A dream had just come true. Ashley looked back at us with a huge smile. I wanted to walk over to her, but Mike stopped me."The second reason,", he con...tinued, "is for you to learn restraint. Having her in your life will mean a lot of fun, pleasure and of course a lot of mutual affection shared between the two of you. But it also means you'll have to punish her from time to time." His voice had become very critical at the end. "And you are not capable of doing that. Not right now, anyways. So you. Maxine could feel herself clenching her fists as Victoria leant close to Gregg's ear. She forced herself to relax. There would be plenty of opportunity later to amuse herself at Ms Leon's expense."It's simple, Maxine will help," Gregg said before turning to the audience. "Ladies & gentlemen, not just one vanishing lady but two. Your appreciation please."Gregg went through his usual patter, showing the girls around the cabinet, wheeling it this way and that and spinning it around, opening and. "Well, I'd like to thank you all for coming to my birthday party," I said. "I'll be fourteen tomorrow." No way! You can't be as old as me," Courtney whined."I just haven't grown as much," I said. There went Jennifer again. I figured it out. She wasn't really stuck up. She just kept trying to ignore everything so she wouldn't snort. If she just let go with a good laugh she probably wouldn't snort."Okay, so is there going to be a cake and candles tomorrow?" Debbie asked. I panicked. There. That if free will were not an illusion, then going back in time should have caused a causality violation." Which would do what?" Jim wasn't sure. He wasn't too happy though. He muttered something about all of reality unraveling, and then looked very embarrassed... more confused than frightened. I can't wait to talk with him again."The two walked outside the tent to stretch their legs. The night stars had the familiar look of Earth. "Mom? This looks just like Earth! But where's the moon?" The.