© 2022 Duleigh Lawrence-Townshend. All rights reserved. The author asserts the right to be identified as the author of this story for all portions. This story or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the expressed written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a review or commentary.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was first published 180 years ago in 1843. Since it was published it has been retold over and over in a myriad of forms. Many of the retellings are merely an attempt to reshape Victorian sensibilities and inject them into a modern setting and label it as a whole new take on the timeless classic when it is merely a Hallmark channel Christmas movie. I've had enough of that.

For my entry in the 2022 Winter Holiday Contest, I wanted to return a Christmas Carol to its roots, a ghost story that was meant to scare people. Instead of reviewing the haunted person's life, in my telling the spirits review somebody else's life, because these spirits have an ulterior motive for haunting our hapless heroine.

_________________________

A KRISSMAS KAROLE

In Prose.

Being

A Ghost Story of Christmas .

Stave 1

It was a dark, cold, and wet Christmas Eve in Northern Colorado and Karole Krigbaum was fuming as she waited for her Uber. Incredibly tall with a beautiful face, natural platinum blond hair and a figure that drew stares from wherever she goes, large breasts, narrow waist, and sexy round hips and a southern accent as thick as sausage gravy. She has a body that any man would kill for, but she refuses to let any man near her, except for one. Her smile and her heart were saved for him, and his wife.

The weather was as undecided and as bleak as her future, it was cold, dark, and dreary with no sign of improving. The rain began to turn to light snow, and all that did was highlight her hatred of this holiday. She looked back at the warm dry lobby of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting, bedecked in Yuletide decorations, there were garlands, ornaments, and tinsel hanging from every conceivable portion of the lobby filling the air with a false holiday cheer, bringing a faux joyeux Noël to the office of an accounting agency whose only claim to being a business was a phone bank. Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting was just a nasty, angry contract bill collecting agency and Karole just spent the day before Christmas harassing people to the brink of tears.

Fuck Christmas.

Tired of being cold and wet she went back inside to wait for her Uber, which was now ten minutes late. She stepped through the doors and turned around looking out onto the bleak Loveland Colorado parking lot, soon to be covered with a fine layer of ice. She was almost glad that the bank repossessed her pickup truck. It would get her home safely in this weather, but she couldn't afford gas for that beast. What about an electric car? Karole scoffed, why not just get a Rolls Royce? She couldn't afford an electric car let alone the extensive wiring job on the house needed to build a charging station.

As she looked out on the bleak, cold world a deep voice rumbled behind her. "Come on Miss Krigbaum, you know that no one is allowed to loiter in the lobby." She looked over her shoulder and there was Marly, the huge, as black as the night security guard. He was bearing down on her like a battleship charging toward an errant rowboat. His name was John Wilson, but he was called Marly by the bill collectors of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting because of the unlit Marlboro hanging from his lips from the hour of 4:30 PM when management left, till whatever hour Marly left. They knew he had secret locations where he would light that smoke, the peons just never figured out where they were.

"Marly, it's raining outside, ah'm just waiting for my Uber, it will be here any time now."

"I can't let you do that Karole. You know that" he implored. Then he recited his script, "the lobby is for customer use only."

Karole looked around the lobby, bedecked in holiday cheer, resplendent in yuletide joy. All that there was for a customer to use was a couch, a chair, a coffee table, and a cashier's window where overdue bills with unreasonable interest fees were collected. A pair of people from the custodial staff appeared with a stack of plastic totes and began removing the Christmas decorations. "Ok, ah'm goin'," she groaned.

"Why don't you go across the lot to Don Pollo's for the office party?" asked Marly.

"Slam back a bunch of tequila in a room full of people ah detest working with? Not a brilliant career move."

"I hear ya." A smile crossed Marly's normally impassive face. Of the dozens of people that work here, Marly is the only person that Karole likes. "Karole, I have to ask you to step outside, it means both of our jobs."

"Sorry Marly. Hey, can ah bum a smoke offa you?" Marly eased a pack of Marlboro Red from his pocket and with an expert flick of the wrist he extended a cigarette halfway from the pack a offered it to Karole. "Thanks Marly," she said as she took the proffered smoke, "Got a light?"

Marly extended to her a small butane lighter, but he refused to release it when she tried to take it. The waiting room around them faded to black, the only thing she could see now was Marly who implored, "Karole, you have to let go of the hate, it will become an anchor chain around your neck."

"It's all ah have left," she responded, suddenly scared of the one man she has ever met that was taller than her. "Why are you bothering me?"

"It is required of every man," Marley replied, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes no forth in life..."

"Yeah, yeah, ah know the rest," sneered Karole, "Every English teacher ah ever had required me to do a report on a Christmas Carol because of my name." Her southern accent began to copy a British accent as she said, "And if that spirit goes not forth in life it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world - oh, woe is me! Yadda yadda yadda, ah heard it all before. What cha gonna do, sic a buncha ghosts on me?"

His eyes narrowed as he softly growled, "You will be visited by two spirits and a ghost, their visit means more to you and your son than you could believe..."

"Screw that!" demanded Karole, "Scrooge was right "What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, and not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books..." well, ah balanced my books and ah got jack shit! Ah got nuttin for my daughter, and next week ah won't have a roof over ma haid!"

The intensity faded from his eyes and the color returned to the room. "Karole, please..." he said softly.

Panicked by his sudden change of personality without explanation Karole was finally able to pluck the lighter from his huge fingers and she put distance between herself and the guard as fast as possible. She flicked the lighter then lit her cigarette as she walked to the exit. The doors opened automatically, and she turned and tossed the lighter back to Marly. "There's no smoking in the lobby," he called out, shaking his head as if to clear the cobwebs.

"I don't smoke," said Karole, emitting a cloud of smoke. That was mostly true, she doesn't smoke, unless she needs a quick buzz and then a rare coffin nail works wonders. "And ah don't got no son."

Across the parking lot they were whoopin' it up at Don Pollo's Margarita Bar, a semi-successful Mexican restaurant for people who have never eaten Mexican food, it's food that looks Mexican. Don and Lanh Campbell opened Karole up to a whole world of food, including Mexican and Karole discovered that there's nothing like good Mexican food. And Don Pollo's is nothing like good Mexican food.

There's no sign of her Uber and she's freezing. What was up with Marly? He doesn't even know the script, it was three ghosts, not two spirits and a ghost. She muttered and complained to herself about Marly's strange revelation, in the end Scrooge was right, Marly must have had something for lunch that didn't agree with him, "...an undigested bit of beef, a blot of mustard, a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato. There's more of gravy than of grave about you..."

Karole realized that a drop of rain almost put her cigarette out, she's not a smoker so she didn't know to cup the stogie in her hand to keep it dry. She puffed it back to life and muttered, "I only lie to myself," a rule she tries to live by.

Why is a good South Georgia cracker standing in the Colorado sleet? After graduating from the University of Georgia Karole moved here for a good job as a Respiratory Therapist at Mountain Sports Medicine where she met and fell in love with Jayce Taylor and soon, they were engaged.

Karole and her fiancé had moved out into the open countryside where they could raise a family. Things were looking good for Karole, until the day not long after they moved into their new home, that she came home from the doctor's office with exciting news and found him gone. He took all of his clothing and disappeared. Not long after the birth of his daughter he showed up and cleaned out all their accounts. All of their money was gone. He had taken their paid off car, leaving her with the new pickup and the payment book, so he could enjoy a life with a pimply skank hoe and all the meth he could want. Karole's perfect life was destroyed by a junkie. At least he went and got his stupid ass addicted to meth before they got married.

Almost a year later and Karole was still picking up the pieces, the money he cleaned out of their account shattered her financially but that was nothing compared to what he did next. She came home from work not long after the birth of her daughter to find her house surrounded by DEA, FBI and every local cop they could roust out of the donut shops. Jayce was arrested by the RCMP in Toronto for dealing in meth and he told them and the DEA that his meth lab was in Karole's garage. The investigation killed her license to practice which destroyed her medical career, they even arrested her next-door neighbor, the one man she loved in silence. Now here it is Christmas Eve, working a schlep job at a bill collector's office, and any extra money she had went to her daughter Krissy's few Christmas presents. Karole had one good Christmas in her life, and she hates herself for giving up the chance for another. She puffed her cigarette hating herself, hating the taste of the tobacco, and hating the nicotine rush.

Fuck Christmas.

Krissy is the center of Karole's universe and as far as she knows, her only living relative. Karole's mom was long gone, she drowned in a drunken boating accident while Karole was in college. All of Karole's childhood Christmas mornings were spent picking up the beer bottles emptied by Karole's mother and whatever redneck she was fucking at the time. She would spend every Christmas day fetching beer and aspirin for hung over human trash and if she was lucky, she would have a dollar store Barbi knock off and a pair of socks to unwrap. When she was ten, she got what she most desired for Christmas: Ignored. She spent Christmas day locked in her house while her mother and her current "Uncle" went to St. Augustine for three days leaving her behind with a box of cereal, half a gallon of milk, and a dozen cans of Chicken Noodle Soup. Bonus joy: the cable was working.

Fuck Christmas

This is not an example of life in South Georgia, it is an example of Karole's alcoholic mother, most of Karole's friends had warm loving Christmas holidays and they used those memories to taunt Karole at school. Last year was the best Christmas Karole ever had, she spent it with friends who waited on her hand and foot. She was pregnant with Krissy and received more gifts for Krissy than she believed possible from people she barely knew. Now with her certification to practice at the hospital was revoked, she lost her job, her truck, and she's going to lose her house. Here it is on Christmas Eve, and she has nothing to give to her daughter. Karole's greatest fear is coming true - she's turning into her mother.

It is 5:00 PM on Christmas eve, and in Karole's house Christmas will be over in 24 hours. As soon as Krissy goes down for her Christmas afternoon nap the tree gets put back in its box and everything gets put away. Karole has no desire to be reminded of Christmas and all the pain it brings to her.

If Krissy wants more Christmas, she will have it over at Mr. Don's house. Don and Lanh Campbell are her next-door neighbors, and they are the only thing besides Krissy that has made this entire shit-show of what is now Karole's life any form of bearable. Don is the only father that Krissy has ever known, and his Asian wife Lanh dotes on Krissy like a second mom. Hell, Lanh was Karole's birth coach holding her hand while her husband Don was right there mopping her brow as Krissy came into the world.

Don and Lanh opened their home to Karole and Krissy, feeding them when money was scarce, housing them for weeks at a time when the power was shut off, babysitting every time Karole needed a babysitter. In return, all they asked for was the opportunity to help even more. They would take her home to their family farm on holidays where their entire family adopted Karole and Krissy and doted on them like they were family. They were showered with love and acceptance and Don and Lanh's family begged Karole to stay in Minnesota, and Karole kicked herself every time they returned to Colorado, but she wanted to stay close to Lanh... and Don.

Don and Lanh had no children and Lanh told her that she couldn't bear children. When Karole asked, "Why don't you adopt?" Lanh's eyes teared up and after several long moments she said, "That won't happen," and dashed out of the room.

Although Karole is absolutely in love with Don and Lanh, one small part of their lifestyle drives her nuts, Don and Lanh are Christmas crazy. Their decorations go up on the day after Thanksgiving and don't come down until January 5^th, which Don informed Karole is "The twelfth day of Christmas." (Counting on her fingers showed that he was right) The Campbell home becomes a romance channel Christmas movie set; it is always festooned with lights and garlands and pine boughs and trees, a Christmas railroad threads its way through a Christmas village at the base of their perfectly decorated Christmas tree, their mantle over the fireplace is an explosion of holiday spirit with candles and pine boughs and holly and ornaments and stockings for Mr. Don, Miss Lanh, Marissa (Lanh's goldfish), Maxwell (Don's beta fish), and of course Krissy and Karole. Every doorsill in the house was adorned with holly garland and red ornaments, illuminated with the tiniest white lights that Karole had ever seen. Even the paintings and photographs on the walls were removed and replaced with Christmas themed artwork, the frames of which were hand carved by a German wood carver that overdosed on peppermint schnapps, egg nog, and holiday cheer.

It looked like Santa Claus and all eight reindeer had puked on their house, and they liked the effect, so they kept it.

Lanh is a speech pathologist and works at the Children's Hospital and teaches at Northern Colorado University. Don does not work; he says he's retired but neither of them looks old enough for that. Don would be a great stay-at-home dad if they had kids. Instead, he and Lanh shower Krissy with love and little Krissy just loves her "Uncle Don." Karole never pried into his past but the way he acts, dresses, and cuts his hair shows that he was in the military. On occasion he complains about his back and Karole has seen him walking with a cane, and on a couple of occasions on crutches. In their hot tub Karole saw scars on his body that he said were from surgery.

His wife Lanh is the daughter of Vietnamese immigrants, she's a tiny, highly intelligent, and incredibly beautiful woman with a delightful lilt in her voice that came from learning Vietnamese before she learned English. She once confided in Karole that Don had a terminal case of "Yellow Fever" when she met him, and now after being married to her for years and working in her family's restaurant and being teased by her five brothers and sisters, she was sure that he was completely cured.

Karole and Lanh became best friends immediately after Karole moved in, which shocked Karole. Karole is a self-described "Hot Mess" whose list of lifetime best friends begins and ends with Norma, her college roommate, and now includes Lanh, and that's it, no one else. Karole doesn't make friends easily, being raised by a drunken single mother who terrified anyone that got near their trailer ensured that Karole grew up depending on herself and no one else.

Often Lanh and Karole hang out or go shopping together and they make an interesting looking pair, Lanh is short and slim with light skin, jet-black hair, and coal black eyes, while Karole is over six feet tall (if asked she'll say she's five foot fourteen inches tall), curvy, with skin that will go to a deep tan in the summer, light green eyes, and natural platinum-blond hair. They can spend a day shopping together, buy nothing, and come home to a sleeping Krissy whose face is covered in any sort of sweet mess, and Mr. Don cleaning the kitchen from his baking extravaganza with Krissy. Then later that evening Karole will spend the night yacking on the phone with Lanh, or Lanh's sister Kim-ly with whom Karole found herself close to.

The only men on Karole's radar were married, they were Lanh's brother Trung who has a thing for busty blonds, and Don. Both Karole and Kim-ly have a crush on Don, and both have promised to keep it to themselves, but Karole knows that if anything happens to Lanh, it will be a race between her and Kim-ly to see who gets to Don. Could this be the reason why Karole refuses to take up the offers she's received to move to Minnesota? To remain close to Don?

One day while looking at purses that neither Lanh nor Karole had the money or inclination to buy, Lanh broached a question that had been sitting on her mind since Karole moved in next door. "Don tell me you hate, but do you really hate being call Christmas Karole?" Her light accent was now highly pronounced. Tell came out 'taew,' and call came out 'caw.'

"Your husband is a wise man," snarled Karole. This was early in their relationship, so at this time Karole wasn't aware of the fact that Lanh was fully aware of word tenses, "called" rather than "call" and "told" rather than "tell" and a hundred grammatical errors that a speech therapist would concentrate on. She normally has perfect diction but all of that goes out the window when she is feeling emotional pressure. Karole continued, "I despise being called Christmas Karole, especially when singing is involved."

"Oh," but Lanh continued fearlessly, "then I should not ask you about Krissy-mas Karole?" Lanh actually patted Karole's pregnant belly which contained her daughter Krissy. "Kriss-mas Karole?" Lanh grinned and waggled her eyebrows.

"No, you should not." But it was so silly that Karole broke up laughing, and when Lanh realized that she wasn't going to be pummeled by the buxom blond amazon, she began laughing also. It was probably the only time in recent memory when someone called her "Christmas Karole" that Karole didn't respond with a vehement "Fuck you."

And now here she is, standing in the freezing rain waiting for a tardy Uber driver. Karole pulled out her cell phone to call Don and tell him that she was running a bit late. Karole refused to admit her feelings about Don, they were wrong, she couldn't endanger her friendship with Lanh, she couldn't anger the family, and she couldn't embarrass Don, but she couldn't be separated from him. She was even willing to put up with intravenous egg nogg and gingerbread at Don and Lanh's house if it means getting out of this cold wet weather and being near him.

And Mai is in town! Mai is Lanh's mom, mother to eight grown children, Lanh and her two sisters and three brothers, plus Rosa, a rebellious Hispanic classmate of Lanh's who married Lanh's brother and is now the manager of their family restaurant, and now Mai is mother to Karole. What would Mai say if she knew about Karole's feelings toward her daughter's husband?

After Krissy was born and Karole was recovering from the delivery, before the doctor came in to discuss the delivery and Krissy's health, a knock came at her hospital room door and there was Mai and Sandy with their arms loaded with gifts for Krissy and flowers for Karole. Mai is Lanh's mother and Sandy is Don's stepmother, and they had traveled all the way from Minnesota to be there for her, and they stayed with her helping her out for nearly a month. Sandy is just the sweetest person she ever met, and Mai constantly demands that Karole drop everything and move to Minnesota to help Rosa run the family restaurant, and Karole wishes she could say yes. But Don is here in Colorado...

"Hello, Don? Hey, I'm running a bit late, the Uber is late and..."

"It's ok, we're reading stories," said Don. Karole could hear Krissy's babbling in the background, she's 11 months old and getting closer every day to speaking. "Listen, why don't you..."

Karole was distracted when the rain turned to snow like someone threw a switch, the snowflakes swirled around her like being in a snow globe. Don would love this; she thought as she gazed at the swirling flakes. They reminded her of the only place she ever felt at home, Minnesota. She chuckled; he would call this Christmas snow; however she knew that in the twenty miles between their two locations the weather patterns could be vastly different.

Smiling for the first time today, she noticed that the snowflakes had stopped, they were hovering in midair. She reached out to touch one and before she touched the snowflake, she felt a sudden jolt go through her. Not an electric shock, but like someone bumped her in the back. It was followed in rapid succession by ten more jolts and then someone appeared next to her. Surprised at the sudden appearance her feet slipped out from under her and Karole dropped to her hands and knees, her cell phone landed on the ground in front of her and Don was talking to her. She realized that she hadn't heard a word he said and was trying to look up at the person who appeared when the apparition spoke.

"Ok, let's get this started. We need to get this right; this is the last chance we get," said the apparition which had a familiar, haunting appearance...

...and then Karole recognized it and Karole's eyes rolled back in her head as she slumped to the ground.

Stave 2

Karole returned to consciousness and slowly sat up. "What happened?" she groaned.

"Same thing as what always happens," muttered a voice behind her. Karole heard the distinct sound of chewing and the popping of gum.

"Same thing as what always happens?" demanded Karole without turning around. She patted the back of her head and checked her hand for evidence of blood.

"You turn, see me, scream, and faint. Every time, like clockwork. I can't believe I became such a wimp."

Karole turned and saw a young woman dressed like a Country/Western version of Cindy Lauper. She was wearing a Garth Brooks concert T-shirt, over that a man's plaid work shirt tied off below her boobs, blue jeans, cowboy boots, a sweater tied around her waist, and enough cheap necklaces for a full Mardi Gras parade. And that hair, Ugh! A fluffy she-mullet with the last four inches of her platinum blond tresses died neon purple. She was leaning against the building playing with a familiar-looking phone. "That's my phone," Karole grunted as she tried to get her feet under her, but the walk was slippery with the ice from the rain and now a dusting of the newly fallen snow.

"Correction, it's OUR phone, they don't have cool stuff like this in my time yet." The young woman looked down at Karole, and Karole froze; that voice, the hair, the attitude, it's Karole 12 years ago. The young Karole looked at her and grinned as if waiting for something. She finally hefted her large firm boobs and asked, "Do these things ever stop growing?"

Karole's head spun; she was a "late bloomer" as her mother called her. When she hit the age of 16 none of the promised secondary sex characteristics had appeared, but within a year they struck with a vengeance. She was buying a new bra every month and her so-called friends in high school accused her of "stuffing" until they saw the changes that occurred to her body in the gym locker room, then they accused her of "silicone poisoning." She would be in college when her body finally settled down, but not after growing several inches in height and settling on a 34 DD bra.

This child that stood before her had all the ear marks of an 18-year-old Karole, right down to the shoulder length platinum blond hair with the final four inches died neon purple. "Who the hell are you?" Karole groaned as she tried to stand again, but her feet kept slipping on the ice-covered sidewalk.

"Honey chil', ah am you," grinned the girl. "You 'n me, we all are one, did'n that peckerwood Marley tell you ah'd be coming?"

"Who?" Karole was in utter shock.

"The Uber driver! Marly!" demanded the punk version of Karole.

"I'm still waiting for him." Marly was an Uber driver? Now Karole was confused. "The guard we call Marly told me some weird shit about three spirits tonight."

Karole shook her head in disbelief and the younger version of her threw a fit. She stomped her foot and looked to the heavens and shouted "He's the guard now? Nobody tells me nothing around here!" Karole swore she heard the roll of distant thunder when the young woman shouted. She then looked down at an astonished Karole and extended a hand to help Karole up. "Oh hell, come on Gawd dog it, let's git this over, and you gotta git it raht this time, 'cause we don't have 'nuff time left for no more chances, now git yo ass up!"

Karole took the girl's hand and she eased herself up to her feet, and when she did, she felt light as a puff of wind, as substantial as a dust mote drifting through a warm sunbeam in a summer living room. Karole released the girl's hand and looked down and saw that her body was still kneeling on hands and knees on the icy sidewalk. "What is this? I must have hit my head; I must be hallucinating..." she started to panic.

"Well, if that's the deal, then you need to call 911," said the girl who held out the phone to Karole. Karole tried to take the phone, but it slipped right through her fingers and landed on the sidewalk in front of the stricken Karole on the ground. She stooped to pick it up, but her hand went right through it and right through the sidewalk also.

"What the fuck?" Karole cried.

The girl grabbed Karole's shoulders and hauled her up to a standing position, "Look, here's the deal you're going to meet a ghost that's going to scare the living shit out of you, it's my job to get you ready for that. Because if you blow it again..."

The girl raised a fist in a threat, and that's when Karole realized she could see through the spirit's fist, and when she raised her hand to block the blow, she discovered she could see through her own hands also. While Karole was pondering this, the girl continued. "Look, I am you, I just graduated high school and I lost my virginity to Micky Fields under the grandstands at Charlton County high. It sucked and so far, it's been the best sex I've ever had, please tell me it gets better."

"It... it kinda does," sputtered Karole who was still marveling over her see-through hands.

"Here's the deal, I'm going to show you some things. Pay attention, if we do it right, you're going to save a very important life."

"Who, Tiny Tim?"

Karole Past suddenly grew dark and angry. "You can't possibly believe how important this life is," she growled slowly. Karole swore she could hear thunder in the distance as Past Karole raged.

"Ok, ah'm sorry, who are we going to save? What do ah have to do?"

"Take my hand and follow me," said an angry Past Karole. Karole took Past Karole's hand and followed her through Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting's front door, but instead of the lobby, they entered a hospital room. There on the bed lay a woman who was clearly in the last few minutes of her life. In the room there was a doctor and two nurses, and the woman's family. An older couple, who were probably her parents, a man in his twenties, and a young boy about seven.

"It's ok mommy," whispered the little boy who was trying to be brave, "I can take care of daddy."

"I know you can dear," gasped the dying woman. Her once youthful, beautiful face was a rictus of agony.

The doctor wordlessly gestured to the nurses and the three medical professionals left the room so the family could be alone with the woman and say their goodbyes. They had no way of knowing that "I know you can dear" would be her last words.

Karole and Past Karole watched as the family spent their last few minutes with the dying woman. Finally, Karole whispered softly "What are we doing here?"

Past Karole said in a plain voice "You don't have to whisper; they can't hear you."

"Ok," said Karole still whispering, "what are we doing here?"

"I can't tell you, it's one of those things you need to figure out for yourself."

Karole rolled her eyes in disgust. Was she such an asshole at 18? If she were honest with herself the answer would be yes, but years of taunting and being called the "Carpenters Dream" (flat as a board and never been nailed) then suddenly being called "more boobs than brains" in high school was partially to blame and having the type of mother who celebrated Karole's high school graduation by drinking herself unconscious at Karole's graduation ceremony had a lot to do with it also. And if she was honest, she hasn't changed much in the past 6 years. "What does this have to do with me?" she asked in her angry mom's voice.

"It DOESN'T. It has nothing to do with YOU," shrieked Past Karole. "Not everything is about YOU. There happens to be a FEW OTHER PEOPLE ON THIS PLANET." Past Karole crossed her arms and stared at the dying woman, ignoring Karole's pleas and demands for an explanation. Finally, the woman passed on, the heart monitor began screaming its plaintive wail that all cardiac activity has stopped. Her family grieved their loss and hated themselves for feeling relief that the woman's suffering, and theirs,4 was over. Tears flowed in the room and one tear trickled down Past Karole's cheek.

"There you go," Past Karole finally said. "Lesson over, moving right along..."

"You're crying?" asked Karol, "I thought you said it meant nothing to us."

"YOU watch this play out a dozen times, maybe you'll learn some empathy. Maybe you'll shed a tear for someone other than yourself. I CAN FUCKING ARRANGE IT!"

"I just wanted to know," whined Karole, her voice trailing off.

"Oh, and by the way. Merry Fucking Christmas," sneered Past Karole. "That kid's Christmas present was to watch his mother die slowly in agony. You know, there just might be something worse in this world than someone calling you Christmas Karole... Just sayin'... bitch."

Past Karole led Karole through the weeping family that was gathered around the hospital bed, and through the hospital room door that didn't lead into the hospital corridor, but instead led into a high school gymnasium. The gym was decorated for a holiday dance, red and green crape paper streamers lined the walls, Christmas trees with gayly wrapped boxes sat in each corner, a DJ dressed as Santa Claus spun actual records, while faculty and parents stood at the ready to quash any and all unauthorized necking, canoodling, or touching. In the corner a group of boys, probably high school seniors, were taunting a younger boy.

"Check this out," Past Karole told Karole, "It's a great trick, these boys are friends with the DJ, so they know when a fast song will lead into a slow dance. They're going to trick that nerdy sophomore to ask a nerdy wallflower to a fast dance, but instead it will be a slow romantic dance, and everyone can all make fun of their embarrassment. Check this out."

"Why would they do that?"

"To embarrass the crap out of two unpopular nerds! You need to see this."

Karole, who was the butt of numerous merciless jokes during her entire high school experience, didn't want to watch. The thought of bullies humiliating younger and weaker kids made her stomach turn. "No, I don't want to..."

"Just Watch." Past Karole's forceful voice no longer needed to be accompanied by a distant roll of thunder. Out of fear Karole watched.

"Go on man, it's going to be hilarious," Bully #1 egged on the Butt of the Joke. The Butt of the Joke was short, skinny, wore outdated worn-out clothes and cheap eyeglasses held together with electrical tape. He could have been good looking if it wasn't for an embarrassing acne eruption.

Bully #2 gave the Butt of the Joke a knowing elbow, "yeah, she's going to be all spastic with her arms and hair flying around."

Bully #3 put a fatherly hand on the Butt of the Joke's shoulder. "Come on dude, what do you have to lose? Besides, there may be a spot opening up for a sophomore on the swim team, Jamie Davidson's family is moving at the end of the quarter, we'll need a middle-distance swimmer."

The Butt of the Joke loves swimming, and he had heard about Jamie's family moving, but he knew he'd never make the swimming team. "You think it will happen?" he asked about the girl, not the swim team.

"He doesn't care about the swim team," whispered Past Karole conspiratorially, "he just wants to dance with a girl. He's tired of being lonely."

"Why doesn't he just ask her himself?"

"You've never been so depressed that you're terrified to talk to anyone other than that stupid ol' one eye cat or that witch out in the swamp?" demanded Past Karole. Karole winced; Grandma Noah was her only friend in middle school and Mr. Peepers was her only friend during high school.

"Dude! It's in the bag! All you have got to do is ask Miss Prim and Proper out on the dance floor. These guys say that the next song is going to be a real rocker."

The Butt of the Joke muttered "But I can't dance."

"Dudes aren't expected to know how to dance, girls practice all the time. My dolly tells me that this bitch is so spastic she can't even tie her shoes without falling over," grinned Bully #2. "Now go!" and Bullies #1 and #2 gave the Butt of the Joke a shove.

As the Butt of the Joke walked slowly across the dance floor Karole's stomach was tied up in knots. "I can't watch this," she moaned. Her stomach was really starting to hurt for those poor kids.

"Watch," hissed Past Karole, "believe me, it's a riot."

The Butt of the Joke walked up to a group of girls who parted like the Red Sea before Moses, revealing Miss Prim and Proper, a tiny, little Asian girl with waist length black hair, thick square glasses, and a mouthful of braces. "Care to... I mean would you... uhh... like..." the Butt of the Joke was dying; he hasn't spoken to a girl since the second grade, and that was his dying mother and now he's suddenly come face to face with her.

"He's been in love with this girl for a year and she doesn't know he exists!" Past Karole said with a grin. "He's a true candidate to be a stalker."

"Dance? She'd love to!" called out one of the girls standing with Miss Prim and Proper. Obviously, the girls were in on the joke too. They pushed the girl out onto the dance floor where she stood staring at the lanky young boy. Now that they stood looking at each other Karole recognized them immediately and gasped realizing that this was a moment in history.

"Oh God," groaned Karole, "those poor kids!" but Past Karole just grinned.

The song was coming to an end and the gyrations of the other dancers slowed as the song faded. "I really don't dance," said the Butt of the Joke.

"I don't either," said Miss Prim and Proper so quietly that he could barely hear her.

"It'll be fun," assured the Butt of the Joke trying to bolster his own courage, then suddenly his heart sank. Elton John began singing and everyone in the gym could name that tune by the opening three notes. Karole whimpered and stifled a moan of sadness for the two embarrassed nerds.

It's a little bit funny

This feeling inside

I'm not one of those who can easily hide

I don't have much money, but boy if I did

I'd buy a big house where we both could live

"Your Song by Elton John! oh God" groaned the Butt of the Joke inwardly, one of the sappiest, most romantic slow dances on earth! Normally all the dating couples would step out on the dance floor but the Butt of the Joke and Miss Prim and Proper were all alone out there, and a spotlight just illuminated them.

"Oh no," gasped Karole, "the whole damn school was in on it! Those bastards! Those cocksuckers!" She was actually starting to cry for those kids, it reminded her of a Steven King novel, she expected someone to grow ten feet tall and tear apart everyone involved or some other Steven King madness. She looked over at Past Karole, but Past Karole just watched those kids, just 2 years younger than her, and she smiled a wistful smile.

"I could watch this part over and over for the rest of my life," she whispered to no one in particular.

Both the Butt of the Joke and Miss Prim and Proper decided "what the hell" when they realized that they were both the Butt of the Joke. After a moment of fumbling, they figured out how to place their hands, Don even held her right hand with his left hand because he saw it in a movie. The last female whose hand he touched died before his eyes nine years ago. With more confusion than they could have believed possible, they started rocking in time to the music. Finally, the Butt of the Joke said "Hi, I'm Don."

"I'm Lanh," muttered Miss Prim and Proper.

Don had seen her name in the town paper when she and her family moved to town. "I know, Lanh Nu-guy-en?" Don suddenly blushed crimson red, here he was dancing with a girl, the Whole School was watching them, and he slaughtered her name. He was so embarrassed; he nearly ran from the gym. God! She's so cute! He's been stalking her with his eyeballs since their freshman year.

Lanh gently giggled. "It's pronounced N'win."

"How do you get Win out of Nguyen?"

Lanh looked up at Don and shrugged. "Don't know!" and she giggled again, but it wasn't a nervous giggle, it was more of a giggle of relief. He was a real person!

"I like the way you laugh," smiled Don, terrified that if he said the wrong thing she'd run from him, and he'd be alone... again.

"I like the way you blush," smiled Lanh, "it's cute," which made Don blush even more. Suddenly Lanh gasped "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to embarrass you."

"No, it's ok, it's just... I've never..." Don sputtered trying to explain the ocean of feelings that were exploding in his head, how do you tell someone that you fell in love on first sight over a year ago? And as their embarrassment faded and their friendship blossomed, they stopped their Frankenstein-like rocking and began swaying to the music. They didn't become Fred and Ginger, but they became comfortable with each other. Little by little their bodies grew closer together. "Awwww," sighed Karole as the young couple grew closer together, and their eyes remained locked, the world around them disappeared and Elton continued singing.

I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind

That I put down in the words

How wonderful life is while you're in the world

"Lanh told me about this," said Karole softly remembering their conversation over a glass of wine one dark evening. "I didn't realize..." the words caught in her throat as she watched her dear friends meet. "She said it was so awkward and embarrassing. It's not, it's sweet."

"It's their very first dance together," said Past Karole as she led Karole toward the big double door exit. "This was the moment they met. They'll never need another dance partner as long as they both live. Kinda sweet, isn't it?" They turned back to look and the couple. They continued to hold each other even though the song ended, simply enjoying the closeness and the depths of each other's eyes. "They're going to dance one more, then sit down and spend the night talking," said Past Karole before the door closed.

Then Past Karole led Karole out into the High School hallway which was a museum quality display of photographs of Don and Lanh as they became the absolute best of friends. The pictures started out with them studying in the Nguyen's kitchen, and in the Campbells farmhouse. "Lanh's father put his foot down," said Past Karole as they watched Lanh help Don with his homework. "No daughter of mine is going to date anyone with below a B average!" As they watched the pictures come to life, there was a lot of studying, and quite a bit of peeks at each other.

It wasn't all studying, there were lots of photos of the couple ice skating at the arena with Lanh's sister Kim-ly and her twin brother Bao skating with them as guards and as chaperones. Here was a picture of Lanh standing on the edge of the school's swimming pool coaching Don as he swam, and there was a picture of them working on his father's farm, she is driving the tractor as he stands next to her on the tractor leaning back on the tractor's fender. The grin of accomplishment of driving that machine on that tiny girl's face was priceless, as was the look of pride on Don's.

Past Karole pointed out a series of pictures of the teenage couple ice fishing, a grinning Lanh and Don holding up a stringer of perch. Their glowing faces were framed by the fake fur of their parka hoods.

More pictures followed, family gatherings, sometimes with Lanh's huge Vietnamese family, and sometimes with Don's smaller Norwegian and Irish family, and sometimes with the families mingled. Parties, parades, the ice cream social in the park, the fireman's picnic, the Memorial Day ceremony at the cemetery, gazing up at the Fourth of July fireworks. Don and Lan in smalltown America, holding hands and loving life for the first time in their lives. Karole's favorite was a picture of Don and Lanh lying side by side on a blanket, their eyes locked to each other's, soaked to the skin after an impromptu dip in the pond on a hot summer afternoon. Karole longed for the days when she could be silly like that again.

"Here's an interesting picture, it shows Lanh's desire for a life together," said Past Karole as she pointed to a picture of Don and Lanh standing in front of his father's barn, Lan is wearing a battered straw cowboy style hat and a stem of hay sticking out of her mouth.

"How do you mean that?" challenged Karole.

Past Karole touched the picture frame, and the picture became a doorway that they stepped through into a farmyard on a warm late spring day in Minnesota. The sweet smell of hay and the pungent aroma of cow manure, the smells of money to thousands of farmers, hung heavily in the air, it made Karole long for a return to Minnesota as soon as possible. Don and Lanh were nowhere to be seen, but the Past Karole seemed to know where she was going; she led the way to the barn where the voices of the youngsters could be heard. Inside the cool darkness of the barn Karole marveled at the collection of antique tools, and over there was the gray and red tractor she saw in the photos. And up there in the hayloft was Don and Lanh, sitting on bales of hay, putting their schoolbooks away. Karole looked at Past Karole and raised an eyebrow with a grin.

"No, they were not fucking, or necking, or even holding hands. They were studying, getting ready for upcoming exams. Lanh is a straight A+ student, and with her help Don's grades have shot up into the As for the first time since his mom died. This is the end of their sophomore year, and the sixth month of their friendship. At this point in time, they're close buddies... Listen," Past Karole gestured toward the teens that were now climbing down the ladder from the hayloft. Don was plotting out his plan for his future.

"After I enlist, I'm just going to stay in the military long enough to learn a trade and get the G.I. Bill so my college is paid for, then I'll come back here," said Don as the two exited the big side door.

"Then what?" asked Lanh, she looked up and saw Don's dad Ralph walking toward them. He pulled a camera out of his pocket to take a picture of the kids. Ralph takes lots of pictures, then gets double prints and gives the second set to Lanh's parents Duong and Mai.

"I'll run the farm; with the skills I learned working on military equipment I'll work on the machines here, and with my college education I'll do accounting, y' know, taxes and stuff, and manage the farm's finances." Don looked down at Lanh, and their eyes met. "It's a lot of work, but I love this farm."

Lanh grabbed the straw hat off of Don's head, put it on her own, and put the stem of hay she was holding in her mouth and said, "Sounds like a plan."

Just then Ralph Campbell's camera flashed, and the moment was etched in time, the two youngsters staring at each other with soft intensity. "When she put on his hat and started chewing on the hay from his farm, she was telegraphing her desire to share that dream with him," said Past Karole as they walked around the frozen teens whose entire world was no larger than this farm, the Nguyen restaurant in town, and their school.

"Did he pick up on that?"

"A little bit," said Past Karole, "mostly subconsciously, but then she always understood their feelings for each other long before he did." Karole walked around Don and Lanh studying their eyes, his blue eyes locked to her dark brown, almost black eyes. Both of the teens were so comfortable in their relationship, so at ease in each other's company.

"Wow," Karole whispered. She knew that Lanh was dearly in love with her husband, she had no idea how far back her love for him had gone.

Past Karole led Karole over to the farmhouse where Don grew up and inside it wasn't a farmhouse, it was a continuation of the Museum of Don and Lanh. "What happened here?" Karole asked as she pointed to a picture. It was Lanh and Don in a rowboat, Lanh was rowing, and Don was sitting in the stern and he was in bad shape. His arm was in a sling and his face was bruised up. He looked miserable.

"That was their junior year, a senior named Joshua Grimes found Lanh in a hallway and assaulted her. Don heard her scream and he charged at Joshua." Past Karole looked almost as pained as Don looked. "As you can see, Joshua got the better of Don, but Lanh got away, and that's all Don wanted."

"Wow," said Karole as she watched Lanh pulling the oars. "She never mentioned this."

"It's the closest they ever got to breaking up," said Past Karole. "She thought he was blaming her for his injuries, and he thought she was going to dump him for being weak."

As Karole and Past Karole moved through the display Karole saw the couple age, Don lost his acne and his gawkiness and shot up into manhood, Lanh lost her braces and grew her gentle curves, yet she remained tiny. Karole saw Don and Rosa Mendez receiving medals for swimming, medals they attributed to Lanh's coaching. Here was a picture of the two of them wearing their school letters, Don for swimming, Lanh for debate. There is a picture of them at the senior prom Don wore a simple black tuxedo that made him look like a dashing young James Bond, she wore a Cheongsam Qipao dress, the quintessential Chinese dress. It's a high collar, skintight sleeveless red silk dress that hangs down past the knees and split on the sides nearly up to the waist. Her dress was red with cherry blossoms and a golden dragon, and it made her look simply beautiful. "The dragon lady and the secret agent," gasped Karole.

"You know about that?" asked Past Karole.

"Her sister Kim-ly told me all about their little game." Karole couldn't bring herself to say his code name without laughing, Agent Double Oh Seven and Five Eighths. They started playing that game in High School.

There were so many Christmas pictures! Christmas parties, unwrapping gifts, posing for pictures in front of the tree, Lanh posing in front of a small fish tank that was decorated for Christmas, Don and Lanh napping cuddled together on the couch on Christmas Day. Christmas seemed to be the majority of the photographs, and many of them were animated, like mini movies. "What is the Christmas fetish with these two?" Karole finally asked.

"That's actually Lanh's fault," explained Past Karole, "when her family found out that Don's mother died on Christmas, they decided to show Don that Christmas wasn't a time of pain and sorrow. Lanh became the lady of the Campbell house and reintroduced Christmas to Don and his dad." She pointed out a picture of Don and Lanh at the local VFW volunteering at the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. Don got a lot of ribbing from those old veterans for saying that he wanted to enlist in the Air Force, yet in the end, the wizened old marines patted him on the back for his decision to man up and serve.

Past Karole led Karole through a door that led them into the living room of the farmhouse of Ralph and his son Don Campbell. Lanh had just finished setting up decorations on the mantel piece and was standing on a stool putting up a sprig of mistle toe in a doorway between the dining room and the living room when her parents and Don walked in the front door. Don had been tasked with picking them up for a Christmas Eve dinner at the Campbell farm and Lanh finished decorating the house while they were out. "Let me help you," said Don as he hurried over to Lanh, whose stool was starting to wobble. But when he got near the stool slipped and she fell backwards... right into Don's arms.

"My hero!" she sighed with a grin wrapping her arms around his neck, ignoring the cackling admonishments in rapid fire Vietnamese from her shocked parents.

He didn't know why he said it, it was the corniest thing that any male has ever said especially when he and his very best friend had been practicing their faux-fall for hours to shock their complacent parents. "I'll always be here for you."

It wasn't the line they practiced; it wasn't close, but it was what came from his heart. In return Lanh whispered, "I'll always be here for you too." He slowly lowered her feet to the ground, their eyes remained locked, their arms remained around each other, and then unconsciously their lips met. It was a little peck like they had done dozens of times before, but then their lips met again and parted. Their tongues gently explored each other and suddenly, like a silent explosion, their friendship blossomed into a passionate, all-consuming love. They broke for a breath, and she gasped "Tighter, hold me tighter. I won't break."

Again, another kiss, more hungry and more loving than the first, and Don did indeed hold his tiny love as tight to him as he could. And then everything stopped. "Awww, why did you stop it there?" asked Karole as she considered the two youngsters, frozen in their first kiss of passion, from all angles. She especially loved the expressions on the three parent's faces, each smile said, "I knew it all along."

"Because their parents will stop it pretty soon," said Past Karole, "but this is the very point in time where The Big L becomes part of their relationship. Up until now it was all buddy-buddy fun. They had confessed their love for each other a year prior, but here is where they both realize that this thing between them really is a forever thing. Now is when they both realize that their future is together."

"So sweet..." cooed Karole as she walked around the frozen teenagers. Lanh was Karole's best friend, not because she was Karole's only friend, she was the best friend Karole ever had, and watching her love for Don blossom like this drew her even closer to Lanh, if that were possible.

"Let's fast forward a year," smiled Past Karole, and with a mind-boggling display of flashing colors and flickering images the young lovers ended up under the mistle toe once again. This time Don was wearing a red coat and a Santa hat, and from her pointy green hat and her fake elf ears to her curly toed shoes, Lanh was dressed as the most adorable Christmas elf you ever saw. This time all of Lanh's family was there; mom, dad, Grandma Tri from Minneapolis, three older brothers and two older sisters.

"This is their senior year," said Past Karole, "They have just a few short months of school left and then Don ships off to basic training in Lackland Air Force Base. He signed up for a six-year hitch which would give him a stripe right out of basic, another stripe in 6 months, so he'll have stripes on his blues to wear at his wedding before shipping off to wherever his first duty assignment takes them."

"Have you been a good little elf this year?" asked Don.

"Yes, I have Santa," answered Lanh avoiding eye contact by looking down to her right with a smile.

"Ho, ho, ho!" called out Lanh's father Duong, which caused loud laughter from the family seated around the dining room table. The family had finished a huge Christmas Eve dinner at Campbell's farm. The old farmhouse was built to feed a huge family and plenty of farmhands, but for so long it was just Ralph and Don. Since their first Christmas as a couple for Don and Lanh, it had started to become a tradition for the entire Campbell and Nguyen families to have a big Christmas dinner together. It felt good to have the house filled with laughter once more.

"That was my line," said Santa Don causing even more laughter. Then to Elf Lanh he said, "Still not exactly a Pudgy Elf yet, are we?" he emphasized that by tickling her ribs causing both Lanh and Tam to laugh remembering their very, very first kiss.

"He's really getting into this Christmas thing," said Karole who stood with Past Karole behind the audience of the Nguyen family, Ralph Campbell, and Sandi Petersen, Ralph's friend from church.

"This is going to be the best Christmas yet!" said Past Karole.

"Get on with it!" shouted all five of Lanh's older siblings.

Santa Don leaned over a little bit and said, "Whisper into my ear what you want for Christmas little elf."

Playing the bashful little elf perfectly, Lanh said, "What I want for Christmas is..." and with that she drew in close and instead of pretending to whisper into Santa Don's ear, she began nibbling on his ear lobe and exploring his ear with the tip of her tongue, something she knew that "Santa" REALLY enjoyed. It was delicious payback for him going off script last year, and she never shared that fact with anyone.

Recovering his wits from her exquisite tongue action, Don stood and said "Ho, ho, HO! You want a kiss from Santa, little elf?"

Lanh played coy, biting the tip of her finger, and twisting from side to side until her brothers and sisters yelled "Get on with it!"

Lanh yelled "Yes!" at the top of her lungs and launched herself at Don. The moment their lips met Lanh's oldest sister Tam slapped her hand down on a cheap plastic timer the Nguyen children used playing games in their youth. They started cheering and jeering their youngest sister as she passionately kissed the man she chose.

"They're betting on how long they will kiss?" Karole.

"Yeah," shrugged Past Karole, "Lanh bet her brothers and sisters that she and Don could kiss for a full minute in front of their parents."

The siblings knew how the game was played, at a pre-arranged time all the Nguyen youngsters groaned like they lost the bet, rose, and started a disheartened clapping saying, "You win Lanh." Don almost pulled away, but Lanh, suspecting her siblings were up to something, wrapped an arm around Don's shoulders and held his head in place with her small hand. There were groans and the siblings sat back down defeated, they couldn't get the new guy to break the lip-lock before the allotted time, so they waited out the final seconds until the timer went DING! Don and Lanh kissed a little longer then stepped apart and bowed to the applause of the entire audience. Then, smiling in innocence, Lan went and collected a crisp five-dollar bill from each of her brothers and sisters.

She walked back to Don, fanning herself with the money, her face aglow in pride and the joy of pulling one over on her brothers and sisters. "What do you think honey?" and then so quietly only Don could hear, "a start on our house?"

Then, just as quietly Don replied, "I'm going to ask him."

"When? Tonight?"

"Now."

Lanh squealed and jumped up, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist and planted rapid fire kisses on his face and whispered in his ear "And my angels are watching!"

"She sees us?" gasped Karole.

"Shush! I love this part!" cried Past Karole, then covered her mouth with a glance upward. Karole looked and saw Don and Lan standing in front of her father.

"Sir," started Don, his voice started out a little nervous, but it suddenly became assured, "Lan and I want to marry. We love each other dearly, and I will spend the rest of my life sheltering her, protecting her, and loving her. I want to be the father to our children that you are to Lanh and my dad is to me. All we ask is your blessing."

Duong Nguyen's features went stone cold, he noticed his baby's tiny hand in the hand of this youth, this usurper! ALL of his children have foresworn marriage until their chosen degrees and accreditations were complete, and tiny Lanh hasn't even finished high school. How dare he! "You know her older sisters haven't married yet," growled Duong.

Lanh squeezed Don's hand tightly, this was a trap that she had warned him about. "I wasn't aware that there was a Vietnamese tradition of allowing your daughters to wed by age." Don's voice was steady but inside his guts were in turmoil. If Lanh wasn't holding his hand so tight, he would have run off by now.

Duong glared at Don. Don was right of course, but he couldn't let this cur win. "I know you are both eighteen, but that's too young, there's no way I can give you my permission to..."

"I asked for your blessing... sir."

The Nguyen siblings never saw their father go so silent for so long. He was clearly getting ready to explode, poor Don and Lanh! Duong's gaze fell on his daughter. "What do you want little one?"

Lanh's eyes filled with tears, "I want to stop saying goodbye every night daddy. I want my best friend next to me for the rest of my life. I love him daddy... we want babies daddy..."

How Duong's face didn't crack is a miracle, Lanh's sisters were sniffing back silent tears watching their baby sister professing her love for this young man. If only they could have such courage when their time comes!

Finally, Duong spoke. "Your mother," he said pointing at Lanh, "your father," he said pointing at Don, "And I have spoken long about this, we saw this day coming and we think you are crazy. You're too young to start with! and being young you are prone to do stupid things," he ended sadly. He paused for a long time glaring at the young couple. Slowly he took a deep breath then suddenly with a bark he exclaimed, "You want to get married when he is done with training? That's stupid! And why? Because you want your wedding pictures with Don in his dress blues?" Lanh nodded; her eyes filled with tears of terror. Then at Don he yelled, "and what if I tell you that you don't have my permission to marry my daughter?"

Terrified but still firm Don replied, "I respect you and Lanh loves you so we will obey you and we won't get married, we will live together in sin and raise our family without you until we do get your permission."

Turning to his wife and Ralph he said "See? Stupid! There's no way they can afford to live together on an Airman First Class salary!" Then he turned to Don. "If you're not married you will not get housing, you will not be given a food allowance and have to eat in the chow hall! It will be tough, there's no way you could raise our grandchildren without those benefits, and you cannot get them until you marry. Did you think of that?"

Don stood firm, his knuckles and Lanh's knuckles were white, their hands were clasped so tight. "Yes sir, we did. That's why I asked for your blessing, not permission."

Duong scowled even deeper. He pulled out a pocket calendar and rifling through it he looked up at Don and said, "And I suppose if I refuse to give you my blessing you would run off and get married in spite of my wishes."

"No sir, not to spite you, but yes, we would get married."

"Without my blessing?!?"

"Well sir, we both love you dearly, but... you're not the pope."

What a great response! Trying his hardest not to laugh Duong rumbled, "youth is wasted on the young..." he grumbled some more then stared straight into Don's eye. "This is the way it's going to be young man, if you insist on marrying my youngest daughter, the wedding will be on May 17^th.

Lanh and Don stared at her father in shock, a collective gasp rose from Lanh's sisters Tam and Kim-ly, Lan's brothers Trung, and Bao stared wide eyed in shock. Ralph was having trouble keeping a straight face as was Lanh's mother Mai. May 17^th was only three days after their May 14^th graduation, it was months sooner than they had dreamed of getting married and weeks before his enlistment date in June.

Duong continued, his voice still growling. "What, it's not good enough for you?"

Don was in shock; it was almost like a dream come true. "No sir, I mean yes sir, it's just..."

Duong's voice softened slightly. "Son, and I am going to be proud to call you my son, you made your father and I proud, you stood up for my daughter's hand like a man. BUT I am NOT going to send off my baby daughter without a proper honeymoon. You two will have weeks together before you ship off to basic training. I don't want to have a hormonal teenage daughter pacing the halls waiting all summer for her wedding. It's going to be bad enough with a hormonal teenage daughter pacing the halls waiting all summer for her husband. PLUS, I can ship her off to you as soon as you finish basic training, and you can take her with to your technical school... EXCEPT!"

His shouted "except" hung in the air like a spinning sword. Don and Lanh were clueless. Duong crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the young couple. Mai tried to send a hint by fidgeting with her wedding ring, but neither child could understand her signal. Lanh's oldest brother Huy mouthed the words "ask her" but they didn't get that either.

Duong made them sweat for a good long time until he finally opened his arms and with exaggerated graciousness said, "Ask Her!"

"Here? In front of everybody?" Don squeaked involuntarily. He had planned to ask her later, after her folks went home. He was going to ask her in the warmth of the fireplace, by the light of the Christmas tree and the candles, she looks so beautiful in candlelight.

"Don, you had the guts to dress down Mr. Nguyen in front of his entire family," said Ralph, "You could at least honor his one request." Which brought out chuckles from the family.

"Ask her!" Grandma Tri practically shouted, "before I marry you!" causing all to convulse in laughter.

"But he doesn't have a ring," said Lanh in a tiny voice.

"Actually..." Don pulled a small jewelry box out of his pocket and slowly eased to his knee. The box he scrimped and saved for; his share of the farm's profits was all in that box. Opening the box, he held it up to her and said "Lanh Nguyen, I love you more than I ever thought possible, you are my entire world, my reason for living. Would you complete me by becoming my wife?"

Inside the box was a simple gold band with a small diamond mounted on it. It was simply and exactly an engagement ring, nothing frilly or ostentatious about it. She stared at it wordlessly, how many nights had she dreamt of this exact moment, all the endless possibilities (her favorite fantasy was being proposed to naked in the pond on a hot summer afternoon), but here! In front of her entire family! It was then that she realized that this was an Americanized version of a traditional Vietnamese engagement ceremony.

Her hands started shaking so bad she almost dropped the box, she could only whimper, her ears were ringing, and her heart was pounding, she couldn't hear her brothers and sisters demanding "Say yes!" Don realized what was happening and took the box from her shaking hands and took out the ring. He poised it over the tip of her ring finger and looking up into her beautiful eyes asked softly, "Please?"

"Yes!" she gasped breathlessly, and the ring slid on to her finger; a perfect fit. "Yes, yes, yes!" she cried, her voice returning as she sank to her knees, "Oh God yes!" and their lips met.

"Why did you stop it here?" whined Karole.

Past Karole considered the newly engaged couple from all angles. She walked slowly around them, locked in their passionate kiss, her spectral body passing through the table and Lanh's relatives. "Remember this moment," she whispered, "remember their love, their passion..."

"Why? What happens? Do they fall out of love?"

Past Karole looked at Karole and her shoulders slumped in exasperation. "You talk to Lanh every day! Does she sound like someone who hates her husband? Whether you know it or not, you are her second-best friend, right after..." and she gestured to the frozen 18-year-old Don. "She would confide in you even before she'd talk to her sister if there were anything wrong with their relationship." Past Karole sighed, "Just remember this moment." She looked at the teens and stifled a sob, then stepped through the kitchen door outside.

Minnesota basked under a warm, sunny spring day. The sun was hot, yet the breeze was cool and refreshing. The Campbell family farm had become a wedding destination. White silk bunting draped from the blossoming apple trees and the barn doors. Rustic backdrops for the photographer were set out around the barn yard, a small gazebo on a stage was erected for the couple to be married under. The old gray and red tractor was washed and covered with tissue paper flowers, empty soup cans were tied to strings behind it. Next to it the big old green John Deere sat, its engine and transmission rebuild still in progress as far as Lanh knows, but the decades of dirt and grease scrubbed away and replaced by tissue paper flowers and soup cans. Across the front of both tractors was mounted a sign that reads "Just Married."

People swarmed the farmyard, so many of Lanh's relatives came from all over the country to celebrate the wedding of Lanh, the miracle baby. "Miracle baby? What's that all about?" asked Karole and she tried desperately to grab a drink at the open bar.

"Lanh was tiny when she was born 15 weeks premature," said Past Karole, "that's why she was a year behind at school. As for Don, he lost a year when his mom died and never tried to catch up. He didn't take school seriously until he met Lanh. She wasn't really crazy about living, suddenly becoming the only Asian in a rural school she felt like a circus sideshow freak, a leading candidate for teenage suicide until she met Don."

And now they were saying their vows in front of a Catholic Priest, a Lutheran Minister, and a field full of people. "They're beautiful!" gasped Karole, as they pledged their love to each other. Don wore the same black tux that Karole saw in the prom pictures, two and a half years on the swim team trimmed his waist and broadened his shoulders, the tuxedo fit like it was tailored for him.

Lanh wore an Áo dài, the traditional Vietnamese outfit. It featured a high collar long sleeve silk blouse that hangs down to mid-calf and is split on the sides. Underneath she wore traditional silk trousers. The áo dài that Lan wore was white, as were the trousers. Normally a Vietnamese woman would wear bright red at her wedding because white in many Asian countries is a color of mourning. Lanh wanted to wear white to advertise that she made it all the way to the wedding altar a virgin. They came close, damn close, several times but they made it, and tonight is their night. Over the silk áo dài, Lanh wore a white silk vest embroidered with dragons and flowers, all in gold. The vest served one function only, to preserve her modesty. Beneath the áo dài she was completely naked, and the light silk áo dài would become as revealing as a screen door; a surprise that she knew Don would appreciate.

Now they were in the big tent at the reception, Lanh was wearing a traditional white wedding gown that she and her sisters Tam and Kim-ly found at a thrift store. It's a beautiful gown but has a horrible stain that is completely covered by the white silk vest she wore over her áo dài. "She changed wedding dresses?" asked Karole.

"Oh yes," said Past Karole. "And she will one more time into a red áo dài that her sister Tam will wear at her wedding.

Don and Lanh were over on the temporary dance floor, their arms intertwined, their eyes locked, their bodies swaying in rhythm as they danced their first dance as husband and wife.

It's a little bit funny

This feeling inside...

Around the dance floor the guests were gathered, wearing an eclectic variety of clothing, from simple farm clothes to tuxedoes and dresses that rivaled Don and Lanh's wedding party. The crowd was a mixture of Lanh's Vietnamese relatives who journeyed up from Minneapolis, and Don's Irish and Norwegian relatives from the local area, but Don and Lanh didn't see them.

Don looked at his bride of fifteen years and saw the nervous, smiling high school sophomore that stole his heart a year earlier and he was too terrified to speak to. To Don, his bully's prank was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for him. Lanh looked up Finally, when their song ended, and they kissed long and passionately on the dancefloor as the cameras flashed and the crowd applauded. When their lips parted the huge smiles returned and their eyes never parted.

And now the father/daughter dance. Lanh waited for Duong in the center of the dance floor, and they danced to an equally beautiful country waltz.

OOh I never saw that look in your eyes

And I never had you hold me that tight

And I never saw

You dance with your feet off the ground

Oh but I see it now

When Lanh cleared the tears from her eyes and whispered, "Thank you daddy," she looked to her left and saw that her mom was daubing the tears from Don's eyes. They hadn't planned on a mother/son dance, but Mai could not let Don's mom be forgotten. She had stepped up to Don and whispered, "Dance with me son," and they danced to honor Emily Odegaard Campbell

"Come on you two!" called Lanh's sister Tam, "the photographer wants more pictures, whole wedding party!"

"Ugh, more pictures," groaned Lanh as they walked to the blossoming apple tree where the photographer wanted the pictures staged.

"You're the one who wants more pictures in eight more months," responded Don remembering their vow to pose for wedding pictures in his dress blues.

"I wonder if this áo dài will fit in eight months," said Lanh patting her belly.

"I hope not," grinned Don, he was as eager as Lanh to start a family.

Karole and Past Karole watched in amusement as the wedding party lined up for their photos. "Wait a minute, I recognize that guy! The best man, he's..." Just then the photographer's camera flashed, and the scene became a painting on the wall of an art museum. Karole and Past Karole considered the painting as Karole said, "He's the bully that promised Don a spot on the swim team."

Past Karole smiled, "Yes, he did, that's Craig Lewicki and he came through with his promise. He honestly thought that they were doing Don a favor setting him up with a shy girl, he didn't realize it was a prank. They became friends on the swimming team. And they did pose for more wedding photos after Don's basic training was over." Past Karole led Karole into a photograph of a pond and Karole found herself on a small rise overlooking a lake with a dock. a rowboat was pulled up on shore next to a dock. "This is Lanh's favorite place, in the winter they ice fish and ice skate, in summer they swim and have parties back here. Right where you are standing is where she wants to be buried."

"Here? Why here?" Karole looked around. It was a nice place at the edge of a small pine forest.

Past Karole smiled, "this is where she and her sisters found their peace with each other, they would come here and go swimming after they cut and baled hay for Don's father."

"Lanh and Kim-ly and Tam baled hay?" Karole was shocked, she only knew Lanh and Tam as doctors, professionals in teaching and practicing Lanh a speech therapist and Tam a psychologist while Kim-ly was an accountant who lived here in an apartment.

Past Karole nodded, "oh yes, they first did it as an exercise to work out resentment between them, then Ralph paid them, and they found the money irresistible. On the other side of these woods is a few acres that they use to raise vegetables for their parents' restaurant. This is where sisters became friends."

Just then the unmistakable putt-putt-putt of a tractor reached their ears and turning they saw Don's green John Deere tractor approaching, Lanh was driving wearing a western style wedding dress and Don in his wedding tuxedo. They stopped at the edge of the forest and Don stepped down then he lifted Lanh off the tractor and carried her a few steps into the woods where he set her on the edge of a picnic table of a campsite. He reached under her skirt, and she made some high pitched whines then said, "Stop that and help me with your belt."

"I want to make sure you're ready," Don insisted.

"I've been ready for two years... please!" she cried as she fought with his belt. Giving up on that, she hopped off the table and dropped the skirt of her wedding dress, she was not wearing panties.

"Damn!" gasped Karole as Don picked Lanh up and sat her on the table again. "That girl is ready!"

"They were virgins," said Past Karole, "but they weren't innocent. They had become quite good at oral sex in the past year and have been getting ready for this moment." Karole and Past Karole watched as Don dropped his pants and his erection sprang up and Lanh propped herself up on her elbows to watch her deflowering.

"Damn!" gasped Karole, "that kid is all dick!"

"Some girls have all the luck," Past Karole agreed.

"No shit!" said Karole as Don's cock eased into Lanh's pussy. Lanh suddenly tensed up and Don stopped.

"Are you ok?" Don's voice was almost shaking with concern.

Instead, Lanh nodded her head and smiled, "More."

"Let's go," said Past Karole as she pulled Karole's arm and led her to a doorway. "Let's give these two some privacy," and stepping through the doorway Karole found herself back indoors in the museum. Past Karole showed Karole a beautifully painted portrait of the couple, Don's hair much shorter, yet he looked snappy in his dress blues. Sadly, Lanh's wedding Áo dài fit perfectly.

There were so many more pictures as they wandered through the museum, Don's first assignment was in Germany, they spent three years in the country that originated many of America's Christmas traditions. This is where Don and Lan got those hand carved Christmas picture frames and where they ensured that the houses of all their relatives were adorned with hand carved Black Forest cuckoo clocks. Karole saw Lanh's happy fascination with German culture and architecture, and when Don went on a Temporary Duty assignment to Aviano Italy, Lanh was lonely and bored, sitting in a foreign country all alone. Ahn Lieu Brown, the wife of Don's Maintenance Supervisor, another Vietnamese Air Force wife, convinced Lanh to take a trip with her. The two women grabbed their passports, packed a bag, and took Annie's car to Italy.

They got rooms at a quaint little hotel right off the main town square in Aviano. The hotel was a favorite place to dine for American Airmen, so when Don and his maintenance team came trooping in after a long day on the flight line, expecting a plate of the best lasagna on earth for dinner, each got a surprise. Don's waitress was a slender Vietnamese woman in a French maid's uniform who said, "Is there anything I can get you?" Another honeymoon has started.

His next assignment was at Grand Forks Air Force Base, in Grand Forks North Dakota. Not the most glamorous assignment ever, but it was only a two-hour drive from Grant Valley, so they could travel home and visit family as often as they wanted. Karole saw pictures of Don and Lanh fishing in the summer, ice skating on the frozen Red River in the winter wearing huge, heavy parkas, and ice skating on the hockey rink at the college, it was like being teens again! They skated every chance they could, hand in hand, and on occasion they were able to get the DJ to play "their song" but now they could kiss all they wanted when the music played.

The work was hard, the Inspector General was unforgiving, it was incredibly cold there, but the summers were warm and sunny, and they wouldn't trade that experience for the world. What they would have traded was the news that they received from the base hospital. Years of blissful, joyful, unprotected sex, and yet only one miscarriage in the second month of pregnancy. Test after test followed and the answer was unanimous, Lanh was infertile, and the doctor gave them that news on Christmas Eve.

"That's what Kim-ly meant," gasped Karole. Kim-ly had told her that with Don and Lanh Christmas was either fantastic or a horror story.

The couple was inconsolable for a week; Don's work suffered, Lanh's studies at the University stopped, and they spent the week on the couch holding each other close and crying. Their weeping was joined by Karole and Past Karole who stepped into the living room where the couple mourned the babies they would never have. Karole tried to console them and was frustrated when her hands when right through the lovers. She looked over at Past Karole, the purple tipped party girl stood far on the other side of the small base housing living room, a room covered in Christmas decorations, her face buried in her hands, her shoulders shuddering as she cried.

Finally, Past Karole looked up, her face streaked with noncorporeal tears, and hissed "You bitch. You FUCKING BITCH! you made me go through this twelve times... TWELVE FUCKING TIMES! If you blow it this time, I will hunt you down, I will fuck you up, you're going to wish you were never born." Past Karole turned and passed through the wall leaving Karole alone with the couple, and she couldn't get out. She couldn't pass through a wall or even a door or window without Past Karole leading the way.

Eventually she stopped trying and drifted over to the couch and listened to Don murmur encouragement to Lanh. The room grew dark and cold, the only light was from the Christmas tree. It was a cold and dark Christmas. In the morning Lanh and Don awoke, unwrapped from the quilt they had cocooned in, feeling a little better. During the night they decided that if they can't have a baby, they will adopt one. Although neither realized just how long it takes and how hard it is to adopt a baby, their sorrow was minimized and their love for each other strengthened. Karole was proud of the two and joined them as they went into the bedroom to make sweet, gentile love to seal their decision.

"Let's go," called Past Karole, startling Karole out of her romantic revere watching Don and Lanh cuddle in the morning light. "Come on, the worst is yet to come."

"Wait, what do you mean?" asked Karole, but Past Karole wouldn't say and continued the tour. Several assignments followed for Don, the hardest on them was Korea, he was on an isolated remote assignment, which means he couldn't bring Lanh with, so she simply flew over halfway through his tour and moved into his dorm room to spend Christmas with him... without telling him. Being a Non-Commissioned Officer allowed him a private room with a cleaning service. He failed to mention the cleaning service to Lanh, so when Don was on the flight line, Lanh arrived unannounced, identified herself to his next-door neighbor who was able to get Lanh into Don's room.

Don had a Korean mink blanket on his bed, an artificial fur that feels like mink pelt. After taking a shower Lanh lay back on the bed naked and writhed in boneless joy feeling the faux mink caressing her skin. She fell asleep on the bed but woke when she heard someone open the door. That's when the cleaning lady, known to the American service men and women as an "Ajumma" (Korean for "Middle aged lady") walked in and began shrieking at Lanh in Korean believing Lanh to be a Korean prostitute.

When Don got back to his room after a long shift, he saw Lanh's travel bag on the floor and her clothes were put in an empty locker, but he found that she wasn't in the room. Don knew that she would pull a prank like this. "Lanh?" he called. He looked in all the lockers, under the bed and in the larger cabinets because in a playful mood that beautiful little woman he married could hide almost anywhere. He stuck his head out in the hallway and called out again, "Lanh?" He got no answer, but he did hear the rattle of the privacy deadbolt on the shared latrine door slide open, then with a knock the door opened and his suite mate, Technical Sergeant Alice Griffin, a tall, slim, black woman poked her head through the door. "Knock, knock! She's over here!" He followed Alice through the shared bathroom, into her room to find Lanh and Ajumma sitting on Alice's floor engaged in an animated discussion.

Seeing Don enter the room Lanh jumped up and threw her arms around her husband as she cried "Honeeeey! I missed you!" and covered his face with rapid-fire kisses.

"Oh, you guys are so cute!" laughed Alice, "How long have you been married?"

"Eight years," smiled Lanh giving Don one more peck on the lips, then she dropped to the floor and returned to her machine-gun rapid conversation with Ajumma. In her turn Ajumma stood and bowed to Don several times.

"What are they saying?" laughed Alice as Lanh and Ajumma sat back down on the floor and resumed their conversation.

"Ajumma is telling Lanh all about living in Korea and is trying to convince her to stay. And they're both happy to find someone who can speak Vietnamese," sighed Don. "Hey, can Lanh borrow your bicycle for a couple of days while she's visiting?"

Alice's eyebrows shot up. "Hell no! You can borrow my bicycle, but only if you leave the seat and handlebars set where they are. You can set your own damn bike to munchkin standards for Miss Thing."

"Fair enough. Wanna head over to the club and join us for dinner?"

Alice looked at her watch, "no, I'm on second shift today, I have roll call at seventeen hundred. You need to collect your Asian harem and clear out."

"Roger that," sighed Don, then said to Ajumma and Lanh "Thôi nào, đi thôi" which is "Come on, let's go" in Vietnamese. Lanh and Ajumma rose and without a break in the conversation followed Don back into his room.

Karen held up a spectral hand, "Hold up! Don speaks Vietnamese now?"

Past Karen sighed and dropped her shoulders causing her spectral breasts to shudder. "Aren't you paying attention? They've been married over 8 years now, they were exclusive for over two years before that, OF COURSE Don can speak Vietnamese. He's not good at it, he speaks like a three-year-old, but Lanh's parents Mai and Duong don't know that which makes conversations at family dinners more interesting."

"What's up with the bicycles?" Karole asked as they followed Don, Lanh, and Ajumma down to the first floor and out to a bicycle parking garage that was filled with identical black mountain bikes. The only difference between the bikes was the different arrangements of yellow, blue, or green reflective tape on each bike.

"It's very hard to get a driver's license in Korea and cars are expensive. The GIs are only here for a year, so they go to the BX and buy a bike to get around on base," said Past Karole as they watched. "The BX only sells black mountain bikes of the same design, so the folks put reflective tape on in different patterns so they can find their bikes at night."

Past Karole led Karole over to the NCO club where TSgt Donald Campbell ate with his beautiful wife Lanh Campbell and his new friend Xuan Pham, AKA Ajumma. The club was festooned with Christmas decorations and the waitresses dressed like merry elves, but none were cute as Lan was nine years ago, thought Karole. As they dined on Mongolian BBQ, Don's first sergeant walked up to say something, and Past Karole pulled them away.

"Lanh fell in love with Korea," said Past Karole said, "later when they went out into the countryside and up to Osan she fell madly in love with the area. Here is when she began to study Korean."

"But I want to see..."

Past Karole ignored Karole's complaints. "Lanh and Don were able to get a follow-on accompanied tour to Osan Air Base then on to Minot AFB. However, the real world gets in the way and the nation's needs come first. Two years at Osan Air Base then back stateside with an Electronic Combat Squadron, after that they were hoping for England or back to Asia."

The views shifted and Karole found herself standing in the scalding heat of an alien landscape. Don is sitting on a bench outside of a building wearing a desert camouflage uniform, wringing his hat in his hands. His deployment commander asked for him to come to the commander's office, but he's been kept waiting in the Saudi Arabian heat. It was still morning, the sun was low in the sky, but the air temperature was nearing 100⁰ Karole looked around and she couldn't find Past Karole anywhere, the material girl had abandoned her.

The door opened and the First Sergeant stuck his head out the door. "Sergeant Campbell, the commander will see you now."

Don rose and followed the first sergeant through the empty air-conditioned waiting room, down a hallway to a door with a sign that read "Maj. Dale Hershey, Commander, 4404^th Provisional Air Wing, Det. 37." As they drew up to the door, First Sergeant Vanada advised "You need to report."

Report? This was serious. Don searched his memory for something that could have caused Major Hershey to order him to report, there was a lost tool last evening, but it was found... Karole saw the worry on Don's face as he drew himself to attention and knocked once firmly on the office door. After the longest 15 seconds in the history of seconds, the commander said "Enter."

The First Sergeant opened the door and Don walked up to the commander's desk, stood at attention, and snapped a salute, "Sir, Sergeant Campbell reports!" he said then he held his salute waiting for the commander to return his salute. Major Hershey didn't even look up, he was looking through a portfolio, which Don could tell was his personal records. A good survival tactic was to learn to read upside down, and Don got very good at it. He scanned every document on the commander's desk as the boss went through Don's personal records.

Major Hershey, normally a very warm guy with his ground troops, was cold as ice. This was Major Hershey's first assignment in a command position, and it appears that he's being careful to do everything right. He made Don hold that salute forever, plus a few more seconds, until he returned Don's salute, allowing Don to lower his. Making someone hold a salute that long traditionally means that the reporting person is in serious trouble. The major went back to looking through the records leaving Don to sweat in a very cold office at attention. Finally, he said "Stand at ease sergeant."

When standing at your commander's desk, the command "Stand at ease" does not mean "Stand at Ease" it really means "Parade Rest" which is actually "Attention," just shaped differently. Don stood sharply with his feet shoulder width apart, his hands clasped behind him at the small of his back.

The major finally wrote something on a yellow memo pad, then took that sheet from the pad and folded it in half. "First Sergeant, does Airman Cross have that phone call ready?"

"Yes sir, he does."

"Fine, send the call to my desk." A moment later Major Hershey's phone rang, and he picked it up. "Ma'am, this is Major Dale Hershey, commander of Det 37 of the 4404^th provisional wing here at King Aziz-Abdul Airbase, please standby for Sergeant Campbell." He held the phone out to Don. "At ease sergeant, take this. It's your wife."

"What the... Hello? Honey?"

"Don! What wrong? They drag me to wing commander office to talk you. It midnight! Are you ok?"

She must really be agitated; her accent came on with a vengeance which scared Don. Lanh became a speech pathologist to understand why she does that. He tried to calm her, but he was agitated as well, "I don't know honey I..."

Major Hershey held out that memo to Don. "Read this sergeant, you'll understand."

Don opened the folded paper, the handwritten note simply said, "You have a line number for Master." Don held back his first reaction, instead he said, "Oh you sons of... you got me."

"Baby what!" cried Lanh.

"I made master sergeant baby; we're getting promoted."

Lanh whooped and said, "Oh I'm so happy for you! And let Highway know that this was the best trick yet!"

Don was shocked at that statement, all pilots have a callsign, in the USAF they are strictly nicknames and never used on the radio like in the movies. Major Hershey's official callsign is "Bear" after the Hershey PA hockey team the Hershey Bears, unofficially and on deployments like this his call sign reverts to Highway, as in Hershey Highway. Also, commanders and ranking sergeants love to play pranks on the junior ranks to announce their promotion. As a military wife with a decade of experience, Lanh has seen plenty of tricks played on Don and his co-workers. "You were in on this too?"

"Oh yes, we had a long talk this afternoon." Lanh finally dropped the excited accent, "they visited me today and told me what they would do, I'm on the autovon phone in Colonel Gillian's office, he has news for you too, but not as good as mine. Here's Daniel..."

"Daniel?" thought Don in shock, she's on a first name basis with the Wing Commander? What the...

Suddenly an authoritarian voice came on the line, "Sergeant Campbell, this is Colonel Gillian."

Don unconsciously came to attention, "Yes sir."

"I've been in the Air Force over twenty years and in my entire career I've never, ever had the opportunity to say the following words, so here goes. I received notice from the base education office that the University of New Mexico at Portales has approved your doctoral thesis. Congratulations Doctor Campbell, you are a PhD. Major Hershey will hand you a copy of the notice I received."

Don was stunned, he handed in that thesis over six months ago, he expected it to be thrown out and possibly burned because it espoused a need to overemphasize the "three R's" in education as a way to overcome social and economic disparity. Damn! He is now a Doctor of Education! Lanh has finished her schooling with a Doctorate in Speech Pathology, there's no way that they will be denied the opportunity to adopt now! "Thank you, sir, this is exciting news." That was all that could come out, he was so excited he could barely speak.

"No, thank YOU Doctor Campbell, I want to see you in my office in seventy-two hours. Let's talk bootstrap. Here's the other Doctor Campbell."

Bootstrap? Don's head almost exploded - bootstrap was a program to elevate enlisted men into the officer ranks.

"Honey, we only have a few minutes, but I got the call yesterday from the adoption agency, everything has been approved! On Christmas eve the agency will come to our house to sign the final papers and Sue Lynn will be our baby!"

Don practically howled with joy and Karole broke down in tears, she's watched Lanh and Don struggle with their desire to have a baby and now it is finally going to happen. Her sobs of happiness were so loud she was sure that she could be heard. After protracted goodbyes Don handed the phone back to Major Hershey who held the receiver with two fingers and said, "It'll be ok after it dries out." Then to everyone in the office "Ok, last day of flying! Maintenance roll call in ten minutes, balls deep in 72 hours, let's get going!"

At the maintenance roll call, all of the aircraft maintainers stood in the shade of the camouflage netting mere yards from where their aircraft were parked. Being the last day of flying for this rotation many of the pilots and electronic warfare officers were in attendance also. Major Hershey stepped forward and read off the long list of accomplishments of the past 90 days. He then turned the roll call over to Senior Master Sergeant Durkee who thanked his troops, handed out ceremonial coins authenticating this combat rotation of the USAF "Fat Tails." He ended his speech with the word "Shirt!"

SMSgt Durkee stepped aside and Master Sergeant Vanada, the deployment first sergeant, stepped forward and thanked the troops for keeping their quarters in good condition, and their outstanding conduct on and off duty. "OK! Line numbers came out this morning, when I call your names, step up and get your stripes." He called out Senior Airman Wendy Addams, the engine troop. Tall and slim with raven hair, she bowed to the applause and squealed when Major Hershey handed her a set of Staff Sergeant stripes. "Sergeant Cynthia Daniels!" Buck Sergeant Daniels, small and curvaceous woman with a huge smile stepped forward and received her set of Staff Sergeant stripes.

"Finally," said MSgt Vanada, "Technical Sergeant Campbell, step up here." Reluctantly Don stepped forward and received his first set of Master Sergeant stripes. However, since the way the USAF promoted, it would be almost a year before he could put them on and say officially, he was a Master Sergeant. Until that time, he was expected to fulfill the duties of a Master Sergeant as training for his advance in rank. He started to return to the formation, but the first sergeant said, "Hold on sarge, I ain't done yet."

"Oh crap," thought Don as MSgt Vanada droned on. "I want to hold up Master Sergeant selectee Campbell as an example to you all, not ONLY was he able to study to achieve the prestigious rank of Master Sergeant, not ONLY was he able to lead you as maintenance expediter to heights of excellence heretofore unrivaled in the gloried history of this squadron, but he also did this all WITHOUT becoming a pompous ass like me," he paused for raucous laughter.

"IN ADDITION, Master Sergeant selectee Campbell was able to find time to earn the title of Doctor of Education of which he just found out today..." he paused for wild applause, "but he was ALSO able to apply himself in other fields of endeavor, and in that end, he has earned the position of FIRST MAN OFF THE AIRPLANE!"

The men and women surged forward to congratulate Don with cheers, handshakes, slaps on the back, and hugs. Even the officers took part in the congratulations. In the melee Karole discovered that the first men off the airplane are the guys whose wives were pregnant or gave birth while they were deployed. She passed through the crowd and whispered in Don's ear "I'm so happy for you and Lanh, I love you both so much."

Don looked in her direction a little confused but continued to thank his men and women until Senior Master Sergeant Durkee restored order. Once the troops were back in line, he handed the clip board to Don who thanked the troops then began giving out their assignments for the last day of flying. Most of the work was clean-up getting the squadron area ready for their replacements. He ended up by saying "Anyone who was handed a stripe today has EOR!"

EOR stands for End of Runway, probably the most important, and most fun job that Don ever had. Being a Master Sergeant, he's going to end up in an administrative position, so this may be his last chance to touch an airplane. At each end of the runway is a small parking ramp where launching aircraft stop for a final safety check and to get their weapons armed. Landing aircraft were inspected for damage and had any returning weapons set to safe. It was loud, smelly, hot and exciting. Don loves the chance to give aircrews heading off to war a sharp salute, and to be the first to welcome them home when they land after their mission. For their part, the aircrews loved seeing Wendy Addams and Cynthia Daniels in t-shirts scurrying over their planes.

Once the first two aircraft were inspected and their defensive countermeasures were armed, Wendy and Cynthia lined up alongside Don on the left side of the lead aircraft, gave a sharp salute, and as required, the aircraft pulled forward 300 yards before turning right toward the runway. This move prevented the maintenance crews from being hit by the exhaust blast of the jet engines.

At the edge of the EOR ramp there was a pavilion to shade the EOR troops, and today there were quite a few, several units were flying over Bagdad today, including some interesting looking F-15's. They looked like they had conformal fuel tanks installed and the weapons pylons looked small and stubby. Don, Wendy, and Cynthia chatted with the troops and the factory reps from McDonnell Douglas, who were in charge of EOR for the Saudi Air Force, now today they were working on these four oddly unmarked F-15's. They had no marking to show their allegiance with any air force or country, they just had a number painted in medium gray on the light gray tails. As usual the "Micky D" reps were trying to convince Don to come work for them. They guaranteed $80,000 a year tax free, but Don had other plans, he wanted to go home, hold his wife, welcome their new baby, then spend a few years somewhere else, back in Seoul Korea at Osan Air Base, or Okinawa, or England, or even back to Germany.

Don's handheld radio squawked to life, but he couldn't make out what was being said over the shrieking and roaring of the unmarked F-15's that were preparing to launch. He shouted to Wendy and Cynthia to get their gear ready, the last sorties were on their way, then walked over to his dispatch truck. As he went inside the truck, he told EOR troops from other units to get off the ramp and get in the shade of the shelter. Then he climbed inside the big boxy delivery van with the door closed and he was able to hear the radio.

Meanwhile, out on the EOR ramp, the lead mystery F-15 had some minor problems and his three element members taxied forward and turned to the right and taxied over to the end of runway to wait for him. The pilot of the lead aircraft was angry at the SNAFU, when the McDonnell Douglas mechanics had him fixed and he was able to taxi, he decided to get on to the runway first. There's a taxiway directly to his right that would put him ahead of his flight on the runway. He turned right immediately to the shortcut and opened his throttles wide. Turning right aimed the exhaust of the most powerful jet engines ever installed in an American fighter aircraft directly at a dozen maintenance personnel who were standing in the shade pavilion.

The jet blast knocked over everyone in the EOR pavilion and rolled the McDonnell Douglas technicians for a hundred feet. The blast incinerated the lead McDonnell Douglas engineer and sent his corpse flying toward the shade pavilion. The jet blast hit Don's truck and launched it off the shoulder of the ramp and over a fifteen-foot embankment with sharp boulders at the bottom. Don had the feeling of weightlessness and he saw pencils, pens, tools float around him and he remembered thinking "They need to clean out the trucks before we leave." The truck slammed down on those rocks, and Don was seriously injured. He was leaning against the driver's side door when the truck hit those rocks on the driver's side. Another truck blown off the side of the ramp landed on his truck squashing his truck down on him more. He was still conscious when the 150 lbs. fire extinguisher that was launched by the same jet blast slammed into the wreckage of his truck and exploded.

"DON!" shrieked Karole, and suddenly she was in the truck with him, his form bent and twisted, the steering wheel crushing his chest making it nearly impossible to breathe. He didn't have a seat belt on because he wasn't planning to move the truck, he didn't even have the key in the ignition. "DON! I'm here with you! Stay with me! DON!"

He opened his eyes and looked straight at Karole, "Lanh," he gasped, he tried to reach for Karole, but his free arm was smashed. "Tell her I'm ok. I'll be home soon."

"You will be ok," wept Karole in frustration that she couldn't touch him. "You're going to be ok; you're going to watch my baby for me, Krissy, you're going to love her. Krissy and I, we love you Don... I love you, Don!... Don? Stay with me Don, you're going to be ok." She watched in horror as clouds of the purple fire extinguishing compound poured in through the smashed windows and Don began to labor even harder to breathe. "HELP HIM! SOMEBODY HELP HIM!" she shrieked. He soon lost consciousness from lack of oxygen and Karole wept bitterly, trying to touch him, trying to assure him that he wasn't alone.

She stayed with Don as the fire department gently pried him from the wrecked, twisted vehicle. As they carried him up out of the ditch, she saw several huge firefighting vehicles parked on the EOR Ramp, numerous ambulances, and many firemen with the equipment used to cut open the wrecked van. Nearly a dozen people were being bandaged and splinted, heads wrapped in bloody bandages. She saw Wendy and Cynthia being carried on stretchers, they were blown into the ditch on to the rocks and their bodies were broken also.

"Don't look Don, they'll be ok, let's just worry about you," wept Karole and at the same time she implored the rescue team "Please, please hurry!" And then the ride to the base hospital. The shooting war was over, the need for a surgical ward was gone so all that remained was an outpatient clinic. She clung to him as best she could as the base doctors stabilized his shattered body, getting him ready for transport.

Karole whispered encouragement in his ear the entire fevered flight from Saudi Arabia to Frankfurt Germany. She reminded him of all the beautiful moments of his life that she witnessed, and when she talked about his first dance with Lanh, she even sang to him;

I hope you don't mind

I hope you don't mind

That I put down in words

How wonderful life is, that you're in the world

The only person she ever sang to in her life was Krissy, and a horrible thought occurred, what if Krissy's Mr. Don doesn't make it? What if she did something here that changed the course of Don's life? She wanted so much to hold his hand, or at least try, but his shattered arms were wrapped tight to his chest, so instead she placed her hand on his cheek, the only place that wasn't covered with bandages or the remains of his desert camouflage uniform and continued to whisper to him; "remember those warm sunny days back at the pond where you and Lanh splashed and played. Remember the day that you both took off your wet shirts and you held her, and you felt her against you for the first time and you..." she choked up remembering that scene. "I love you both so much," she gasped hoping against hope he could hear.

It was so hard to go on, but she did, speaking to him of the scenes she saw of him and Lanh as they grew and loved each other. Finally, they landed in Frankfurt Germany, Ramstein Air Base where he was raced to the hospital and wheeled directly into emergency surgery. She didn't stop whispering and praying, ignoring what the surgeons were doing. When the anesthesiologist assured the surgical team "He's out," Karole didn't stop, she continued to whisper to Don, reminding him of all that had happened in his life since the day he first asked Lanh to dance. Finally in the recovery room she felt a hand pull her back from his bandaged body.

It was Past Karole, the party girl. "Where the hell were you?" demanded Karole, her eyes red rimmed with sorrow.

"I was with Lanh," said Past Karole sadly, "she needed us too." Karole turned and saw that Lanh had gently slid into bed with Don and had taken over from Karole whispering encouragement. "When word got back to home base what happened, the plane with replacement personnel for this rotation was on the runway ready to take off. Colonel Gillian ordered the aircraft back to base ops and wait, he personally put Lanh on it, then had the aircrew divert from their original flight plan to drop Lanh off at Ramstein air base. We just got here."

An orderly tried to get Lanh out of the bed, but she just hissed and said, "I stay with my Donovan!" The orderly put his hand on her shoulder, and she just glared at him "Do not make me hurt you."

An Army nurse, hardly larger than Lanh herself addressed the orderly in professional, military manner; "What da fuck is wrong with you? I asked you a question!" The orderly, unused to anyone addressing him like that in a hospital setting could only stutter. "Dat's what I fuckin' thought," snarled the nurse. "Get that poor woman a blanket, and a pillow! How often do you check on Sergeant Campbell?"

"E-e-every thirty minutes, ma'am."

"Good, you will check on Mrs. Campbell every fifteen minutes, and if she wants for ANYTHING, it's coming out of your ass, got it private?"

"I'm a corporal ma'am."

"Not with that fucking attitude."

Past Karole led Karole out of the room and down a long hallway lined with windows, in the first window they could see a small living room in base housing, decorated for Christmas, a telephone on the wall ringing constantly unanswered. "That's the adoption agency trying to reach them on Christmas eve, but Lanh and Don are both here in Germany. After a week of trying to reach them, the agency gave up. With this black mark on their record, there's no adoption agency that will ever consider them."

Karole covered her mouth with one hand and sank to the floor weeping for her friends. She's grown to love them so dearly that to see this happen to them is almost too much to bear. All the time, all the lawyers, all the money to adopt their baby Sue Lyn, and now it's all gone. Their hopes and dreams were all shattered by an impatient fighter pilot.

"Come on, up," said Past Karole softly, holding her hand out to Karole. "If we do this right, it will work. Come on."

Reluctantly following Past Karole down the hallway, they stopped to view Don and Lanh's progress. In each window Karole could see another part of Don's recovery, the surgeries, the pulmonary therapy, the physical therapy, and the emotional therapy. Eventually they saw Don wearing his brand-new Master Sergeant stripes at a retirement ceremony his friends arranged for him at the gymnasium where he and Lanh first danced together. Colonel Gillian was able to pull strings to keep Don in the Air Force long enough to put on those stripes, so when he was medically discharged, he was discharged at a Master Sergeant's pay grade at 100% disability. He was now a ward of the VA.

The last window showed Don and Lanh purchasing a house in Greeley where Lanh could teach at Northern Colorado University and practice in the Greeley hospital. It was the house where they lived now and the first house they ever purchased. Karole watched a still wobbly Dan scoop Lanh up off her feet and carry her across the threshold, the smiles on their faces were the same smiles of love that Karole saw time and time again under the mistletoe. Of course, they moved in on Christmas Eve, the universe wouldn't have it any other way.

Past Karole led Karole through the door at the end of the hall and they found themselves standing on the ice slick sidewalk in front of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting, Real Karole still sprawled on the ground, trying to get up but not moving. The snowflakes hung motionless in the gathering dark; the Christmas lights did little to bring joy to the sullen Colorado sky. Karole looked down on her real self, her mind was still spinning from everything that happened. "I didn't know... I asked about their past and they just smiled... so much pain! Over and over... I couldn't imagine..." Karole choked back her tears and anger.

Past Karole sighed, "But so much Love! Oh my God the love! Can you imagine loving like that?"

"Oh God I want to! I want to love like that. I want to be loved like that!" cried Karole as she looked sadly at the front door of the money changers office. Through the glass doors she no longer saw the custodial crew packing up the Christmas decorations, she saw inside Don and Lanh's house where Don was reading Krissy a story and she was struggling with her very first steps... then they were playing with the train under the Christmas tree. She remembered watching Don and Lanh set that train up, it was a game they loved to play, almost a ceremony, and they did it the same way every year.

But the baby... they came so close to having a baby they could love and raise, just to have it all taken away... And Karole thought of his broken body in a desert ditch and his lungs filling with firefighting chemicals. She was on the edge of tears again when she admitted to herself that she had fallen in love with her best friend's husband, but also with his wife, her best friend.

Suddenly another Karole drifted through the front door, she was a few years older, a couple of pounds heavier, she wore those pounds on her hips and her breasts. Her hair was a little shorter, permed, but still shoulder length, and she was wearing a glittery sprig of Christmas holly in her hair behind one ear. She was dressed in a fluffy red bathrobe with fluffy white trim at the collar, wrists and along the bottom edge, and it had a fluffy black belt tied at the waist. A bathrobe only Mrs. Klaus would be wearing, not Grinchy old Karole as Mr. Don tried to teach Krissy to call her.

She turned to Past Karole and said, "You did pretty good with this one, much better than the past, do we have a shot?"

"Oh God I hope so," sighed Past Karole.

Stave 3

"Who are you?" asked Karole as she looked from real Karole still on the cement, to Past Karole, and now at the new Karole. "Don't tell me, you're the ghost of Christmas Present."

The new Karole turned to her with an expression of anger and disgust. She slowly said "No, I ain't no ghost, a ghost is the spirit remains of someone who is dead." The way this new Karole said "dead" was enough to terrify Karole into listening to this older version of herself. This Karole from the future continued, "there's only one ghost tonight, and that ghost is going to come scare the living shit out of you. I know you, you don't believe in hell right now, but you will. Oh, lordy you will."

This new Karole looked her up and down and with a scowl of hatred said, "In thirty seconds real time I may never exist, the reason why I carry these extra pounds may never exist, and it all depends on what you do tonight." Then her expression suddenly changed to one of southern sweetness. "Honey child, I like to think of myself as the Christmas Karole of Christmas Yet to Come."

"How do I know you are who you say you are?" demanded Karole.

Future Karole gave Karole a smug smile. "How about if I remind you of something you've told only one person in your entire life."

"I don't keep a lot of secrets," said Karole, "my life is an open book."

Future Karole gave a "this is going to be easy" kind of smile and said, "You considered your college roommate Norma was your most effective form of birth control."

"She what?" grinned Past Karole who then was doubled over in laughter.

Karole opened her mouth to argue but Future Karole placed a finger on Karole's lips and Karole couldn't speak! Then the future apparition looked at Past Karole and said, "In about two years you're going to come back to your dorm room on campus extremely horny and you break out your vibrator to work off those frustrations, and your roommate Norma Rodriguez walks in on you. She's going to give you an Australian Kiss and you're going to find out that Norma had a silver tongue, and ten minutes after that, she's going to find out the same thing about you."

"You're shitting me!" howled Past Karole.

"Well?" demanded Future Karole as she glared at Karole.

Karole started to worry, she didn't want to know about her future, she avoided astrology and fortune telling, even the daily horoscope was off limits, something about delving into her future terrified her. When Karole was twelve, she would go fishing in the Okefenokee swamp for catfish and she would take some catfish to an old witch in the swamp named Grandma Noah. She told Karole some very spooky things about her future and most of them came true, and Karole didn't want to hear any more. Grandma Noah told her that she was going to have five children and the first baby boy she was going to name Reggie, which freaked out the girl because she never told anybody about Reggie including Grandma Noah. Reggie was something that came out of her own imagination, she always dreamed that her father was named Reggie and she'd name her baby boy after him.

But now a non-corporeal version of herself was right there preparing to bludgeon her with her future. Future Karole removed her finger and Karole was able to speak again. "I don't want..."

"I don't give a shit what you want," snapped Future Karole, "I only give a shit about what I HAVE, and I got what I want, and you want it too, and so does that kid over there!" She pointed a finger at Past Karole. "What I WANT is for you not to fuck up our life!" She was practically shrieking at Karole. "This is attempt number twelve, and it's the last chance we have, because when this is done, that ghost will appear. There's not enough time left over for a thirteenth do-over..."

"Do what over?"

"This! This whole thing! Weren't you just paying attention?" Future Karole was exasperated. She held her hands out to Past Karole for help.

"Carrot and a stick," said Past Karole, "Beat her with the stick, then put a carrot in her mouth."

Future Karole considered her options then said to Past Karole, "Let's do it." She turned to Karole and said, "oh baby, this is going to be intense. Follow me ladies." She led the spectral parade of herself, Karole, and Past Karole. They stepped off the sidewalk in front of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting and found themselves walking across Don and Lanh's front lawn, through Don's rose garden that sets the border between their front yards, to Karole's house. As they walked in silence the snow melted and the seasons changed from a nasty wet Colorado winter to a parched, hot Colorado summer. There on the porch sat another Karole, sitting on an old wooden rocking chair in a tube top and a pair of shorts. In her hand was a can of beer, a cooler sat next to her, and a growing collection of empty cans rolled around behind her.

"Oh my God, you let us get fat!" screamed Past Karole as she swatted Karole. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Karole was shocked, she was always conscious of her figure, she loved jogging and hiking, and she loved looking good. Even when life sucked, the move to Colorado had its positive side. It truly is a fitness state, with activities of all forms in all locations. Moments after Krissy was born her nurse signed Karole up for post-natal yoga classes. Krissy suddenly poked her head out the door, she barely looked a year older. She was skinny, her face was dirty, her hair was in knots. "I wanna go play with Mr. Don, momma."

"You leave Mr. Don alone; he don't feel well. Go back in the house and play," belched Drunk Karole.

"We're the mother of the year," sneered Future Karole.

"Oh my God, I gained thirty pounds?" gasped Karole.

"Forty pounds," said Future Karole. "Everything is possible with enough beer."

"Sounds like you got that off a red-neck bumper sticker," growled Karole.

"It's on a t-shirt in your dresser... or to be more accurate, in the pile of filthy laundry next to your dresser."

"I'm hungry momma!" wailed Krissy.

"You git yo ass back in that house before I lock you in your room agin! Now GIT!" bellowed Drunk Karole. With a shriek of terror Krissy slammed the door closed and ran into her room and began to howl in sorrow.

Karole's face was slack in horror. Yes, Krissy could be trying at times, but she was just a kid! Now here was Krissy inside her house, hungry, lonely, wailing for Mr. Don, wailing for a cup of water, and that... that thing that she became just sits on the porch drinking beer... "You fucking blob!" shrieked Karole at Drunk Karole, "Go love your daughter! Take her next door, let her see Mr. Don!"

Future Karole appeared next to Karole, "You recognize her, don't you."

Karole glared at Future Karole, "Don't you dare say it, don't you DARE!"

Past Karole with her purple hair tips stepped closer and grinned, "Say it, you know we want to."

Future Karole drifted to Drunk Karole who was now opening another beer. "You've become your own mother."

"NOOOOO!" screamed Karole. She covered her ears and shook her head.

"Look at her!" taunted Future Karole, "your mother was better, at least she got off her ass to go fuck a hillbilly on occasion. That little kid cryin' inside? She ain't nothin' but a welfare check to you."

"Shut your mouth!" Karole passed through the wall into her house to find it filthy. Even at her busiest Karole was a neat housekeeper. This was disgusting, dirty dishes in the sink, and in the dish washer. Laundry and garbage everywhere, this was so horrible! And poor little Krissy's crying broke her own heart. Suddenly Future Karole appeared next to her. "Make it stop," begged Karole, "I'll do whatever you want, just make it stop."

"All I can say is that when the time comes, you have to do what's right," said Future Karole. It was obvious that Krissy's plaintive wailing from behind the door was getting to Future Karole also, but she continued, "As for pausing this shit show? Nope. We paid our money; we have to wait for this ride to come to a complete stop. So, keep your hands inside the car and let's go back outside."

Future Karole led Karole outside and it was late autumn, or maybe winter, it's hard to tell in the prairie sometimes. The leaves were gone from the trees, the lawn was brown and dead, both Karole's and Don's lawns were overgrown, the rose garden was weedy and nasty. Drunk Karole was even fatter, she was still sitting on the porch wrapped up in a blanket. A twelve-year-old Krissy stepped out on the porch. "The power is out again ma." And she kept walking down the driveway and up the street.

"You get back here!" shrieked Drunk Karole, but Krissy answered with a raised middle finger and kept walking, but Drunk Karole wasn't looking. She was looking over at Don and Lanh's house. An ambulance was in the driveway over there, and a gurney was being loaded in the ambulance. Karole noticed it too late to see who was on the gurney, but an Asian woman was talking with the paramedics. She was short but still too tall for Lanh, or her mom Mai. Was it her sister Tam? Her sister Kim-Ly? Karole wanted to float over and find out, but she was unable to move. As the ambulance pulled away Drunk Karole took a long drink from a bottle of cheap whiskey.

"Oh God," groaned Past Karole, she floated up to Drunk Karole and crouched nose to nose with the wizened old drunk. "What did you do to us?" but the question was directed to Karole.

A sudden noise next door caused Karole to look over at Don and Lanh's house. The house was in horrible disrepair, but it was spring now and a crew of men arrived and while all the Karoles watched, the team rebuilt the house; they were painting and patching, replacing the roof, they even hauled in new kitchen cabinets. Two dumpsters of moldy old furniture, cabinets, and roofing material were hauled away and soon, as the aspen leaves turned their joyful bright gold, a moving van arrived.

A typical family of pilgrims from one of the economically devastated failed states arrived to participate in the new Colorado gold rush of high paying, high-tech jobs piled out of an SUV. The couple was tall and slim, he wore a flannel shirt with sleeves rolled up and skinny jeans, she wore running shorts, a tank top, and her golden hair was tied in a ponytail and pulled through the hole in the back of her ball cap. Very Colorado. They had two kids, a girl about 5 and a small, tough-looking boy about 3, who ran around in excitement getting in the way of the movers who unloaded boxes and furniture.

"She ain't got no butt!" exclaimed Past Karole, her southern accent exploding. "No bootie at all on that thang. She's just tits on a stick!"

"Yep," said Karole and Future Karole who were concentrating on the kids running around.

"Y'all just jealous," sneered Past Karole who was proud of her "righteous booty."

"Yep," said Karole and Future Karole.

Eventually the couple wandered over to introduce themselves. They realized of course that Drunk Karole was drunk and probably couldn't see them because her eyes were so glazed over, but they tried to converse with her. Drunk Karole started on a mumbling discourse about the neighborhood going to hell with punk kids and meth addicts, even though there are only 6 houses on Weld County Road 451/2. "Who are you again?" she wheezed squinting at the new neighbors.

"I'm Dale and this is my wife Leann, we just moved here from Westchester County New York and we..."

"Hmmm? No, Don and Lanh moved here from Grant Valley... but they're gone now... They left..." Drunk Karole started to cry softly.

Dale leaned forward and said softly "Is there someone we can call for you?"

"It ain't gonna help," she groaned, "he didna want me anyway..." and with that she got up, wrapped her blanket around her, and walked in the house, closing the door behind her with a muffled "Please leave me alone."

Past Karole grabbed Karole by the shoulders and shook her violently, "OH MY GOD, WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?!?"

"I don't know! I DIDN'T DO IT YET!!!"

"Would you two shut up? You're giving me a headache," groaned Future Karole.

The door opened again, and a much older Krissy stepped out. She had was wearing a large backpack, the sleeve from a poorly packed hoodie hung out of a half-closed zipper on the backpack. "You're still out here drinking? God! That's all you've ever done," groaned 15-year-old Krissy. "My whole fucking life, it's all you've done."

Karole looked around and it was spring, and Drunk Karole was on the porch, in her rocking chair, still drinking. It looked like peach schnapps this time. A full bottle, she just cracked the seal. Seven hundred fifty milliliters of peach flavored rubbing alcohol.

"A'least it ain't fucking drugs," Drunken Karole slurred.

"Go ahead and drink yourself to death, I'm done. I'm over you." Krissy shoved past Drunk Karole giving the rocking chair an "accidental" shove with her hips. "I'm not going to watch you kill yourself."

"You get back here!" gurgled Drunk Karole, "y' can't leave, yer too young!"

"Fuck you, ya drunken old hag!" snarled Krissy spitefully. She gave her mother the "single finger salute" with both hands, then turned and walked to the end of the driveway where a battered old pickup truck waited. Seated in the driver's seat was a scrawny, tubercular looking thing that may have once been a male of the species. He had long, tangled, filthy matted black hair, and a cratered, rutted face that hadn't seen the touch of a razor in over a week. A bent cigarette hung from his lips, and faded artless tattoos covered his arms.

"Don't you get inta that thare pickup, yoo my daughter!" yelled Drunk Karole, but she made no move to get up.

Krissy slammed her backpack into the bed of the pickup, which was filled with greasy automobile and motorcycle parts, some of which were obtained legitimately. She got into the reeking, oily cab of the truck and sat next to the equally reeking, oily driver, then slammed the door as hard as she could, but it didn't latch. She slammed it three more times, it never latched.

"Baby, remember? Ya gotta tie it off with the seatbelt," slurred the room temperature IQ vehicle operator. "I'm gonna fix it," he said in a cloud of cigarette smoke.

"Just drive," ordered Krissy who was now officially The Brains of the Outfit.

"Get back here!" bellowed Drunk Karole, but Krissy just leaned out the window with two extended middle fingers. To impress the drunken sot on the porch, the hepatitis carrier at the wheel of the truck put it in four-wheel drive and stomped the gas producing a four wheel burn out. On loose gravel.

A real Darryl Junior, that one.

With six out of eight cylinders firing, and a backfire every few seconds, the faded, dented pickup roared away on Weld County Road 451/2 leaving behind a cloud of dust, unburned gasoline fumes, and a fine spray of bargain basement recycled 10W-40 motor oil.

"My baby," gaped Karole, "that was my baby..." she started trembling, her hands were no longer hers to control, "MY BABY!" she shrieked, "YOU LOST MY..." she turned to launch herself at Drunk Karole but stopped when she saw Drunk Karole drink that bottle of Schnapps. She drank the entire bottle, in one long, painful series of gulps.

"Oh my God," gasped Karole, then her eyes grew wide when she saw Drunk Karole raise a pistol to her head. "I can't end this way!" Karole shrieked.

"Karole! Stop! Don't!" shouted Dale as he sprinted across the lawn. Summoned by the noise he saw the drama as it played out and he ran as fast as he could and vaulted over the porch railing. He dove and grabbed her hand that was holding the pistol. He yanked it downward, the gun fired, the bullet roared down the barrel and through the spirit of Future Karole to impact in an open field a quarter of a mile away.

"I have 911!" cried Leanne as she stepped out of what used to be Don and Lanh's house with a phone to her ear.

"Get an ambulance!" Dale shouted, "and find the Ipecac!"

While Past Karole shouted a litany of obscenities at Drunk Karole, who was now slumped on the patio floor, Karole knelt in the front yard crying and praying over and over "I can't end like this, dear Lord please help me, my baby! I can't end like this..."

Future Karole knelt next to Karole and wrapped her arms around her, rocking with her. Eventually Past Karole joined them and the three Karoles rocked and cried, each one terrified of this fate. The ambulance left, shrieking off into the darkness while Dale wrapped his arm around Leanne and held her close.

Karole cried and prayed all through spring and summer and autumn while Future and Past Karoles held her close. Come December the Colorado skies darkened, storms formed over the mountains and rolled out on to the western plains. Rain started to fall, and temperatures dropped, but Karole remained on the lawn of her house, groaning and rocking. She had no idea how long it lasted, it could have been a matter of minutes, or it could have been nine actual months, she had no way of knowing. She was numb, physically, mentally, emotionally.

Slowly she began to notice cars parking on the edge of the road and people walking up to her house behind her. Then two very familiar looking Asian women walked past her. She remembered the look of joy and surprise on their faces so many years ago when their father Duong practically ordered their kid sister to marry the man that she loved.

"Tam! Kim-ly!" gasped Karole. She met them on several occasions when they visited Lanh and Don next door and grew to be friends, Kim-ly had her son not long after Krissy was born, they were so close that Christmas before... what was going on? They walked past her, climbed the steps, and entered the house. "Tam!" shouted Karole and she rose to follow. Tam was always so nice to her; she called Karole em gái mới của tôi - "my new sister."

Inside the house Karole found tables set up throughout the house, all of her dishware, clothes, appliances and bric-a-brac set up for sale. Krissy's toys and clothes were for sale too. If Karole thought she couldn't sink any lower, she was wrong. She was looking at her own estate sale. A nonstop electric charge of utter despair coursed through her causing her mind and body to utterly ache. It was like a huge, horrific muscle cramp that affected her entire soul.

Tam and Kim-ly were looking for something important to them, something specific. Kim-ly found one of Karole's prized possessions, a framed photograph of Karole, Krissy, Lanh, and Don taken at a scenic overlook in Rocky Mountain National Park. It always hung in a place of honor in her bedroom where she could see her dear friends when she went to bed at night and was the first thing she saw in the morning. Now Kim-ly clung to it like it were a life vest, but that wasn't the item they were looking for. Eventually they found it, a tall metallic vase with a lid. It was the oddest shade of purple she had ever seen.

Tam held the vase to her chest and sighed while looking up. But then she opened the lid and looked inside and grew angry. A sudden and explosive conversation in Vietnamese began between Tam and Kim-ly, and finally Kim-ly demanded of the cashier "This wasn't empty when you got it, where did you empty it?"

"But It was just dirt," the old lady said.

"WHERE?" demanded Tam.

"In the back yard," whimpered the old lady.

"Show us," demanded Tam, and the terrified old lady led them out to the yard and in a corner of the yard there was a pile of ash. Tam and Kim-ly dropped to their knees and carefully collected as much ash as they could, treating it as gently and as carefully as they would as if it were nuclear fuel, or maybe a loved one, gently returning it to the vase.

"Oh no," moaned Karole, as Lanh's sisters walked past her. It wasn't a vase; it was a funerary urn. It had contained someone's ashes, someone important to Tam and Kim-ly. She felt like she was going to throw up. She didn't hear whose ashes it was, but she heard Tam mention that her brother loved the person in this urn most of all. She thought of Lahn's brothers Huy, Trung, and Bao, such nice guys. She even had a little crush on Trung, and it turned out that he had a thing for tall blonds with big boobs.

Was that her ashes? One of them loved her?

She lay down on the cold, wet dirt and curled up in a ball wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her. She remembered what both Past and Future Karole told her: a ghost was coming to scare the shit out of her. Good, groaned Karole, maybe it will scare me to death so it will be over.

"Come on," whispered Future Karole, "It's over, no more stick, you've been beaten enough. Let's go get a carrot."

"No," croaked Karole, her spectral voice hoarse from crying, "no more, I can't."

"Yes, you can," whispered Future Karole and she gently touched Karole's temple and softly she was in a warm, dry, living room. "I know you," said Future Karole softly, "we need this carrot so badly!"

Stave 4

A fire crackled in a large fireplace, one of the scraggliest looking Christmas trees she had ever seen dominated the front windows. The tree was covered with beautiful ornaments, but also inexpertly made green and red paper chains, strings of popcorn, and little dolls with angel's wings made from paper. There was so many details Karole couldn't see, they were blocked to her, but she didn't notice that fact, because there was Krissy; she was happy and healthy. Krissy was clearly five years old and flitting around the room like a butterfly on speed explaining how Santa Claus was going to hop out of the fireplace and see the tree she made for him, and the cookies, and the milk...

"Krissy!" Karole gasped, "you're ok!" She covered her mouth and found that she did, indeed, have tears remaining, tears of utter joy. She grabbed Past Karole's arm, "She's ok! That's our baby! She's ok! Oh, thank you God, my baby is ok!"

"They both are ok," said Future Karole, but Karole had yet to take in the whole scene. She watched Krissy run over to the tree and grab two packages with bright red and white wrapping paper. She placed them on the table and read the tag on the top package.

"Froooom Krissy..." she realized her mistake and giggled. "I mean, Toooooo Krissy, Froooom Daddy!" She grabbed the package, ran with it to the tree, and set it on the floor in front of the tree.

"Daddy? Her father actually spent money on his daughter?" Karole was incredulous. Krissy's biological father was a worthless piece of shit meth head. If he ever got two nickels to rub together, he'd spend one on drugs and the other on hookers, never on his own daughter.

"That piece of crap has been on the run from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for over a year now, he was selling crack in Ottawa this time when they came after him," said Future Karole. "Krissy has a real daddy now."

"Who?" gasped Karole but she was interrupted by a Karole she hadn't noticed yet.

"What about the other box?"

Karole realized that she had been so fixated on seeing Krissy healthy and happy that she didn't notice the Karole that was sitting on the couch, was wearing Karole's favorite old pink bathrobe. She looked tired but happy, incredibly happy. Karole named this iteration of herself Happy Karole. She had a bundle on her lap, a blanket wadded up, and suddenly it moved. A tiny foot rose from one end of the bundle. Karole screamed in surprise and joy when Krissy said:

"It's probably for the BAY-BEE, everything is for the BAY-BEE!"

Happy Karole said "That BAY-BEE is your brother, and not everything is for him. Now what does that tag say?"

Krissy sighed as only five-year-old girls can sigh, got up and stomped over to the coffee table as only five-year-old girls can stomp. "It says Tooooo... I don't know that word."

Happy Karole leaned over to look at the tag "Ummm, don't worry about that word, it's a word that adults use when they want to kiss."

"Eeewww"

"Yeah, don't worry about it honey, who is it from?" Happy Karole produced a small bottle of formula and uncovered the sleepy baby's face. She rubbed the nipple of the bottle on the baby's lips, and it began to suckle for a while.

Karole leaned over and looked closely at the tiny tot. "He's so cute..." she could feel motherly urges welling up, the pain and discomfort of carrying and giving birth to Krissy long gone, especially now that the nightmare she just experienced is over. She tried to tickle the baby's foot because she wanted to get him to open his eyes, she wanted to see their color, but he just smiled around the nipple in his mouth and went to sleep.

"How do you know it's a boy?" whispered Past Karole.

"Mother's intuition," replied Karole.

"And the blue t-shirt is a dead giveaway," added Future Karole.

"Who is it from?" asked Happy Karole urging Krissy to read the name on the gift tag.

"Unka Huy!" smiled Krissy.

"Really? With a kissy word on it?" challenged Happy Karole.

"It's from daddy, I was kidding on you."

Karole was still considering what Krissy said. Huy? Lanh's oldest brother? UNCLE Huy? I must have married one of Lanh's other brothers, Trung, or Bao thought Karole. She and Trung had a good relationship, a lot of kidding on the times they met, and he was HOT. She and Bao didn't really connect even though she had crushed on him for a little while too. The thought made her want to see the baby clearly now, but Krissy started tearing the wrapping paper off of her box and Happy Karole started to open her box too.

"Oooo!" said Krissy as she held up her gift for inspection.

"Mommy has one too," said Happy Karole, as she held up the exact red robe with white trim that Future Karole was wearing. Krissy received a smaller version of it. "Your daddy and Uncle Huy must have been talking when he bought these for us. Your Aunt Annie has one like it too."

"They're always talking," said Krissy, trying on her Santa robe.

"Well, they are brothers. Come on, drink up your milk, it's well past bedtime. Santa has no legal obligation to bring presents to little girls that are still awake."

"What about little boys?" pouted Krissy.

"He's already asleep, now let's git going!" whispered Happy Karole as she rose, laid the baby on the couch and took off her pink bathrobe, and put on the Santa robe.

"That's where you got that?" asked Karole, and Future Karole just smiled and nodded.

Happy Karole scooped up the baby and hustled Krissy off to her room where, fortified with the small glass of warm milk, Krissy soon dropped off to sleep. Happy Karole then bustled around the house ensuring that the lights were off, the fire was safe, and the tree was lit. She then went to the nursery, and placed the baby in the bassinette and tucked him in. To frustrate Karole even more, he was lying on his tummy and she couldn't see his face.

"They're both asleep," Happy Karole said as she poked her head in the master bedroom.

"Let's get to work," said her husband as he rose off the small love seat.

Karole studied Happy Karole's husband as he and Happy Karole bustled around the house collecting presents from the various closets and cubby holes where they were stashed over the past few months, then hauling them out to the living room. The only thing that Karole could take away from her observation of him is that she couldn't take anything away from her observation of him. She could see his face, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, but she couldn't register them. She could see his hair clear as a bell, but she couldn't tell what color it was, what length it was, what style it was. All she could take away was that he does have hair. It began to frustrate her, and she realized she couldn't tell if this man was OJ Simpson or Pee Wee Herman.

She turned to Past Karole and asked, "Who is that?"

Past Karole shook her head, "I don't know, I can't tell. Freaky, isn't it."

"What's going on?"

"You're not supposed to know who that is," said Future Karole, "I could tell you, but you wouldn't be able to understand it."

"Try me," grinned Karole.

"Ok, you marry ////// ///// on ///// ///// and you get married at ///// /////."

Karole heard the words, acknowledged that they were words, yet had no idea what they were and no concept of what they meant. "What the fuck..."

"Freaky, right?" asked Future Karole with a grin. "If you like that, you're going to LOVE the carrot."

"Oh God! I've been waiting for this part," said Past Karole. "We've never tried this part before."

Suddenly Karole noticed that as Happy Karole bent over to arrange presents under the tree, her robe rode up exposing her bare bubble butt and her glistening shaved pussy. "That hussy!" Karole grinned, then gave a snicker as Happy Karole looked over her shoulder at her husband and wiggled her hips at him, then she went back to arranging the gifts under the tree. At some point she had taken off her nightgown and was completely nude under her Santa robe.

For his part, ///// ///// didn't miss the hint. He stealthily crawled up behind his wife and slowly slipped his finger into her moist pussy. "Mmmmmm," Happy Karole spread her legs wider, surrendering her pussy to her man. Her eyes closed in bliss, and she lowered her cheek to the carpet and let him have his way with her most private parts.

Yet at the same time, Karole and Past Karole's eyes shot wide open and they both gasped as they felt exactly what Happy Karole felt, that man's finger slid deep into her pussy and begin to gently search around for sensitive spots to gently massage. Karole's urge to pull away quickly faded as the loving probing increased, and soon she too assumed the same position as Happy Karole, she knelt down and rested her cheek on the floor as the ghostly digits probed deep into her pussy.

Past Karole was unaccustomed to thoughtful foreplay, her entire sex life so far is limited to her own fingers, and two encounters with a sweaty redneck boy she knew in high school. She stood up but the sensation continued. Confused, she looked around the room and prepared to run.

"This is the carrot you guys, our lucky husband is going to get the kinkiest Christmas present ever, a ménage à cinq, and he's not even going to know. Everything he does to her, we all enjoy. Girls, we are overdressed for this," grinned Future Karole, and both Karole and Past Karole's spectral clothing disappeared. Future Karole came up behind Past Karole and put her arms around the terrified yet stimulated girl. "Shhhh, it's ok. This is going to be good... it's going to be soooo good."

Past Karole began to whimper and shudder as Happy Karole's husband added a second finger and slowly began to slide his digits in and out, in and out, inch by slow, delicious inch. "Oh, you wonderful fucker," Happy Karole gasped. Near her, on the floor, Karole enjoyed every sensation that was now coursing through Happy Karole's nervous system.

Future Karole reached around from behind Past Karole and began to fondle Past Karole's large, firm breasts. "God how I miss being able to defy gravity with these things," said Future Karole. "Were these as sensitive back then?" she asked as she began pinching and rolling Past Karole's nipples between her fingers. The moment she did that, Happy Karole gasped and signed "Oh baby!" and clutched her breasts.

"Breastfeeding made 'em more sensitive," whispered Future Karole into Past Karole's ear. "You're going to love being able to come just from this," she said as Karole joined her suckling on the overwhelmed teens breasts.

"Oh my God, what are you doing to me?" groaned an even happier Happy Karole.

Future Karole released her mouth from Past Karole's perfect boob and winked at Karole. "Masturbating," she said with a huge grin.

Karole laughed around a mouthful of Past Karole's breast, "Yeah," she though, "I'm sucking on my own nipple, I'm stroking my own clit," as her fingers found Future Karole's pussy. She nipped Past Karole's left nipple and felt a shock of delicious pain suddenly radiating from her own left nipple. Future Karole must have nipped Past Karole's right nipple because Karole suddenly felt it in her right nipple too.

Suddenly all four Karoles froze; delicious, wet, warm, snaky thrills started emanating from their assholes. Happy Karole and Future Karole began to moan in anticipation while Karole and Past Karole tried to figure out what was causing that delicious but weird pleasure. Never had the two felt pleasure from back there before. "That is so..." Karole gasped. Never in her life had she thought of someone touching her ass before, but now she feels a tongue back there.

Past Karole whimpered, both her anus and her pussy were being stimulated but she also had two mouths sucking on her nipples. Her legs started to go out on her, and she sagged to the floor bringing the other two spirit Karoles with her.

Happy Karole and Mr. ///// ///// moved and lay on their sides facing each other now, stimulating each other with their hands. As the couple kissed, ///// /////'s fingers slid in and out of Happy Karole's pussy while Happy Karole stroked his hard cock. "God he's a good kisser," sighed Future Karole.

"He's good with his fingers too," whispered Past Karole.

But Karole only looked at her hand, the hand that felt ///// /////'s fat cock, damn that thing was big! Karole realized what she wanted for Christmas.

"Come on honey," whispered Happy Karole when her lips were unoccupied. "Krissy still sleepwalks."

///// ///// eased his fingers out of Happy Karole's twat and delicately licked her juices from them, then Happy Karole leaned forward and kissed his lips, then she tugged the waist band of his sweatpants down a little and kissed the head of his cock which was shiny with his pre-cum. Past Karole, Future Karole, and Karole all tasted his cock when she did that. Past Karole made a face of displeasure causing Future Karole to wink at Karole and whisper, "Beginner."

Laughing, Karole followed Happy Karole and her mystery husband into their master bedroom where Happy Karole dropped her new robe on the love seat then turned and yanked ///// /////'s sweatpants down. His cock sprang up and flicked Happy Karole in the chin. "I'll never get tired of that," she grinned.

Before the three spirit Karoles were ready they each felt a large, thick cock slide deep into their mouths. Happy Karole was kneeling in front of ///// ///// and he began to slowly fuck her mouth. His hands held her head still as he slowly slid that big thick cock in and out of her mouth. Karole was overwhelmed by the feeling of the thick stalk of flesh sawing in and out of her mouth, even though her mouth wasn't open. That cock was big, hard, and so very, very masculine, the flavor of his precum was an aphrodisiac to Karole, and from the smirk on Future Karole's face it affected her the same way too.

Past Karole was a different story, at 18 the only cock that ever penetrated her was attached to Mickey Fields, a quarterback for their high school football team. At the time Karole thought it was a pretty good size cock, but she eventually learned it was, as they say in South Georgia, "no big thang." Now Past Karole's mouth felt like it was being skewered by a baseball bat. Karole went over to Past Karole and hugged her from behind as the terrified teenager sagged to her knees. Future Karole kneeled in front of Past Karole and tried to comfort her by kissing her mouth and saying "It's ok! In the future this is what you're going to live for."

As Future Karole kissed and consoled the Past Karole, Karole began massaging Past Karole's impossibly firm breasts and pinching her cute little nipples. Ten years and a child, along with the constant tug of gravity makes changes to a woman's breasts and Karole forgot how firm her breasts used to be. While Karole massaged Past Karole's breasts, Future Karole reached down and began to gently run her fingers around Past Karole's clit causing the panicked teen to whimper in the combined sensations of the mouth fucking and the gentle clit massage.

But there was another whimpering coming from Happy Karole. She sucked and slobbered on the cock that was sliding in and out of her mouth and throat, but she was also glancing over to the spot where the other three Karoles were gathered, in front of the love seat. Karole pinched Past Karole's nipple hard bringing a whimper from Past Karole and Happy Karole. "She can feel what we do to each other," said Karole to Future Karole.

"That's right," grinned Future Karole who then reached between Past Karole's legs and roughly massaged her pussy. Past Karole gasped and groaned while Happy Karole grunted and leaned forward and swallowed as much cock as she could. Future Karole was ready for that because she's been doing it for years, but Karole and Past Karole still have well developed gag reflexes. When they felt ///// /////'s cock strike the back of their throats, even though it was a phantom cock, they both gagged and choked.

By the time they had stopped coughing and gagging, Happy Karole had stood up and led ///// ///// to the bed where he laid her down and started to nip and suckle at her breasts. "No," whispered Happy Karole, "Enough foreplay, I can't wait. Let's do it now."

///// ///// took his place between Happy Karole's legs and rubbed his cockhead up and down between her folds. Happy Karole purred with pleasure and feeling that sensation between their own labia the spirit Karole's responded with the same sound. And then ///// ///// eased his cock into his wife, Happy Karole. All four Karoles groaned as his thick cock stretched Happy Karole's cunt wide open, Happy Karole and Future Karole groaned at the familiar feeling of blissful sex, Karole groaned as the dick of her dreams stretched her pussy like never before, and Past Karole groaned in shock as the fat cock split her wide open. Four Karoles separated by over a decade of life giving four different reactions to the same cock.

On the bed, Happy Karole hooked her arms under her knees and held her legs wide open. "God damn it, fuck me!" she growled and ///// ///// obeyed his wife's demand. As the fucking increased tempo, Happy Karole dug her heels into the bed and grabbed ///// /////'s ass cheeks and pulled him into her with each thrust.

On the other side of the room, Past Karole, the eighteen-year-old embodiment of the woman getting gloriously fucked on the bed, lay sprawled on the floor, her legs spread, and heels planted like Happy Karole, but she looked terrified as she shook and jerked with every thrust that Happy Karole received. Future Karole lay on her side next to Past Karole, she too was jerking from the shuddering fuck, but her reaction was more one of reminiscence, she was thinking back to days gone by, to great sex in her past. Karole was sprawled on the loveseat loving every inch of spectral cock that stretched her out and tapped at her cervix.

"Come here and help me," Future Karole called to Karole. "She needs encouragement."

Pussy still ringing from the fucking Happy Karole was receiving, Karole slid off the love seat and crawled on hands and knees toward Past and Future Karoles. "What do you need?"

"Come show your teenage self how you treated Norma," said Future Karole as she tried to soothe Past Karole's fears.

"Oh yes!" cried Happy Karole on the bed. She clearly must have heard what Future Karole said... or did she remember? Because her past self was now crawling between her youngest past self's legs and lowering her lips to her pussy and suddenly the sensation hit all four Karole's at once!

Past Karole still felt the terrifying sensation of the huge cock tearing her open, but now a mouth closed on her pussy at the same time and began licking her pussy and clit. "Uuuuhhhhh!" cried Past Karole and Happy Karole at the same time as the overload of sensations hit them like a runaway train.

"YEEESSSSSS!" squealed Past Karole as she explosively experienced the first orgasm of her life that was not brought on by her own fingers. The dual sensation of Karole's tongue and ///// /////'s stretching out her pussy set off the waves of ecstatic release that washed over her. She clasped her hands on Karole's head and held Karole's mouth in place as wave after wave of pleasure washed over her, washing away the fear she originally felt.

Happy Karole wrapped her legs around ///// /////'s back and hooked her feet together and hung on tightly as she encouraged her lover to greater efforts. The three spirit Karoles felt //// /////'s cock plunging into their pussies just as Happy Karole felt for real, and they felt the kisses that ///// ///// gave Happy Karole. They felt his lips on their lips and his tongue in their mouths. At the same time Happy Karole felt the sensations that Past Karole felt from Future Karole sucking on her nipples and Karole licking her pussy.

Now ///// /////'s thrusts became frantic, it was clear that he was getting close. "Cum in me baby," gasped Happy Karole as she urged her husband on and on. All four Karoles could feel ///// ///// tense up and then with a roar he began to slam his cock into Happy Karole as his cum shot into her pussy.

"OH GOD!" cried Karole as the ethereal slamming of the cock in her upturned pussy set off her own orgasm, which triggered an orgasm that crossed her eyes and curled her toes. She gasped and cried into Past Karole's pussy then rolled over onto her side on the floor shuddering from the greatest orgasm of her life.

Future Karole curled up behind Karole and held her as the aftershocks of the massive cum shook her body and rattled her brain. Future Karole kissed her ear gently and said, "that can be ours for the rest of your life."

Happy Karole and ///// ///// cuddled together until Happy Karole asked, "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes," gasped an exhausted Karole and Past Karole as they climbed up on the love seat.

///// /////, who she spoke to said "yes, and a glass of ice water please."

After an exchange with her husband and a kiss, Happy Karole got up and walked over to the love seat where Future Karole, Karole, and Past Karole sat slumped, breathing in deep ragged breaths, their spectral bodies tingling, their phantom pussies aching and throbbing from the sexual workout that Happy Karole and ///// ///// just put them through.

Happy Karole bent over and reached through Karole and grabbed her Santa robe, and as she put it on, she whispered to the three phantom Karoles "Love you guys, thank you!" Then, wagging her fingers at them she turned and headed toward the kitchen.

Karole and Past Karole looked at each other in shock as the man in the bed said, "What was that honey?"

"Just talking to myself dear," and she headed off to the kitchen to put the tea on.

Future Karole drifted off through the bedroom door and was gone for a while, then returned. "Come on girls, it's showtime." When Karole and Past Karole didn't move Future Karole leaned through the closed bedroom door and angrily gestured to Karole and Past Karole to follow. Karole rose up off the loveseat and leading an exhausted and joyously fucked looking Past Karole by the hand, she drifted naked through the bedroom door and found herself outside on the sidewalk in front of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting dressed in the slacks, polo shirt, shoes, and jacket that she was wearing when this entire adventure began. Her earthly body was still on hands and knees trying to get up after slipping on the ice-covered concrete. The wet, heavy snowflakes were still hanging motionless in the air. The maelstrom of life that Karole had just witnessed lasted just under one minute in the real world but in Karole's mind decades had passed.

The sights and sounds and emotions that she just experienced weighed heavy on her heart, and her head literally spun from what she learned about her friends and herself and the incredible fucking she just received spiritually. "I can't go through that," gasped Karole, "there's no way." The sorrow of Lanh's barren womb, the terror of Don's catastrophic injuries, the horror story of Drunken Karole all echoed and clamored in her head, "Tell me that wasn't real." She clung to Future Karole who was now back in her Santa robe. Future Karole remained silent, and Karole began to weep because deep down in her heart she knew it was all real, including the drunken sot that she somehow becomes.

"There's nothing I can do lollypop," said Future Karole stroking her hair and using the nickname Karole's mom used to use for her. "There are two paths set, the divergence is here, and the path you follow is set by what you do when you react after you meet the Ghost of Christmas Present. One path leads to the stick, one path leads to the carrot."

She whirled on Past Karole who finally stopped popping her gum. "Tell me what to do, please! I can't..."

"That wasn't given to me, I can't see past this point," said the spirit of her past life. She grabbed Karole by the shoulders, "we've been through this twelve times now, eleven times you ended up on that porch drunk with a pistol to your head. We reset and tried again, and again, and again. We tried so many different things, this time we shared much more of the past and we let you enjoy the carrot as much as we were allowed. It's in your hands now, we've run out of time, there's no more time left to try it again."

For some reason something felt wrong, something horribly wrong. Karole looked at Past Karole and Future Karole and she remembered what she would say on occasion, "I only lie to myself." She looked at Future Karole and said, "That was Don, wasn't it."

"That was ///// /////, I told you."

"I didn't ask for his name, just nod your head yes or shake your head no, was that Donovan Campbell?" Both Future Karole and Past Karole glared at her, Karole knows herself, they're not being rebellious, they're thinking up a lie... or maybe this whole thing was a lie. "That's it, I'm done with this. I don't care who or what this is all about..."

"It's Reggie," Future Karole finally said as Past Karole nodded sadly.

"What? What do you mean Reggie?" Karole was completely confused now.

Future Karole pointed at Past Karole, "She told you that you were here to save a life, that life is Reggie."

Karole was incredulous, "Reggie doesn't exist, he's a figment of my imagination."

"Grandma Noah told you about him! He's asleep in his bassinette right now, you saw him!" Future Karole was pleading now, she was terrified. "Please! He's our baby!"

"If Don goes back to Minnesota, then Kim-ly wins!" blurted out Past Karole, who realized that she said too much and covered her face with her hands.

"What do you mean "Kim-ly wins?" What are you talking about? This isn't a competition!" shrieked Karole. "What does Lanh's sister have to do with this?"

Future Karole looked completely defeated. "After the ghost arrives, Don is going to be upset. Really upset, like a danger to you and Krissy upset. You're going to his house to pick up Krissy and if you can't calm him down, he's going to go back to Minnesota and..." she shrugged sadly. "We're going to end up alone."

Karole asked herself, "Why would Don be upset?" Then she realized there was something missing from this weird fabrication. "Where's Lanh?"

Both Past and Future Karole shook their heads, "Where is Lanh?" Karole demanded again. Then the horrible realization washed over her, "She's the ghost, isn't she? She's the third ghost."

Future Karole nodded her head. "She's the only ghost, we're spirits of your past and future." Future Karole grabbed Karole's shoulders and cried out, "there's nothing you can do, it's too icy out. You'll never get to her in time... it's ok, she won't feel it coming."

Karole whipped her arms around, driving the hands of the specter of her Future self away then she grabbed Future Karole by the collar of that Christmas robe and shook her with all her might. "Where is she?" she screamed, "Where is Lanh?"

Future Karole shoved the angry younger Karole away as hard as she could and Karole landed on her hands and knees and yelled, "Where is Lanh?"

"She's over at Don Pollo having a drink with her mom," said Don. "They were shopping and decided to have a margarita."

Stave 5

Karole realized she was on her hands and knees in front of Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting, she was looking at her dropped phone which was still on the speaker setting. Now the snowflakes which had been hanging motionless through the visit from her past and future selves started falling again. "Don? Is that you?"

"Well, duh! We've were talking and you went silent for a moment," said Don. Krissy grabbed the phone off the coffee table and started jabbering into the phone, she was excited to hear her mommy.

"Oh, babydoll, let mommy talk to Mister Don."

"Mommee!" said Krissy speaking her first word, the word her Mr. Don taught her for Christmas.

"Oh baby, I love you too babydoll! Don, call Lanh! Tell her to stay there, I'll be right over."

"I think her phone is dead, my calls are going to voice mail," said Don, "She's as bad as you for charging her phone."

"Call Mai, call Don Pollos, tell them to hold her, I'm on my way, it's important." Karole tried to get up, but everything was covered with a fine smooth layer of ice, her feet kept sliding on the ice, that earlier rain froze up and the whole area is a giant skating rink now, she saw cars sliding, trying to stop and slamming into parked cars. She jammed her phone into her purse and her fingers touched something that Lanh had put in there when she was pregnant with Krissy and was having trouble walking in the snow.

"Here, when it gets slippery, put these on over your shoes," Lanh told her. "I learned this in Germany from our landlady Frau Grolisch. They look funny but I could walk up an ice-covered hill with them!" Karole could still remember the smile on Lanh's face when she shoved the "snow tires" into her purse where they lay buried in Karole's large purse for a year. Karole reached into her large purse and pulled out a pair of woolen hunting socks.

Now is no time to be a fashion model, Karole pulled the socks on over her flats as quickly as possible then tried to get up, and she found that Lan was right, the wool socks actually stuck to the ice. She gathered up her purse and headed out across the skating rink slick parking lot as fast as she dared and when she found that she could walk fast, she started to run.

<><><><><>֎<><><><><>

Fortified with a margarita and a half each Mai and Lanh realized it was after five PM, they had promised to be home long before five. "Are you ready má? We should get going."

"These people," started Mai, she waved her hand toward a large holiday party over by the bar. "They are điên say!" (crazy drunk) laughed Mai who was feeling the tequila herself.

"I think those are the people Karole works with. I can see why she chose not to come to the party," said Lanh. As a military wife, she's seen some crazy parties. Military people need to blow off steam on occasion, and sometimes it's not pretty.

"You should pack her up and send her to me!" said Mai. Karole has proved herself to be a great waitress and business is so good at their noodle shop that they need more help. Karole has filled in as a waitress every time she comes to visit with Don and Lanh, even when she was pregnant with Krissy. Mai's customers constantly ask for "the waitress that sounds like a truck driver."

"That's my Christmas present to Don and Karole!" said Lanh as she pulled on her parka, "I got the position at Bemidji State! UNC said that they will release me from my contract at the end of this semester, we'll be home by June!"

"Tuyệt!" (Wonderful!) cried Mai, she is happiest when all of her chicks are near her. "Donovan will be ecstatic!" She knows that Don likes Colorado but now that he can't tour the mountains, the luster has worn off living here. He really wants to come home, but he promised Lanh that he would support her, and Colorado is where her profession has led her...

"Karole needs to come too," said Lanh as she led the way through the holiday revelers. She started creating a moving checklist in her head then paused and said, "Mom, can you call Don? My phone is dead."

"Again," sighed Mai as she dug out her phone and saw that there were seven missed calls.

<><><><><>֎<><><><><>

Bradley Davis was a team leader for Torgeson and Briggs Financial Consulting, his dad was a frat brother with company founder Halvar Torgeson, and it seemed like Bradley could get away with anything. Most people said he sucked as a team leader, he shouldn't be in that position, but he gets away with all kinds of inexcusable behaviors at work and yet he keeps his job. He shows up to work drunk, he's disrespectful to customers, and he's an utter drag on employee morale, but he is a riot at parties, so he's got that going for him.

Right now, Brad-o, as the kool kids call him, was so drunk that he was seeing double, but he promised to show these "pilgrims" that moved to Colorado recently how to have fun on the ice. The "Californiacs" who just moved to Colorado from L.A. and San Diego were terrified of driving in the snow, but Brad was going to teach them. He was going to instruct them on the fine art of "The Donut."

He got behind the wheel of his fully restored 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible - 18 feet, 8 inches long (5.69 meters), 5,153 lbs of Detroit iron, 500 cubic inch (8.2 liter) V8 engine harnessing 235 horses. Fully adjustable leather seats with six preset positions, and an actual 8-Track tape player, if you can't get laid in this love shack on wheels, you can't get laid! What the hell, it's 32 degrees, (0 C) so it's barely chilly. As the Big 500 started to pump out warm air he lowered the ragtop and eased the beast out of its parking berth. It's show time!

<><><><><>֎<><><><><>

Don's line was busy, but Mai finally got through. She was following Lanh through the crowd of people who had gathered in front of Don Pollo's to watch Bradley Davis's version of Miracle on Ice. "Don? It Mai, Lanh wants you to know that we are heading home now, too many drunk here! Guy is spinning his car in circles on the ice."

Don chuckled, just like Lanh, when she gets excited or stressed Mai's Vietnamese accent get very pronounced. When he got a chance to speak, he said, "Karole called, she said to wait, she's walking over from work, she should be there soon.

That was when Mai started screaming "Lanh! Dừng lại! Dừng lại!" (Stop! Stop!)

Lanh was lost in her own world listing all the things they would need to do to start the move back to Minnesota. They have to start packing now, they need to call a real estate agent, they need to get rid of the furniture, they'll have plenty of furniture at home, and Karole, maybe they can convert one of the Jack and Jill suites to a little room for her and Krissy and what is mom screaming about?

Lanh looked up in time to see the grill of a 1976 Cadillac Eldorado Convertible coming straight at her. She had no time to move, the ice under her feet prevented any sudden moves. She realized that her last thought would be that she knows what a deer in the headlights feels like.

With a sudden jerk Lanh was flying through the air and she landed on Mai. The car lurched to a halt when it struck a security post in front of Don Pollo's Margarita Bar and Brad passed out. The security pole saved over a dozen lives including Mai Nguyen and her daughter Lanh Campbell. A streak of blond hair appeared at the last moment and shoved Lanh just enough to miss being run over by the land yacht.

Lanh looked up at the bumper that almost killed her for a moment, she was laying with her head on her mother's lap like she was a little girl. Then she felt a horrible pain in her leg, when she turned her head to look, she saw something else under the car and started crying "Oh no! OH NO! NOOOO!"

"Mom! What's going on?" called Don, "What's wrong with Lanh?"

"I ok," said Mai, her voice weak.

"Ok? What happened? What's happening?" came Don's voice from Mai's phone.

Lanh looked under the car and saw the twisted, broken body of her dear friend Karole Krigbaum and began to wail. "Karole! Karole, please talk to me! Karole!"

"Mai! What's going on?" demanded Don. The fear in his voice set Krissy off and she began wailing for her mommy.

"Turn off speaker!" demanded Mai. When she heard Don's voice clearer, she started to explain. "A drunk sliding car on ice..." she cried out then started speaking in Vietnamese and explained how a drunk was spinning his car around in circles and came right at them. He was going to hit Lanh, but Karole somehow ran up and pushed Lanh out of the way. Lanh was hurt but Karole was under the car.

Don caught most of that, he understands Vietnamese so much better than he speaks it. He could hear Lanh's anguished wailing in the background and suddenly something happened... just a few years ago, he was trapped, crushed under the wreckage of a truck that was blown off the edge of the End of Runway ramp, a purple mist started to fill his tiny breathing space. The purple mist was from the potassium bicarbonate-based extinguishing agent of a 150 lbs. extinguisher that got blown off the ramp and exploded almost on top of him.

Through those long terror filled minutes as he fought a battle with death, he was ready to give up when he heard the voice of "Lanh's Angel" who pleaded with him over and over to stay alive. She reminded him of the love he shared with Lanh and the good times they had together. Now he heard Lanh's angel again, but this time the angel was talking to Krissy. "It's ok babykins, your mommy loves you, you're going to be ok with Mister Don and Miss Lanh..." Krissy's wails continued but the voice kept on... "It's ok babykins, mommy loves you, but you have to be good for Mister Don." Don turned in terror and there was a hint of a person crouching by the weeping toddler, there was a hint of purple on the edges of the vision's hair.

Don felt cold sweat breakout and his gut was twisted with the memories of his agony in Saudi Arabia... it was the same voice! This can't be real; this can't be happening...

He lifted the phone to his ear and said in a shaking voice, "Mai, tell Lanh to remind Karole of all the good times we've had, remind her about Krissy, keep going, over and over... maybe it will help..."

Under the car Karole was in a world that existed solely of pain, she was able to see narrowly, and her vision was fading. "Reggie..." she gasped... "Mommy's sorry honey..."

"Karole! Stay with me little sister!" cried Lanh. "Remember when you showed us how to fish on the river for catfish and Don got scared of them? Karole, we love you! Karole, stay with us..."

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Don and Lanh spent Christmas Eve, their most precious day in their calendar, in the hospital. Lanh had a crushed leg and a sprained wrist, Mai hit her head when she fell and was being held for observation. Don was sitting in the recliner next to Lanh's bed, she had surgery scheduled on her femur on the day after Christmas. Lanh's mother, Mai, was sleeping on the couch. She had a room nearby, but she refused to remain in bed so the fold down couch in Lanh's room was made up for her. Right now, they're waiting for word on Karole's condition, she's been in emergency surgery for four hours. Little Krissy finally cried herself to sleep on Don's lap. Lanh groaned in pain as Don sat by her side, holding her hand, shocked at the turn their Christmas Eve took. When he wasn't by her side he was in the ICU begging Karole to live

Mai spoke with her husband Duong who let their family in Minnesota know what had happened. Mai and Duong's children and grandchildren all loved Karole, she was a new sister to them all and the news came as a shock. Duong, Hui, and Kim-ly would soon be on the way to be with them and bring Mai home.

"This must be what it was like for you when I was injured in Saudi Arabia," whispered Don.

"No," said Lanh in one of her lucid moments, "I was on an airplane and people brought me coffee." Her attempt at humor fell flat. "I think reminding her of all the good times we had helped her whe... when she was under..." Lanh started weeping trying desperately to do it quietly, trying urgently not to wake Krissy.

"I've never told this to anyone," said Don very softly. "When I was in that truck being crushed, I heard a voice reminding me of you and reminding me of our love and telling me that you were waiting for me... I think that was your angel and she helped me stay alive. I heard her today talking to Krissy."

Lanh suddenly stiffened, "I heard her too... she was telling Karole to remember about us and Krissy, but also someone named Norma, and someone named Reggie."

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Note to readers: this story is the genesis of my multi-chapter, award winning series We're a Wonderful Wife. When I finished the first draft of A Krissmas Karole over a year ago, I didn't want to say goodbye to the characters that I built, so I started We're a Wonderful Wife just to hold on to them a little bit longer. If you enjoy these characters, We're a Wonderful Wife explores them in much more detail and depth and there are several side stories, all branded with the tag "WaWW." We're a Wonderful Wife continues on after this, there's more story to come.