May 21, 1996: This campfire tale has experienced VERY minor editing and the completely spurious title was added later. Claustrophobic? You might want to open a few windows before curling up with this log.

****BettaPhor****
Shauna had had it with her husband Jim. All these years of dirty socks strewn across the furniture, all the times the toilet seat was left up, the smelly sweats after the ball games, (mentioning nothing about the hours and hours he spent in front of the television watching an entire season's cycle of stupid football games, then basketball, then baseball, etc.

Enough was enough.

She felt a wall beginning to build between them. It only started as an innocent slight or two. But this was going too far. He was unreachable. She was frustrated and angry. Each year became another brick in the wall at first. But now they were coming faster and faster. She could no longer see him, and trying to talk sense into him was useless. Pleading and crying didn't work. And the dirt was beginning to tumble in onto her, making her very nervous. She was beginning to think he was really serious. The wall was almost to the ceiling, and he wasn't stopping!

She began scratching and sobbing and clawing at the bricks and dirt being built between her and Jim in the corner of the basement but it was no use. As the last brick went in she could hear the muffled sound of a small cement mixer begin to finalize their separation.

****Seven Hoke****
Shauna had had it with her husband Jim.

Sadly, the parentage had never been in question. As for exactly what the hell it was, even the nurses and doctor that delivered it were not really sure. But, they gave it a name, washed it up and put it in a gallon jar of formaldehyde. Jim's constant companion, it never complained, never yelled, never shrieked in the way that Shauna was so inclined to do... It never turned down the TV, never forgot to buy beer, never stood in the way, never complained about reviewing a tape of the last game or two...

Jim grew very fond of it. So, when, in a final act of desperation, he decided to cement himself into the basement closet, he took the Jar with him. Shauna listened as the cement mixer's engine whined louder and louder, straining to pump even a tiny bit more cement into the already full and hardened closet.

****Halfself****
There had been a time when things had been good between Shauna and Jim. Dreams had been dreamt. Plans had been made for the future, for the children, for the house with the white picket fence and the damn apple pie and...and... and it all brought home more tears.

She remembered when he had started to fall apart. It was so soon after the miscarriage. He started to think that signs that he saw on the street had special meaning for him, that they had been planted by people just for HIM to see. Then he started watching for those people. He was sure they would come looking for him. He started to watch for those people every day and around the corners and he'd hear the noises in the middle of the night and wouldn't be able to sleep and....

Slowly he was coming apart. He began to talk about the voices he was hearing, how the bottle was talking to him now the "people" icon, click on their screen name...

And how Rend couldn't...couldn't wait for a turn like everyone else... and now I am OUTAHERE!!!

****Caraiel****
She used to lie in bed at night and hear him screaming from his basement closet... Strange sounds would rend the air, something about the people who were following him, wanting to take his jar away... And then the cement trucks arrived. She had stayed to hear them fill up the closet, and then went out on her way... After all, she thought, this might count as an irreconcilable difference. She felt strangely light as she walked down the street...and an old song started to play itself in her mind.

"Wish I was an English muffin, about to make the most out of a toaster..." I am a Citizens for Boysenberry Jam Fan, she thought, before remembering that that had been one of his favorite songs. His memory would be hard to escape, she thought with a touch of regret. And, as she came face to face with a stop sine--which offered her a condemningglare--(sign, I mean--too much trig homework, I guess) she realized that maybe that cement idea didn't sound so bad...

****Klutzoid****
Makoto walked slowly down the dirt road, kicking every pebble and snail in her path...ever since the rains had begun, they had been playing strange things with her emotions... It rained almost continuously now, and when it didn't, it at least drizzled. Her feet shuffled in rhythm to Moon Revenge, but her heart wasn't really in it. her book bag seemed heavier then usual, a premonition for a really bad day, but hey, at least she wasn't la----

looks down at watch:: it's almost 8:00, I'm going to be so TOTALLY late:

she dashes across the dirt, to where it meets a paved road, then in the far distance she heard a bell tonging 8, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong, dong. What's the point in even trying, the harder I try, the worse I get, my life is a living he--

Mako is shaken with a sudden jolt, the cement she is standing on cracks wide open dishing her off, into the bay [by the way, this is a tribute to those in the Bay Area, and of course the Redwood parking lot]. She does an Akido roll, down the rocks, and amagnes to land unhurt, except for several bruise up and down her spine and legs.

Mako wakes up blearily, sitting on a grassy slant. " What, how'd I get here?" Across the bay is a gorgeous city of crystal peaks, and spires, glittering in the sun. " Ack, what happened to San Fransisco?" And the sun, I haven't seen the sun in 1 1/2 years" " What's goin on, my school?" looks back, in time to see Redwood absolutely leveled, but it looks like it has been that way for a long time.

Few houses remain scattered among the wilderness, all attention, even that of the trees seem to be focused on the city. " Hey, they always say, if a bird can eat it, it's not poisonous. "

--- 20 minutes later---

Hey, how do they expect me to get there, it's all one giant lake There as got to be a boat at least somewhere along here, lets see, here's a clearing maybe. What's this?

"Oh well, it's not as though I've got any other ideas"

Mako reaches down press the perfectly dodecahedral button. It bobs down, and presses neatly into a slot it was floating in front of, then a silvery rainbow is emitted from a lens on the ground, it shoots out to meet the crystal city, far in the distance.

Mako walks across the light bridge, looking fearfully at the sharks, but it appears safer then most multicolored expansion bridges After another log walk she comes up to the tallest spire of the city. Sitting in the garden is a young princess.

"Hello, my name's Odanga, what brings you to us?"
"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking"
"Oh?"

Mako---> well, you see, I was walking to school, and I was in an earthquake. I noticed, the online host was talking more then I was and well, I don't remember much, except darkness, then I was here.

"That certainly sounds strange, but then again, nothing seems to be normal after the invasion, so long ago. Almost all mortals were killed, only the elements held the demons back, demo the new race that evolved waone of the magic of those elements.

::A beautiful red lily appeared in Odana's hands as she spoke::

Unfortunately, the elements are dying, faster then we can save them, our magic has become limited.

::The lily turns to water and seeps through her hands::

This new race is I arguments, half intend to build a dome to trap them and the magic, and et the rest of the world die. The wars have disrupted everything, even the ruins... [okay, I'm almost done anyway]. Only our city remains peaceful, or at least it seems so Most are a continual blood bath, where only the strong, and witty survive. Recently, our very own queen was murdered, by a leading faction in Belarian I think our fragile peace can hold no longer"

Mako> "But what am I doing here? I just fell of a little cliff, nothing more, and I wake up in some fairy tale land a millennium or so later." " And I thought life was bad before"

Od> "I believe you were sent here to help us, or hurt us, because as the past repeats itself, if there is no future, there can be no past, and nothing can exist for us at all anymore.

M> "I'd like to help, but I just learned how to use you bridge..."
AAUAUAUGAHHHAHHHGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

O> Ah, what was that?

****Amazon Ace****
After indulging herself in a primal scream, Mako felt somewhat more dispassionate. She turned and said, "What was your name again?"

"Odanga"

Mako said, "Well, I can understand your feelings given your story, but I was asking your name."

"Odanga, Odanga."

"Right. Well, despite your sentiments, I think I'll just look around."

Having just traversed a rainbow bridge, Mako wasn't particularly interested in the perplexed face of the one who could only bemoan her fate. Thinking about Hendrix and his reincarnation, Mako foraged for something to eat. Natives began to cluster around Mako, and scattered cries of "Ocrappa" and "Orattsa" began to annoy her. She thought to herself, "Hey, wait-a-minnit, I'm from San Fran. Certainly, I can deal with a little..surrealism."

Passing cellophane flowers of yellow and green, she began to get into the gist of things.

"At least the playgrounds aren't empty here," she thought. And indeed they weren't. "What an interesting contrast to San Francisco!"

Seeing a few multi-colored button mushrooms, Mako bent for sustenance. Plucking a particularly luscious one, Mako popped it in her mouth before Odanga could say, "Odanga." Suddenly, the world turned to varying shades of black and white, and she thought, "Well, this just won't do for a large screen presentation."

****Grey Prana****
Once upon a time there were three men who looked exactly alike. They all lived in one house, and all had wives, and a good job. One day, one of the men was walking home from work and he saw some pretty flowers Akanba in a nearby shop. So he decided to buy some for his wife.

****TODD6393****
Walking home in the descending darkness, it began....softly now, gently now...a drizzle at first, a slight whisper concealed in the hum of the trees looking up, she knew knew what the trees had begun to speak of so long ago she began rough at first the bark smoothed as she ascended into the leafy branch to find them, waiting where she knew they'd believe light and darkness combined, she understood......enveloped, encased......ecstasy of truth revealed!

Flash of light, lightning? Light? She was one of them

****MADERI****
She didn't know how she came to posses the strenghthand the knowledge that now enveloped her hands.The courage that she was so certain she had no right to, being as she was of the second gda of the clan, and not even a first born one at that. But walk with it she did into the waiting arms of those before her.

Suddenly it was not just her hands that felt the flow of the power coursing through her, but her soul was joined by others and guiding her along.

"We have looked for you long, dear sister" they sang. And suddenly, all was brought right in her mind.

****Niki7****
Catalina looked at the wall surrounding her. She was tired of white walls, white sheets, and white coats. They were wrong about her! She closed her eyes again and willed the powers to return. It was about control, she thought. A person had the right to control their own life. No one should have the power to choose for another. But the doctors had different ideas, and Catalina had been a patient of the Hill Crest Asylum for many years.

She was sitting with her eyes closed, reaching out to the voices in her mind, when someone entered her room. Catalina was unaware of her visitor until a gentle hand touched her shoulder. Catalina turned, eyes wide, and knew in an instant it was her sister.

****Eyesofblak****
Catalina stared at her sister in mute amazement at first, then, after but a heart's beat, with rage, and hatred, and, most powerfully, disbelief.
underwear..............
"Catalina, what happened to you? You haven't written, or spoken, why?"

"Liar. I know who you are. I know what you are. And I can prove it." Catalina leaped from her seat, arms and legs spread in mid air, like a cat to pounce. She landed on the illusion, the demon, sent to torment her, to show her......just how crazy she was.

Just how mad.
She was going to prove it she wasn't mad.

She tossed back her hair and plunged her teeth into its jugular. She cold taste the illusions blood, and drank her fill. She knew now it was a lie, already she could see the illusion whiten and fade away. With a crack on the head, she felt the world go black.

****Penguinn****
While in the coma, She started flashing back to the night were it all begin. The sky was crimson and slowly fading to black Almost out of breath she hears the noise again. After running so long she could not believe it was still behind her. Suddenly she stopped. Something snapped inside her she had been scared for too long now and she just had to take a stand.

She turned around, ooking into it's red eyes. She knew death was upon her. She didn't care, for her whole life she had fled in fear. The sound of the concrete under its massive claws was shattering. She knew it had come, but for what?

It came out of the shadows and into the light. As soon as she saw it she laughed. I'm crazy she thought to herself. A minute passed before either of them moved. It was like a game to it. Finally it spoke.

"Your....." and she woke up.