Fyire Blue

By Elvie Richter

The same exact summer her best friend abandoned her for the popular crowd, fourteen-year-old Danielle McGowan finds a sassy little dragon named Maldova in a rain gully. Danielle had always suspected her imagination was seriously overactive. When Danelle realizes she’s the only one who can see Maldova, she starts to worry she's actually losing her mind.

Danielle has to learn to cope with multiple dimensions and more magical creatures lurking around than she can count. She must find guidance to help with her new found power and figure out who she can trust and who is evil. To add even more confusion to the mix, she finally realizes her feelings for the mysterious new boy in town.

Things just might take a turn for the worst when a prophesy is reveled that she will die, and Danelle starts to question her friendship with Maldova.

As if trying fit in at a new high school and make new friends weren’t hard enough!

4.5 Star Average Review on GoodReads!

"I loved this book from start to finish because it keeps you intrigued throughout. You really bond with the main character of Danielle because you feel everything she feels as she discovers the new magical world she has suddenly been thrown into. From Dragons to Shadow creatures this book is a fun read and I would highly recommend it to anyone. I read this book in one sitting, and I couldn't put it down until I had finished it. Loved every page!"
- Tracy, GoodReads

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elvie Richter
• Release date: Nov 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9780991236107

Elvie Richter

Elvie Richter lives in New York City with her husband and cat, Alexander. She has seen one or two Air Dragons floating above the trees in Central Park.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The Golden Bubble

* * * *

My shorts and tank top were completely soaked but I didn’t even notice. I bounded up the stairs two at a time, careened down the hall and sprawled across my squeaky bed. My muddy fingers clutched a golden ball I’d just fished out of the rain gully behind our house.

I was fully aware I should be acting in a more grown-up fashion, after all I was fourteen and a half years old. If my best friend Lori could see me, she definitely would comment on my drenched, skinny, non-mature self. I pushed the thought away. Something about the way the heavy gold felt in my hands held me captivated. I couldn’t have put it down if I’d tried.

Scrunching my nose in concentration, I flipped the ball over. It had a texture like feathery scales. Two strips of smooth silver encircled its circumference like ribbons. Right in the middle of one side, I noticed a spoon-shaped notch. Tentatively, I pressed my thumb into it. Nothing happened.

How great would it be if this thing were real gold? I could sell it and help Mom out. Mom worked really hard trying to impress her boss. She hoped to get a promotion and a raise. Since the divorce from Dad, it’d been tough for her to make ends meet. Even though she did her best to hide it, I was on to her charade.

On the computer, I had run across Mom’s budget spreadsheet. It wasn’t hard to guess her password; she always used my birthday. Besides being more or less behind on monthly expenses, there was a whole list of things in the Can’t afford them now column— like new school clothes for my first year of high school, a new computer and a new roof. She also hadn’t been contributing to my college fund, I noticed. Of course, she’d never say anything to Dad. She was way too proud to admit she couldn’t support us.

Outside, distant laughter echoed in the humid August air, but I didn’t pay attention. I lifted the ball up to my face and studied the golden surface. On the bottom there was some kind of etching. It was a squiggle design. No, it was a word! I rubbed the engraving with my fingers and tried to sound out the letters. M-A-L-D-O-V-A.

Maldova, I whispered.

The ball quivered. In surprise, I dropped it on my blue-patchwork bedspread. The strangest sensation had tickled my hand— like the metal had turned to rubber. The ball rolled to one side and then the other, quaked and took a bounce. Part of it suddenly poked out, then sucked back in.

My eyes felt huge while I stared. A sharp popping noise preceded a puff of blue smoke that erupted from the notch I had touched earlier. It smelled sickeningly sweet. I hopped to my feet and jerked my arms around to clear the syrupy air.

Suddenly, I found myself face-to-face with a three-foot tall dragon. She perched on her hind legs in the middle of my bed.

I heard myself shriek over the thundering sound of blood rushing in my ears and my heart heaving in my chest. Frantically, I covered my eyes with my hands. Must be a figment of my overactive imagination, I muttered under my breath. When I look again, there will definitely not be a miniature dragon on my bed.

Slowly, I spread apart my fingers and peered through the space between them. The little dragon was still there. A spasm of fear shook my whole body while the room spun and blurred. My breath came in gasps. I was hyperventilating on pungent flower stink.

Surprisingly, it appears you have never seen an Air Dragon before, the dragon trilled. Ah, but now I have spoiled you. You will think all Air Dragons are as fine as Maldova, because I am very beautiful.

Her voice was husky, but high pitched. She opened her brilliant sky-blue eyes wide and thrust her short snout forward and to the right, posing like a model on a magazine cover. A row of dagger-sharp teeth glistened in the morning light.

I considered making a run for it, but terror rooted my feet to the floorboards. I wondered if I’d stopped breathing. My mind felt completely disconnected, contemplating the scene on its own and funneling my thoughts secondhand.

Most of Maldova’s body and tail shone the deepest, brightest metallic blue. Light reflected off her scales as if they were made of polished chrome. The dragon’s underside shimmered like purple diamonds. Three evil-looking claws on each of her feet glittered, completely covered with sparkles. As I studied her, she lifted one of her shorter front legs.

A spike of pure fear ran down my spine and I cringed, waiting for the pain and blood when her menacing talon ripped my skin to shreds. But Maldova merely rubbed an invisible spot on a lustrous belly scale.

Two smallish wings fluttered above the dragon’s brilliant body. They were covered with thick yellow feathers. Two tufts of the same color sprung from Maldova’s head and looked like they might be her ears. She winked at me.

The craziness of a dragon speaking and winking knocked the life back into my pale frozen body. I took three huge gulps of air. I rubbed my temples. My throat was so dry I coughed.

Aren’t you a little small for a dragon? I choked out. It was the first thing that popped into my head. I had always envisioned dragons as hulking and somewhat less concerned with personal hygiene.

Maldova flared the nostrils in her little snout and her rose-colored whiskers flooded with color. It is unfortunate that those dragons must spoil the reputation of civilized dragons, Maldova paused and looked squarely at me, her dragon eyebrows arched and her incisors plainly visible. Please in the future do not confuse an elegant and attractive dragon, such as myself, with those fire-belchers.

I’m so sorry, I whispered. My voice broke. My knees were so shaky I teetered slightly, but luckily ran into my desk chair. I gripped the knob on the chair back so tightly I felt the peeling paint under my fingers.

Apology accepted, purred Maldova lightly. Now, don’t you think it would be polite to offer a refreshment of some kind?

Danielle! I whipped around as Mrs. Howard stuck her white-haired head into my room. What are you doing up here?

I hadn’t even realized the old lady was in the house. Mom paid her to stop in once a day over the summer to make sure I didn’t stab myself with a fork or stick my wet hand into an electrical outlet. I had asked Mom a dozen times to save her money because I was going into ninth grade and way too old for a babysitter. I also had cajoled, whined, screeched and cried. Mom stuck to her guns. Sometimes she still acted like I was seven.

My gaze skittered to Maldova, who had settled herself on the bed and lazily began to polish the glassy purple scales on her belly with the fleshy pad underneath a glittery claw.

Uh, nothing, I’m doing nothing, I stammered, dashing forward, trying to shield Maldova from Mrs. Howard’s view.

You sure don’t act like you’re doing nothing, reproached Mrs. Howard.

Mrs. Howard ‘had a weak constitution’ as she liked to say, and was very jumpy. If the washing machine kicked into spin cycle unexpectedly or a motorcycle barreled down the road, Mrs. Howard would gasp in surprise and clutch at her chest. I was sure if Mrs. Howard saw Maldova she’d have a massive heart attack and keel over on the floor.

I whirled in panic, heading toward the far corner of the room in an effort to divert Mrs. Howard’s attention from the bed. Just then, I heard Maldova’s voice. She can’t see me, you know. Humans can only see me if I want them to see me. Because you were the one who rescued my Zephil from the stream, I have decided to allow you to view my stunning person.

Sighing in relief, I watched with growing exasperation as Maldova rolled over onto her back, stuck her feet in the air and pointed her toe claws to the ceiling in a full-body stretch. I dragged my eyes away and tried to ignore the dragon.

No really, Mrs. Howard, I was just trying to find my other pair of sneakers…

You’re covered with mud! exclaimed Mrs. Howard, And you’re getting it all over the place. I’m going to tell your mother unless you get yourself in the shower, young lady. And then you’ll need to put your vacuuming skills to good use. I followed your trail of muck from the backdoor all the way up the stairs.

I grabbed my bathrobe from the hook on the door, eyeballing the dragon propped up on my pillows fluffing her ear feathers. I made sure Mrs. Howard was all the way downstairs before I left my bedroom. Maldova claimed she was civilized, but I had seen the length of her teeth and the glisten of her talons. I wasn’t the hugest Mrs. Howard fan, but I didn’t want any slasher film scenes played out in my house.

On the other hand, I was the one to bring the dragon home. If anyone were to be the star of this horror movie … it would be me. I locked the bathroom door and wondered if breakfast was to be my last meal. Not that my best friend Lori would notice I was gone.

For the past dark grey, boiling hot week, it had rained nonstop and I had been stuck inside feeling sweaty and alone. I called Lori two, maybe three times. I read every magazine in the house, surfed the Internet until my eyes glazed over, and worn my pencil to a nub drawing dark scenes of purple-colored, miserable people in my sketchbook. Lori hadn’t called back.

Chapter 2

Maldova

* * * *

After my shower, I found Maldova standing on the dresser in Mom’s bedroom near an open jewelry box. The dragon had draped every necklace around herself. After ten minutes of pleading, I finally convinced her to take them off. Untangling the chains to put them away, an ear-shattering crash practically shook the walls. The dragon had knocked a potpourri dish onto the tile floor while twirling around in front of the big mirror in the bathroom.

While spending some quality time with our dustpan sweeping up cinnamon cloves and shards of ceramic from behind the toilet, the events of my strange morning kept replaying in my head.

It all started right after breakfast. My original plan had been to scout out an especially somber Vincent Van Gogh painting on the Web. As usual, I impatiently drummed my fingers on the cluttered desk in our family room, waiting for the computer to wheeze to life. Mom had salvaged our PC from the ‘donate to charity’ pile at work a year ago. It was old then and practically an antique now. That’s what Lori thought anyway.

I remembered noticing the silence. No raindrops smacking against the windows. The torrential downpour had finally stopped, which was a relief. I was one-hundred-percent tired of schlepping up to the attic every two hours to check if the buckets had filled up. Not only was my life a crumbling mess, so was our roof. Mom counted on me for bucket-dumping duty while she was at work. Idly, I wondered what we’d do when it rained after school started. Hopefully Mom would be able to afford a new roof by then.

Lori was online. I debated for a moment and then wrote, What’s up?

Betty home today. She was at Princeton University Preparatory Camp for students with extremely high IQs, Lori wrote back.

How did Lori know that? Betty was the most popular, rich girl in school. She had worn a bra since fifth grade, something I probably wouldn’t manage until I was a senior in college. But Lori had always said Betty was mean-spirited and shallow. Or maybe that was what I always said. I wasn’t sure now.

Really? I typed.

Gotta go, came the abrupt reply.

I rubbed my eyes and felt as heavy as the clouds outside. A weird feeling of apprehension slid down my spine just before my mind hooked onto a plan to head down to our so-called ‘Patio.’ In the future, I’d need to pay more attention to my intuition.

Lori had named the patio and it wasn’t much: two plastic lawn chairs on a damp slab of concrete. What made it special was its private, waterfront location tucked in the deep rain gully out back. It was the perfect place to hang around until dinnertime. Lori and I would talk and poke sticks at things floating by in the stream.

A rosy spark of optimism ignited in my chest. Maybe Lori would be just as desperate to get out of the house today. But my spirits flattened almost immediately. Even if Lori did have cabin fever, I knew she wouldn’t show up at the patio.

Whatever, I thought. I was still going. After some searching around, I found my sneakers underneath the couch in the family room and followed the soggy path down into the gully. Where I’d immediately spotted a glint of gold in the water, let my curiosity overtake my good sense, and wound up with a small dragon terrorizing my house. To be precise, a dragon who refused to answer any of my very legitimate questions, like how’d she had fit inside the gold ball, how she happened to be in the gully stream, and why she wouldn’t leave me alone and go back where she came from.

The most I wrangled out of her was something about my foretold destiny.

Around six, Mom came home carrying a chicken roaster she had picked up from the supermarket. She slid it on a serving dish while I set the table for dinner. Maldova flitted around the kitchen. She landed on the counter and nosed around the sugar and coffee canisters.

So what did you do today? asked Mom after we had sat down to eat. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Maldova try to unscrew the lid off a jar of mini pickles Mom had left on the counter.

What? I answered distractedly. I eyeballed the distance between my chair and the dragon, calculating the odds I’d make it over there in time to catch any breakable object toppling floor-bound. I wondered what excuse could even sound close to believable for that stunt.

I asked you how you spent your day, repeated Mom.

"Oh. Read most of Grapes of Wrath from my book list, worked on some pencil sketches…" Not entirely accurate, but holy pandemonium if I told my mother the truth. It was so much like a dream that I half expected to wake up any minute. Maybe it was more like a nightmare. Maybe when I had gone outside that morning, a clump of blue ice had fallen from an airplane and I had actually sustained a massive head injury and presently lay in a catatonic state, wallowing in a false reality. I pinched my forearm. Hard. It hurt.

Maldova crossed the room and settled herself on the cushion in the chair next to Mom. She curled her tail around the front of her body. Her sugary scent overpowered the tiny kitchen. Mom didn’t appear to notice anything awry, but I suddenly needed to confirm that when Maldova said no other human could see her, she also meant they couldn’t smell her.

Um, Mom, is there a funny odor in here? I inquired, sniffing the air, my eyes locked on the dragon.

Funny?! shrieked Maldova, completely aghast at my word choice. My aroma might be compared to gardenias, sweet vanilla or possibly described as minty, but never ‘funny.’

I ignored her.

Confusion crossed Mom’s features. She inhaled deeply and shook her head. No, do you smell something?

I guess not. For a second I thought maybe it was a little stinky.

I just emptied the garbage yesterday, puzzled Mom. She turned to peer at the trashcan, and I took the opportunity to smirk at the sheer horror frozen on Maldova’s metallic dragon face.

Changing the subject, Mom said, Mrs. Howard said you came home dirty and soaked head-to-toe.

It was so nothing. I got a little wet fooling around in the gully stream. No biggy.

Mom eyed me with concern. Ever since Dad left and she got primary custody, she had been overprotective. It was almost like she had to prove that she was the best parent. This apparently meant worrying all the time.

I know you like to go down in that ditch with Lori, but just be careful.

My shoulders sagged at the mention of Lori, but I kept silent on the topic of our dwindling friendship. Mom would only ask too many painful questions. Yeah, yeah. I’ll be careful. Can I be excused?

I shot up from the table and did my best to not even glance at Maldova, who was wiggling the end of her tail and tickling her dragon cheek with a pink pompom. A pompom that looked suspiciously like the ones in my stash of old craft supplies, which I’d last seen in the very back of my bedroom closet under four years of dust. I was so tired I couldn’t even muster the energy to contemplate the path of destruction that probably awaited me upstairs. I decided to procrastinate.

Maldova followed me into the family room and I clicked on the television. At first when the dancing rabbits or bouncing toilet paper disappeared off the side of the screen, Maldova raced around to the back of the TV set to see where they went. After a few fruitless scrambles, the dragon got wise to the whole television experience. And she was entranced. An hour later, I called it a night, so tired I couldn’t see. When I shut off the set and headed up to my room, Maldova looked utterly forlorn.

I felt sorry for her and mumbled, TV is non-stop, 24-7, every day.

Who are you talking to?

I didn’t realize Mom was so close behind me on the stairs.

Uh, myself, Mom. I’m just mulling over the marvels of the modern era. Mom wrinkled her forehead into a look of disbelief but continued down the hallway. Maldova slipped through my bedroom door just nanoseconds before I slammed it closed.

Everybody’s going to be thinking I’m a lunatic hearing voices and talking to my imaginary friends, I complained. I bent down and tossed the rest of the pink pompoms, a pile of winter clothes, a handful of sequins and a tube of glitter glue back in my closet.

Slumping on my desk chair, I clenched my hands around my head and moaned, I am a psychopath. I have an imaginary friend who I actually talk to. Willing Maldova to disappear like a daydream, I marched over to the dresser and yanked open a drawer to pull out my pajamas. To my consternation, I pulled out the golden ball instead.

Maldova batted her great ocean-blue eyes. You should not be irked with me. In fact, I am wondering why are you not beside yourself with appreciation. What a fine job I have done taking care of you. Just imagine if Mrs. Howard had seen my Zephil lying on the bed this afternoon? she said. Maldova mimicked Mrs. Howard’s nasal voice, You would have had a lot of explaining to do, young lady.

And I wouldn’t be in this predicament at all if you weren’t here to begin with, I snapped.

Oh blame it all on cute little me, said Maldova dramatically. You’re the one who snatched my Zephil from the water and smuggled it home. But it’s ok, she sighed and touched one of her brilliantly shiny claws to her forehead, gazing upward I shall take the fall. I am so noble…

I rolled my eyes so far back in my head it practically hurt and turned around to my dresser. I tugged out my pajamas and tossed the golden ball into the drawer. What is this thing anyway? I asked.

My Zephil? Every Air Dragon has one, of course. We always take our Zephils with us when we leave the nest. Like when you go camping, you bring along a tent… if you are sensible. Perhaps when you go camping you do not bring along a tent?

My mind whipped around. Excuse me? Are you saying that I’m not sensible?

Now don’t get your knickers in a bunch right before bedtime, said Maldova. You need to get a good night’s rest because we have a busy day tomorrow.

What? I demanded, What are we planning on doing?

Oh did I let slip that I have a plan? Silly me, I didn’t mean to mention that out loud, chirped Maldova innocently

Chapter 3

Lori

* * * *

Slowly, I awoke from a dream. I dreamt that I found a golden bubble in the rain gully and a little shiny blue dragon popped out. I felt warm air on my cheeks and my eyes fluttered open. Maldova’s glittery snout was half an inch from my nose.

Aaaaaaaack. I sat bolt upright in bed.

Calm down, silly you, admonished Maldova. You can be so highly strung sometimes.

You scared me! I burst out.

Me? Myself? Maldova blustered. I am not scary and I am most offended by the suggestion. I am well mannered, dazzling and very gracious. Humpf. Maldova crossed her front legs and turned her back on me. Her polished scales glistened in the morning sunlight and made strange patterns on the ceiling.

Fine. I’m sorry, I apologized, although I didn’t really feel sorry. But you have to admit it’s a little bit disconcerting to wake up from a sound sleep with somebody, even a stunner such as yourself, breathing on your face.

Forgiven, replied Maldova quickly. But it’s ok. You can make it up to me. Please bring me a pair of fluffy slippers.

What? I exclaimed.

I desire some fluffy slippers. Pronto.

Danielle, sweetie, Mom poked her head in the door.

Maldova took the opportunity to tuck her clawed feet under my backside. Ah, warmer, she sighed. Almost like fluffy slippers." She wiggled her toes and I popped up in the air because it tickled.

Danielle, are you OK? asked Mom. My blankets were ripped off the bed and bunched up strangely.

Oh, yeah Mom, just fine, I choked. Just woke up, I added, rubbing my eyes for effect.

Well alright. I’m leaving for work now. Stay out of trouble. Mom gave me one last, very long look, opened her mouth like she was going to say something else, shook her head and then disappeared down the hallway.

I floundered around trying to untangle the blankets from around my leg, bounced out of bed and plunked down on the floor like a master yogi. I inhaled deeply. My whole life, my imagination would always dart away from me, churning out some outlandish story in my head. Which I would semi-believe. It was now obvious that I should have kept a lid on it.

I needed to center myself psychologically in order to get my brain within normal functional ranges. I didn’t know any mantras, so I made one up: I do not see dragons. It was right on message but I wasn’t sure if there were other ingredients necessary for chanting to produce results. I do not see dragons.

Hoping for the best, I closed my eyes tightly and then opened them. Maldova was still there. I groaned and stood up, vowing to research on the Internet what it meant when you hallucinated dragons. But not just yet. It was too early in the morning to go there.

Ok, I’m ready, I proclaimed.

For what? asked Maldova.

Your plan for today, I said.

It is not yet time, answered Maldova mysteriously.

I snorted, I’m having breakfast then, and shambled toward my bedroom door.

Maldova jumped up and clapped her hands excitedly. What a perfectly ingenious idea! she twittered. Breakfast. Fantastic. The dragon took two fast steps with her hind feet and her little yellow feathery wings flapped quickly. She rose in the air.

The dragon hovered at the top of the stairs waiting for me to catch up. Her luminous eyes were wide open and her dragon lips curled into an expectant smile. She looked like a first grader on Christmas morning. Her mood was contagious. I couldn’t remember being so hopped up about cold cereal.

I stopped eating because I couldn’t help giggling at Maldova. The little dragon slurped her Cheerios in sheer delight and meticulously wiped the milk off her whiskers with … one of Mom’s fancy guest towels? Those towels had been buried at the bottom of a drawer since the day my parents returned from their honeymoon and put away their wedding gifts eighteen years ago. I didn’t even want to think about the mess Maldova must have made unearthing them. I sighed and went upstairs to clean up. Again.

When Mrs. Howard showed up about ten, I was still folding and sorting towels. I griped about putting my dishes in the sink, so admittedly, it was strange I would be voluntarily putting towels neatly away in the linen closet. Mrs. Howard immediately became suspicious.

The old lady puttered around the house picking up magazines and piling them up very slowly. I leaned over and whispered to Maldova, She thinks if she stays here long enough she’ll catch me in the act or something.

Maldova’s mouth dropped in alarm. Oh no. That is terrible. What will she catch you doing? I studied Maldova to check if the dragon were mocking me. She looked completely sincere.

Frowning, I made my way into the family room. The feeling that I was going insane washed over me one more time. Seeing dragons was not normal. Nor was cleaning up after them. Nor was spending my summer afternoons trying to sketch a pile of fruit in the style of Rembrandt, but that had been going on a lot longer.

Maybe Lori realized it before I did. Maybe all the kids knew. I was a freak. And freaks were never exactly what you’d call popular.

I slumped down at the computer. It took so long to drag itself to life that even Mrs. Howard got impatient waiting. She ended her stake out and left. The Google search screen finally came up and I typed in Imaginary Friend. Two possibilities could explain my current situation: I was certifiable or Maldova was for real. Maybe both possibilities were true.

There were 4,970,000 results for imaginary friend. I started to click on the first one when Lori came online and messaged, Marsha’s pool party was so fun. Everybody was there. I only got home at eleven. What did you do all day yesterday?

‘Not everybody was there,’ I disagreed silently. ‘Your best friend, me, wasn’t there.’ I debated inventing something about how I had been hanging out with my other friends. But I didn’t have any other friends and Lori would know I was lying.

What would Lori think if I told her about Maldova? Lori had always said she would be there for me no matter what. We were best friends forever. Forever was forever.

I warmed to this line of thinking. My mind raced. I would ask Maldova to show herself to Lori. If Lori could see her then I would know the dragon was real and not a figment of my raving imagination. I smiled. If Lori did see Maldova, then we could go back to being best friends. We would have a huge secret in common.

And if Lori couldn’t see Maldova … then I would have Mom take me back to that Dr. Jones psychiatrist. I had talked to him a couple times after Dad left. There was probably medication for this condition. Or a padded cell. But whatever happened, this dreaded uncertainty would be over. I grimaced in relief. Quickly, I tapped out, Something important came up. Meet me at the patio. URGENT.

I sprinted up the stairs to my room, put on my muddy sneakers and charged out the back door. Halfway across the yard, I remembered Maldova. I raced back inside the house and found her slumped in front of the television, transfixed by an infomercial for a fancy toaster oven. Come on, we have to go! I yammered impatiently.

But the plot intrigues me, Maldova replied. I must see what happens to the muffins. Just moments ago they were placed in the SuperToast Deluxe on the bake setting.

I scowled, I’ll tell you how it ends. The muffins come out baked to perfection.

But now you’ve ruined the suspense! Maldova crossed her arms and mashed her snout into a crabby face.

Come on Maldova, I pleaded. We’re supposed to meet Lori down at the patio. Let’s go!

We will see one of your friends? Maldova responded in a distressed tone. Why did you not tell me earlier? I must prepare. The dragon sprinted across the family room, yellow wings buzzing above her until she lifted into the air and flew through the doorway into the hall. The aroma of flowers wafted after her.

I ground my teeth and chased the dragon. Upstairs, I saw a pink pompom on the end of a glittery blue tail disappear around the corner. I bounded up after her. Maldova had already made herself at home in the bathroom with a can of Pledge and a Kleenex. What are you doing?

I am going to shine my scales one at a time for this momentous occasion.

I sat down on the side of the bathtub, closed my eyes and squeezed my forehead in my palms. I said as calmly as I could, Maldova, Lori is going down to the patio right now and if I’m not there she is going to be really mad and never speak with me again.

"I would not speak