh, could you help?" "Arrrggghhh!" Wyvern snarled at the squirrel that made its way onto the branch. The tree limb creaked downward more as the squirrel began wapping its tail. content with the acorn it was eating. "G-g-get off, n-no room here!" Dave set his camera down and moved to the base of the tree. "Yaaaaaaaaa!" Wyvern cringed as a bird landed on his horn, causing the branch to creak again. The bird hopped onto the lizard's scaly head and sat there for a long moment, only to produce an egg. The branch swayed downward with a crack, half broken from weight. "Sh-sh-sshhhhhoo! Off off!" Dave turned to Heather with a frown and held his hands out, not finding anyway up the tree. "Eep." Wyvern froze up as the mosquito that had buzzed around Heather's face earlier began circling his head. He watched it buzz around idly for a moment, then shut his eyes as it landed on his other horn, causing the branch to snap. "Aaaaaiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeee!" Wyvern plummeted down the waterfall, only to land in the rapids below with a loud crack as the falling tree branch hit him over the head. He sank into the rapids unconscious, flailing his claws above the surface in one final last-ditch effort to find stable ground. Written by me “Get help!” – Dave shouted to Heather, as he stripped off his shirt, removed his pants and then jumped after the reptilian elder. Heather standing just a few feet away stood there rooted to the spot. It was only three minutes later, when Jeremiah, the second cameraman got there that she snapped out of her trance-like state. Jeremiah was pointing at Dave’s equipment “Where is…” he noticed Dave struggling below in the waters to hold up Wyvern’s head above the water. He didn’t even take off his clothes as he jumped over the edge. Five minutes later the two of them managed to half-drag, half-push the unconscious body to the shore, where Heather, who had in the meantime fetched Fred was waiting. “Is he ok?” – she asked anxiously. Dave motioned to the onset doctor to walk over. After the short, bald man listened to the lizard’s heartbeat he pronounced that nothing was wrong, Wyvern had only swallowed a bit of water, and he should come to any moment. “Heather, go and tell the guests, and then announce it to our public that the show shall be at least half an hour late.” – Dave asked her, and Heather did as she was told. Written by Wyvern Wyvern coughed and sputtered as he lifted himself from the pool surrounding him. His eyelids flickered open as he noticed the bald doctor curling up his stethoscope and placing it in his medical bag. The overgrown lizard jumped to his feet and raised a claw in a miraculous recovery of strength, pointing towards the doctor with an accusational cough. "No hossspital bills!" The disgust on the lizard's face deepened as he looked over his soaked scales, dribbling water and trembling. "Yeesh, aren't there any towel bushes around here? What sorta fashion jungle is this anyway?" Wyvern snatched a towel from Jeremiah, then pointed towards Dave. "Ron-" "Dave." "Right. Dave, lissssten, if you see the Heather chick tell'er it was all a stunt to express my appreciation for her new picture offer." The lizard sneered and rubbed a claw on his chest. "The fact that a gigantic tree and a waterfall sprouted from the ground directly under me was purely coincidental. I'm gonna go freshen up before this thing starts, can't go waddlin' around like some amphibian when the quiz goes public after all. See you when I get firssst place." With that, Wyvern began to dash away from the clearing, only to trip over a vine a few feet away from him and fall face first into a bramble bush. The lizard lifted himself from the bush, bowed to Dave and Jeremiah with a cringe, then ran out of the clearing in the direction of the dressing rooms...

Indifference Myrna didn’t even bother looking back. She had met John at high school, and he had ever since had a crush on her. “Just go away, John. We’ve talked about this several times and you know that it’s just not going to happen.” She finally found the right key, and opened the door. “I have a warrant to search your home, Myrna. I’m here on official business.” John’s voice was flat and expressionless. For a moment she thought about refusing to let him into the apartment, but she could see that the paper he had in his hands was a genuine search warrant. And besides, her day had been bad enough so far. Why should she even care? “Have a look then if you wish. I’ll be in the bathroom. I’ve had a tiring day, and just want to have a relaxing bath.” She went to the bathroom and after undressing waited for the water running from the tap to get steaming hot before sitting into the bath. For several minutes she heard John moving around in the apartment, opening drawers, moving around furniture. Her thoughts were still on the meeting of that morning. …you are no longer our president It had at first surprised, even angered her that they had done it, but thinking back she didn’t really care. The post had been eating away too much of her precious time anyway. She dipped her head under the water, wetting her hair. When she came up, John was standing in the doorway of the bathroom. “How do you dare...!” “I thought you might be able to explain this to me. It is one of the forty packets I found stuffed inside of your mattress.” – said John holding up a small bag filled with white powder in his gloved hand. Next word: Rage

Patham shakily stood up, and tried surveying the battle around him, but he could not bring his eyes to focus. As he wondered how serious concussion he had received he failed to notice that he was unconsciously shifting between his two forms in a rapid succession, several times within a second even. One moment his owl hearing heard a troll bearing down at him from behind, then as a human he tried ducking, and the moment after that, the troll's swing went clean over him, as he had again shifted to his owl form. It only added to Patham's confusion. He finally managed to make his eyes focus and could turn to face the troll behind him. His sudden shifts of shape had stopped and Patham was now in his human form. He reached inside of his cloth tunic, and drew out the dagger. As he looked at his own reflection in the blade, memories suddenly washed over him. He knew nothing as he fought against the beast, as it was merely reflexes, and something more, which guided him. Patham was lost in his memories. The one and only thing, which reminded him of his father, was this dagger. Its blade had never been blooded before. In a circular pattern around the hilt, below the metallic blade, his father had carved a phrase, which Patham had always tried living by. Do not judge others, until you are ready to judge yourself... Patham suddenly snapped out of his memories. He saw that blood covered his left leg. He first thought that he had been gravely wounded, but then realised from the smell, and the colour of the darkish liquid that it was the troll’s blood. Looking in front of him Patham saw the troll lying on the ground, seemingly unmoving. He walked round its feet, which were of the size of small tree trunks, and went to inspect its head. Upon seeing the clawed out eyes he realised that this was the troll he had wounded while in owl form. Glancing at his dagger, he noted the thick blood on it. The wound in the troll's chest showed where the dagger had hit it. As he reached the creature's head, which reached to his waist, he could hear its breath coming out in gasps. It was clearly nearing the end of its life, and greatly suffering. The dagger must have pierced some vital organ. Kneeling down, Patham touched the trolls head. These creatures were mostly forced by their circumstances, into being the monsters they became. In Patham's mind it was clear that they did not deserve to suffer. They had come into this battle, knowing that they might not all survive. This one had drawn the short straw in the fight against Patham. Patham lifted his dagger and with one swift movement, cut the creature's throat, putting it out of its misery in a few seconds. He then stood up and turned to see how his friends were faring against the remainder of the creatures.

Thanks for the comments Wyv and Sweet! I do plan to have another look at this story, but first I'll concentrate on my QQ and Lost. Oh and Wyv, I haven't forgotten your PM, just haven't had the time to reply yet.

In this game/writing activity you have to write about an emotion or feeling, without actually using that word. For example you would get cozy, and you could write about cuddling up with a blanket. There is no constraint on how long a written piece can be, it just has to convey the feeling or emotion. Just to give an even better idea of what this all would look like, me and Sweet shall give examples of possible solutions. Stressed 02:41: could you send over the documentation for the project? I’ll print it in my room. 02:42: sure 02:42: sending 02:42 crap, only 5 hours left till we hand this in 02:42 Jack sends documentation.doc . . . 02:45 sending complete 02:45 stupid slow connection… 02:46 wait! 02:46 forgot to change something . . . 04:52 I hope everything is right in that version . . . 05:17 come on! 05:17 my printer can’t be doing this to me 05:17 not now! . . . 05:32 phew…managed to get it working again . . . 05:49 I wish it printed faster than 1 page every min… 05:50 jeez…that’s slow . . . 06:12 crap! 06:12 I’m out of paper…damn, damn, damn… . . . 06:15 how many pages are you missing? 06:16 17 . . . 06:20 I’ll print it in uni before class 06:21 Jack has signed off . . . 07:30 Jack has signed in (web-based client) 07:31 there are like a dozen people waiting to print…this’ll never work! . . . Next word is Indecisive

Dasha had never thought that playing with the boys in the city’s ruins could be so exciting. Since her parents had been killed three months earlier in a German bombing raid, she had lived with several other families in the shelters, and at times they sneaked out to play ball, in the parts of the city, which were least touched by the fighting. Today the sky was grey, and the smell of gunpowder could be felt even this far from the frontlines. The battle for Stalingrad was raging on in the distance, but for Dasha and the three boys she was playing with war was only a distant smell and a barely audible background noise. They were playing ball in the crippled ruins of an old hospital. Only a tattered and torn ground floor remained. Strangely the reception area was still whole, and it was against one of its walls that they kicked the bright red ball. Dasha and her friends were wearing grey clothes, not because they liked to, but because in the siege everything became bleak and grey. The vivid colour of the ball contrasted starkly against the monotone colours of the background. Even the normally immaculately white walls of the building, which had once been a hospital, were smeared grey by dust. Petja, the oldest of the makeshift bunch, kicked the ball too hard, and it sailed over the ruined wall of the hospital. “I’ll get it!” – Dasha shouted. She ran after the ball. The German sniper saw only the bright red colour of the ball, and a figure moving to get it when he depressed the trigger.

"Hi! At last we've found you!" - Patham said, then noticing the shocked and fearful gaze of Sweetcherrie he realized that something was wrong. He turned, following her stare, and noticed the trolls. He started shouting while he shapeshifted: "I'll take the ..." Unfortunately the rest of the sentence came out in owlish, as he was already in that form. The first thing he noticed was the extremely sickening smell of the trolls. It showed him how much more sensitive his owl nose was compared to the one he disposed of in human form. He flew at the nearest nose, and nearly ended up in its gaping mouth, as showing a rare moment of intelligence, the creature had tried to bite Patham into two. Only swerving upwards towards the eyes had allowed Patham to avoid almost certain death. Once he was there, he decided to exploit his situation, and with his claws he aimed at the troll's eyes. He managed to claw out the right eye and severely damage the left one, before a sweeping blow by the troll's right arm made him fly through the air. The troll let out a low-pitched moan, and moving around blinded, and in pain crashed into another troll, knocking both of them to the ground. Both started to get up slowly. Patham, reeling from the force of the blow, managed to crash land not far from the trolls, and just sat on the ground, the glazed expression on his eyes showing that he had no idea what had just happened.

Patham moved up the winding stairway in the Mighty Pen Keep. He climbed until he finally reached the floor where Sweetcherrie’s room was located. He turned right, and made his way to the door. He paused there, listening to determine whether or not Sweetcherrie was in her room. He heard the faint sounds of a quill scribbling on parchment. She must be working on another great story or poem. Patham thought, and then knocked on the door, quickly hiding the package behind his back afterwards. The sounds of the quill on the parchment stopped and he heard Sweetcherrie moving towards the door. She opened the door and motioned Patham to enter. She hadn’t been expecting him. “What can I do for you?” She asked. Patham stayed silent for several seconds. Suddenly from the distance he heard a bell strike midnight. “Happy Birthday!” he shouted. Patham then brought his hands out from behind his back. A package wrapped in red- and blue striped wrapping paper was now visible. Sweetcherrie took it, curious as to what was inside. As she started tearing the paper away, the package suddenly moved on its own with muffled sounds coming from inside it. “Don’t worry, it’s not a bomb” Patham said reassuringly. Under the decorations was a cardboard box with three circular shaped holes in one side. The movement and sounds were now more discernable. “Is it…?” Sweetcherrie asked. “Just open it,” Patham suggested. As she lifted the lid from the box a small puppy jumped out and landed on her shoulder, trying to hold on with his small paws. Smiling, she lifted him up to take a closer look. As she did so the puppy stuck out his tongue and licked Sweetcherrie’s nose. “There is one more thing” Patham said, “although this isn’t from me. Mynx wanted to come, but she has to travel to far away lands, and couldn’t make it. She asked me to give you this.” Patham fished for a few seconds in his pockets and produced a red coloured gem. A chain followed it, and a few seconds later Sweetcherrie was holding the puppy in one hand and a fire coloured ruby on a silver pendant in the other. OOC: A very happy birthday Sweet! Hope it is great and that the next year turns out as you want it to.

6 also does, doesn't it?

I have removed a paragraph from the last chapter posted here at the pen, as it did not work together with upcoming chapters I have started writing. I'm going to add a list here of what I still want to write about in the story both so as to help guide myself and to let people know which way I want to take the story. Not all shall necessarily be added, and the order might change. -Upon arriving in Paris, Stephen is arrested at the train station by French police. -The next day he is extradited to London, where to his surprise he receives a lawyer who works for Ian Davis. -Davis pays bail for Stephen, and has a lengthy talk with him, in which he tells him that Alan Johnson works for McCluney and that for some reason McCluney wants to kill Stephen. Davis also tells Stephen that he had given the French police the tip, because in Paris Johnson had already been waiting for Stephen. -Leanne arrives in London, and has a private moment with Stephen, during which he tells her that he is in love with someone else. -Alan Johnson arrives in Edinburgh, where he meets with Lieutenant McNeil. We learn that Johnson is an undercover police officer, who wants to capture Stephen. -Sergeant Kittle visits Rachel, just when Stephen calls her at home. Stephen tells him about his earlier phonecall with Johnson. -Sergeant Kittle is fatally wounded by Johnson, who heard the recording of the conversation between him and Stephen. Kittle manages to tell Rachel what Stephen had told him before dying. -Hicks, Stephen and Leanne travel to Glasgow, to confront McCluney, but find that he has been murdered. -Rachel goes to the Police to tell Lieutenant McNeil about what Kittle had told her, but as she finishes Alan Johnson comes out from the adjoining room. -Hicks, Stephen and Leanne go to Rachel's place in Edinburgh, where they find Lieutenant McNeil. Leanne sacrifices herself to save Stephen, and McNeil is also killed. He reveals the truth about Johnson before dying. -Final showdown.

Happy Birthday drummondo! Hope it is/was a good one!

Patham idles into Wyvern's office, and is slightly surprised to find an applicant there. Patham picks up the application from the desk and scans through it. "This looks quite well written." He says once he's finished and puts back the paper on the desk as he had found it. "I'm looking forward to see more of your works." He turns to leave. "Oh I almost forgot." He says. "My name is Patham and I'm more or less a shapeshifter. I've got to go now, but I'm sure Wyvern shall be along shortly."

The Madame sailed through the door much like a galley sails into a harbour that's been built to accommodate small fishing vessels. Her deep blue robes, accentuated by a few kilos of golden jewellery moved just as majestically as she did when she approached the first person she saw. “The Madame knows that you can give her directions.” As soon as The Madame arrived Heather and a cameraman were nearly immediately next to her. The interviews had started running late, and they had to hurry them up if they wanted to leave a chance to the video editors to be able to cut all of the material before the show started. "Ah Madame! We have been expecting your arrival!" - Heather said. "You have come to the right place if you were looking for the quiz show. I'm sorry that I don't have much time to explain, but due to some unfortunate time constraints we need to do an interview before I can explain things in detail. I hope this doesn't inconvenience you?" “Of course not. The Madame understands better than anyone how much time can be a problem, because she very often has problems with is herself. That prize, if the geld part will happen, then it would, of course, be invested in the Pen through participation in another project.” With a mysterious smile she added, “The item ... the Madame will have a special use for that.” Heather nodded. She hated to admit it, but she was slowly starting to become nervous as the show approached. She didn't even question how the Madame had known the question she was just about to ask. Some people around here, she had come to expect, were going to surprise her. "Ok...next question. Why did you sign up for the show?" “Because it was in my fate to do so. The stars themselves spoke to me and told me that it was necessary.” Suppressing her surprise at some of the answers was starting to become a reflex for Heather. She then remembered that she had forgotten a quite important part of the interview. "Excuse me, but I seem to have forgotten something...would you mind telling us a bit about yourself?" “Well, as you know, I am Madame Artsuhtaraz, greatest fortune teller on this world and probably three more. You may know me from the horoscopes in the Mighty Pen Gazette, and the advice I give to “Abby”, and you may call me Madame. I believe that that is all that matters for now?” "Just one more question...would you use your fortune telling powers to find the answers of the quiz questions?" The Madame got a somewhat insulted look on her face. "Of course, the Madame would do no such thing!" At least that answer was expected, Heather smiled to herself. She thanked the Madame and turned, looking for the next subject to interview. Just as Heather turned, the Madame sailed past her, onwards to where she'd find the other waiting candidates. Now that she was here, she might as well get a look at the competition...

Here is the story I came up with: http://www.patrickdurham.net/themightypen/index.php?showtopic=14228

Part 2 of 2 "I had a pretty uneventful day at the office." Mum tells me. Dad's story is a bit more interesting. "Today as I was going to work I was stopped in the subway by a man, who said that he was recruiting for an organization which was helping poor children in Africa. He was really polite and I had a hard time telling him that I wasn't interested. Then, imagine my surprise when while coming back from work I see the same man in the subway. We had quite a long talk, and me and Mum might do some volunteer work, like collecting used clothes for them during the summer." I smile. Dad is such a caring person. He doesn't only care about me, but all the other kids also. I start telling them what my day had been like. "I woke up around six in the morning and had all sorts of tests done on me. The doctors didn't leave me alone during the whole day. Even half an hour before you came they were still looking at me and talking between themselves in doctorish, using lots of terms I didn't even understand." When I say doctorish I can see a smile come to Mum's face, but it quickly disappears as a tear slides down her cheek. "Why are you sad, Mum?" She tries smiling before replying, but she doesn't succeed too well. "It's nothing, honey." She says, but I know that she isn't telling the truth in order to protect me. I decide not to push the matter. Mum always knows better. "Darling, is there anything you want?" Dad asks. I shake my head. I have everything I can have here. I even have a plush gerbil who reminds me of Sam, but will never be able to replace him. It all comes suddenly. The machine next to me emits a frantic wail as if someone had poked a needle in its side. The pain comes a fraction of a second later. I only vaguely feel Mum grabbing hold of my hand, while Dad moves to open the door through which Dr. O'Brien is already rushing in. Another of the machines gives a sudden noise, changing from the constant slow beeps to ever faster beeps. I don't understand what is happening to me. Suddenly my head feels as if it were ready to explode, and a cloudy haze descends in front of my eyes. I feel my other hand being taken. The haze momentarily clears and I see Dad's face above me. "Can she see me now?" I hear him say. I blink. He leans closer and kisses me. "I love you." He says before I see him succomb to tears. It is the first time I see him cry. When Mum leans in to kiss me I can see that her tears are flowing freely. Suddenly I realise what is happening. I understand why Mum had been so sad. But I have no time to think any more about it. I am going to see Sam very soon...