The beach curved as it stretched down further and further and the large rocks curved along with it. “Alexis!” Noah yelled. Nothing. Noah began to... sweat as the sun, though not quite as hot anymore, bared down upon him. Noah’s legs began to get tired, walking and running in sand is not something easy to sustain over long periods of time. He did not know what to do. His girlfriend was lost, she was not responding, and he seemed to be looking along the entire beach for them. Noah encountered a few. Not tired. She felt old, that was it. When she had tried to talk to Albert about it he had mocked her, said she thought too much, and had started in on one of those lectures about how his father and his brothers never lay round moaning when they had the Farm to run, and how that was the trouble with city people, and so on. To which she would usually reply that if his father and his brothers had been so damned smart and hard-working, then why had they all had to walk off the farm and come to the. "I don't think the painting will change anything," was all Erika said asshe exited the office. Levi had already thought of this but felt tryinganything at this point was better than giving up altogether.Across town Neil was entering Garth's room with the painting still in alarge bag."About time you got here, drinks were getting cold," laughed Garth,pointing to the glasses of scotch on the table."Sorry, I wanted to get you something." And with that Neil reached intothe bag and pulled out the. They were gone, and I was angrier than I had ever been. Shit!It was getting to be the end of September. I’d been home fuming for almost a week. I knew I was going to be harassed. There was no doubt about it. She had to do it now, harass me. She could rationalize letting me rot before, but not anymore and that reality was killing me. The man? I didn’t care about him. But her... It was the 29th. I’d wondered how long it would be before she assaulted me. Well, and then I knew. But it wasn’t her,.