Girl Meets Girl Meets Boy Part I ------ The same old story. You've heard it a thousand times. They meet. They fall in love. They fall apart. They come together. They, sometimes, live happily ever after. Elaine was a computer programmer, with severe eyestrain and the beginnings of premature arthritis in her cramped hands. Angie was her roommate, a brilliant, self-centered, sensitive writer. Elaine made $40,000 a year. Angie was too sensitive to get a job. Elaine had gone to a private boarding school and her stubbornly blind parents had great hopes for a society marriage. Angie's mother had lived on a commune in Berkeley, and Angie's first lover was an Asian girl with hazel eyes and a dancer's body. Elaine and Angie had been lovers for two years when they met him. *** "Goddamnit, Elaine, do you have to leave your tights draped over my computer? You've got your own computer to drip on!" "But I'm working on my computer." Elaine said reasonably. "And they're perfectly dry; I think I just dropped them there last night. I was really tired when I got home from work." "What is that supposed to mean?" "What is what supposed to mean?" "You were really tired, huh? I guess you think I should go out and start working at McDonald's to pay my share? Or maybe you want me to learn to take dictation?" "Lay off, Ang. I meant I was tired, that's all. I make plenty of money for both of us." Angie was on the verge of tears, tapping her bare foot on the floor of their sun-drenched apartment. Elaine continued, "Besides, when your novel gets published we'll live off the royalties for years. Come here." Elaine stretched out a hand and stared stubbornly at Angie. Angie sighed theatrically and walked over to Elaine's desk, taking Elaine's dark hand between her own hands. She looked down at their joined hands and then moaned despairingly. "Now what?" Elaine asked, slightly exasperated. "You're so beautiful! And I'm so pale and ugly! I can't even tan." Angie wailed. "Silly." Elaine pulled Angie down into her lap ar arms around her, pulling Angie back firmly against her own chest. She gently caressed the soft white skin of Angie's shoulders, calming the frail and trembling body. Elaine buried her face in Angie's red curls, breathing warmly on her lover's arching neck. "You're beautiful, silly. Like an elf, a swan, the moon..." "A pudgy elf." Angie muttered, though a smile had begun to creep up her face. "A divinely pudgy elf." Elaine solemnly agreed. At that, Angie turned in Elaine's arms and pounced, tickling Elaine mercilessly until they fell off the chair and rolled, laughing, across the bare hardwood floor. *** Journal Entry: April 2 Beautiful Saturday. Went walking in Grant Park today, through downtown, down to the lakefront. Avoided the horse-faced man with the loudspeaker - too gorgeous a day to argue theology. Impressions: crowded streets on this first truly warm day of spring; the horses are friendlier; even the cops are smiling; Marshall Fields has a new display in muted sunset colors; musicians are playing everywhere. Which brings me to him. With his white-blond hair and cobalt eyes and tanned body. With his pathetic plucking and his ragged cut-off jeans and long, muscled legs. I swear I could kill Elaine sometimes. The way she looks at men and smiles at them and they come chasing after her with their tongues hanging out and their dicks panting is enough to make any woman sick. And she encourages them with that slightly reserved Massachusetts smile and her oak eyes laughing. Maybe Cathy was right. Maybe you can never really trust bisexuals, even the ones who promise to be faithful. They're always flipping back and forth, always wanting what they don't have. And he never even looked at me. *** They went walking again next Saturday, and Rob was there again. His green Folk Festival t-shirt had a fresh tear down one side and his guitar sat unused at his feet. Angie walked over and leaned against a tree, while Elaine stepped in front of him, looking up and down his body. "What happened?" Elaine asked. "What do you mean, what happened?" he replied, shifting uneasily. Elained walked up and pressed her hand against his side, right under the tear. He winced away. "What happened.?", she asked again. "It's nothing. Some guys started harshing on my music last night." "Yeah, well, you know you're not the world's best musician." Angie said, smiling. He managed a grin at that. "Awful, is what you mean." "Right." Angie agreed. "But I didn't think you were quite stupid enough to start a fight over that." "Peacenik me? Start a fighT? Never. But after a while they got tired of my silence and started some other stuff." Silence. Elaine kept staring at him, her arms crossed in front of her. "They called me a fag. A queer." he admitted reluctantly. "Then they started beating on me. Broke two strings on the guitar in the fight. Then a police car drove by, sirens blaring, y took off. Doubt the cops ever saw me, actually." "Take off your shirt. Angie, will you look him over?" Elaine asked. "Please?" Angie came over, muttering something about stray cats and started to reach out towards Rob's shirt. "Hey, don't touch. I'm fine." he said as he pulled away. "Trust me. I took eight years of tae kwon do. I know a lot about injuries. Take off your shirt." "I'm only bruised." he protested. When Elaine continued glaring at him he mumbled, "Besides, it hurts to lift my arms enough to take off this shrt. And I stink; it's hard to shower when you're living in parks." "You idiot." Elaine said, without rancor. "You've probably got broken ribs, you know. Let her find out." Angie started getnly pressing Rob's chest, holding his arm with her left hand so he couldn't easily get away. "Well, what do you want me to do? I can't afford a doctor. I can't even afford to fix the strings on my guitar. Not that I really know how to play it, anyway." Rob started off angry, but his voice trailed off despairingly. "I think he's cracked a few of them, but not badly. Nothing's shifting." Angie explained, blinking up through her glasses at Elaine. "If he binds them and stays still for a few weeks, he should be okay." Elaine looked pleadingly at Angie, who sighed and nodded her head. "Only till he heals." Angie warned. Elaine's smile broke across her face as she reached down and picked up the guitar case. "You're coming home with us." Angie explainbed. "I appreciate the thought, ladies, but I don't need charity." Rob said, as he tried to take the guitar case away from Elaine. She hoisted it easily above his head. He tried to reach up to it, and winced again. She smiled. "Yes, you do. Don't be ridiculous. Are you afraid we're going to rape you?" Angie asked. "Hey, I'm not really gay, you know." he protested. "Those guys just assume that a skinny musician with an earring has to be a fag. I'm terribly dangerous where women are concerned. They swoon at my feet." Angie laughed and started walking to the bus. "But you are queer, aren't you?" Elaine asked, ignoring his latter comments. Angie turned back to him, startled. He looked defensive for a moment, and then said defiantly, "Actually, yes. I'm bi. So I really don't think it would be a good idea for you to invite me into your home. You're both far too attractive and I wouldn't be able to control myself. I think we can handle an invalid." Elaine commented. "Besides, you don't seem to have understood. ANgie and I are together. Have been for years. You'll be perfectly safe. Ang, could you get his bag?" "Oh." Rob blushed. "I feel stupid." "That's okay," Angie said as she picked up his one duffle bag. "You look stupid too." "Thanks a whole lot" he replied, starting to laugh. "You're welcome." Elaine said, smiling. "Now come on." *** End of Part I M.A. Mohanraj August 23rd Girl Meets Girl Meets Boy Part II ------- Journal Entry - April 16 He's been here forever. He's so happy it turns my stomach. He hums when he does dishes. He sings in the fucking shower. IF I didn't know better, I'd swear he was getting laid, but he's not really healed yet, I've been watching Ellie like a falcon and I certainly haven't touched him. Not (if we're being completely honest here) that I haven't thought about it. We've been trapped for hours together in this apartment while she's at work and though he's a pigheaded idiot, he does have a very nice body. Which he loves to display at every opportunity, despite the bandages. Men don't deserve to be in such good shape. I'm a blob next to him. And they would look so gorgeous together - yin and yang, as they say, black and white. Damn, I hate men. *** "Hey, Ellie?" "Mmmhmm?" "Are you asleep?" "Uh huh." Angie curled closer, burying her face against her lover's bare shoulder blades. "Ellie?" "Mmmhmmm?" Silence stretched out in the darkened room, silence broken only by the whir of the fan. Summer had come hot and early. "Never mind." Angie loosened her death-grip on Elaine and started to pull away. "Hey, what's up?" Elaine rolled over to face her lover and blinked the sleep out of her own eyes. She tried to focus in the dimness lit only by Angie's night light. "Nothing. Go back to sleep." Angie said, nestling her head against Elaine's breasts. "You okay?" Elaine asked, tangling her fingers in Angie's curly hair and tugging gently. Angie didn't answer. Her body coiled tightly against her lover, tensing. "Hey...I love you." Elaine said. Angie started crying. Silent tears falling down a freckled nose and dripping off the end turned to heaving sobs. Elaine wrapped her arms around Angie and held her, utterly confused. Eventually Angie stopped crying, but she still refused to speak. Elaine soon fell asleep again, her legs and arms entwined with her lover's. Angie stayed awake, staring fixedly at the little Mickey Mouse night light, glowing red. *** April 30th Dearest Elizabeth, It's two a.m. and the sky here is glowing orange from the streetlights. It's beautiful - I wish you could see it. I hope you and Michael are doing well and the kids are healthy. Has little Elaine started talking yet? I promise to come visit soon and be sickeningly mushy about my godchild. Even if she doesn't look anything like me. Have those problems with your boss straightened out? I really think you should leave that job. You loved teaching so much - go back to it. Michael certainly makes enough that you don't need to slave away at the Ad Agency from Hell (tm) - And don't go getting all independent on me - if I can support Ang, Michael can support you. The kids already treat him as their father - I doubt they even remember that bastard you married. Okay, your turn to give advice. Lizzie, I don't know what I'm doing. Last time you called, I told you about that waif I had picked up. What I didn't tell you then (because they were both in the room) is that I'm falling for him. Hard. He's gorgeous, Lizzie; you'll drool when you meet him. And strang and proud and funny and passionate - about life, that is. I haven't touched him; not quite. The occasional brushing arms, the spark of eyes - and it is a spark. I'm sure he feels the same way about me; but he hasn't said a word. And he's very careful to never be alone with me; and I keep finding excuses to be near him. What do I do? I'm sure Ang suspects something, but she won't say anything. She doesn't even touch me anymore - we sleep on opposite edges of the bed and the air in this place is stifling. I think I'm going to go for a walk in the park and clear my brain. I'll finish this when I get back. ***** End of Part II M.A. Mohanraj August 23, 1993 Girl Meets Girl Meets Boy Part III -------- "Elaine?" Angie sat bolt upright on the large futon, eyes searching wildly in the darkness. The night light had gone out and the room was pitch black. "Elaine!" Angie's voice grew louder, calling, and then she crumpled into a small white ball, wrapping her arms around her knees and sobbing her lover's name over and over. "Elaine, Elaine, Elaine, Elaine..." Her voice started to rise again to a shriek, and the door suddenly swung open and Rob came into the room. He left the door open behind him and the moonlight clearly lit the small figure of Angie, rocking. He hesitated only a moment by the door before he crossed over to the futon and dropped to his knees beside Angie. Rob reached out a hand, slowly, as if expecting it to be pushed away, but Angie only continued rocking, her head buried in her knees and only her mane of auburn curls covering her naked shoulders. Her feet and lower body were trapped in the twisted green sheets and he reached out gently to pull them free. The touch of his hand on her leg provoked fresh sobs, however, and Angie's entire body started trembling, shivering despite the heat. At that, he suddenly moved closer to her, gathering her small body in his arms, murmuring reassurances. She turned into Rob's arms, soaking his shoulder with salty tears. He pressed soft kisses into her hair, holding her tightly, his skin cool against her almost feverish heat. "It's all right, Angel...it's all right. She'll be back soon. She just went for a walk, I'm sure. Look at the table; her keys are gone. It's all right, don't worry." Angie finally lifted her head at that to look at the table, reassuring herself that Elaine's keys were indeed gone. She turned her head to look up into Rob's dark blue eyes. "She's not with you?", she asked plaintively. With that question, Rob suddenly realized why Angie had become so brittle around him lately, so sharp-edged. He laughed and hugged her, glad that he could honestly calm her fears. "No, Angel. I haven't touched her. Not that she isn't gorgeous, but she seems to be avoiding me. And I didn't want to intrude on you two. You've got a wonderful relationship, and I'd just get in the way." He smiled down at her suddenly glowing face in the moonlight. "Now go back to sleep. Elaine will be back soon, I'm sure." Rob bent to press a gentle kiss on her nose before going, but Angie suddenly tilted her head upward, so that his lips landed on hers instead. She arched her body up to meet his. Wrapped only in bandages and a thin pair of shorts, he could feel intimately the warmth of her lush body pressing against him, and felt himself dissolving in the wholly unexpected kiss. Rob found himself returning the kiss with surprising passion; tension and emotion and undoubted attraction combining to override his good judgement and send them both spiraling down into darkness. The bedroom door swung back and forth unnoticed, occasionally slamming in the rising wind as the gathering storm finally began to break free. ***** End of Part III M.A. Mohanraj August 30, 1993 Girl Meets Girl Meets Boy Part IV ------- Damp sand caught between her toes as Elaine walked the narrow strip of beach. The wind was rising, whipping the waves to a high froth in the moonlight, sending her long chiffon skirt dancing. She was a slim figure in the night, barely visible, black on black. She paused as she neared the jagged rocks at the edge of the beach, carefully climbing her way up to a precarious perch high against the glow of the city far to the north. Her mind was as troubled as the roiling water in the rising storm. As she gazed out over the churning waves, she was suddenly struck by an intense longing for New England, for hills and forests green and gold in sunlight. But she could never go back. It would mean giving up Angie if she came anywhere in her parents' sphere...and Elaine knew suddenly that she would never choose to do that. Angie was the other half of her heart, and nothing, not even a beautiful man with hair like the light of early morning could ever replace her. Elaine would miss the East forever, and she still didn't know where Rob would fit into their lives, but home was where Angie was, wherever that might be. *** They came at her from behind. Five men, large in memory and darkness, pulling her off the rocks to lie huddled on the dark sands, moaning. They didn't let her huddle long. They tore her clothes off, delighting in her frantic struggles to escape, to run on long legs home to safety. She never had a chance. Finally she lay bare in the moonlight, the first drops of rain a deceptively gentle caress while they held her down and dared each other to go first. People in her past had said that her body was made for love, its long smooth limbs curving gently, her firm breasts begging for silky touches and long, slow teasing. Men had fought to be the first to offer her roses or ask her to the prom. Women had written her sonnets. They had no time or concern for her beauty. She was foolish enough to walk on the beach after midnight. Her screams were lost in the howling of the storm. She was there, and she was theirs. When they had finished, they left her there on the sands dangerously darker. The rain battered down with the full force of storm, pelting her shattered body with the power of its fury. It was an endless time before anybody else came by to see the wreckage. ***** End of Part IV M.A. Mohanraj September 5, 1993 Girl Meets Girl Meets Boy Part V ------ Rob pushed open the door cautiously, unsure of his reception. The last time he'd ventured into the bleak white room, Angie had grabbed a glass from the night stand and hurled it at his head. He'd quickly ducked out into the pale green corridor, pulling the door closed and listening to the thump as the glass, amazingly, didn't break. He'd spent the next two hours walking the newly washed floors and badgering every doctor and nurse who walked past the intensive care ward. Elaine's chart was smudged with fingerprints from all the times he'd picked it up, skimming past the unintelligible medicalese to the large block letters printed in black at the bottom: Prognosis Uncertain. It was almost dawn now, as he stepped into the sterile room, and the gradually ligtening sky was the only illumination, aside from the small glowing red and green lights of the myriad of instruments connected to Elaine's still body. This time, Angie didn't look up as he walked towards her. She sat huddled in a chair pulled close to the bed. Elaine's limp brown hand was firmly clasped in two of her own freckled palms. She'd finally stopped crying, though the marks of almost a full day of tears had ravaged her face. Tears still hovered somewhere behind preternaturally bright green eyes. Rob was suddenly shaken with the memory of how they had laughed two nights ago at how easily she cried. Laughed softly as they sank into sleep, waiting for Elaine to come home. Slept until almost five, when the shattering call from the hospital had woken them both. He pulled out an apple from his jacket pocket and silently offered it to Angie. She finally looked up at him and shook her head. "I'll eat when she does." "She's on intravenous food. She'll be fine. And she'll eat solid food when she wakes up. You'll starve if you keep this up, Angel; you haven't eaten in days." "I'm not hungry. And she'll never wake up." Angie said, in a despairing monotone totally unlike her usual vibrant voice. Rob was tempted to grab those pale shoulders and shake her until she came to her senses. She shivered in the air-conditioned chill. Rob took off his jacket and roughly draped it over her thin black tank top. She was even paler and smaller than usual, a startling contrast to the enveloping blue jean jacket. Even her hair seemed dulled after this long vigil, the color of dried autumn leaves instead of a crackling fire. Rob reached out to lose his fingers in the tangle, bending down to her, hoping perhaps to drown out the antiseptic hospital smell in the scent of her hair. Angie jerked away sharply, her left hand rising quickly to slap him away. Rob caught it in his right, suddenly furious with frustration and fear, and squeezed tightly until she gasped with startled pain. "Let go of me!" she shouted. "We're supposed to be quiet. Remember?" he asked coldly. "And I'll let go once you tell me what that was all about." "Just don't touch me." she whispered, tears welling up again, and her hand becoming limp in his. Limp and cold, 'like Elaine's' he couldn't help thinking. Rob suddenly stepped closer, dropping her hand so he could cradle her freckled face in his two tanned hadns. "Hey, I'm sorry, Angel. I'm just so tense, so tired of sitting here and waiting, not able to do anything to help her." He stared into her gray-green eyes, willing her to believe him, to forgive him. She stared back, her eyes empty. "It's our fault, you know." she said, tonelessly. "What?" Rob asked, dreading the words that he was sure would echo his own guilty thoughts. "It's our fault." Angie's voice began rising dangerously. "If we hadn't been...fucking..." she spat out, "We would have gone out and found her and she wouldn't have gotten raped, and she wouldn't have been beaten, and she wouldn't be lying here in a coma and about to die and it's all our fault!" Angie's voice trailed off into muted sobs, almost inaudible under the hum of the machines. Rob pulled her up into his arms. She went, unresisting, uncaring. He began to stroke her hair, trying to find the words to absolve her, and absolve himself of their communal guilt. "We couldn't have known, Angel. We didn't know she'd been gone so long; we didn't know she'd been stupid enough to walk alone on the beach. Elaine usually has too much sense for that sort of thing. We'll yell at her for it when she wakes up. And I'm sure she'll yell back." he finished, trying to cheer her with the image of their normally sedate Elaine irritated enough to yell. Angie tilted her head back and looked up at him, the tears falling now in a continuous stream. Her pale face was luminescent in in the light of awakening dawn streaming through the window. She shivered like a ghost, a pale waif, a silent wailing banshee. Angie shook her head, staring at him as if begging for reassurance. Rob leaned down and gently kissed her forehead, lifting his hand and smoothing back her bedraggled hair with shaking fingers. "It'll be all right." he murmured as he bent to kiss Angie's flushed lips, unsure whether he was reassuring her or himself. She trembled in his arms, almost pulling her lips away for one endless second before surrendering to his offer of comfort and losing herself in his embrace. His hands slid under the still-cold jacket and roamed across her back, kneading the rigid muscles through the thin fabric of her top. Angie's palms were pressed flat against his chest, her fingernails digging through the cloth, into the roughened skin above the grimy bandages. She kissed him fiercely, thrusting her tongue against his mouth, pressing her hips against his. Rob pushed the jacket off her shoulders, to fall heavily onto the floor. His hands slipped under her tank top, pushing her bra up over her breasts, freeing them to slide loose and heavy into his cold hands. Angie moaned in his mouth as his fingers reached up to caress her nipples, arching herself against his hard length. Rob broke the kiss to bend down to her breasts, pulling the tank and bra off quickly. His tongue circled her left nipple gently, once, before he took it in his mouth and began sucking hard. Angie moaned again at that, curling her hands in his tangled hair and pulling him towards her. He slid a hand down her right hip, reaching to unbutton her jeans. Angie's body was curved against his, her face buried in his bedraggled blond hair. Rob lifted his head to switch to the other nipple. It was then that he looked across the room and met Elaine's wide-open eyes. He quickly broke away from Angie...and then stood still, once more uncertain of what to say or do. Angie still faced away from Elaine's bed, almost blinded by the morning light as she looked up at him, blinking in confusion. "Rob, what..." she started, before the sound of a hoarse cough behind her sent her spinning around to face her lover. Elaine coughed again, and then reached out a faltering hand. Rob wasn't sure whom Elaine was reaching towards. Neither he nor Angie moved in that second. Then Elaine said "Ang..." in a voice hoarse with disuse, and Angie rushed to her, tears falling like rain as she tried to hug Elaine oh-so-carefully. Rob tried to suppress the sharb stab of hurt. What else had he expected, after all? And after what Elaine must have just seen, he was sure he wasn't welcome anymore. He'd just stay long enough to apologize, and then be on his way. So he stood there watching them. They looked like characters from a myth: Elaine, newly risen from the dead, yet joyous in the arms of her love. And the healing angel, wearing a mantle of hair touched with flame in the shaft of sunlight. ***** End of Part V M.A. Mohanraj September 28, 1993 Girl Meets Girl Meets Boy Part VI ------- Rob bent to lift his jacket from the floor where it had dropped from Angie's pale shoulders. The two of them were still lost in each other, Angie dropping frantic kisses over Elaine's poor, bruised face. Elaine was hidden under blankets and the mass of Angie's hair, but Rob could hear her murmuring Angie's name, over and over again. He tried to open the door quietly, and might have slipped out in time, had he not looked back for a final image of the two of them. A last, fatal lover's glance. But Angie had lifted her head, and Elaine's oak eyes locked on his again. "Hey, where are you going?" Elaine asked him, in a voice that sounded a little smoother already. So he stepped forward bravely, ready with a witty line to cheer her up so he could make a graceful exit...and he just couldn't do it. "You saw us...don't you want me to leave?" he asked from the doorway. Angie stiffened in Elaine's arms and began to pull away. Elaine shook her head, and slowly raised her arms and pulled Angie closer. Angie was ready to cry again at the weakness of those arms. Rob gathered up his courage and started again. "But you don't even know it all. Elaine, the night you were on the beach, we... we..." He couldn't finish saying it, but her understanding was clear in the quick glance to Angie's still face. Elaine caught her breath, waiting for the sharp stab of jealousy. But it didn't come. Maybe it was the painkillers, but she felt oddly calm as she looked back and forth between the two faces. Just a slight twinge of hurt, and a need to erase the pain and worry on both their faces. "Hey, it's okay." she said. It was clear they didn't believe her. "Really, guys...I'm not really the possessive type." And despite all Elaine's efforts, the hurt came through in her next sentence, "I just wish you'd invited me along." She couldn't believe it, but the tears were suddenly welling up in her eyes. She never cried. It must be the medication. They both started talking at once, Angie frantic to reassure her that she was always, always welcome, Rob wondering if she could possibly mean what she seemed to be saying. He had a sudden impossible image of the three of them curled in one huge bed. They stumbled over each other's words, finally falling into silence. Elaine smiled at them, suddenly sure that it was going to be all right after all. There'd undoubtedly be some awkwardness and insecurity at first...but they had plenty of time. Her body was starting to ache more, and her eyes began to drift closed again. She mumbled, "We'll talk about it when I wake up again, okay?" "Okay." Angie responded, her hands still holding tight to Elaine's, tears once again running down her face. She'd dreaded the horrible moment when Elaine would righteously reproach her for all of her sins - but that moment seemed already past, and she was somehow already forgiven. Elaine had one last worried phrase, "Just don't leave me..." before her eyes shut completely. "Never!" they said together. Angie pulled her chair closer to the bed, and Rob went off in search for another chair. He wasn't sure what was going to happen...but he was suddenly, joyously glad that he'd be around to see it. Elaine fell asleep, secure in the knowledge that they'd be waiting for her when she awoke. *** The fan was permanently off for the next six months of winter. The bodies huddled under the layered blankets were too warm though, and Angie's leg was curled over the blanket on one side, and Rob's right arm dangled over the edge. He would have had both arms out from under the blankets, but Elaine's head was cradled in his left shoulder, and she had fallen asleep in the hollow of his shoulderblade. Angie was curled spoon-fashion around her back, and she slowly dropped kisses on her neck, preliminary to waking her up more directly. The bruises had all disappeared from Elaine's dark skin, and Angie's hand tightened protectively on the almost-healed ribcage, still too prominent under taut skin. Rob tilted his head up to look at Angie across Elaine's still body, and said, "We need to get a bigger bed." Angie nodded her agreement, too intent on her task of moving the kisses down Elaine's arm to say anything. She did pause and blow him a kiss before continuing, and he reached up with his free hand and caught it. Grinning, Rob said, "I love you, silly." Elaine mumbled softly, "I love you, too." Angie stopped her kisses again to laugh, and then beckoned for Rob to help her. He smiled and slid under the blankets, disappearing from view, and Elaine's eyes sud denly blinked open. "Good morning." Angie whispered. The sun outside the curtains was so very, very bright. *** The same old story. You've heard it a thousand times. They meet. They fall in love. They fall apart. They come together. They live happily ever after. The end. ***** M.A. Mohanraj February 28, 1994