mg_11 cr0wl dennis browne yanked the magic pod pod helmet from graham's head, startling him from his reverie. he tossed it like dirty laundry. graham sighed. the dream of meeting molly in her apartment was a kaleidoscopic swirl of ecstasy, coating his memory with an overload of distinct pleasure. she had slowly undressed before him, one item of clothing at a time until she displayed her unblemished nakedness like a fully opened peony and he marveled like all painters of the nude form have done before him, feeling his breath escaping in a series of short, crimped bursts. he trembled, unable to prevent his own body's natural reaction to this sudden, stunning, overwhelming beauty. when it was his turn, in the shadow of molly's blush he pulled his shirt off, stepped out of his jeans, and dropped his boxers. when they were equal in their willing vulnerability, he accepted her, and ravished the balance of her soft and firm and wet places as if the concept of time was never conceived. there was not one part of her that he did not touch. he was a visitor to the foreign country she was and he learned the language like a blind man reads braille. he did not fall asleep lest he miss something, lest he failed to exhaust every possible moment to explore her. when the first light of dawn filtered through the window, he was still touching her. dennis browne shook him with violence. graham startled again and with sinking frustration watched his vision dissolve and slip away. rain into the earth. "wake the fuck up!" he shouted. "they're out there." grabbing the shotgun, he popped it open and loaded the oiled chamber and pumped it into place. moving about the confines of the donkey-pulled gypsy cart with frenzied distress, he yanked open the closet door and snatched a three foot long saber from its hooks on the wall. a bottle of wine dropped to the floor but did not break. "here," he said, his jaw set. "you might need this if things get crazy." with the sword in his right hand and a nervous kufraya in the crook of his left arm, graham sat tight, and tried to shake his mind free of molly. he watched dennis browne poke through the sunroof, a paranoid periscope. he heard him shout to balthazar to bring them to a stop, but still the sticky cobwebs of the erotic teen dream lingered. it stung like a burn. finally, when the first shot rang out, scattering birds from trees, he snapped out of his haze. this is not a dream, he realized. this is life looking at death and raising its eyebrows. "fucking shit!" dennis browne screamed. he missed. he could hear the pellets entering the yielding barks of hundred year-old oaks. the echoing blast stopped two of the tigers in their tracks. the third one, its slick body camouflaged by the fall colors, disappeared into the undergrowth. the cart came to a sliding halt and twisted slightly to the right. dennis browne pushed the door open with his shoulder and was arrested by the abrupt presence of the angry animals. one of the tigers growled and came right for him, moving with deliberate, purposeful force. the other turned to the right and sprung straight for balthazar. 101104 ... crowli molly pressed her lips together and gawked at gray, unable to stop her brain from swirling in a mental tornado of disapproving opinions. she was fighting with her own exhaustion now, and her eyes burned and her ears buzzed in response to her body’s demand for sleep. molly rubbed at her bloodshot eyes, and for the first time in a long time, she thought about her appearance. she felt as though she had been in the same clothes for days, even though she knew she hadn’t. the sunset at the beach seemed like a lifetime ago, and the whole butterfly queen experience felt as though it had all happened in a dream. ‘was any of that even real?’ molly thought to herself as her confusion competed with fatigue and threatened to overwhelm her. she felt a tug of longing and found herself missing the maternal affection she got from the queen.   molly ran her fingers through her tangled curls and sighed.   “i….i….think i should take a rest and try to eat something before i consider going anywhere.” molly said, making an attempt at a conciliatory response to the strange “toast.” to her own ears she sounded far away and alone, but she needed to buy some time to think.   “rest?!” gray spat out, outwardly irritated that molly was being so uncooperative. “are you crazy? this is some good shit….i promise….c’mon sister, you gotta live a little….this stuff will make you absolutely FLY!”   molly was acutely aware that she was whining, but yet she continued her invective, ignoring the party that sat in front of her. “and beyond being tired,  i’m hungry, and i must look like such a mess….i cant go anywhere in these clothes. i didn’t even put on makeup to go to the beach this morning.”   molly stood up and paced across the creaking floorboards, and shivered as tiny goosebumps overtook the flesh on her thighs and arms. the temperature was dropping and the fire had gone out. molly stood in front of the hearth and contemplated her dilemma for a moment and then quickly busied herself with arranging the four remaining logs into a workable stack for a fire. she looked around for a match to light the small amount of kindling she’d placed underneath the wood, and found nothing.   stepping onto the stone hearth to bring herself to eye-level of the massive mantle, molly immediately gasped in startled surprise when she saw the small box of multicolored wooden matches, for atop the box was her butterfly! emerald green accented with royal blue, it sat in its elegant beauty, quietly flapping its wings open and closed as if in slow motion.   on one wing were the words, “she will help you.” and on the other, “find your answers.”   “she will help me find what answers?” molly grumbled under her breath to the butterfly. when she reached for the matches, the butterfly took flight into the darkness. molly shook her head in disbelief and wondered if she was starting to imagine things. she took a red match from the box, swiped it across the stone hearth, and holding it steady to the pile of twigs, she lit the fire and watched the flames spring to life.    grayson watched molly intently but said nothing. she knew she had been somewhat forceful with the girl, but she had a mission to accomplish.   gray thought about the tiger king and exhaled her breath in a short burst. she would stop at nothing to please him….she would not fail.  she was, however, going to need to change her methods in order to be more persuasive, gray reasoned, because although molly hadn’t flat out said "no way" she wasn’t exactly complying either. pulling another cigarette from her pack and taking her time lighting it, gray considered a new, less aggressive plan.   suddenly molly stalked back toward the small table, the set in her shoulders suggesting that she had newly acquired confidence from some unknown source. “is that really what i think it is?” molly asked pointing at the two thin powdery white lines that waited patiently atop the mirror. her tone was nothing less than accusatory.   “are you really who you think you are?” gray shot back at molly, her black eyes piercing molly’s to the point that the girl squirmed with discomfort.   grayson shook her head, and setting her cigarette on the edge of the table, she softened her features decisively and reached for molly’s hand. “come here sister, and watch me….blow is really no big deal….its just a little bit of ‘snazz’ to give us some energy….you do what you want…..i’m not gonna force you to have a good time, but remember.... you’re the one who said you were tired.”   gray re-rolled the twenty dollar bill into a satisfactory straw, and with an exaggerated exhale, she first drained her lungs, then bent her head over the mirror. in one fluid motion, she moved the money straw in her right hand up to her right nostril, and with her other hand pressing into her left nostril, she inhaled the line of white powder, expertly and quickly inviting it into her system. gray sniffed twice as she raised her head, and sat quietly for a moment to allow the powerful stimulant to begin to work its magic. she experienced the familiar chemical taste draining down the back of her throat, numbing it, and as the rush of euphoria overtook her, she closed her eyes and smiled in unmistakable pleasure.   “okay! let’s get to work!” gray bounced out of her chair as if she had been shocked, and she literally ran across the gazebo and opened a large armoire that molly hadn’t noticed before. “come here sister!” molly cast furtive backward glance at the line of powder that seemed to now be mocking her immaturity, but still, she walked away. joining gray in front of the giant red painted dresser, molly watched in amazed amusement as the punk girl pulled out article after article of clothing, tossing the items into messy piles on the floor. it appeared to molly as though the girl was in fast forward motion as she searched for certain items, but when she found what she was looking for, she stopped abruptly.   “here—put these on,”gray ordered with intention.   molly didn’t argue. she undressed quickly down to her bikini, and just as she was about to insert her leg into the soft denim of the red engine jeans, gray threw her hands up into the air in apparent distaste and yelled, “whoa! wait. stop. what exactly are you thinking?"   molly looked self consciously down at her bathing suit. she never gave a second thought to throwing on clothes over a dry swim suit, and wondered just exactly what the big deal was. however, gray had already procured a new “outfit” for her to wear underneath.   “you never know who might see these ya know….” gray said with a twinkle in her eye that molly couldn’t quite decipher.   molly abandoned her bashful reservations, and was naked in an instant. but for just a second. she put on the cream colored satin lace-edged panties, and the matching bra. everything fit her perfectly. she walked closer to the mirror on the door of the armoire and regarded her appearance with wide eyed pleasure. ‘is it possible for something you wear underneath your clothes to make you feel….so.....well.....sexy?' molly thought to herself, smiling broadly at the enhancement the new bra offered to the swells of her smallish chest. the color perfectly set off her tanned belly and thighs, and though no one had ever seen her this scarcely dressed, molly secretly wondered if graham would be the first. her belly was unexpectedly burning with a hunger for more than food.   “okay, sister….get going.....get dressed." gray prodded molly to move it along, and molly complied, tugging on the snug fitting jeans, the brown woven wool sweater material uggs, and ultimately the body hugging, cream colored lightweight cashmere sweater. the luxurious v-neck was bisected horizontally by the red garnet colored beads that rested into molly's collarbones. intently regarding her reflection in the mirror, molly sighed. she looked really pretty, she thought, except for the rats nest that her hair had become, and the face that was still devoid of make up. though her look was definitively simpler than gray’s extreme appearance, molly still felt like she wasn’t quite “put together.”   “thanks gray….the clothes are great. are they yours?” molly asked.   “no. they’re yours.” she replied with a nonchalant knowing shrug.   leaving molly to admire her new look, gray wandered to the small kitchenette in the far corner of the gazebo that molly also hadn't noticed was there. she retrieved a bottle of chardonnay from the refrigerator, and two glasses, along with a tray of quesadillas, tortilla chips and guacamole. gray opened the wine, poured two glasses, and pointed to the food. “eat.” she mandated, then motioned for molly to sit down in the chair next to the dresser. gray got to work brushing molly’s messy blonde locks with a soft brush, eventually pulling them into a loose braid that softly grazed her shoulders. then with the expert hands of an artist, she set to the task of applying make up. molly had her back to the mirror, and unquestioningly went along with gray, allowing her to continue with her handiwork between bites of nourishment. ‘she did well enough with my clothes,’ molly figured absently. 'wonder where all this stuff came from?'   gray worked so fast, and molly thought she seemed like she was amped up on caffeine but yet she looked so happy….like she felt absolutely terrific. molly swallowed multiple big sips of the wine and felt herself warming up as the alcohol did wonders to her mind and body with the help of her mostly empty stomach.   “so....what exactly does a coke buzz feel like?” molly asked curiously. 101106 ... cr0wl dennis browne's instincts plunged into survival mode. with one shell in the front pocket of his gaudy, gasoline-stained suit coat and the other two inserted into oily chamber of the raised shotgun, he fired at the attacking tiger as it bounded towards him twelve feet away, scattering freshly fallen leaves and the throes of decomposing ones. it disregarded the gun as if it was merely an extension of his prey's arm. dennis browne aimed for its face and pulled the trigger. the blast was like a smack of thunder when one is desperately seeking silence. fortunately it found its target and the fully-extended tiger took the screaming steel pellets at 600 mph straight into its open mouth. the aggressive force catapulted him backwards, propelling him into a series of head over heels rolls until he was stopped by the base of a massive red oak, its shriveled brown leaves still offering diminished autumn color. what was left of its head was pulp. at the same time, balthazar prepared for the second tiger which was springing towards him. the shotgun blast alarmed it and it hesitated in its course, pausing at the natural inclination to startle at loud noises, affording the defensive donkey sufficient time to gather strength in its back legs, spring-loading them with the enough force to kill. still, the tiger leapt at him only to meet the unexpected resistance of the powerful, double-hooved kick. it broke the tiger's snarling jaw, snapped its spine, and set him hurtling backwards where it crushed its skull against the low-hanging, gnarled branch of a horse chestnut tree. balthazar whined strangely, sounding triumphant but also slightly mad, as if he knew his life hung by thin, fraying ropes. dennis browne turning to see balthazar's hooves connect, shouted, "fucking right donkey boy!" however, things did not turn out quite as cheery for fourteen year-old graham. when balthazar suddenly stopped and the cart tweaked to the right, kufraya vaulted straight up in a fear-induced reaction to bolt. graham held tight, but when dennis browne fired his gun, kufraya freaked, digging her claws deep into graham's exposed forearm, breaking his glass bead bracelet, scattering all the tiny red balls to the floor of the cart where they bounced about until they stopped. on his flesh were two six inch long grooves of torn skin, already bleeding. the abrupt pain made him release his secure hold on her and she flapped out of his grasp into the sky of the forest. she threw a glance downwards on her way out to spot the hidden tiger emerging. 101108 ... crowli after a brief moment of knitting her eyebrows at molly's question, gray opted to simply tell her the truth. "it's nothing more than an expensive enhancement to compliment any adventure." she added the final touches to molly's face by using brief strokes of mascara on her long eyelashes then finally some shimmering pink lip gloss to complete the look. nodding to herself in approval, gray handed molly a small mirror. 'the girl looks at least seventeen now,' gray thought as she admired molly's face and waited for her reaction.  "wow," molly said, her eyes widening with awe as she took in her reflection. "i don't really know what to say....or.....or...how to thank you. why are you doing all this for me?" "i told you, i have been waiting for you to show up....for a really long time in fact. and we have something important going on tonight. you saw the invitation in my.....er.....your box, right?" molly thought gray seemed to be struggling to give her a "just right" explanation, as if she was trying to fabricate a believable truth from a fairy tale or perhaps from a dream. "there are things i can't tell you," gray said, "but i can tell you this....you brought me the key to our future, molly....now will ya just go with the flow and live a little?" "why all the cryptic meanings and secrecy?" molly asked pointedly. "whatever happened to good old fashioned honesty?" gray shook her head. "everyone hides who they are, and like i said earlier, who are you....really? how many bridges can one soul cross before their real identity gets all fucked the hell up?" molly simply stared at gray, and finally nodded with apparent understanding, for she knew exactly what the girl was implying.  the unlikely pair drained the bottle of nickel and nickel chardonnay in companionable silence while molly satisfied her ravenous appetite by shamelessly finishing every last morsel of the delicious food. molly noticed that gray seemed to be slowing down compared to her earlier spastic behavior, and was now taking on a more melancholy tone. the girl ate nothing. 'no wonder she's so skinny.' molly mused. "i need you to tell me how you know graham." molly said, sighing softly. "please....he...." molly paused briefly as she considered graham's glassy eyed, stoned and drunken image from mg, "he means everything to me." molly heard the desperation in her slurred words, but still she continued talking, the truth serum that alcohol can become was suddenly provoking her to share her own secrets with gray. "this absence from him has changed me; changed us. we are not together but we are not apart either....we have a connection that is really hard to explain...i dream of him all the time." gray rolled her eyes and giggled, and then purposefully ignoring molly, she abruptly stood and walked back toward the wrought iron table and chairs. she stumbled slightly along the way but righted herself by briefly grasping a potted palm tree before sliding back into her chair. she set to the task of re-rolling her twenty into a straw once again.     with her head swimming in alcohol and her emotions intensifying like a volcano bubbling to erupt like hot lava, molly stopped at the refrigerator in the tiny kitchenette and picking up another bottle of the buttery delicious chardonnay, and an opener, she followed grayson back to the table and sat down. "why are you ignoring me?" molly barely whispered the words yet she demanded the truth. "WHERE IS HE? don't you understand that i don't just need to know that? i need him!" "forget him mol, he chose a different path, if ya know what i mean....he left, so obviously he doesn't need you. period. fin. and as for how we know each other? he taught me how to surf....among other things...but you know what? he left me behind too." gray sounded wistful as she spoke, but she dismissed the topic with a raised eyebrow and a wave of the hand. she pointed at the powder beckoning from the glinting mirror. "you ready? i'll split this one with you, sister." "but in the picture....from the box? he looks like he loves me." molly shook her head indicating a 'negative' to the drugs but was unwilling to give up on the inquisition regarding graham. gray looked at molly long and hard, and chose her words carefully lest she misspeak in her drunken state and upset the girl further. "that may be, or may have been....or it might be your future....who the hell knows? however, the moral to the story is that you shouldn't need anyone to make you happy. we create our own happiness. get it? it comes from within you, not because of someone else. and your graham? he loves everyone, so don't think you're something so special to him...." molly winced when her brain digested gray's last sentiment, and she carefully placed her head into her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. two lonely tears snuck out, one from the lateral side of each closed eye. 'maybe she's right' molly thought, and with a heavy exhaling sigh, she picked her head up and squared her shoulders with purpose. "so, where's this gathering you were talking about?" molly said to gray. "that's what i'm talking about, sister." gray shot back with a smile, then bent over the mirror to inhale the remaining line of powder. "it's at my boyfriend's house. his name is brian. but its his best friend, DJ, that wants to meet you."                        101109 what's it to you? who go blather from