She barely remembered the wedding or the honeymoon, but she remembered the
pictures taken of Howie at the reception and posted to her mothers Republican
Womens website.  And the billboard.  Her head spun.  Had she confronted Susan?  She couldnt remember.  Tonya.  Tonya  And what was there
about Lara? 
Something cold and bitter.  Last
night, the chaos, the pain, Susan, someone named
Jo.  Her
memories flashed through too fast to capture anything but the feelings.  The certainty.  Her stomach plunged.

Oh my god, it was all real?  It wasnt a
dream!  It was all real!  Dana said into
the mist, and the city remained silent.

~*~*~*~*~*

Jenny was in the kitchen, it was still dark
outside, just the faint hint of a sunrise. 
That was good, that meant that the insanity of the night before was over.  Done.  No
more weird lights.  No more electrifying
zaps from spectra unknown, this was all over.

She licked her lips, pouring some milk into the bowl, and thinking.

Over?  Was her journey to find out just
who and what she was over?  Would her
relationship, as it was, with Marina  She felt her body shaking, and
then she began to sweat as the panic overtook her.  She dropped the bowl, it shattered and Jenny
knelt in the shards of porcelain, as Marina
came rushing into the kitchen.

Ma petite!  Dont move; let me pick this
up.  MarinaJenny, crying hard tears.  Jenny, Jenny
what is wrong?  Marina
begged to know, moving to Jenny.  Careful of the broken bowl, taking Jenny
into her arms.  She hoisted her up, thin
and frail as she was and carried her to bed, where she cried most of the
morning away.

Marina
could taste the fear on Jennys skin.  What is it, ma petite?  What are you afraid of?

Jenny looked into Marinas
face, eyes swollen but still hypnotically beautiful.  Im afraid Im going to go back to being
what I was.  A total, screwed up, fucked
up mass of confusion.  Hurting everyone,
I care about.  I dont want to be that
person, not ever again.

  Why would you think that would happen,
Shinny?  Marina  You have
passed beyond that now.  Its in the
past.

  Is it, Marina?  Really? 
I dont, her eyes faded into memories of the night before.  What if last night, what Jo
and Susan did, what if it undoes everything,
undoes us, you and me.  I dont WANT
everything to change.  I dont!

Marina
tipped Jennys head up.  Everything doesnt have to change, my love.  We can still choose, for ourselves, to be
ourselves.