’ Thor thumbed the spring-loaded toggle switch. The lizard collapsed and fell off the frond. It lay perfectly still. We all jumped. ‘Son of a bi...tch,’ gasped Carley. ‘It worked!’ Fluffy, completely unimpressed, walked to the sliding glass door leading to the back yard and meowed. Carley ignored her. I could barely speak. Visions of what this could mean danced in my head. Thor grinned. ‘I told you it would work!’ He swung the top of the cage open and poked the lizard with his finger. In a. . "Now wait here while I go clock out. Don't go anywhere!" Where was I going? She had my car keys...I sat there wondering if the source of my intoxication was beer or Beatrice -- and decided it was both! As long as she was coming back, I was content to wait -- necking with Beatrice was the best thing I'd done in months! I may have drifted some -- the next thing I remember is her getting into the driver's seat and apologizing for taking so long."Where do you live?" she asked. I pointed vaguely. And she was my first love The 4 year marriage ended a year ago when she suddenly left me and disappeared with my daughter. I had not heard from her until she wrote me a letter asking me to meet her at a hotel, so I did. I was expecting to see my daughter with her ,but instead it was just her, alone. I had expected that she was again going to apologize and want me back but what she wanted was to just have another baby.She wanted it to be from the same bloodline as her now 2 year old. Something inside my mind screamed, told me to get out, to flee. I spun on my heels, readied myself to run. ‘Hello,’ she said. Her voice was melodious, young, welcoming. I had a moment where I was going to answer. That was until I looked at her face. Her face was pale, whiter than my girlfriend’s alabaster skin. Her cheeks were hollow, ones that belong to someone that hadn’t eaten for a month. Her lips, though painted red, appeared to be dry, parched. I tried to smile and got off a weak ‘Hello’.