《Nowhere To Go》


 1.The Solution To Homelessness

    Douglas stood up at the meeting and said, ¡°I know I don¡¯t have to tell any of you how homelessness has impacted our city. It is crippling our shops downtown, as people have to step over and around sleeping indigents to get into the stores, and there is always someone with their hand out, looking for money. We clean up the tents and the trash off of our sidewalks and vacant lots, only to have them retrashed the following week. And it isn¡¯t cheap to do these clean-ups. The clean-ups cost our city an incredible amount of money and they do nothing to deter people from camping there again.


    These people are an embarrassment when we have tourists and our tourist trade has fallen off. They are a breeding ground for rats and drugs and drug-dealers. From 2015 till 2023 the homelessness in Portland has increased by 65%, from 1,887 to 6,297 people. Well, I am happy to say we finally have a solution and are here today to reveal it. Mason, could you tell us what you have found out, please?


    ¡°Yes, I will be glad to,¡± Mason said. ¡°We petitioned Washington and they have given us grant money to buy three decommissioned cruise ships, which we intend to move the homeless into to get them off of the streets.¡± The room filled with the noise of people talking about Mason¡¯s news. ¡°Now, if you will kindly save the discussion for later, I will tell you the rest of the news. The federal government denied us the money for the clinic and for the refurbishing and the first year of operating expenses, but we expected that and actually have a good portion of that budgeted.¡±


    A hand went up and Mason called on a gentleman about 55 years old. ¡°Yes?¡± he said to him. The gentleman asked, ¡°I don¡¯t understand why we are buying expensive cruise ships instead of transforming hotels or office buildings we have vacant. It seems like that would be a much less expensive choice.¡±


    Mason said, ¡°I understand where you are coming from and you are right. It does make sense, except our goal is to have the homeless off of the streets. There will be no going back to the streets for these people once we take them to the ships. Consider it a modern day Alcatraz, just for the homeless, not prisoners. There will be no going back to shore, where it is just too easy for them to revert to littering our city.¡±


    A reporter in the meeting asked, ¡°Did you just say the people will not be able to come ashore anymore? Don¡¯t you think that is a little bit disturbing? I, for one, am going to be glad to no longer see eyesores all along our streets, but they are not allowed to participate in our society?¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.  Mason said, ¡°Not in their present condition. ¡° He quickly changed the direction the questions were going and said,  ¡°Just think, no more angry voters, complaining about property values dropping because of homeless encampments and no more arranging sweeps with demonstrators talking about our inhumanity to those dregs of society!¡± With a roar of approval from the listeners, Mason stepped down and turned the meeting back over to Douglas.


    Douglas, as the moderator of the meeting, called on the head of the planning commission. ¡°Could you please tell us your time frame for the completion of the clinic and for the hiring of personnel?  Also, if you could let us know the time frame of moving the homeless aboard the ships, I think that will give us a better idea of how things are moving along. That can''t happen too soon for me! Anyway, here is Clark, the head of our planning commission. Clark¡­.¡±


    ¡°Douglas,¡± Clark said, as he nodded at him, while stepping to the front of the room. ¡°Having received the approval federally and locally, we will begin immediately. Hiring of personnel begins in June of 2024 and, of course training begins then, as well. The clinic will be open in July of 2024. The signs declaring zero tolerance for homelessness will be posted in October of 2024, at which time there will be no more homeless in Portland, Oregon!


    After the noise of approval had died down, Clark finished by telling the attendees that all ships would be in place mid-September. ¡°At that time, we will begin sending the homeless by van to the bay where they will be sent by launch out to their ships! Are there any questions?¡±


    Clark called on a businessman with his hand up. ¡°Why are you so sure things will work out this time? What will you do with the homeless who refuse to go? You know there are many who won¡¯t go into shelters because they are too paranoid.¡± The man asked.


    Clark said, ¡°That is a good question. We do have plans in effect for that which will work.¡± He called on a young lady next.


    ¡°So is this going to be like a leper¡¯s colony, where if you are homeless you get sent out to the cruise ship, never to be allowed into regular society again? It¡¯s not like they are diseased, just down on their luck,¡± the young lady asked.


    Clark silenced the people who were booing the young lady and said, ¡°We will have rehabilitation training on each ship and expect many to be settled back into society when they are ready.¡±


    Douglas took over from Clark and announced the date they would reconvene to discuss the progress of this monumental task.

 Meet the Neighbors

    Sue spotted another new sign posted by the homeless encampment where she lived.  She lived in a run down motorhome that needed a new fuel line, so she had been stuck here for two weeks and was just hoping she could get it fixed before the city had it towed.  She usually moved more frequently, so was starting to feel uncomfortable, but as of yet, had no resources to fix the motorhome and no alternatives.  She worked a 40 hour week, taking care of the elderly in a nursing home.  She was an RN and was a damn good nurse.


    Sue stopped to read the sign.  It said, ¡°How would you like to live on  a cruise ship?¡±  She scoffed and wondered how anyone would have the gall to put that kind of notice up in this neighborhood.  People here couldn¡¯t afford housing, how were they going to afford to live on a cruise ship?  Out of curiosity, Sue continued reading.  ¡°This is a new pilot program designed specifically for the homeless of Portland, Oregon.  Meet us to find out more at the closed down Safeway store downtown on  Wednesday, September 13th at 10:00 AM.¡±


    Sue thought,¡± It¡¯s worth listening to . Maybe I will end up living on a cruise ship. Ha!  That¡¯ll be the day!  But, what do I have to lose?¡± Sue daydreamed about being on a cruise ship, swimming and dining and having fun while she finished her walk home . and  let herself into the motorhome.  She put her groceries on the counter and realized she needed to go to the bathroom.  Shoot!  She wasn¡¯t using the motorhome bathroom because she had no way to dump it since she couldn¡¯t drive it to a dump station. Plenty of people in these run-down motorhomes were just running the drainage hoses to the gutter, but she didn¡¯t want to contribute any more than she had to to the filthiness of the area.  The raw sewage that went into the gutters ended up going into the storm drains and flowing into the nearby river.   She left her scrubs on so she wouldn¡¯t look homeless and walked back to an area with restaurants.  She went in and ordered a coffee to go and ran to the bathroom while they were preparing it.


    While she walked back to her motorhome, she thought about how she had gotten here.  When her husband had passed on suddenly five years ago,  she discovered their savings were gone from their mutual account, with no explanation..Her husband had always handled the finances and she had had no reason to distrust him.  He always paid bills on time.  All the bank could tell her was that regularly, large withdrawals had been made.    Their large beautiful home was no longer affordable with only one income and she had to deal with foreclosure.  The life insurance policy she had counted on to pay for the balance of the mortgage had been cashed in already by her husband, a helpful girl at the insurance company told her, and she let her know that she overheard him talking to someone about his regular visits to a casino!  There was no chance to feel sorry for herself, as she had to jump in with both feet and figure things out.  She had sold or given away all of her belongings at that point and moved into their motorhome. After five years,  Sue had almost paid off the last of the debts by being very frugal and living in these cramped quarters.  While she thought about the past, she made herself a delicious chef salad and sat down to enjoy it.


    Trish and Carol attended college in Portland and were roommates off campus in a nice, hipster area of the city.  Trish was telling Carol about her test in applied science and how she was beginning to think she had chosen the wrong major when Carol said, ¡°It¡¯s getting harder every day just to find space on the sidewalk to step.  If I¡¯d known the homeless population was so bad, I would have opted to stay in the dorms!¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Trish said, ¡°Yeah, me too.  I can¡¯t really wear my Uggs anymore out here because I¡¯m afraid a needle will go right through them when I¡¯m not paying attention.¡±  She glared at a very dirty old man, laying halfway in and halfway out of his tent.  He had track marks up and down his arm and his eyes were rolled back in his head.  His head rested on the bare sidewalk and his ribs showed beneath his torn shirt.


    Carol said, as she searched for the house keys, ¡°Let¡¯s order pizza in so we don¡¯t have to go back out and see the mess of the homeless outside tonight.¡±


    ¡°Ok, sounds like a plan.  I needed to wash my hair and study, anyway,¡± said Trish.


    Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang and Trish ran to open the door to let the pizza man in.  He took the pizza out of the warming bag and said, ¡°Did you know there is a lady bleeding a lot on your front lawn?  It looks like she was attacked.¡±


    ¡°That ¡®s none of our business and it¡¯s good riddance to another homeless person, if you ask me,¡±  Trish said as she munched on a slice of sausage and pepperoni pizza and she closed and locked the door.  Carol was holding back the curtains, peering out.  The pizza man was on the phone and they could hear him faintly giving their address to the police and telling them to hurry or the lady would not make it.


    An ambulance was there soon and after putting the lady inside the truck, sped off with its sirens blaring.  The pizza guy came back to their door, holding a small, scruffy dog in his arms, who they could tell was originally white, and said, ¡±I think this dog belongs to that lady.  Would it be possible for it to stay with you until she gets back from the hospital?  It¡¯s probably her only companion.¡±


    ¡°No!¡±  Trish emphatically said.  ¡°Why should we take care of that mongrel?  It   probably has fleas and is sick!¡±


    ¡°I just thought it would be easier for her to find her little pet if you kept him here.  Never mind, I¡¯ll take the dog home with me,¡± the pizza man said and took the dog out to his car.  He left his phone number with Trish and Carol so the hurt lady could find him when she got home.


    Laurence, a big man, an ex-wrestler, lived in the part of town where most of the drug users hung out.  He felt relatively safe since people knew he was a good fighter.  He was 6¡¯4¡± and pushing 50 years old.  He had found a blocked off alleyway behind some buildings downtown where he had his tent set up.  So far, being out of sight, he had not had to be bothered with the sweeps that were constantly taking place.  He was walking to the mission to get supper when he saw the sign, ¡°How would you like to live on a cruise ship?¡±  His mind went back to his successful days, when he was rolling in the dough and had taken a cruise with Sherry, a buxom, blonde bombshell.  Mmmmuhmmm!  He kept walking and when he got to the mission, saw another sign.  Right then and there, he decided to go to the meeting the following day.


    Everyone was talking about the signs at supper.  He caught some of the excited comments.  ¡°Do you really think this is real?¡±  ¡°It sounds too good to be true!¡±  ¡°Why would they send us on a cruise?¡±  ¡°Do you think we will go to Tahiti?¡±  ¡°Maybe we will go through the Panama Canal and go to the Caribbean!¡±

 The Signs

    Danny received a huge stack of signs and a pull cart, along with thumbtacks and tape.  He was given an area to work as were several other people.  He began putting up signs on telephone poles, fences, port o potties and anywhere else they would be visible and would catch people¡¯s eyes.  While he was putting up a poster outside the hospital, an old lady about 60 years old was wheeled out to the street in a wheelchair by a couple of orderlies.  She didn¡¯t seem to be conscious, with her head bobbing every time they hit a bump in the pavement.  Danny watched, curiously, as they crossed the street, laid down her coat and then lifted her out of the wheelchair, placing her on the coat on the ground.  He stared in disbelief, as the two orderlies wheeled their chair back to the hospital.  Danny ran and caught up with the orderlies and asked them, ¡°Why did you leave that old lady on the ground?  What are you thinking?¡±  They answered, ¡°We just obeyed orders, as cold as it sounds.  She is homeless and can¡¯t continue living in the hospital when she can¡¯t pay for it and we are short beds for people who are really sick.¡±  And they walked off.  Danny  shook his head and continued on with his job.


    Danny continued down that busy street, finding  crowds gathering around the signs he had posted.  On his break, he stopped to read one of the flyers and was surprised to read that something was actually being done for the homeless.  He thought about the soup kitchens, the shelters, human services and other options for the homeless that just weren¡¯t enough and wondered if this new offer would be the solution society needed.


    After his break, he continued posting the signs and a policeman passed him, running.  He eventually caught up to the policeman to find out what was happening and by that time an ambulance and firetruck were there, as well.  The policeman was bent down, holding the hand of a woman who was unconscious on the sidewalk, saying, ¡°Barbara Jean, can you hear me?  Barbara Jean, please wake up.  Honey, hold on!¡±  And the paramedics walked up and said, ¡°We will  take over from here, Officer Walters.¡±


    The policeman stood up with tears in his eyes and watched as they loaded the lady into the ambulance and pulled up a sheet over her head.  He took off his hat and looked up, mumbling a prayer for his friend.  Danny asked, ¡°Did you know her, officer?¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Officer Walter said, ¡°Yes, I visited with her every day.  I used to bring her food and water.  Do you see that little shop on the corner?  She used to have a beautiful flower shop in there.  One morning she came to work to find someone had looted the shop, destroying all of her merchandise and she wasn¡¯t able to recover from that attack.  She had been operating month to month and had no resources to be able to restock the shop.  She made it a couple of months, by letting her apartment go and moving into the storage room, but it wasn''t enough and the landlord terminated her lease.  Since then, she has lived on the streets.  Barbara Jean reminded me of my mother.  She had no business being out here in the elements.  Unfortunately, she had given up  on life and a fentanyl dealer took advantage of her situation, telling her the drugs would bring her relief and she got hooked.  I¡¯m pretty sure that is what took her life.¡±  He walked off sadly.


    Danny looked at his stack of flyers and figured he was about halfway through.  He continued down the street.  He heard one of his favorite songs being played very loud, ¡®Born to  Be Wild¡¯ and it kept getting louder as he got closer.  There was a vacant lot with tents scattered around and quite a few people hanging out.  He saw no less than three drug deals go down in the short time it took him to put up the flyers in the area.  The people there were dirty and ragged and Danny found himself thinking about how unhappy they must be  and wondering how he would deal with living there.  ¡°I wonder if they have all given up on life like Barbara Jean?¡±  he thought.


    Officer Walter walked up to him about that time and said, ¡°I have read your flyer and I am interested.  If this is real, it just may offer the solution we need so badly.  How much do you know about this cruise ship deal?¡±


    Danny held out his hand and said, ¡°Hello, Officer Walter, my name is Danny.  I am pleased to meet you.  I actually don''t know much, I am just putting up the signs.  I have to admit I am interested, too, especially after seeing the people in the last block who seem to be totally given over to drugs.  Is that common around here?¡±


    The officer looked at him sadly.  ¡°It is a lot more common than you might think.  If you are truly interested, I can introduce you to some friends of mine.¡±


    Danny nodded and said, ¡°I would like that.¡±


    Officer Walter said, ¡°Follow me.¡±  They walked a few blocks and turned left toward the river.

 Coffee, Statistics and a Change of Plans

    A couple of city council members met at a coffee shop and sat in a back booth, taking care that the booths close to them were not occupied, so as to be able to speak freely.  James said, ¡°I have found some interesting statistics that may affect the transition of the homeless to the ships.¡±


    Malcolm asked, ¡°This is kind of a late date to change our plans.  Do you really think the information is that important?¡±


    James took a big sip of his mocha and said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the info and we can discuss it and decide together.  The three fastest growing demographic of homeless people here in Portland are African-American adults, women and people over fifty-five years of age¡±


    ¡°Let me interject something here,¡± Malcolm said, whispering, ¡°As controversial as it would be to suggest doing something about the homeless African-Americans, and assuming you don¡¯t want us to be attacked for being racist, I¡¯m guessing you are highlighting one of the other two groups.  Also, I¡¯m sure you have thought about how we are, for now, trying to sweep  the issue under the rug that women in our city are generally paid less than men in the workforce, since we have more pressing issues to deal with and that would mean women are not your main focus.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you are right and I have some more statistics to convince you.  Twenty per cent of our homeless are seniors and fifty- seven per cent of the homeless are disabled.  The number of homeless seniors increased in the last ten years by 84%.  They have been priced out of the system by the rising cost of housing.  Most of them became homeless after 50 years of age and after working hard all of their lives.  In addition, they deal with issues such as mobility, anxiety, depression, cancer, alzheimers and other cognitive and physical ailments,¡± James said.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    Malcolm said, ¡°I see your point.  Good job on the research.  However, I am inclined to wait on that solution and use the capable ones for teaching the children, minding the shIpboard shops and library, etc.  The first order of business is to take care of the druggies and the severely mentally ill while everyone¡¯s attention is focused on settling the others on board the ships.  We can¡¯t have too many people disappearing all at once.  It is to be expected that the drug addicts will need to go to a clinic.¡±


    James said, ¡°Point well taken and I tend to agree with you.  Should we wait till shortly before Thanksgiving to make the decisions concerning the elderly?¡±


    Malcolm asked, ¡°Why would you think Thanksgiving is a good time to relocate the elderly?¡±


    James said, ¡°It is a time when many people get together with families to celebrate and it would not seem odd for many of them to leave the ship to go visit their relatives.  If you feel it is too soon after getting this project started, we could always wait for Christmastime.¡±


    ¡°I think we are going to have to put it off for a little longer because we are going to have our hands full locating all of the drug addicts and dealers and mentally ill.  Some will be easy to find and take to the clinic, but others, with their paranoia and intuition will be able to hide from us for a time.  I would think that all of them would be taken care of by early 2025 and then we can implement taking care of the elderly, too,¡± Malcolm said.


    The men finished their coffee and their meeting and James said good-bye as Malcolm went through the line again to get some banana bread to take home to his wife.

 Safe Space

    ¡°I can only spare a few minutes as I have to finish getting all of these flyers put up today.  It is really important for the people to know about the big meeting and the exciting events coming up,¡± Donny said to Officer Walter.  ¡°It is pretty great to see some positive action taking place and to be a part of it.  I don¡¯t mean to downplay what the missions and human services are doing, it just seems like the homeless epidemic has outgrown their capacity to solve problems.¡±


    Officer Walter looked at Danny and said, ¡°It is right over here.¡±  They entered an abandoned  two story building through a door holding onto the frame by one set of hinges.  If this building had been a home, you would have said it was an open-concept lay-out.    Danny could see through the building from one side  to the other.  It had to be 300 feet long.


    Officer Walter said to Danny,   ¡°These people have nowhere to go.  Come meet some of them.  Hello Darlene, this is Danny.  He has some good news for you.  Danny, show her one of your flyers.¡±


    Darlene said hello  and took a flyer.  She read it and exclaimed, ¡°Is this for real?  I have been praying for a miracle.  Forgive me for questioning you, but I have had a lot of disappointments in the last few years.  May l have some more of these to pass out to the others?¡±


    Danny gave her a stack and he and Officer Walter moved on to the next person.  ¡°What is Darlene¡¯s situation, Officer?¡±


    ¡°Darlene worked as a corporate secretary for the same law firm for twenty-five years, had a nice house in a great part of town and needed only one more year of payments before the mortgage was paid off.  One of the lawyers made a foolish mistake which brought down the whole firm from a  lawsuit which resulted in the firm closing.  She was out of work and tried her best to save the house with her savings but ended up losing it.  She has been here for a while.¡±The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Danny looked around at the dirty mattresses thrown on the ground and could feel the tangible discouragement  in the air.  He went around, meeting others in the short time he had.  There was one man, laying on a mattress, talking to himself, obviously out of his mind and Danny wondered if the man had gone over the bend because of homelessness or if he was homeless because of being crazy.  He passed a bucket with water in it and a basin on a low table where people could wash their hands.


    There was a table and a few unmatching chairs.  This must be the kitchen.  Officer Walter said, ¡°I bring them food from a few places that are on my beat.  The people save bagels and fried chicken and burgers and I bring them in the evening.  Then I take the trash when I leave.  It isn¡¯t much but it helps.¡±


    Danny wished he could stay and meet the others and learn their stories but he had to return to work.  He felt compelled to get out all of the flyers so as many people as possible could get some lasting help.


    As he walked, he asked God, ¡°Why is this happening, God?  Are these people being punished?  Are the housed better people than the unhoused?  Are the rich better people because they have been successful financially?  Is there some reason these people are living in an old warehouse like rats?  Anyone could get discouraged like Barbara Jean and take drugs to forget, even for a few hours.¡±


    ¡°I will think more about this later, but for now I need to get these flyers up where they will do someone some good!¡±  Danny thought.  After getting all of his flyers out, Danny thought, ¡°I am going to the meeting tomorrow to see what it is all about!¡±  He walked the rest of the way home with an added bounce in his step.

 The Meeting

    September, Friday the 13th saw masses of bedraggled people heading toward the meeting place.  Sue had taken off from work to attend the meeting.  She needed to hear and see for herself if this was indeed the answer to her problems.  She walked, since the meeting place was not far from where her motorhome was parked.  She hadn¡¯t gone a block when she saw an old man struggling to  pull his wheelchair with  one foot.  She suspected he had diabetes since one leg was obviously amputated.  She walked up to him and introduced herself and asked if he was headed to the meeting and if she could push his wheelchair.  He looked up at her gratefully with bloodshot eyes and said, ¡°Yes ma¡¯am, I¡¯d be awfully grateful if you would!  My  name is Johnny and I am not making much progress this way!¡±


    Sue smiled and couldn¡¯t help but compare this migration to the scene in the movie ¡®The Ten Commandments¡¯ where the people were leaving Egypt.  There was an excitement in the air as if the people were being infused with hope. A couple who had their motorhome parked next to Sue were walking alongside her and Johnny.  Gloria and Ted were their names and they had come from Detroit, looking to get out of the cold two years before.  They had been unable to find work and were living off of the food they got from food pantries and hand outs from a local church.  Gloria was 45 and Ted was 50 and they had been together since high school.  Gloria was an elementary school teacher by profession and Ted was an auto mechanic.


    A couple of blocks further up, Sue and Johnny saw three men bobbing and weaving up the street, trying not to fall down.  Ted said, ¡°They must have had their fix for the day.  I hope they  can make it to the meeting.  They are all three nice guys but they use too many drugs to help them to forget.  Jim, the tall one, used to be a bigwig on Wall Street.  His partner screwed him over and now he has pretty much blown his mind and can¡¯t think straight.  The other two have been out on the streets since the hippie days.  They are a lazy sort but they have made it their business to take care of Jim.  You have to admit that there is a kind of awkward camaraderie among some of us who are homeless.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    When they got to the meeting place, setting up was still going on so Ted went to help set up folding chairs.  Sue went into the tent where coffee and breakfast sandwiches were being given out and asked if they could use her help.  An older woman, named Marjorie smiled at her and asked her to pass out the coffee.  The food was being taken row by row to the people already sitting in the chairs to help keep down the confusion of lines.


    Right at ten o¡¯clock, the meeting began with loud static from the microphone.  The speaker said, ¡°I am so sorry for the noise.  Welcome everyone!  I¡¯m sure you all have many questions.  We will welcome questions after our introduction to the homeless solution!¡±  There was a loud roar of approval.  When the noise died down, she continued, ¡°I am sure you are here because you saw or heard about the flyers we posted.  With a grant from the federal government, we have purchased three decommissioned cruise ships and moved them into the harbor just 80 miles from here.  These cruise ships have been set up for you to live on.  You will have a cabin and dining will be in a common area.  There will be a school set up for school age children on one of the ships. We will have a chef on each ship, as well as three assistants and will be looking for some of you who have had prior cooking and serving experience to help them.  We will also have several other places on the ship where we will need assistance like the clothing shop, laundry, the library, the school and so on.


    Day after tomorrow, there will be three vans here at ten o¡¯clock in the morning to take the first of you down to the docks.  Once there, you will go through a similar inspection as at the airport and then have a shower and be given new clothes.  You will be getting a fresh start!  We will have zero tolerance for any kind of drugs.¡±  With that statement, it took a full five minutes to quiet everyone down.  Several people got up and left at that news.


    An old man with a long beard stood up and asked, ¡°What do you expect us to do if we can¡¯t kick the habit cold turkey?  These drugs have been our friends and helped us deal with living in intolerable situations and some of them can¡¯t be kicked instantly.¡±

 The Claw

    The speaker answered, ¡°We are fully aware of the fact that some of you will not be able to kick the habit instantaneously.  We have a solution for that.  We will also have two vans ready and waiting to take anyone in that condition to the clinic, where we can help you.  This is a chance of a lifetime and you are all so lucky to be in Portland and be given this chance!  Are there any other questions?¡±  She went on answering questions for another half hour.  At the end of this time, she announced free backpacks stuffed with food goodies for everyone and wrapped it up.


    The maintenance personnel started stacking chairs on the rolling platforms and sweeping the area.  Wall street Jim stood up between his two friends, Harold and Tim and started yelling nonsense, ¡°Hesson was right!  Watch out!  Soy green!  Na good.  Brneee!¡±


    Tim said, ¡°Come on Jim.  It¡¯s ok, let¡¯s go back to camp.  Where is L¡¯il Bob?¡±  Tim knew L¡¯il Bob would distract Jim long enough to get him walking back to camp.  L¡¯il Bob was a beanie squirrel toy that went everywhere with Jim.


    Jim said, ¡°L¡¯il Bob, they won¡¯t listen.  I tole them.  You got nuts in your backpack?  Sokay, I¡¯ll make sure you get them!¡±  and he started laughing like a madman, while he held the toy against his face, comfortingly.


    Harold took Jim¡¯s arm and  guided him shakily back to their camp.  Laurence, the wrestler walked off with his backpack, thinking how great it was that something that made sense was finally happening and how happy he was that it was happening here.  Gloria and Ted, neighbors of Sue, talked as they walked back to their broken down motorhome.  Gloria said, ¡°See, it was fortuitous that we moved here to get out of the cold!  We are the first in the nation to get this opportunity!  I¡¯m so glad we went here instead of Los Angeles!¡±  Ted just listened.  He was thinking about going to the laundromat after walking home.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Laurence went home by a different route than he had come.  It took him past a multitude of tents, stripped bicycles and cars, shopping buggies laden with people¡¯s personal belongings and something caught his eye.  There was a lady sitting on the ground, which was not out of the usual, but her eyes!  Laurence thought she had the eyes of a tiger!  It instantly caught his attention and caused the song to run through his mind!  He went up to her and introduced himself.  She said her name was Brenda.  He realized her eyes looked like a tiger¡¯s because of her jaundiced condition and because of the way the sun shone on them., making her eyes squint.  He continued on to his tent and arrived shortly.


    Danny had gone to the meeting, as well to see what the flyers he put up were all about.  A couple of large trucks carrying bulldozers passed him.  His curiosity was aroused and he followed them.  There was a homeless camp area cordoned off by police tape and people frantically gathering what they could of their personal belongings with the police shooing them out of the area as best they could.  Two large roll off dumpsters had been placed, one at either end of the block.  There was also an excavator with a large claw headed toward the area  .The homeless people were being forced to leave and some were protesting that they had not had enough warning.


    One man spit on a policeman before running off.  Another man, named Bruce stood just on the other side of the tape, watching the large claw take a huge bite out of his lean- to house made of pallets.  ¡°It weren¡¯t much but it was all I had,¡± he lamented as the claw deposited his house into the dumpster.  Hanging on one of the prongs of the claw was a cord with a generator dangling precariously from it until it found its place in the dumpster. too. Tears were rolling down Bruce¡¯s cheeks.  ¡±Forgive them Lord, They don¡¯t know what they are doing.  They are just following orders,¡±  he sobbed out.

 The Good, the Ugly and the Bad

    Bruce watched, as the claw finished taking bites out of his belongings and transferring them to the dumpster.  He thought about how he lost his house in the first place and had moved to an isolated area with a few other homeless people until that was cleared out and then he had come here.  Now there was nowhere to go.  Danny walked up to him and asked if he had been at the meeting.  Bruce looked up, rubbing the tears out of his eyes.  A man had his pride, after all.


    Danny told him about the meeting and the solution for homelessness and found one of the posters he had been passing out, folded up in his pocket and handed it to Bruce.  Bruce asked, ¡°Is this offer still open? I am pretty interested because I just lost everything.¡±


    Danny said, ¡°Yes, it is and the first of the vans will leave in two days to take people out to the cruise ships.  I imagine it operates on a first come first served basis.  There is no way they can get everyone out to the ships in one day.¡±  Danny explained the details to Bruce who smiled in appreciation.


    Bruce said, ¡°Well having my possessions thrown away  in the sweep will make moving easier.¡±


    Danny said, ¡°That says a lot for you that you are able to be positive after losing all of your things.¡±


    Bruce replied, ¡°If there is one thing I have learned, being out on the streets, it is that you can¡¯t give a place to despair, no matter how bad things are.  You have to pick yourself up by your bootstraps and keep going!¡±


    The men said good-bye and Danny wished Bruce good luck as he walked off.


    Sue walked back to the nursing home where she worked to collect her pay and give notice.  Her co-workers and the patients were surprised to hear she was leaving and even more surprised to learn that she had been homeless all of this time.  They held an impromptu good-bye party for her, complete with a cake and homemade cards!You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Sue walked back to the motorhome with a heart full of love for her friends.  She began sorting through her belongings.  She pulled her china down out of the cabinets.  It was a pretty blue flowered print that had been a gift from her parents when she got married.  She took a picture of it laid out on her table and said a sentimental good-bye.


    She looked through all of her family pictures and decided to take them out of the albums they were in and put them in zip lock bags instead.  That would fit better in her suitcase.  Sue decided to leave her tv, dvds and books.  That was a hard saying.  She had several favorite movies, but felt she was making the right decision.  It was necessary to take her scrubs and other clothing.  She sat down to enjoy a cup of coffee that she had picked up from McDavid¡¯s and reflected on the past few days.  She was starting over again, resetting, redefining her life.


    Sue thought about how beautifully she had decorated her house, with Oriental furniture and paintings and about her home spa that was so relaxing.  If she had known where she would be today, would she have spent so much money and time on things that didn¡¯t really matter so much and were all gone out of her life now?  What was really important?  Where would she be five years from now?  She thought, ¡°I can speculate, but who really knows?¡±  After the coffee and taking some down time, Sue went back to sorting and packing.


    Bruce, having lost all of his minimal stuff, decided to walk around.  He wandered aimlessly and found himself in a different homeless encampment that was buzzing with activity.  He saw a young lady who was obviously new to the streets, made clear by her nice clothing, laying on the sidewalk, beside her tent, passed out with vomit all over her hair and clothes.  As he neared her, two men grabbed her two suitcases and her designer purse and ran off with them.  Bruce yelled at them and gave chase for a block, but his emphysema caused him a coughing fit and he lost them.  He thought that day after tomorrow couldn¡¯t come fast enough.  There was nothing Bruce could offer the lady who had been robbed, so he found the nearest policeman and asked him if he could check on her and he continued his walk.

 Euthenasia

    The next day, Laurence stopped by on the way to breakfast at the mission to see if Brenda wanted to go with him.  As he walked up, she pulled a tourniquet off of her arm  and put down her hypodermic needle onto the ground.  He had seen it all before.    He invited her to go with him, but knew she wouldn¡¯t.  She would lay here enjoying her euphoria, escaping reality through her best friend and worst enemy.  She didn¡¯t even acknowledge him or see him, as she sank back into a small window of forgetfulness.  Laurence felt frustrated and sad.  No matter how strong and powerful he was or once was, he was helpless to help her.


    Laurence thought of  how much it would mean to her and himself and many others to have the chance to live away from this and start their lives over again.  His steps picked up as he realized their dreams would come true tomorrow!  He dared to hope things would work out this time!  He had a smile on his face as he walked into the mission and Tim greeted him holding L¡¯il Bob while Wall street Jim went through the serving line.


    ¡° Lookie L¡¯il Bob, it¡¯s Laurence and he is smiling!  What¡¯s going on?¡± Tim asked.


    Laurence said, ¡°I¡¯m just thinking about getting a fresh start tomorrow.  Are you guys going early on the first van out of here?¡±


    ¡°Naw, Jim is not ready.  He thinks it is a trick and that there is really not going to be any help for us.  It is going to take some convincing to get him to go.  We will probably go later in the week.  He has the munchies really bad cause we ran out of everything last night except for weed and he had a hard time waiting till this morning!  Look at him put it away!  He can eat a lot for a skinny guy!¡±


    Laurence went to stand in line and his eyes fell on Jim.  Jim was 6¡¯ 5¡± and looked like a string bean.  He probably didn¡¯t weigh more than 125 pounds, soaking wet.  Then his mind drifted to tomorrow and he wondered what he would do once he got on the ship.  He didn¡¯t have any specialized training, but he was plenty strong, especially for a man of fifty so he was confident he could be a big help on the ship.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    Two men in line reached for the same muffin and a fight broke out.  They were swinging and kicking and one looked like he thought he could do karate and got the legs kicked out from under him.  He jumped up swinging and pulled out a knife.  Everyone scattered way away from them and  Laurence jumped up and yelled at them and pushed them apart, but not before the guy with a knife cut a deep gash on the other man¡¯s forehead.  Laurence grabbed his wrist and twisted, causing him to drop the knife.  The man yelped and ran for the door, right into the arms of the police.  Both men were taken away, one to the hospital and one to the police station.  He would be detained overnight and then turned loose.  His withdrawals would not be pretty in jail, Laurence knew.


    The top man at the clinic had contacted several organizations to help with the staffing and setting up of the clinic.  Clark had had experience with euthenasia, but not on such a large scale.  He first of all studied the laws, so they would be compliant.  Clark knew euthenasia had been legal in Oregon for over 20 years, but he still had a lot of questions.  He had his top assistant working on compiling information on treatments for the different street drugs so they would have the necessary equipment and capable staff members available when the clinic opened.  This had all been completed by September first in order to give Clark time to hire and order supplies.


    Today, he would conduct classes to train the workers in the etiquette of the clinic and the terminology he would expect them to use.  After a lunch break, he would interview them one-by- one and determine who would fit in.  Quite an exhausting process, but Clark actually felt exhilarated, thinking about how he was doing his part to clean up the homeless epidemic.


    At the mission, Alice and Roy were talking while they were serving the potato soup and canned peaches.  Alice said, ¡°I have been working here for ten years.  I don¡¯t know what I will do now.  I thought about applying to serve food on one of the ships.  What will you do?¡±


    Roy said, ¡°Do you really think all of the homeless will really be gone?  I have my doubts.  And if there are still homeless, we will still have our jobs.  I guess I will think about it if it truly happens.¡±

 Divide and Conquer

    The day finally arrived, with great excitement in the air for both the homeless and home owners who were eager to see the homeless gone and their property value go back up!  Hordes of people poured into the closed down grocery store parking lot.  There were showers set up for people to go to after they had passed through the x-ray machine.  Sarah, the lady in charge of the overall works for the day, started lining people up till people got the idea.  Then she checked with the drivers of the vans to make sure they were gassed up and ready to go.  Next she checked the showers to make sure there were cleaning supplies in every stall.  She had already checked the breakfast tent and knew everything was on track.


    Sarah stood and watched the process at the x-ray machine to make sure the workers were being thorough and overheard a lady in line saying, ¡°What do they expect to find on us?  A stash of cash?  Drugs?¡±  And she laughed hysterically.  Sarah, satisfied that the best job possible was being done, walked on to the showers to hear another lady who just gotten out of the shower saying, ¡°This is the best day of my life!  I got a hot shower, my hair is clean, I have on fresh, new clothes and our hygiene kits even include a hair brush and barettes!¡±  She was smiling ear to ear and walked toward one of the vans.


    After a shower, each person¡¯s personal belongings were labeled with their names and put in  an area for treatment for bugs.  They would be returned to the owners on the ship after treatment.  The three 18 passenger vans were loaded as quickly as possible in order to get the first set of people out to the cruise ship, Paradise Found and then return to get a second group of people.  The people destined for the clinic were to wait under an easy up tent, out of the sun.  They had a picnic table and ate their breakfast there.  These were people who would not be able to go to the cruise ships until rehab had been successful.


    Laurence waved goodbye to Brenda, who looked like a different person after her shower and change of clothes.  ¡°Good-bye Honey, do good in rehab and I will see you soon!¡±


    Brenda managed a half smile and waved at Laurence.  Her yellow eyes stood out in stark contrast to the black t shirt and black jeans she had been given to wear.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    The convoy of over 50 people started out and the people enjoyed the beautiful view of Portland as they ate their egg and sausage sandwiches and had coffee.  It had been a long time since most of them had been on a drive out of the city and they drank deeply of the experience just as if it had been a glass of cold orange juice!


    The other two vans filled up with people with drug problems and they took the short drive to the clinic which was about ten minutes away.  Once there, they all unloaded and were each given case workers, who took down their story so they would know how to start treatment.  There was a lab on site so Brenda was tested and came back positive for hepatitis, which was no shock.  She was put in an isolation room and put on a special menu and drugs for hepatitis.  The other 35 people were evaluated and taken to their private rooms and given their individual treatment plans, each in a well padded and sound proof room.  The clinic had enough rooms for 250 patients at any given time, 40 medical staff, plus chefs, helpers, servers and dishwashers.


    The vans from the clinic returned to the loading site to pick up more people and were met by Sarah, who because of  the slow response of the people with drug problems, reassigned one of the two vans to also run people out to the ships, so only one was left to do the local runs.  This van quickly filled up and departed for the ships, while the other three were on their way back to pick up more passengers.


    Sue smiled at Karla, who was doing her interview on board the ship, Paradise Found.  Karla asked her typical questions like name, age, birthdate, nearest of kin and then asked what she was qualified for.  Sue answered, ¡°I am a registered RN and have been working lately in a nursing home, but have had prior experience working in hospitals and clinics.¡±


    Karla seemed pleased to hear about Sue¡¯s qualifications and assigned her to a cabin and let her know she should rest until lunch.  She showed her around the ship and then to her quarters.  Sue went in, flopped on the bed and gave a sigh of relief!  ¡°This just might work out!  It¡¯s too early to tell, but it has promise!¡±


    Laurence was next to finish his evaluation and was excited to tell his inquisitor that he didn¡¯t have any specialized training but he was plenty strong and could help unload supplies coming into the ship or help lift in the kitchen or wherever he was needed.  After being shown to his cabin, his inquisitor asked if he felt like helping unload supplies before lunch because they were short a couple of men who had called in sick.  Laurence jumped right to it, glad to be needed!

 Enter the Children

    Nancy, 72 years old and on the heavy side, waddled up the gangplank slowly.  She was huffing and puffing, all out of breath and sat down with a thud in the nearest chair she found.  The lady assigned to her helped her up and took her to the place for her interview.  She asked Nancy when her last check up was and Nancy had to think pretty hard to remember.  Then she asked Nancy what job experience she had.  Nancy said, ¡°Well, sweetheart, I was a housewife up until my husband died.  I¡¯m a good cook, never had no complaints from my Pete, but I can¡¯t stand for long.¡±


    Her interviewer asked if she would feel comfortable preparing food, if she could sit down for it.  Nancy smiled and seemed pleased at the question and answered in the affirmative.  All of a sudden there was an alarm going off in a high pitched tone.  Several staff members went running for the elevator in a huge hurry.  They got up to the third floor and straight to Mark¡¯s room and let themselves in.  Mark was kicked back smoking a cigarette that smelled pretty bad.  He tried to hide it real fast when they came into his room.  One of the staff members ran over and grabbed his arm and retrieved the cigarette.


    ¡°What do you think you are doing?  There is no smoking and absolutely no drugs.  How did you get this cigarette and the fentanyl aboard the ship?¡± he angrily asked Mark.


    ¡°Hey man be cool, I got my ways.  I had a big bandage on my leg and just put the cig and the drug under the bandage,¡± Mark answered.


    ¡°Well, get your things, you will have to go to the clinic.  You can¡¯t live here with a drug problem and because you smuggled in contraband.  They may give you another chance after you get clean, but who knows,¡± the staff member said.  He took Mark¡¯s arm to lead him out of the room, but Mark pulled away.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    ¡°I got a right to be here!  Leave me alone!¡± Mark said confrontationally.


    The other men rushed up and one handcuffed Mark while another one grabbed Mark by the pants like he had been a sack of potatoes and walked him out of the room and back to the exit.  They had a staff member accompany Mark on one of the returning vans to the clinic.


    On the second appearance of the vans, after lunch, there were several families and several single moms with children.  These interviews proved pleasant for the interviewers.  They were instructed to promise each child a new toy after the interview if they behaved.  The children were whispering among themselves quietly, wondering what special toy he or she would get!  As soon as each little family was finished, they were ushered into a room down the hall full of all kinds of mouth-watering toys!  The children were rushing around, looking to see what stuck out to them, when Marcie, an interviewer looked down at seven year old Tina.  Tina said, ¡°Excuse me ma¡¯am, but I have a question.  Could I get something special for my mom instead of a toy for me?  You see my mom said what she wants more than anything is to get a pretty hair cut and style.  She said it would make her feel more like a person and my mommy is my favorite person in the world.  So it would mean a lot to me to see her happy.  What do you think?¡±


    Marcie, with big tears rolling down her cheek said, ¡°Of course we will get your mom¡¯s hair done!  But it is my treat and you still get a toy!  You are such a kind and loving child.  Please always stay that way!  Now scoot!  Go get something for you!¡±  And Tina ran off smiling!


    Wall Street Jim proved extra cantankerous that night and just couldn¡¯t calm down.  He paced up and down the street, obviously troubled.  Tim asked him, ¡°Jim, what in the world is going on with you?  Did you take a bad hit?¡±


    Jim yelled, ¡°No, you wouldn¡¯t understand.  Leave me alone!¡±  And he continued pacing.  Harold and Tim just looked at each other, baffled.  Jim was kind of simple, after his diet of pills and drugs, but he had never been contentious before;  He was always laid back and easy going.  What could be going on with him?

 Give up the Fight?

    Marcie and Tina took Tina¡¯s mom to the beauty parlor aboard the ship and Marcie arranged for Tina¡¯s mom to get her hair done and then she paid for it.  She took Tina for a walk around the ship while her mom was occupied.  Marcie had a little time before the next group of homeless arrived.


    Lunch was a pleasant occasion, with piped in music and sandwiches and salads on the buffet.  Nancy¡¯s soon to be boss, Rex, walked in, pushing a cart with little frosted cakes to put on the buffet and passed Bruce, sitting at a table.  Bruce was scratching open sores on his arm, seemingly without realizing it.  That turned Rex¡¯s stomach and he had to run out of the room.  After he composed himself and went back to putting the cakes on the buffet, he went to find the purser, Arnold and asked if they could talk.  Rex told Arnold what he had just witnessed and asked if he realized scratching sores like that usually indicated meth use.  Arnold laughed and said he was aware and would talk with Bruce to see if he needed to be moved to the clinic.


    Satisfied that  things were moving in the right direction, Rex got back to his kitchen duties.  He found the desserts were already gone and he quickly reloaded the table.  He smiled as he saw two kids each grab a cake and decide to each share half of their cake with each other.  Rex thought to himself, ¡°sometimes hardships cause people to be extra kind to others.¡±  All of a sudden, their pleasant dining experience was interrupted by a loud shout and crashing of dishes!  Two men were slugging it out, yelling and screaming at each other!  ¡°You stole my wallet!  Give it back!¡±  one man picked up a plate and slammed it on the other man¡¯s head.


    ¡°I ain¡¯t got your wallet!  Leave me alone!¡±   The first man was kicked into the buffet, sending ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, pickles and onions all over the floor and scattering it on the nearest row of tables and people!   A security guard towering above the men, came up and separated the two men and he and his helper took them each to their own cabin and locked them in from the outside!  It was only a temporary fix, but calmed things down for now.  A cleaning crew was dispatched and they made short work of the mess.


    Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Arnold called Bruce aside after lunch and started asking him questions.  ¡°Bruce, you have been scratching open sores.  Usually that indicates meth use.  What is going on with you?¡±


    Bruce looked him in the eyes and said, ¡°That is true, however when I heard about this opportunity and that only non drug using individuals would be considered for living on the ships, I quit cold turkey.  It isn¡¯t easy, but I haven¡¯t gone back to it.  It will probably take a little longer to quit scratching and also for the sores to dry up, but I am not going back!  This is a whole new start for me and I am not going to mess it up this time.   Arnold made sure Bruce went to the clinic to get the sores covered and treated.


    The vans had headed back to the closed down grocery store to pick up a second group of homeless. The turn around was pretty swift this time as there was a group of people cleaned, x-rayed and waiting.  They simply loaded up and took off again for the ship.  One other trip was made that first day.  All told, almost 200 people were taken off of the streets that first day and given a place to live and plug into!  The clinic ended up with 150 people checked in and being treated.


    The following day was slightly chaotic, as individuals were given their new assignments after breakfast on the ship.  Nancy began her prep work in the kitchen.  She was to cut up the vegetables for lunch and then make homemade dressing for the salad.  She was so happy to be working in a clean kitchen again with fresh food!!!  She said to the top chef, ¡°It takes some getting used to, working with gloves on!¡±  He smiled and continued with his meat slicing and sandwich making.


    Some people had camped out in the grocery store parking lot in hopes of being on the first transport out to the ship for this new day.  Everything seemed to run like clockwork, getting the vans on the road again!  Tactics for gathering the drug users had been modified.  It was decided to keep one van at the grocery store for loading, but the second one was equipped with two huge strong men and was sent out to the streets to collect drug users.  This proved effective and the van filled quickly with the two men carrying the unconscious ones and putting them aboard.


    Harold looked at Jim who was watching this new tactic of clearing the streets.  Jim said, ¡°Gotta go!  Not good!  Stay out of sight!¡±  Harold didn¡¯t know where Jim was coming from and tried to pacify him.  Jim got belligerent and started shouting until Tim lit up a cigarette and dipped it in fentanyl, took a puff and then convinced Jim to also take a puff.  Jim visibly relaxed, giving up the fight for another day.

 They Mean Business This Time

    Sue took time away from organizing the clinic to greet Bruce, who was her first patient in the new clinic on the ship.  Bruce shyly asked if she had anything that could be put on his open sores.  Sue smiled at him and asked  him to sit down while she gathered the supplies she would need.  She first wiped each sore with a disinfectant wipe and then put a tiny bit of cortisol cream on to help with the itching and then covered each sore with band-aids.  They talked while she worked and Bruce was surprised to learn that Sue had also been homeless!


    Bruce asked Sue why someone with a good job and a pleasant personality and seemingly no addictions had gone homeless.  Sue said, ¡°My then husband had a secret.  In fact it was so secret that I didn¡¯t even know he had a secret until he died.  He had a gambling addiction that took our house and our retirement!¡±


    Bruce thought about that a while, enjoying the pampering he was receiving from Sue.  She asked how he had come to be homeless.  ¡°Well, I owned my own home outright  and I worked out of my home, repairing watches.  I loved my work and had a beautiful garden in the backyard with a trickling stream and goldfish.  I had a special talent for fixing old pocket watches and grandfather clocks.  My clientele was built up by word of mouth.  Then, one day I got a visitor at my door.  He didn¡¯t have a watch to repair and started asking me questions.  It turns out, I owed back taxes that were so large I couldn¡¯t possibly pay them.  The notices had apparently been sent to the wrong address and there was nothing I could do but relinquish my home to the tax department and move out.  I put everything in storage and moved into my old car, while I thought about what to do.  Nothing came to mind, so I got a tent and moved into a homeless camp.  I was there about 6 weeks before there was a sweep.  I wasn¡¯t home at the time in my tent as I had gone to see about a job, and I didn¡¯t know they were coming, so I lost my tent, my computer, my precious tools for fixing watches¡­.¡± He paused and started sobbing.


    ¡°They were irreplaceable.  The tools, I mean.  I was floored.  It put me into a state of depression, being kicked when I was down.  Having no job and very little finances, I had to let my storage unit go.  I did learn a valuable lesson from it all, though, Sue.  After being in a depressed state for a week, I realized having a positive attitude was essential,¡± Bruce explained to her.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Ok, you are all fixed up Bruce.  I need to see you every morning until all of your sores are scabbed over.  At this point I am not so busy so just come when it fits into your schedule.  Do you have any idea what job you will be doing on the ship?¡±


    ¡°Not yet, but I am excited to find out!  It is going to be really good to have a purpose in life again!¡± Bruce answered.


    Danny took a walk to one of the homeless camps he had been to before, curious to see if the people who had been there had been relocated.    As he got closer, he could hear noise, confusion, loud music and the sound of people shouting and arguing.  Danny¡¯s eyes nearly popped out when he saw at least 200 people in that block of the city.  A young man, who looked to be in his early 20¡¯s stumbled out of the camp right in front of Danny.  Danny took that opportunity to ask him what had happened and why there were so many people here, now.


    Peter answered, ¡°When sweeps happened close by, the people displaced by them came  here.  So far no one has bothered us.¡±


    Danny asked him, ¡°Have you guys heard about the housing on the cruise ships?  And about the clinic where you can get rehab?¡±


    Peter said, ¡°Yeah, but most of us are on drugs and don¡¯t want to give it up, so we are here.  Hopefully they will leave us alone.¡±


    ¡°Well, they won¡¯t!¡± Danny said emphatically.  ¡°They mean business this time and if you don¡¯t go voluntarily right away, you will be forcibly moved to either the ship or a clinic.  The only other option is to leave the Portland area!¡±


    Peter broke out laughing!  He laughed so hard, he had a coughing fit.  ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what they always say!  Not going to happen.¡±


    Danny saw his warning was falling on deaf ears and decided to go check out the camp for himself.  Danny saw a man dressed in stylish clothes walking up to a group of three people and offer them a small aluminum foil package.  Each one of them got a package and gave him $5 in return.  He then walked off to another group of people and the process repeated.  An acrid smell reached him from the first group of people.  A movement over to his left caught his attention.  There was another drug deal going down.  There was trash everywhere; empty drink bottles, Mc David¡¯s wrappers, old dirty clothes and yes, even piles of poop.  Danny had seen and smelled enough.  He left and went back home.

 What is Happening?

    Wall Street Jim lay in his tent, thinking.  His mind went back to something he had been told while still on Wall Street.  He thought, ¡°She told me there would be a manipulation of the financial system to get rid of many of the lower class.  Oh, L¡¯il Bob what did you say?  You are ready to get something to eat?  Ok, let¡¯s go find Tim and Harold.¡±  He left his tent and went to find them.  While he was eating his oatmeal and coffee at the breakfast mission, he remembered what he had been thinking and realized he was having a great difficulty putting his thoughts together.  ¡°What can I do?¡¯  He decided to get a notebook and pen and start writing down his ideas every time he was having clear thoughts.


    Carl went to take food to the different rooms at the clinic.  He opened room number 219, totally unprepared for what he would find.  The rooms were soundproof, but when he opened Brenda¡¯s door, the terrifying screams gave him a panic attack!  She was writhing and screaming bloody murder.  She had her arms strapped down so she wouldn¡¯t hurt herself or pull out her iv.  Carl left the food tray and hurried out of the room, being careful to shut the door tight.  He went to the closest nurse¡¯s station and told them what he had seen.  The nurse calmly explained to him that Brenda¡¯s hepatitis medicine and the suboxone to get off of heroin had had an undesirable side effect so she was withdrawing cold turkey from heroin which was causing the screaming.  She said, ¡°It will subside in about three days.¡±


    He passed a doctor in the hall during his food distribution who was saying to the nurse he was walking with, ¡°Take the patient  219 down to the basement to the room called Hotel California in thirty minutes.  I will meet you there.¡±


    That stood out in Carl¡¯s mind and he figured they had found a way to ease Brenda¡¯s pain.  That served to calm his worries and he finished distributing the food and went for his break.  During his lunch food distribution, Carl went into the room of a man who was also strapped down and was sweating profusely.  This man was screaming, but Carl could clearly understand what he was screaming.  The man said, ¡°No more pink and purple elephants in here!  They are too heavy, they will buckle the floor!  Only gray and white striped elephants allowed!  No!!!! No umbrellas on the stand!  Can¡¯t you see all of the umbrellas are hanging from the ceiling?  What is wrong with you?¡±  He went on and on and Carl figured he was also withdrawing.  He left as quickly as he could and thought how grateful he was to be distributing the food and not having to deal with these people¡¯s problems.


    Carl heard Brenda again before he saw her.  She was on her way to the downstairs, he guessed from what the doctor had said.  Room after room had people hallucinating, sweating profusely and screaming.  Carl decided the second floor must be for the drug addicts going cold turkey.  It was one of the most disturbing days Carl had ever experienced.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    The doctor was waiting for Brenda.  He was talking to his assistant and said, ¡°You say she has no next of kin and she is addicted to heroin and has hepatitis?  Well, I think we can relieve the pain she is going through.  Brenda came in yelling, ¡°You motherfuckers, you cocksuckers¡± and then she let loose with another long string of expletives.


    She was moved onto the examining table and the doctor said in a calm voice, ¡°Do you need some pain relief?¡±


    Brenda yelled, ¡°Yes, right fucking now!¡±


    The doctor got out a hypodermic and gave her a shot.  Within one minute Brenda visibly relaxed and stopped yelling.  Then she let out a huge sigh and her problems were over. She was unstrapped and the iv disconnected. The doctor pressed a button and the bed slid over to the right, revealing  a deep hole in the floor.  He then pressed a button and her bed tilted up until Brenda fell off of the bed and down into the hole.  The doctor said, ¡°I have been waiting to do that.  It is so nice to know that you ended someone¡¯s pain,¡± and he scrubbed his hands and walked out of the room.


    Ted went down to the engine room, apprehensive since his forte was automobile engines, but also excited to learn a new trade!  He checked in with the man in charge and told him about his experience with cars.  The man in charge, Luke, was happy to see Ted and was eager to train a new man.  They hit it off, talking about their many experiences.


    Ted¡¯s wife, Gloria was tidying up the room when she had a knock at the door of the cabin.  It was one of the ladies who was organizing the jobs.  She talked with Gloria for about a half an hour about her experiences teaching.  Gloria¡¯s forte was teaching elementary school children, which was welcome news and she was put on the schedule immediately.  She would show up tomorrow in her classroom, so she could familiarize herself with the lessons for the year.  After the lady left, Gloria was on cloud nine!  She had a place to live, food to eat and now was plugged back into her favorite work!  Things were definitely looking up!


    When Carl went to work the next day, he apprehensively approached Brenda¡¯s door, remembering the screams that happened the day before when he opened the door.  He opened the door to¡­silence.  He could see she was sleeping soundly and felt happy for her.  He set her food down and glanced at her and was surprised to see that instead of Brenda, it was a man in the bed.  He thought, ¡°I¡¯m surprised Brenda isn¡¯t back in her room after the doctors stopped the pain.  I thought for sure she would be back..  What is happening?¡±

 Stretch

    On the second day, 216 people were transported to the ship and 82 drug users were transported to the clinic.  The young man who was checking people into the clinic commented to the girl who was assigned to answer the phones, ¡°This place is almost filled to capacity.  They are going to have to get some of these people sober and moving out to the cruise ships before we can accept new arrivals.¡±


    The girl smiled at him and said, ¡°I think they have it under control.  We actually have new vacancies on the second floor, besides the 100 rooms that haven¡¯t been used yet.  I see, according to the paperwork, only 82 people showed up today, so there is plenty of room.¡±


    The young man scratched his head and said, ¡°Those doctors must have some kind of miracle cure to be able to help get drug users cured in only one day!¡±  He went on doing his job,  shaking his head.


    Clark, the head of the planning commission, had a meeting  to address the committee about the progress on the homeless pilot program.  He had conflicted feelings about the clinic.  It was being handled differently than he had originally thought it would be.  ¡°I called you all together today to share the progress of the first two days  of our pilot program for the homeless solution.  At this point, 416 people have been transported to the first ship and have been incorporated into jobs to keep the ship operating as efficiently as possible.  232 people have been transported to the clinic.  By our best calculations, the first ship should be nearly full within a week, if we leave 200 vacancies for any more families that we will probably find, so that one week from now, we will be filling up the second boat.  We will mainly have families on the ship, Paradise Found so that we only need schools on one of the three ships.  The other two,  Tropical Cabana and Heavenly Home will be adult only ships.  We will continue to keep a close watch on everything having to do with this project and will reconvene in one week, if that works for you all.


    There was a din of noise as everyone present began to discuss the progress among themselves.  James walked up to Clark and asked, ¡°How are things going at the clinic?  What I really want to know is, when will you be ready for the elderly and the disabled?¡±This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Clark answered, ¡°Not for another couple of weeks.  Keep in touch with me and I will let you know .  Oh hello, Susan.  You did a beautiful job with the catering, here.  Thank you!  We will plan on having you cater the next event if you are available.  See you then!¡±


    Danny walked toward the warehouse where he had met Darlene.  As he entered, Officer Walter was just leaving.  He carried two large trash bags to dispose of.  ¡°Hello Officer!¡± Danny said.  Do you happen to know if Darlene is still here or if she already left for the cruise ship?¡±


    The officer answered, ¡°Yes, she is here.  She is trying to convince the others to try living on the ship, before she goes.  She has a real mother¡¯s heart.¡±  He had to get going so he could cover his beat.


    Danny spied Darlene and walked over to her.  She seemed distracted.  They greeted each other and Danny looked over in the direction Darlene kept looking in.  He saw a lady laying down on her bedroll, holding out a bread crust.  She said, ¡°Come here, Stretch.  I have your favorite here.  Officer Walter brought us some cheesy bread.¡±  She was looking under the table, where a little mouse was watching her and everything going on in the room.  He stretched himself out to where he looked like a limousine because he was so long.  He didn¡¯t seem scared, just cautious.


    Darlene took him over to meet the lady.  ¡°Danny, this is Beth and Beth this is Danny.¡±  They both said ¡®hello¡¯ and Beth turned back to calling Stretch.  She changed her mind and got up slowly, walking halfway to where Stretch was waiting and put his cheesy bread down slowly, before walking back to her bedroll.  Stretch watched all of this and glanced around the room before taking a cautious stroll to the food.  He sniffed it and then started eating it.  Beth smiled at his acceptance of her gift.


    Darlene and Danny walked back to the makeshift kitchen and she explained to Danny that she was very worried about Beth.  ¡°I am trying to hold out going to the ship in hopes that Beth will go.  She is so attached to that mouse that I don¡¯t think she will leave him behind.  I¡¯m afraid she has some mental problems, Danny.  Is there some way you or someone you know can help her?¡±

 Death by Heroin

    ¡°I can¡¯t personally help her, Darlene, but I can go to the parking lot where people are waiting for the chance to get onto the ships and ask if they have a program for Beth,¡± Danny explained to Beth.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t been up there yet, Danny.  Are there a lot of people still waiting to get onto the ships?¡± Darlene asked.


    ¡°It is hard to fathom.  The parking lot has become a huge homeless encampment of people waiting their turn.  There must be 300 people camping out there.  It is an ideal place to wait, as they have three meals a day, a place to sit to eat it, trash cans, plenty of water, toilets and handwashes and it is kept pretty clean, actually.¡±  Danny saw, out of the corner of his eye, a heavy set man roll up his shirt, take up a needle and suck the heroin out of a spoon and inject it into his arm.  At first a rapturous look came over his face and then he just keeled over, face first!


    Danny jumped up and grabbed his phone and dialed 911.  He rushed over to the man and checked his pulse.  There was no pulse and no breathing and Danny laid him on his back and started chest compressions.  He continued working on the man until the EMTs got there.  Danny had gotten no response.  The man was wheeled into the waiting ambulance and rushed to the hospital


    Danny was still sitting there, contemplating what just happened when Darlene came over and put a hand on his shoulder.  ¡°Don''t take it too hard, Danny,¡± she said softly.  ¡°He knew what he was doing and several of us have tried to get him to slow down, but he wasn¡¯t happy and that was his way of escaping.  I know it is shocking and sad watching someone throw away their life, but you have to come to terms with it and accept that death is a part of life.¡±  Darlene smiled at him and extended her hand to help him to his feet.  ¡°Now, if you can go check on the possibility of programs for the mentally ill, I would sure appreciate it!¡±Stolen novel; please report.


    Danny looked at Darlene and looked as if he had just woken from a dream and said, ¡°Oh, right!  I will come back and report to you as soon as I find out,¡± and he left the warehouse.  Danny thought as he walked, ¡°We are prepared all of our lives to grow up, go to school, then get a job, marry, have children, buy a house and go to PTA meetings and so on, but who gets prepared for this?  Medical bills or divorce or inflation without higher wages, or a drug addiction that escalates can all cause you to lose your home and everything you own and you start living on the streets, chased from this place to that with nowhere to go.¡±  And he shook his head, sadly.


    Tina¡¯s mom looked really cute in her new hairstyle and cut!  Tina had actually never seen her mom smile so much.  It made her happy to see her mom happy.She had attended her first day at school on the ship.  It was very informal, as Gloria was the only teacher for the elementary school students at the moment.  She assigned the kids to go to the library and find a book to read about history and then do a report on it.  They would get together after lunch again and then would have their exercise time at one of the ship¡¯s pools.  Tina was so excited!  It had been a long time since she had had a chance to swim!  Her mom helped her get ready to swim.  When her mom pulled out Tina¡¯s drawer to get her bathing suit, she saw an odd sight.  There was Tina¡¯s pink shirt, bulging like there was something in it!  Her mom opened the shirt and found ten dinner rolls!


    Tina¡¯s mom didn¡¯t have to ask her why they were there.  Living on the streets had taught Tina one thing, if there was extra, put it away for later!  Tina¡¯s mom had to explain to her that they were in a different situation now and there were three square meals every day, so she didn¡¯t need to fear lack of food, anymore.

 Not Long for This World

    Tina and the other children enjoyed their visit to the library, as they didn¡¯t get to go to the library often before they had moved onto the cruise ship.  With their parents struggling to keep their heads above water and many of them not having transportation, the library was not a priority.  The children were delighted to get their own library cards and then get to check out up to 5 books each.  The books were carefully put in the children¡¯s rooms and then it was time to swim!  You have never seen such a happy bunch of kids, splashing and laughing!  Their teacher had almost as much fun as the children and didn¡¯t realize she had kept them an hour and a half overtime until the moms came to get them!  ¡°Bye, see you tomorrow, let¡¯s do this every day!¡±  were the comments the kids made as they left for the night.


    Tina laid down and read till she dropped off to sleep.  Her mom gave her a kiss, took her glasses off gently, placing them on the side table and placed Tina¡¯s book beside them.  Watching her adorable little girl lying peacefully,  asleep, filled her heart to overflowing with happiness!  Just knowing she didn¡¯t have to look for a place to sleep every night that was safe for her little daughter and herself was a huge relief.  Doris, Tina¡¯s mom, wondered if this could possibly continue or if it was just for a time.


    Danny found Sarah at the old grocery store parking lot after asking a few people who was in charge.  He walked up to her and introduced himself.  ¡°Do you have any services for the mentally disabled?  I have met a young lady who is not in good shape and it seems her best friend is a mouse named Stretch.  She is not motivated to go to the cruise ship and is preventing her caretaker from going as well.  Is there some way you can help her or direct me to someone who can?¡±


    Sarah looked at Danny and said, ¡°You have come to the right place!  She simply needs to go to one of the vans going to the clinic.  They take care of the drug addicts and the mentally disabled there.  Do you think you can get her to a van?¡±


    Danny said, ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know.  I want to thank you for the information, though.  How are you doing with this incredible responsibility, here?¡±


    Sarah said, ¡°Pretty good, actually.  It is a new challenge every day and the key is simply  to be ready for whatever comes your way!¡±  She smiled and wished him well.


    Trish was working on her fingernails, painting them a bright neon pink, while Carol was heating up chicken fingers in the air fryer.  She was also making ranch dressing for dipping.  Trish said, ¡°I can already see a difference in the number of homeless people on the streets.  It seems like this new solution for the homeless just might work.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Carol said, ¡°Guess what?  This morning, on the way to the university, I saw a van stopped beside the homeless man with the track marks, you know the man who never makes it into his tent, but hangs out onto the sidewalk?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I know who you mean,¡± Trish said.  ¡°What about it?¡±


    Carol said, ¡°As I passed by, they opened the van door to put him in and it looked like druggies were laying down, stacked two people high!  They must have all been wasted because no one was really moving or complaining.  My dad said all of the drug addicts don¡¯t have long for this world.¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Trish responded.  ¡°Those drugs will kill them pretty quick!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s what he meant!¡± Carol answered.


    Tim asked Wall Street Jim what he was writing in his notebook.  Jim seemed not to hear and continued writing.  Harold said, ¡°Hey Jim!  What¡¯s up?¡±  and he slapped him on the back.


    Jim looked up and said, ¡°Ow!  What was that for?¡±


    Harold said, ¡°Just trying to get your attention.  What are you writing?  You have been working on that for at least an hour.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°I remember things and I think it is time.  They want to get rid of us. Where can we go?  There¡¯s nowhere to go!  There¡¯s nowhere to go!  They come for this city and then the next one  and the next one!¡±  Jim started crying. ¡° The drugs didn¡¯t erase it. ¡°


    Tim said, ¡°Calm down, Jim.  Who is ¡®they¡¯?  What are you talking about?  Jim, let''s get you a hit of weed to calm you down and then you can go to sleep, OK?¡±


    ¡°No, no, no!  I tried it and it didn¡¯t work.  We¡¯ve gotta plan!  Help me!¡±  and Jim started crying again.


    Tim and Harold eventually got Jim calmed down.  They smoked some weed and then took some meth, but Jim oddly enough declined both.  Tim and Harold got drowsy and laid down.  Jim nervously looked out the tent and saw a van at the far end of the street.  It moved slowly and stopped.  He watched as the men got out of the front and went around to the side door.  They opened it up and went to a nearby tent, retrieving a sleeping man, obviously zonked out on drugs and carried him to the van, placing him on top of another person, asleep in the van.  Then they both got back in and moved slowly down the street to the next tent, repeating the process over again.  The van was getting closer and Jim couldn¡¯t take it anymore.  He grabbed the few possessions he owned and headed out in the opposite direction from the van with a worried look on his face.

 They Check in But They Dont Check Out

    The principal of the elementary school, Albert Kleinschmitt,  was also the principal of the Junior High and High school.  At this point there were only 275 students, all total, but Albert knew there would probably be more, once all of the homeless people had been located and transported to the ship.  He was spending the day interviewing individuals to find who would be a good match for teaching Jr. High and High school.  He would need several helpers for the elementary school, as well.  Gloria was doing as well as possible, being alone with the elementary school students.  She was at least keeping them engaged and out of trouble!


    Albert knew a lot of the people off of the streets had been living somewhat lawlessly and he was concerned that none of the potential teachers would be perverts since they would be in a position of authority with the children.  He also was concerned that they would be able to carry the responsibility of keeping up with the lessons, so they would have to be multi-taskers.  The first person he interviewed was Frank.


    Frank had been living in a VW bus just outside of downtown, but had been a teacher at a small community college for 27 years before that.  He was 52 years old, about 5¡¯3¡± and balding on the top, with thin hair on the sides and back of his head.  Albert had to cover his mouth, not to laugh when Frank walked in.  He imagined Frank in a plaid suit coat with patches on the elbows.  Of course he wasn¡¯t wearing that,   Albert greeted Frank and they had a seat.  Albert asked, ¡°Could you tell me  about your teaching experiences, please?


    Frank said, ¡°I taught English, Math and American History at different times.  I stay up on current events, even when I am not teaching.  I really miss teaching the children and would be glad to have this opportunity to teach again.¡±


    Albert asked him, ¡°Oh that¡¯s great  that you stay on top of things.  Speaking of current events, have you heard of Epstein¡¯s Island?¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Frank said, ¡°I sure have!  You are talking about the island where celebrities and government officials go to have fun?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the one,¡± Albert said. He could tell from Frank¡¯s answer that he wasn¡¯t going to work out if he felt that Epstein¡¯s Island was a recreational destination.  Well, it was just as well, because Frank was a little old for teaching, as far as he was concerned.


    ¡°Well, thank you for your time and I will let you know when we decide, ¡° Albert said to Frank as he showed him the door.  Albert had two other interviews that day and one wouldn¡¯t work out because she was confined to a wheelchair and Albert needed the teachers to be very active to keep up with the kids.  The other one was even older than Frank, at 79!  Albert set up some appointments for the following day.  He felt like his experiences this day had prepared him with fresh questions  for the teachers to be.


    Tim and Harold slept off their high and were surprised to see Wall Street Jim¡¯s sleeping bag empty when they woke up the next day.  They weren¡¯t aware of the fact that they had narrowly missed getting taken to the clinic the night before.  If the van hadn¡¯t been so full, they would have been picked up too!  Tim walked out of the tent, stretching.  Something caught his eye in the street.  It was L¡¯il Bob, laying there all by himself.  ¡°Why L¡¯il Bob, where is Jim?  Why are you out here by yourself?¡± he said as he picked L¡¯il Bob up and dusted him off.


    Their neighbor, Carol Sue was packing up and asked, ¡°Did you guys see the van last night?  It was coming around loading up everyone who was passed out.  I¡¯m getting out of here before they come back and take up where they left off.¡±


    Tim asked Carol, ¡°Did you happen to see if they took Jim?  He wasn¡¯t here when we woke up and I just found L¡¯il Bob alone in the street.  Jim never goes anywhere without him!¡±


    Carol said, ¡°I don¡¯t know Tim.  I hope not.  I heard a rumor that people who go to the clinic check in but they don¡¯t check out.  It may just be hearsay, but I¡¯m not taking any chances.  If you guys know what is good for you, you will pack up and get out of here too!¡±

 Slavery and Withdrawals

    Wall Street Jim walked all night.  He got to the outskirts of the city, having hot and cold sweats and found a grove of trees beside the interstate that didn¡¯t seem to have anyone around so he sat down and leaned up against a tree.  ¡°Maybe safe here?¡±  he thought.  All of a sudden he had to throw up.  He felt a little bit better after vomiting until needing to do it again after a few minutes.  This went on over and over for the next few hours until he was so exhausted from lack of sleep and withdrawals that he fell asleep.


    Jim lay there with a pine needle hanging out of his mouth, freezing and then sweating, He was unconscious, having crazy dreams.  He dreamed about June, who had told him about things coming in the future.  He saw visions of these horrible things and woke himself up screaming at one point, but was mercifully able to go back to sleep because of his exhausted state.  Every time he woke up he hurt so badly that he almost wanted to die to get away from the pain.  But there was still the will to live.  The hallucinations went on and on and on.  Jim was hungry and thirsty and was still having hallucinations the following day.  He lost track of time, because he hurt so badly, time didn¡¯t have any meaning.  He tried to think about Tim and Harold, but the pain and the gnawing in his stomach jealously  guarded his attention, preventing him from thinking about anything else.  After a few days, the hallucinations mostly stopped and he was no longer vomiting.  He thought, ¡°I am so thirsty, but I am too weak to walk.  Did I do the wrong thing taking off?  No, June could have told anyone what was going on, but she told me.  There is a certain responsibility one has when they are trusted with such information.  I have to be true to that knowledge.  I didn¡¯t want to believe her, but it is happening now.  The elite are getting rid of most of the non-elite.  Now that my mind is clear, I need to tell Tim and Harold.  I don¡¯t know if they will listen.¡±


    Gloria had been given  three helpers and could feel the tangible relief when they showed up and started helping her.  After giving them their assignments and watching to make sure they did it right, Gloria got back to teaching math.  Her part of the school, the elementary students, comprised 147 students.  After completing their math problems, the children exchanged papers and graded them.  Tina raised her hand and said, when called on, ¡°Teacher, I finished; can I please read my book now?¡±


    Tina had a hard time putting her book away long enough to walk back to her cabin after school let out.  Her mom was tidying up, just having come back from work.  Her job on the cruise ship was to serve food at breakfast and lunch and to help with busing the dishes back to the kitchen afterwards.  She was weary every day at the end of her shift, but so happy to have a place to live and a way to care for her little daughter that it gave a boost to her step.  Today she was folding and putting away hers and Tina¡¯s  laundry when Tina got back from school.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    Tina got out her book and continued reading.  The history essay was not due till the end of the next week, but she was enjoying the book so much that she spent most spare minutes reading it.  She had been thinking a lot about the history she was reading and had questions for her mom.  After they went downstairs for supper, Tina and her mom decided to go for a swim to cool off and have fun together.  While they walked downstairs, Tina asked her mom, ¡°Mom, why do some people think it is ok to make slaves out of other people?¡±


    Her mom was taken aback and asked, ¡°Tina, what do you know about slavery and how did you get your information?¡±


    Tina responded, ¡°My book I am reading for history said white people shipped black people over here from Africa and treated them like animals.  They had to do whatever the white people said and they lived in houses that were not as good as the white people and had dirt floors.  But that is not the worst, mom!  The white people sold them like they were just boxes of cereal or a car or something.  They even took their children away from them and sold them.  They didn¡¯t care if two people were married; they took them apart and didn¡¯t let them  be together any more!  And some white people were enslaved too.  The Irish were treated really bad, too!  Some of them were kept in cages too small for them to move around in and starved.  And that¡¯s not all, Jewish people were enslaved way, way back in history.  And less than 100 years ago, a really bad man named Hitler decided to kill all of the Jewish people.  He had them kept in bad camps, where they didn¡¯t get much to eat, had to work hard, and they had lice, and then he was having them burned and shot.  Why are some people so mean to others, mom?¡±


    Tina¡¯s mom was not prepared for these questions.  She hadn¡¯t realized Tina had been exposed to these cruelties.  She was so young and had gone through so much in her young life, homelessness, hunger, losing her dad, seeing acts of violence on the streets and watching people hurt themselves and others with drug use.  Tina¡¯s mom couldn¡¯t help Tina unsee these things or unread the things she had learned about slavery and cruelty.  She thought, ¡°I will just have to pray that she comes out stronger for the things she has gone through.¡±  She answered, ¡°Tina, I don¡¯t know, I guess it comes from greed, wanting more than you need.  There are also people who want to control others.  What do you think?¡±


    Tina said, ¡°I think you are right, Mom.  I just wish I could go back in history and help those people!¡±  Satisfied with her mom¡¯s answers, Tina jumped into the water and splashed her mom, starting a fun playtime.

 What is Going on?

    Jordan, another of the children on the cruise ship, was twelve years old and had long blond hair and a mischievous look on her face.  Her mom had home-schooled her while they were homeless to keep her out of sight from the authorities, so she was enjoying  her new-found freedom! It was a constant fear of many of the homeless people with children that the child protection agency would be called on them and they would have their children taken away from them. She was a very intelligent girl and was giving Gloria, her teacher,  a run for her money!  Jordan wasn¡¯t malicious, just having a good time.


    Susie, whose seat was next to Jordan, raised her hand.  ¡°Teacher, I can¡¯t get into my chromebook.  I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong.  Can you help me, please?¡±


    Gloria walked over to Susie and picked up the chromebook.  She tried to get in and had the same result. ¡°What is your password?¡±


    Susie told her and Gloria tried it several times, but without success.  She happened to see Jordan hiding a smile behind her hand and instantly knew what was going on.  ¡°Jordan, you wouldn¡¯t have happened to have picked up the wrong chromebook accidentally, would you?  Can you help us sort this out?¡±


    Jordan hopped to it and got into the chromebook right away.  She handed it to Susie, who thanked her.  Gloria walked back to the front of the class and when she glanced at Jordan, saw her grinning again.  What a stinker!


    Jordan spent the afternoon reading her book for the history report.  Her mother was going to take her shopping when she came back from work, so Jordan wanted to get as much done as she could before that.  Her mom cleaned all of the public bathrooms on the ship for her job.  The individuals who lived in the cabins were responsible  for cleaning the bathrooms in their cabins, so she didn¡¯t have to do that.  Jordan was growing so fast now, that she needed new clothes often and she was pretty excited to see what the shop had to offer!  While Jordan and her mom, Sharon, walked to the lower deck where the clothing shops were, Jordan filled her mom in on the book she was reading.Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡° So, my book is about Robin Hood and the King of England at that time, mom.  Did you know the people were super poor and had to really struggle for food, but if they shot a deer for food from Sherwood Forest the King would have them put to death?  Doesn¡¯t that seem cruel?¡± Jordan asked.


    ¡°It sure does, Jordan,¡± her mom replied.


    ¡°Did you know I have been keeping up with current events by watching the news after school and Oregon is making it very difficult for the citizens to grow their own food.  Also, they are making regulations to make it difficult to have a few chickens or goats or cows.  This is being done under the guise of protecting the water for people, but not letting them even use the water in wells on their own property!  It really makes me mad.  It doesn¡¯t affect me personally, but I just think how it would affect me if I did have my own property!¡±  Jordan explained.


    Just as they walked into the clothing shop, Sharon said to Jordan, ¡°I am impressed at how empathetic you are and also what a deep thinker you are.  Are you thinking that modern day Oregon  compares to the story you are reading in the book?¡±


    ¡°I sure do, mom!¡±  Jordan said and then saw some clothing that drew her attention.


    Some changes had been made to transporting people out to the ships.  After the first couple of days, it had become obvious that not many drug-users were interested in going through rehab, so all of the vans were assigned to taking people to the cruise ships and two large u-hauls were booked to use for collecting the sleeping drug-users.  The hours just before dawn were found to be the ideal hours as this was the time people usually slept off their high.


    As a result, the first cruise ship was filled after a week, just as Clark had predicted.  Carl had continued to deliver the meals at the clinic and it didn¡¯t take him long to realize that he wasn¡¯t seeing the same people twice on any floor, except for the top one.  He thought it over and scratched his head, trying to figure out what was going on, until on the third day, he heard one of the orderlies say while he pushed a screaming patient, ¡°He is going to Hotel Roche!¡±  He snickered and said to the other orderly, ¡°They check in but they don¡¯t check out!¡±


    Carl thought, ¡°Where have I heard that before?¡±

 The Formidable Future

    Carl only had two more food deliveries to make for lunch and while he was taking care of them he couldn¡¯t get his mind off of the conversation of the orderlies.  He decided to go to the lower floor and see for himself what was going on.  Once down there, Carl casually walked over to the Hotel Roche and looked through the small window on the door to the room.  He saw the doctor inject the screaming man with a hypodermic needle and was amazed at how fast the medicine worked.  The man stopped screaming within minutes and relaxed.  The doctor pressed a button on the hospital bed, causing the bed to slide over to the side, revealing a huge hole.  The next thing Carl saw was the doctor pushing another button, causing the bed to tilt and dump the man into the hole!  The doctor started removing his gloves and Carl took off back upstairs, not knowing if this was classified information and if he would suffer the same fate if he was caught!


    Carl finished his shift, looking over his shoulder and feeling anxious about what to do.  Should he go to the authorities with this information or keep really quiet?  He realized this was why he hadn¡¯t seen Brenda again and also why there was such a great  turnover of people in the clinic!  He walked home in a stupor, with his head hanging and his brown, thin hair blowing  in his eyes.  It seemed that the doctors at the clinic didn¡¯t need anyone¡¯s permission to do this ¡®assisted suicide¡¯ and it wasn¡¯t so much suicide as homicide.  ¡°Apparently, since they are drug addicts, their lives just don¡¯t matter,¡± Carl said out loud to himself.


    Tim looked up and said, ¡°Jim!  Where have you been man?  What is different about you, Jim and where have you been?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m clean, man and it is beautiful!¡± Jim answered.


    ¡°Listen to you, talk!  You are thinking clearly!¡± Harold said.


    ¡°Hey, we don¡¯t have long.  In fact, I am surprised you missed that van sweep.  We¡¯ve got to get you out of here,¡±  Jim said.


    Tim said, ¡°What are you talking about, man?  You are just paranoid.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°I¡¯ll try to explain, briefly.  Right before my partner screwed me over, a young lady I knew told me about  a disturbing future.  I know what you are going to say¡­don¡¯t listen to manipulative women who pretend to know things that are coming ahead.  But don¡¯t worry, I had her thoroughly checked out and found out she was on the level and apparently 98% of the things she predicted had come true.¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Harold said, ¡°I can¡¯t believe the change in you, Jim.  Four days ago you could hardly string three words together and now you are really talking like you are from Wall Street!¡±


    Jim said, ¡°Thank you Harold, but I really need to tell you guys something important.  June told me that the Elite  have some terrible plans they are going to put into play.  She said they plan to eliminate most of the lower class, because they say there are too many people on this planet.  I think it is happening guys.  I just have a sinking feeling about the cruise ships for the homeless and I didn¡¯t tell you what I saw in those vans.  Tim, Harold, they were taking drug addicts who were passed out off of the streets, out of tents, anywhere they saw them and stacking them on top of each other in the vans.  Does that sound like they are helping drug addicts?  It sounds like total disregard for human life to me!  We have got to get out of Portland, asap.¡±


    ¡°  I started doing drugs after my partner screwed me over and after June told me about the evil plans.  I wanted to forget all of that, but when I saw that van and realized things are moving ahead, whether I had my head stuck in the sand, refusing to see what was happening or not, I knew I had to get sober and try to help my friends,¡±  Jim explained.


    Harold said, ¡°Jim, you know we care about you a great deal, but do you know you sound crazy?  I know I¡¯m not one to talk, I know, but I;m not going to go running off to who knows where just because you listened to some psychic.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, what he said!¡±  Tim echoed.


    ¡°Guys, I care about you.  You took care of me when I couldn¡¯t think straight!  You have been my family and I don¡¯t want to see you mistreated.  Please come with me.  Please!¡±  Jim pleaded.


    Tim said, ¡°It ain¡¯t gonna happen, Jim.  Now you can get that crazy idea out of your head and we can go back to being our happy family.  Lookie, here is L¡¯il Bob; he has missed you.¡±


    Harold said, ¡°Yeah, Jim, it is almost supper time.  Let¡¯s go to the mission.¡±


    Jim sat down and put his head in his hands.  ¡°I didn''t expect this.  So you guys won¡¯t consider going with me?¡±


    Tim said, ¡°Come on Jim, I scored some really good meth.  Have a hit with us and calm down.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°Here is where we part ways.  It is truly a sad day for me.  I wish you well, Tim and Harold. He gave them both a huge hug and turned and walked away.

 The Drones Report

    Linus McFarland worked for the city¡¯s security department and had been given the assignment of flying a drone to photograph and document details of the homeless crisis.  The particular drones he would be using were high powered but tiny so they could be flown undetected.    Linus flew the first of the drones at  the original city meeting where Douglas, the moderator, called on Mason, the speaker for the grant writer, who explained about the Federal Government donating three decommissioned  cruise ships for the homeless people to live on, which would get them off of the streets of Portland, Oregon.  He turned the meeting over to Clark # 1, the head of the planning committee, who explained the time frame of the whole process.


    Next, the drone traveled to the streets to spy on Sue, who lived in a broken down motorhome and worked in a nursing home until choosing to move to one of the cruise ships.  The drone caught a glimpse of Gloria, 45 and Ted, 50 coming out of their motorhome in the same neighborhood.  They have been homeless too, coming from Detroit and also moved to  a cruise ship to teach children and help with mechanics.


    The drone moved neighborhoods and highlighted Trish and Carol, who were stepping lightly,  around homeless individuals sleeping on the streets.  As they carefully avoided stepping  on discarded hypodermic needles, the girls said that they regretted renting a house in this area and wished they had stayed in the college dorm.


    Linus captured Laurence, a 6¡¯4¡±, 50 year old ex-wrestler, who thought he was well hidden, on camera and would have forcefully had him taken from his hiding place if he hadn¡¯t eagerly left for the cruise ship.


    At times, Linus got too big for his britches and overstepped his authority.  He was actually only responsible for the drone assignment and was not authorized to interact beyond that with the homeless persons.


    Linus followed Danny for a couple of days while Danny put  up the posters which explained  to the homeless population how to go about getting a new place to live aboard the cruise ships.   During this time, Officer Walters was filmed doing what he could to take food he had collected from restaurants at the end of the day  to homeless people.  It was also caught on film when Barbara Jean,  who had run the flower shop and lost it to looters, passed away on the streets from a drug overdose.  The drone caught Danny being shown the old warehouse where Darlene and others lived.  Linus laughed out loud when the drone showed him Beth, who had mental problems and had befriended a little mouse.  It wasn¡¯t really funny, it was more pathetic, but Linus had never seen anything like that before, with her talking to the mouse like he understood every word she said.


    He also caught Council members Malcolm and  James in a coffee shop, talking in hushed tones about how they planned to take out the elderly after the new year.  The drone Linus was flying was powerful enough to pick up the quiet words but not powerful enough to stop the shocked feelings from affecting Linus. His mind went directly to his grandmother,   and how he would feel if she was so callously treated.   Linus thought about it for a while and realized he was not there to judge and was simply meant to record and leave the judgment up to his superiors.


    One of Linus¡¯s favorite homeless people was Wall Street Jim and his friends, Tim and Harold.  They were stoners and Jim had a stuffed squirrel named L¡¯il Bob.  He really didn¡¯t believe Jim had ever had such an important job as working on Wall Street, but it was definitely fun watching them.


    One of the hardest workers he had ever seen showed up when he took the drone to the meeting place at the shuttered grocery store where the homeless people were gathered, waiting for their ride to the cruise ships.  Marjorie was in charge of the food being served there.  She received it, oversaw the cooking and then the distribution of the food.  He watched her then report in to Sarah several times a day.  Sarah was the head honcho there, overseeing the showers, the drivers of the vans, the inspections, etc.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    The drone then captured Bruce looking on as the heavy equipment destroyed his makeshift house.  The clock repairman lost everything he had in that sweep and walked sadly to the grocery store parking lot.  Linus caught sight of Brenda on the way to the parking lot and filmed her.  Her yellow eyes, squinting in the sunlight, caused her to resemble a tiger.


    It was a little bit tricky maneuvering the drone into the mission where many of the homeless population went to eat their meals.  The door was automatic and Linus had to time the drone¡¯s flight just right so it was not squished when the doors closed.  Using his I-pad controller, no one would suspect him of flying a drone, unless they examined the I-pad closely!  He caught a conversation between two of the servers at the mission, Alice and Ray.  Alice was considering moving onto the ship, even though she wasn¡¯t homeless because she had been serving the homeless at this mission for a number of years and she really cared about them.


    Linus had a real knack for being in the right place at the right time to take the best shots with his drone.  His boss was convinced that Linus had an intuition unparalleled by the other drone operators.  Linus operated his drone remotely when he captured the pictures aboard the cruise ship.  He laughed as he saw the homeless person, Nancy, 72 years old, waddling up the ramp to get aboard her ship.  She would walk two steps forward and then stop to take a breather, then repeat until she made it.  He thought, ¡°Just boarding the ship took her almost twenty minutes.  I would have given up by now if I was in her place!  Then he thought of his grandmother again and the thought occurred to him that Nancy was most likely someone¡¯s grandmother and he felt ashamed that he had laughed at her.


    He was able to follow several men who started running when an alarm went off and clearly showed Mark in one of the cabins, smoking, and not just a cigarette, and his obvious disrespect of the ship¡¯s rules.  It was clear from the drone¡¯s pictures that Mark was headed back to shore and to the clinic!


    The interviewers on the ship had their hands full,  taking down information on each person and getting them sorted and put into the right job.  It was a joyous occasion when the children were each given a free toy of their own choosing for cooperating with the interviewers!  One of the interviewers, Marcie, was asked by a 7 year old if she could give up her toy so her mother could get her hair cut and styled.  Marcie told the child, Tina, to go ahead and get a toy and that she would pay for the mother, Doris to get her hair done.  Linus almost started crying, watching this!


    Linus almost lost his cookies when the drone picked up Bruce scratching and scratching and he saw a maggot fall to the floor in the dining room.  He quickly turned the view of the drone away from that ugly sight and heard Rex, the boss of the food service leave his dessert cart to find the purser, Arnold.  Arnold  quickly jumped into action, found out Bruce had just recently gone cold turkey off of his drugs so he would be accepted on the cruise ship and got him some medical attention.


    Albert Kleinschmitt, the principal of the onboard school, was seen interviewing possible teachers.  One in particular, Frank, had been a teacher before he went homeless, living in a VW bus until he came here.  He was 5¡¯3¡± and 50 years old and Albert was not inclined to put him with the children.


    We then meet Jordan, a 12 year old, blond homeless child who is very mischievous and her mother, Sharon.


    Clark #2 was caught by the drone, investigating the ins and outs of euthenasia.  In his position it was extremely important to be politically correct in all dealings with this volatile subject.  Then the drone followed Carl at the clinic, as he served the food to the patients, discovering along with him the dark truths of how the drug addicts were being helped.


    Linus had not expected such a roller coaster of emotions.  He requested a week¡¯s vacation, after the stress of  filming with the drone, hoping to get his emotions under control.

 Laundry and Swimming

    Lonny folded another tablecloth and stacked it on the trolley with the other tablecloths and napkins to be used for tomorrow.  This saved the ship the cost of paper napkins and the tablecloths decreased the wear and tear of the pretty wooden tables.  After getting the ship¡¯s laundry caught up, she readied the huge laundry room for individuals coming in to do their own laundry.  With all of the different schedules, Lonny had to make sure the laundry room was available most of the day, so people could do their laundry in their spare time.  She swept and mopped, wiped down the outside of each machine and emptied all of the tokens into her little cash box to be turned into the finance manager on the ship.  Each of the people who had jobs aboard the ship were paid in tokens, which were then used for the laundry or shopping for clothes, diapers, formula or whatever else they needed.


    Lonny saw Gloria¡¯s husband, Ted come in with grease smeared on his face.  His face lit up when he saw her and he asked, ¡°Are you finished with the ship¡¯s laundry and is it ok for me to wash some greasy clothes, Lonny?¡±


    Lonny answered, ¡°Yes and yes.  You know which machine is reserved for you and the other grease monkeys, Ted.  How was your shift?  Are we all safe another day?¡±


    Ted smiled and said, ¡°Yes, everything is on track.  Say, how did you like that new meal?  I haven¡¯t had Mexican food in a long time.  I really liked the chili rellenos and cheese enchiladas!  I could eat those every day!¡±


    Lonny said, ¡°It was nice to have a new entree!  I much prefer spaghetti and meatballs, though.  It reminds me of when my children were young.  I think they could have eaten that meal three times a week and not complained!  I miss those times so badly, Ted.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean, Lonny.  I only had one little girl and sometimes it seemed like she would never grow up so we could get her off on her own.  But now, it seems like those days were a dream, they went so fast!  I haven¡¯t seen her in ten years because she married a man from England and moved away.¡±


    ¡°I have four children, but they are so busy with their own lives that they haven¡¯t been able to visit for a long time.  It is just too expensive for them and they are working and keeping up with their children¡¯s schooling.  I got a letter from them yesterday, though and they may come out here to visit next year!.  They wished me a happy 72nd birthday!  I¡¯ll bring the cute card and show it to you tomorrow.¡±Lonny said.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Ted finished up his laundry and said good-bye for now.


    A tired looking mother came in with her three children.  They weren¡¯t old enough for school, and there weren¡¯t enough teachers to get the kindergarten and nursery school open yet, so Laura, 23 years old, was doing her laundry with the help?! of the children!


    Lonny looked up from her work and said to Laura, ¡°we have a kids'' corner with fun things to do.  May I take your children over there and show them?¡±


    Laura said, ¡°Yes, please!¡± and gladly handed them over to Lonny.  The children immediately started playing with the toys and were quiet!


    Nancy had taken to swimming for exercise and relaxation after getting the food prepped in the kitchen every day.  She had a difficult time getting around walking, but when she was in the water, she felt like she had wings!  She had been a lifeguard before she married and took to the water just like a river otter.  Today her goal was twenty laps of assorted strokes.  She smiled at Laura who had just walked in after finishing up her laundry with her little ones to take them in wading.  Nancy began with the backstroke and then when she changed to the breaststroke, she bumped into someone.  She looked up to apologize and saw the still body of a little child.  Before Nancy had time to think, she grabbed the child and got her back to the side of the pool and struggled out of the water herself.  She started doing CPR, trying really hard to remember exactly how to do it on a small child.


    Laura screamed after looking around and not finding her 2 year old daughter.  She then saw Nancy working on her and screamed again and rushed over to her!  Just as she got to her, the child spat out water, coughed and cried!  Laura grabbed her, crying and thanked Nancy for saving her life!


    Nancy felt invigorated, even after a day of work and some energetic swimming, because she was needed!  She sat in a lounge chair by the pool while she caught her breath and took some time to think about what had just happened.  She started counting her blessings.  ¡°I''m so thankful to have been here just when that baby needed help and so glad I had training in CPR and was a lifeguard also.  It just makes my whole day to have been needed to save that baby.  I must ask Laura the next time I see her if I can help her when she takes the children swimming.  It would be a shame if she doesn¡¯t take them swimming anymore because of being afraid of a repeat.¡±  Nancy smiled to herself as she walked back to her room.

 The Ships Clinic and Shopping

    Sue towel-dried her hair and thought about the events of the day.  Bruce had come in early to get his sores doctored before his shift as sous-chef.  He had discovered his cooking talents when he was asked to fill in for a sick chef.  He found an outlet for his creativity in cooking.  Sue said to Bruce as she pulled the bandage off of his sore, ¡°This one is looking so good that I think a simple band-aid will suffice on it now.  Let¡¯s check the others.¡±  After looking at his other sores, Sue said, ¡°Well, Bruce, you are now able to take care of the sores on your own.  You don¡¯t need my help anymore. I will miss our daily visits, but I am glad to see you so healthy!¡±  Sue prepared a bag of ointment and band-aids and handed them to him.


    Bruce said, ¡°I will miss you too, but I sure won¡¯t miss those nasty sores!  It is such a relief not to itch anymore.¡±  He whistled as he left the office.


    Bruce was not gone a half hour when he  had returned.  Sue¡¯s smile left when she saw Bruce was not alone and his friend had a towel wrapped around her hand with blood dripping from it.  Sue rushed her into the other room while Bruce returned to the kitchen.  Sue washed her off with first water and then with an anti-bacterial wash while Doctor Andes also washed up.  She had prepared the Doctor¡¯s tools and he had taken over the patient while Sue went back to the reception room.


    As she pulled on her slacks, Sue thought of the flurry of activity she had experienced next.  Roger Mandible hobbled in next with a sprained ankle.  Sue was just finishing wrapping up his ankle,  when Becca, a young mother, scurried in holding a writhing 5 year old.  Sue ran to the mother and had her take the child into a room in the back where the doctor was.  He immediately saw the child was having an epileptic fit and went into action, with Sue¡¯s help.  Sue took the mother into the reception room to both calm her down and to gather information.  Becca grabbed a tissue and wiped her eyes.  Sue asked her the necessary details and then asked if the child had ever had a seizure before.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Becca said, ¡°Yes, she has and it is the scariest thing.  I didn¡¯t have health care and just had to handle it on my own.  It is awfully nice to have a clinic on board the ship that we have access to.¡±


    After Becca and her daughter left, there had been a gentleman with a cold and then her day in the clinic was over.  Her replacement arrived promptly and Sue had gone back to her room to take a shower.  She was going to get a swimming suit at the women¡¯s shop on the ship.  Sue thought about what kind of swimming suit she would purchase.  She had never had children and her weight was under control, so she could get a bikini.  But would she be comfortable in a bikini?  She wanted to enjoy her time in the water and was not trying to attract anyone, so she decided on a one-piece with a skirt.


    As Sue walked into the store, a lady walked up to her and said, ¡°Hello Dahling, I am Karen McIlvoy.  How may I help you?¡±


    Sue thought, ¡°Who is this?  Does she think she is the missing Gabor sister?¡±  Sue tried not to laugh, as she noticed the high blond hair-do and the prissy walk as Karen led her to the swimsuit area.  Sue looked down the line of clothing and picked out several in her size to try on and then went toward the dressing room.  As she changed, Sue thought that it was wrong for her to have judged Karen just by her appearance.  After Sue had chosen a swim suit and paid for it, they struck up a conversation.


    Sue asked Karen, ¡°Were you homeless, too or are you being paid to be here?¡±


    Karen said, ¡°Yes, dahling, I was homeless for a number of years.  I am 75 and have been homeless since I turned 70.  I had a young boyfriend who got me hooked on drugs until I was in so deep that I lost my home, my car, my children and all respect of anyone I knew.  I finally looked at myself and decided I wanted to live again and found a program that would help me go through rehab.  I decided, once I went through the agony of withdrawal, that I never wanted to go through that again, so I am standing before you today, a clean person!¡±


    Sue thought, ¡°I really was wrong to judge her!  She has been through a lot!¡±  Then she went on to tell Karen her story.  The two decided to meet for lunch sometime and exchanged numbers.

 Results

    The daily meeting at the clinic was the usual, boring discussion about the kitchen, the need to quit wasting time, yada, yada.  Carl was resting his eyes when he was suddenly wide awake.  ¡°Do any of you have a CDL?  We need someone immediately to drive the supply truck for the cruise ships.  Anybody?¡±


    Carl stood up and said he had a current CDL and was experienced at driving semis.  He thought, ¡®This sounds like a nice, easy job and I won¡¯t have to hear the screams of people, withdrawing from drugs and alcohol.¡¯ ¡° I do the food deliveries to the patients here and would have to check with the boss¡­¡±


    The moderator of the meeting cut him off, saying, ¡°Nevermind that, we will take care of it.  You just be ready to go at  a moment''s notice.¡±


    He introduced another speaker who stood up and cooly said, ¡°Good morning everyone.  The president has been following your accomplishments with the homeless and is pleased with your results.  This has been the most successful campaign to take care of the homeless  that we have seen nationwide and we are happy to be a part of it.  As of this morning, 3,260 people have been moved off of the streets of Portland and are living on the cruise ships, never to mar the streets of Portland again!  ¡°


    ¡° Also, the clinic, here, has seen 1, 300 people come through and I will say, those are 1,300 drug addicts and alcoholics who will not ever again affect our lives!¡±  There was a huge applause and after it had died down, he continued.  ¡°This whole program has worked so well, so far that we won¡¯t even need the third cruise ship here in Portland,  so the Heavenly Homes will be sailing for Seattle this week.  Seattle is our second city to be actively involved in this program and hopefully we will have the same results as we have had here.  I will return in three weeks to watch the progress and to observe how you will accommodate the disabled and the elderly, after the addicts are taken care of.  Keep up the good work and I will see you all then.¡±  He smiled and walked out of the room  to another roar of applause.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    A tall, skinny man came to get Carl and took him out to the parking lot to explain his duties and he showed him the map so he could get an idea of where he was going.  The truck was already loaded, so Carl would simply drive to the dock, where the truck would be unloaded, and he would be riding to the cruise ships to help with the unloading.  His big surprise came when the government speaker from the morning meeting came out and told Carl that he would be his ride-along.  He would be going on the ship, incognito, to check on the progress being made on the cruise ships.


    Carl was sweating, thinking about riding with this man who was comfortable with killing  all of the addicts.  He wondered if he could change his mind about this trip or if it would raise red flags and cause his life to be endangered, too.  He decided to go ahead with driving the supply truck but knew he needed to carefully guard his conversation.

 The Poker Game

    Carl and Max (as he found the man was called)  traveled  quietly since Max had crawled into the bunk in the back of the cab and fallen right asleep.  He slept until they got to the port, where Max roused when the truck stopped.  The truck was half unloaded onto the boat that would take them out to the cruise ship.  The other half would go to the second ship.  Carl didn¡¯t have to make small talk, as Max went to the captain of the boat and talked with him on the short trip out to the ship.  Once on the ship, Carl helped unload and Max disappeared.


    Max was on a mission to check out the cruise ship so he would know first hand how well the homeless  project was working.  Anyone could sit up in Washington and read reports, but how accurate would the reports be? This was a project dear to Max¡¯s heart, as he knew there were far too many people on this planet and this was a valuable first step toward eliminating the problem.  So he wandered around the ship, armed with his arsenal of questions.


    Danny found himself putting up new signs.  There were twice as many as the last batch of signs he had put up.  He was instructed by his boss to get these up as soon as possible.  The message on the signs read:  Last warning to the Homeless of Portland.  Remove yourself from the streets or be removed!  Any  homeless who are still on the streets of Portland on and after October 31st, 2024 will be forcibly removed.  Consider yourself warned!  The city of Portland.


    Danny worked as hard and fast as he could.  He realized the importance of these signs  reaching all of the homeless people to give them a chance to move out of the city.  A man walked up to Danny as he thumbtacked one of the papers to a telephone pole and asked, ¡°Watcha doin?¡±


    Danny said, ¡°Read it for yourself.  It is an important warning.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    The man turned his head sideways to look at Danny and breathed alcohol breath on him, saying ¡°Uh, I can¡¯t read.  Can you read it?¡±


    Danny complied, reading it with great inflection so the man would fully get how important this message was.


    In spite of Danny¡¯s emphasis, the old man said, ¡°Aw, it¡¯s just another sweep coming.  Everything will be back to the same in two or three days.¡±  And he walked off muttering to himself.  A little bit discouraging, but Danny had expected this and just set off more determined than ever to reach the ones who would listen.


    After visiting the kitchen, engine room, laundry room and about every other place on the ship, asking questions, Max found out there was an over 50 card game at 9:00  and so told Carl they would be staying on the ship overnight.  He paid for a room with two single beds and they got a shower and went down to supper.


    Max invited Carl to the poker game and Carl went, reluctantly, not planning to stay long.   They were both given permission to play with real money since neither of them had any tokens.  Max was unable to hide his disdain for the people he was playing with.  During the third hand, Carl figured Max must have gotten a good hand because he raised really big on the flop.  When it came around to Carl, he folded because he only had a 2,3 offsuit.  The gentleman next to Carl re-raised  and winked at Carl.  Max caught the wink and went on  tilt!  He said, ¡°Oh, you think you have a better hand than me, don¡¯t you?  You think you are pretty smart!  Well, take this,¡± and Max went all in.  The older gentleman with the thinning hair was the only one still in the pot, besides Max.  He sat there thinking about his move and Max smirked, knowing his pocket aces were the top of the heap. The older gentleman, named Pete, matched the bet.   The dealer dealt out the ace of hearts, jack of hearts, ten of hearts, and two threes!  Max was practically dancing on the table, as he had a fullhouse with aces high!  He laid down his hand and said, ¡°Beat that if you can!¡±  and glared at Pete.  Pete looked him in the eye and laid down the King of hearts and the Queen of hearts!  Max sat down with the wind knocked out of him as he saw he had been beaten by a royal flush!!!

 Max Breathes Threats

    After Max¡¯s ace high fullhouse got badly beaten by Pete¡¯s Royal Flush, he angrily stood up and said, ¡°   You think you are so smart, living on a cruise ship.  Just wait!  You old people don¡¯t know anything!  You¡¯ll see!¡±  and he stomped out of the poker game and back to his room!  Carl just stared and then realized the rest of the table was looking at him!


    Pete said, ¡°Ain¡¯t you goin with your friend, son?¡±  But he was trying to figure out where Carl was at.


    Carl said, ¡°He¡¯s not my friend.  I just met him today when we drove in the supply truck together.  Normally I work in the clinic, but they came up short a driver for the supplies and I was drafted.¡±


    Pete said, ¡°It sure did sound like Max was threatening us without actually saying anything.¡±


    Carl said, ¡°It sure did.¡±


    Nancy, one of the kitchen helpers asked, ¡°I¡¯ve always been curious about the clinic.  Are they having any success at getting the addicts off of the substances?  We haven¡¯t seen any of them come out to this ship.¡±


    Carl said, ¡°And you won¡¯t.¡±  He looked around, realizing he had opened a can of worms, and that he needed to watch his back.  He had always  considered himself kind of a Barney Fife, with very little self-confidence and he wondered why he had said anything.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Nancy asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Carl looked around the table and asked, ¡°Can we keep this between just us?¡±  He proceeded to tell the old folks at the table about his discoveries of how the drug addicts were being  ¡®healed¡¯,  to the shock of the whole room.  ¡°There have been over 1,200 drug addicts murdered at the clinic and just dumped into a deep pit.  The powers that be seem pleased with themselves and they are not stopping at that.  At our meeting today, they said the elderly and the disabled are next!  I am sorry to tell you this news, but maybe you can figure some way to get away before they come for you!¡±


    Pete said, ¡°I had a feeling this whole cruise ship thing was too good to be true.  What can we do?  We have no resources and no place to go.  Carl, is there any way you can help us get away?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, not me,¡± Carl said.  ¡°What could I do?¡±


    Karen from the shop, asked, ¡°How much time do you think we have, dahling?¡±


    Carl looked at Karen, who could have been a twin to his grandmother and his heart melted.  ¡°I believe they intend to be finished with the drug and alcohol addicts in the next two weeks.  So if you are going to act, it needs to be before then.¡±


    Leonard asked Carl, ¡°Do you know anyone with a big boat?  It would have to be pretty substantial, as we have around a thousand elderly people on board.  If we could just get a ways away from here, we could figure out what to do.  Can you try to come back on the supply delivery next week so we can see what progress you have made?  We probably shouldn¡¯t talk any more right now, as sensitive as this matter is and you need to get back to our friend Max.  It¡¯s probably best none of us act friendly toward you, so no one suspects what you have told us.¡±


    ¡±I don¡¯t know anyone with a big boat, but I will find someone,¡± Carl said.  ¡°I will be in touch.¡±  and he left for his cabin.

 Grandma?

    The next morning, Max decided to use the sauna and the pool before he and Carl left to return to the truck.  While he was gone, Carl went to the shop downstairs for a toothbrush and toothpaste.  While he was looking around, he heard, ¡±Whatever are you looking for, Dahling?¡±


    And when he turned around he saw Karen, the lady who reminded him of his Grandma.  After he told her what he was looking for,  she walked him over to the pharmacy section of the shops.


    While they were walking, Carl realized he had no way to contact the elderly people on this ship.  He also did not know if he would be the one driving the supply truck next week or the week after.  It was pretty important to have a way to communicate with them to work things out.  He said to Karen, ¡°Do you have a cell phone?¡±


    Karen answered, ¡°Yes, I do, dahling!  You must think I look like the Gabor sisters, too if you want my phone number!¡±


    Carl said, ¡°No, it¡¯s not that.  We have to have a way to communicate if I am going to be able to help you all get out of here.  Give me your number.  I won¡¯t call from my phone so you and I aren¡¯t linked up.  I will get a different girl to call each time and say they are your granddaughter, Carla.  Don¡¯t call the number back because you won¡¯t get me.  Hurry, because I probably shouldn¡¯t talk with you long for either of our sakes.¡±  He got Karen¡¯s number and headed back up to the room to get ready for the day.


    Laurence and Nancy had gotten their heads together and weren¡¯t wasting any time.  They decided to question each of the elderly who were on board  to find out who was interested in getting out of the line of fire.  They decided to pose the questions as a ¡®what if¡¯ scenario instead of a real life threat.  While Nancy worked in the kitchen, there were a couple of other kitchen prep ladies, Linetta and Cora, working with her and she decided to ask them first.  ¡°Linetta, what would you do if you learned that the elderly would soon be candidates for euthenasia?  Would you run away to live in the woods somewhere?  Or would you just stay here aboard the ship until your time came?¡±


    Linetta said, ¡°Honey, that is a tough question.  I care about my life, even though I have already lived most of it. I don¡¯t think I could live out in the woods because, as you know, I am incontinent and I can¡¯t make it without my diapers.  Also, I have to have my blood pressure medicine or I will have a heart attack and die.  No, If that ever happened, I would not be able to run.  Why are you asking?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°OH, no reason, I was just thinking about how we were always on the run when we were homeless and how we have gotten a chance to be comfortable, now.  Just curious,¡±  Nancy replied.  Linetta¡¯s answer took her by surprise.


    Steve, who worked on the ship¡¯s HVAC system, was having a cup of coffee with Laurence, before they started work,  as they had grown accustomed to since they had been living onboard the ship.  He had worked in HVAC, off and on since he was a teen.  He was 67 now and happy with his new home.  Laurence asked Steve, ¡° So, how¡¯s it going, working on the ship, instead of waking up scrounging every day to stay alive?¡±


    Steve said, ¡°It is like a new life!  There is good food to eat, a comfortable bed to sleep in and I don¡¯t have worry someone is going to stab me in the night.  I have a job and am needed.  I am pretty happy.¡±


    Laurence asked, ¡°If you found out there was a program starting to get rid of everyone over 50, what would you do?  Would you find some other place to live?¡±


    Steve said, ¡°Where would I go?  There¡¯s no place to go!¡±


    Laurence and Nancy talked with other elderly people all day and came to the same conclusion, elderly people were not very adventuresome, and not many wanted to give up their comfortable living to go back to being homeless.  It was unsettling, but realistic.


    Nancy went to the shop to look for a scarf to match her blue skirt for the dance that was happening that night and saw Karen.  ¡°Hi Karen, how¡¯s it going?¡±


    Karen looked at her with tears in her eyes.  ¡°I am distraught!¡±  Ever the actress, Karen had asked a few people, too, with the same results.  She was, however, taking it personally and looked as depressed as she felt.  ¡°Everyone has a reason why they can¡¯t go.  Diabetes meds, blood pressure meds, mobility issues, and so on and so forth.  I understand, but when it is a life or death situation, you would think they would choose to live.¡±


    Nancy said, ¡°Try not to take it so hard.  If you let this get to you, you won¡¯t be much help for others.  We have to  be strong for the ones who are going to choose life and let the others go.¡±


    The phone rang and Karen answered.  ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Hello, grandma?  This is Carla.  I wanted to ask if you could ask around and find out a ballpark figure of how many people will be coming with us? (In a muffled tone, Carla asked was that what I was supposed to say?)  I will call back tomorrow.  Good-bye.¡±


    Karen perked up and told Nancy in a whisper, ¡°That was Carl.  He wants us to ask around and find out how many of us will be going.  He will call again tomorrow.  You are right.  Maybe we will only save a handful of lives, but we can¡¯t give up!!!¡±

 Pan-Handling and Murder

    Jim had been walking toward the edge of town when an idea struck him. He had to backtrack a little, made a sign on a piece of cardboard and stood out in the median of a busy street. His sign read: ¡®This leopard has changed his spots. Please help. Need a suit and food.¡¯ The first person who stopped at the light rolled down his window and spat on Jim, smirked and rolled the window back up. The light turned green and Jim stayed out of the way until it turned red again. A lady was holding a dollar bill out her mostly rolled up window. He got it and thanked her and moved on. The next man said, ¡°I ain¡¯t giving you any money. You¡¯ll just do drugs with it.¡± After a couple of hours, Jim stopped to go to the bathroom and count his money. He was a little discouraged. There was $11.32. What was he thinking? This wasn¡¯t going to work. Then he shook his head, as if to shake the negative voices out of it and walked back to the street corner. He hadn¡¯t been there five minutes when Donald drove up. They talked for a minute while the light was red and then, with the light changing, Donald said, ¡°Meet me across the street at Denny¡¯s.¡±


    Jim walked over, not knowing what to expect, but having a good feeling about this little meeting. Donald invited him to lunch to Jim¡¯s delight. He told Jim to pick whatever he wanted. Jim, after deliberation, chose roast beef, salad, fried zucchini, dinner rolls and iced tea, with a hot fudge sundae for dessert! Donald asked Jim about his story, how he became homeless and what his occupation was before. It felt so good to talk to someone who listened intently to what he was saying and seemed genuinely interested, especially someone who could look beyond the dirty clothes and scruffy hair and see the real man. Donald was especially interested in how Jim had kicked the habit and was staying clean. Jim felt he could trust this man. He had worked with the sharks on Wall Street for so long that he was able to see people¡¯s motives and Donald had a good, clean spirit.


    Jim told Donald about June and her predictions. He told him how those predictions had troubled him, causing him to harbor ill feelings toward the elite and their callous attitudes toward the poor. Then, he told him how his partner had screwed him over and taken his wife to boot. He explained how his years of drug use after this befell him had rendered him incapable of any positive accomplishments and had only allowed him to hide from the future. So he was going to buy a suit from the goodwill and set out to not only change his ways, but see if he could help others!This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Donald had a big smile after hearing about Jim¡¯s life and said he wanted to help in whatever way he could. ¡°Do you know about the clinic, Jim?¡± Donald asked. ¡° It is the place where they take the drug addicts off of the streets to help them. My brother, Carl works there, serving the food to the patients. He found out the other day exactly how they are helping them. It is a clinic for assisted suicide/homicide. They are murdering all of the drug addicts and alcoholics who go there! Carl said the elderly and the disabled are next, if something isn¡¯t done to stop them.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°I knew it!!!¡± and he tried to stand up, he was so excited but his knees caught on the underside of the table. He quickly sat back down and said, ¡°The other day I saw a van driving around and they stopped at each tent. Two thugs went in and carried out anyone who was passed out and they stacked them over two high in the van and then on to the next tent. What can we do, Donald? Any idea?¡±


    ¡°I do have an idea, Jim. Let¡¯s go get you a suit and talk some more while we shop,¡± Donald said.


    Max attended a city council meeting after he got back into town from the cruise ship. After the city¡¯s main business, the moderator of the meeting introduced Max and all eyes were glued on him. Max said, ¡°I am impressed by the progress this city has made with the homeless situation. I am also looking forward to seeing this project completed. We do need to step up the operation. I am requesting that one more u-haul is rented to collect the addicts and also that all five of the 18 passenger vans be used at night when they are not needed to take people to the ships. We need to look in every nook and cranny of the city, so that no homeless person is overlooked!¡± At that the audience broke out in applause. ¡°No need to applaud. There is another request I will be making. I want every radio station to make a public announcement every hour until the last of the homeless are off of the streets. It will simply say that we need every citizen of Portland to phone the nearest police station immediately when they see a homeless person. If we have all the eyes of all people in Portland watching for the homeless, it won¡¯t be long before we reach our goal!¡± There was again resounding applause as Max finished his speech.

 The Deadly Ride-Along

    The drivers of the vans and the u-hauls met together with the man who handed out marked maps of the routes he wanted them to take for the evening.  He explained that the three u-hauls would handle the inner city routes, which were much more concentrated with the homeless addicts, since they had the ability to handle the most people.  The vans would, this evening, go to the known hiding spots of the homeless in the out of the way places to gather everyone they could find.  The drivers of the vans were given heat-seeking devices and were expected to walk all around each area.  The heat-seeking devices would help them find anyone in an underground area or cave or really any hiding spot.  They meant business.


    While Donald and Jim were shopping for clothes, Carl called.  Jim was in the dressing room when Donald took the call.  Carl chatted for a moment and then asked Donald if he still had a boat.  Donald said, ¡°Yes, I do.  I haven¡¯t used it in a long time.  I''m glad you reminded me.  I need to go down to the shore and see how it is doing and if it needs repairs before I use it again.  Why  are you asking, Carl?¡±


    ¡°Can you come over to my house tonight if you aren¡¯t doing anything, Donald?  I have something important to talk with you about.¡±


    Donald agreed and said he could be there in an hour.  After Jim had gotten the clothes he needed, Donald got him a haircut and Jim looked like a new man!  ¡°You clean up really nice, Jim,¡± Donald stated.  ¡°Hey, you don¡¯t mind going with me to my brother¡¯s house, do you?¡±


    Jim said, ¡°That sounds fine to me.¡± and they left for Carl¡¯s.


    Carl¡¯s studio apartment was small, but nicely decorated.  He had gone for a southwest style decor.  He  had  stopped to pick  up some snacks for them. He had gotten nachos, avocados burritos and Dos Equis.   Carl said, as they sat down, ¡°I need to talk with you, Donald.¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Jim is cool.  You can say whatever it is with him here.¡±Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Carl said, ¡°I drove the supply truck out to the cruise ship today.¡±


    Donald asked, ¡°Do you mean the ship with the homeless on it?¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Carl said.  ¡°It was an eye-opening experience.  A federal man had just addressed the regular clinic meeting and was praising them for killing the addicts.  But that isn¡¯t all.  He said the elderly and the disabled are the next to go.¡±


    Donald said, ¡°You¡¯ve got to be kidding me!¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not.  ¡°Then, guess who was my ride-along out to the ship?  The federal man.  I was pretty uncomfortable, riding with a man who could congratulate people for killing others.  We got to the ship and he found out about a poker game with the over 50 year olds and decided we were staying the night to be able to hang out with the elderly.  When he got beat really badly by an old man,  he stomped out of the game.  The others were checking me out to see if I was on his side.  OH, get this, he practically threatened the elderly people, too!  They were curious as to what he meant and against my better judgement, after he had left,  I told them the plan of taking out the elderly.  I suggested they find a boat and get out of there and of course they have no resources, so they asked me if I could get them a boat and help them get away!¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Oh so that¡¯s why you asked about my boat?¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Carl said.


    ¡°How many people are you talking about and where in the world will you take them?¡± asked  a surprised Donald.  But he didn¡¯t say no!!!


    Carl said, ¡°I don''t know, but will find out tomorrow how many people will go with us.  As far as where to go, I don¡¯t have a clue.¡±


    Jim had been quietly listening all of this time and interjected his thoughts.  ¡°God this sounds like a worthy cause and I am all in if you can use me!  What about Canada or Alaska for a place to go?  How big is your boat and how many people can it hold?  This is so exciting!  We were just wondering what we could do to be a help and here it just fell into our laps!¡±


    Carl offered them the snacks and Jim said, ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be anti-social, but I don¡¯t drink or do any drugs anymore, now that I am clean.  Thank you anyway!¡±


    The guys talked and made plans to get together the next day after they had more details.

 A Polar Bears Bared Teeth

    ¡°Hello,¡± Carl answered the phone on the first ring before he even opened his eyes.


    ¡°Hello, is this Carl who drove the supplies to the cruise ship?¡±


    ¡°Yes, who is this?¡± the sleepy Carl asked.


    ¡°Oh, sorry, this is the purser of the ship.  I¡¯m sorry to disturb you on your cell phone, but I have a little favor to ask.  I asked the fellow in charge of the supplies, but he is too busy to help me.  You see, we have a video night on Tuesday nights and I have been wanting to show a special video on the ship.  I have looked all over netflix, hulu, u-tube and all of the other places I could think of and it is just not available.  We are able to use vhs tapes or dvds, believe it or not, so if you happen to find it on either of those, that will work.  The show I am looking for is called ¡®Cocoon¡¯ and it is about some old farts on a ship.  I thought our over 50¡¯s would get a hoot out of it!  I wanted to show it just as soon as the supplies get here.¡±


    Carl was awake by now and responded, ¡°I just heard I will be driving the supply truck again this week and I will find that movie for you!¡±


    The purser expressed his appreciation and they hung up.


    Carl drove right over to his brother¡¯s house to talk with him.  He couldn¡¯t wait to see what Donald and Jim had come up with.


    Donald had invited Jim to stay with him the night before.  His house was modest with a beautiful yard.  There were hedges dividing his yard from the neighbors and providing some privacy.  There were purple bearded irises by the mailbox and a rose garden in the backyard.  A large apple tree sat on the left of the front yard and a peach tree on the right.  Jim walked into the house behind Donald and got quite a fright when they walked into the living room.  There was a giant polar bear standing up with his teeth bared and his claws out ready to swipe anything that came near!  Except, it was stuffed!  Jim walked over  and admired it.  Donald said, ¡°That was my first polar bear kill.  I¡¯ll tell you the story sometime.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Donald showed Jim to the room he would be staying in and it was set up with an on suite bathroom.  Jim felt like he was in the lap of luxury and enjoyed a nice soak in the tub before reappearing in the living room.  Donald had ordered some supper and they had a quiet evening, watching some tv.


    Jim told Donald, ¡°I used to take food and showers and beds for granted.  Well, even watching tv or sitting in a clean living room.  But, I really appreciate everything now.  Being homeless has brought out some good in me, I think.¡±


    ¡°I know what you mean, ¡° Donald said.  ¡°I haven¡¯t ever been homeless, but one winter I got trapped at the lodge up in Alaska  and got snowed in with ten feet of snow!  I hadn¡¯t shopped recently and was not able to get the doors open to get out of the lodge so I could hunt, so for a couple of days food was pretty sparse and I also hadn¡¯t chopped wood and the central heating was not working, so I had to put on all of the clothes I had brought.  At first I felt angry, hungry, frustrated and all out of sorts, but when I stopped to think about the situation, I decided to look for the good.  I realized having the lodge was a lot more than many people had.  I was out of the elements, safe from wildlife, not being snowed on, and I was actually warm enough to take off a layer of clothes once I started moving around.  Being thankful lifted my spirits and made that adventure one of my favorite ones!¡±


    ¡°How did you happen to be all alone at a lodge?¡± Jim asked.


    ¡°I do outfitting and it is based out of that lodge,¡± Donald explained.  ¡°Normally, I have a lady there to shop and cook and clean, but she was on vacation at the time.¡±


    They talked a while longer and went to bed.  When Carl walked in the next morning, the guys were sitting at the table, eating amazing omelets that Jim had conjured up.  He hopped up and made Carl one while Carl caught Donald up on his phone call from the morning.


    Carl said, between bites, ¡°I was thinking, while I am getting the launch unloaded and taking the supplies on board the ship, the two of you could be taking the old folks onto your ship, because the purser plans to put a movie on for everybody as soon as we get there.  I imagine there will not be anybody noticing what we are doing, because there will be plenty of activity,


    unloading the launch and lots of people going up and down the ramp.  A few old people going down the ramp and into a different boat in the dark will not stand out.  What do you think, Donald and Jim?¡±

 The State of Decomposition

    Hank, a big, heavy man, standing 6¡¯7¡± got into the van and slid the seat back.  His partner for the evening, Tiny, jumped into the van, too.  He was also heavy, although not as tall as Hank.  Hank pulled out his map and studied it while Tiny fiddled with the radio, trying to find a station to his liking.  They left shortly after the first van  pulled out and headed toward a known encampment near the interstate.  Hank said, ¡°I have been to this encampment before and actually lived here for a short while, so I know a couple of hiding places we can check after we check all of the tents.¡±


    It was growing dark, which made it hard to see so they shone the headlights on a row of tents.  In the first tent, a man was laying on top of his sleeping bag.  He didn¡¯t make a move when they nudged him, so the two men picked him up and put him into the van and strapped him down.  ¡°It would be easier to work with if the seats were not in the van, just like in the U-Hauls.  This is rough, struggling to get this man in here, sit him in the seat and buckle him in.  Why can¡¯t we take the seats out next time, to make it easier?¡±   Hank asked Tiny.


    Tiny responded, ¡°Yeah, I asked them already and they said, there isn¡¯t enough time to get the seats back in afterwards so the vans can leave for the ships.  Apparently, you have to have tools and it takes a while.  Oh well, we are pretty strong and can handle the job.¡±


    As he clicked the seatbelt for the first man, Hank said, ¡°Speak for yourself.  I¡¯m not pretty strong, I am super strong!¡±  They both laughed over this and climbed out of the van to go get another person.


    ¡°Turn out the headlights, some of us are trying to sleep!¡± came a gruff voice from one of the tents.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Shut up!  We have a job to do!¡± Tiny barked back.  He and Hank searched the rest of the tents in the area and retrieved three more passed out addicts.  After they were safely strapped into the van, the guys went over to the bridge the interstate formed over the city street.  They shone their flashlights up the cement embankment and saw signs of life.  Huffing and puffing, Tiny and Hank climbed up the embankment.  They smelled the death before they got all of the way up there.  As Hank peeked over the top of the enclosed embankment, two eyes met his.  He jumped a little out of surprise.  The man looking at him  asked what they had come for.  Hank asked, What is that smell?¡±


    The man replied, ¡°It¡¯s my friend, Tony.  He needs to brush his teeth, man.  He just lays there and he has the worst breath!¡±


    Hank said, with his shirttail covering his mouth, ¡°That is not bad breath; he is in a state of decomposition.¡±


    The man said, ¡°¡®No man, he is in the state of  Oregon.  We are all in Oregon, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    Tiny said, ¡°Hey, how about we take you to get some food?  Do you want some ice cream?  What do you think, Hank, could we take him to get some food?¡±  Tiny thought it was a good way to distract him and get him into the van.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±  Hank asked.


    ¡°I am Merle,  but you can call me Merle,¡± the man answered.


    Hank asked, ¡°Do you think you can get down to the bottom of this embankment?¡±


    Merle said, ¡°Yeah, man, just let me get my cardboard.  He got a big piece of flattened cardboard and placed it on the slanted cement, sat on it, pulled up the front of the cardboard and started sliding!  He ended up in a tangled heap at the bottom of the embankment!


    Both of the guys laughed as they followed suit, just slower.  Tiny said, ¡°Well he is not awake any longer; let¡¯s load him up.¡±

 Shocking Devolopments

    Karen¡¯s phone rang while she was helping a customer.  She answered and asked if they could hold, which they did.  When she got back to the phone, it was Carla.  ¡°Do you have a number of people for me, Grandma?  Also before I forget, we will be there next Tuesday for movie night.  Be ready!¡±


    Karen said, ¡°The number is 125.  I¡¯ll say that again, 125.  Is this the big visit, Carla?¡±


    Carla covered the phone and asked Carl if this was the big visit.  When she came back to the phone, she said, ¡°Yes, this is it.  Do you have life-preservers on that boat, Grandma?  I¡¯m a little scared of boats.¡±


    ¡°Yes, we do and I¡¯ll make sure you have one,¡± Karen answered, knowing it was Carl¡¯s way of letting her know to have all of the old folks bring one.


    Carla said, ¡°I¡¯ll try to call you one more time before Tuesday.  I love you Grandma.¡±  and they hung up.


    Just then, Leonard came into the shop and asked Karen how she was doing.  He knew she dealt with depression and was concerned about her.


    Karen said, ¡°Walk with me out on deck for a minute.¡±  She set up her sign letting people know she was on break and locked the door.  When she and Leonard were out on deck, she told him it was all set up for Tuesday evening and everyone needed to be ready and have a life preserver.  ¡°It is very important that only the ones going know about it.  I think we should wait until Tuesday morning to let everyone that is going know so there is less chance for it to leak out, what do you think?¡±


    ¡°I agree.  This is too important to mess up,¡± Leonard said.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Karen said, ¡°You told me you were going to ask that delivery driver about your friend with the  yellow eyes, since he worked at the clinic where she went.  Did you find out about her?¡±


    Leonard got tears in his eyes and said, ¡°Yes, I did.  She was the first drug addict murdered by the doctor.¡±


    In the meantime, Donald and Jim had gone to Donald¡¯s boat and were checking it out from stem to stern.  Donald used the boat in his outfitting business to transport people and also the game they hunted on the way back from Alaska so he kept it in pretty good repair, no, excellent repair, so there actually wasn¡¯t much to do.  It was true that he hadn¡¯t checked on it in a while, and a few things needed to be done, like an oil change, replacing a battery, and restocking the kitchen and bathroom supplies.


    Jim said, when he saw the boat for the first time, ¡°This isn¡¯t a boat, Donald, it is a yacht!  How many people can it sleep?¡±


    Donald said, ¡°It has 5 bedrooms and each bedroom contains a double bed, a couch that makes into a double bed and a bunk over the couch and one over the double bed, that let down from the wall.  Then in the hold, there are 5 triple bunks and then we have emergency cots.  So we can sleep 45, plus whoever sleeps on the cots.  Depending on how many people come with us, we may have to make a rotating schedule for the sleeping.  We need to bring supplies for cooking to the lodge.  Fuel is not a problem, as we can chop wood when we get in .  We won¡¯t probably need so much wood yet, but we will as the weather grows colder.¡±


    Jim asked another question.  ¡°Is Carl going to be coming with us?¡±


    Donald said, ¡°We talked about it and both of us felt like it would be best for Carl to be out of the picture for now and to remain here to be our eyes and ears for whatever comes up next.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°That sounds wise.  What do you think may happen next?¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Hell, I don¡¯t know.  This is all unexplored territory, as far as Portland¡¯s solution for the homeless situation.  I can¡¯t help feeling shocked at each new development.¡±

 The Sweep of the People

    The third week of October found changes in Portland.  Alice and Roy, who were servers at the mission, saw fewer people coming in each day.  Roy looked at Alice, one morning after serving 30 people, with seemingly no one else showing up for breakfast and said, ¡° Alice, do you remember telling me there would be no more homeless soon?  Well, I didn¡¯t believe it, but it looks like you were right!  We are going to be out of work here pretty soon, unless something changes.  Are you still thinking about going to work on one of the cruise ships, serving meals?¡±


    Alice said, ¡°Yeah, I told you it would happen!  No, I changed my mind and I already have a new job lined up at a cafeteria.  I will be making ten dollars an hour more!  I can¡¯t wait!  I may be making enough to move out of my ex¡¯s house!  Freedom!¡±


    Roy took a sip of coffee and another bite of a chocolate covered cream filled doughnut.  He said, ¡°These day old doughnuts are pretty good!  They are not as fresh as Krispy Kremes, but it beats having to buy breakfast.  Now that the homeless are pretty much gone, we have so much extra food, we are almost obligated to help eat it!  So, does the cafeteria need any more servers?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll put in a good word for you, Roy,¡± Alice said.  She hopped up and went back to her station, as five more people walked in.


    Sarah, who was in charge of the parking lot where the homeless waited for the transport to the cruise ships,  was adjusting inventory and had only hired one man a day to take the people to the cruise ships, because there were simply not many homeless left in Portland.  On the way to work that morning, she had seen something concerning.  There was a homeless encampment in the park near her house which, at her best guess, contained fifty people who didn¡¯t look like they were planning to head to the cruise ship.  She felt almost panicked inside, thinking about what would happen to them if they didn¡¯t go this week.  She said to herself, ¡°I will stop in and visit with them this evening on the way home and see if I can explain things better to them and hopefully some of them will be saved.¡±


    Donny began his task of taking down warning signs and putting in their place the new signs.  The new signs read:  Forbidden!!  Camping within the city limits of Portland, Homeless People, Panhandling, Indigent people.  Enforcement date is November 1, 2024.  There will be no mercy!  City of Portland.


    Donny came to the homeless encampment in town where the 200 people had been.  It was eerily silent, no ¡®Born to be Wild¡¯ playing anymore, trash was blowing around  in the wind,  needles scattered through the whole block.  Donny wondered, as he stapled another sign to a fence, who the drug dealing piranhas were feeding on now.  Would they close up shop here and go to another city, looking for more desperate homeless or would they turn to the schools and prey on innocent children?  He slowly approached the large warehouse where Darlene and Beth had been.  After taking down 75 old signs and putting up 75 new ones, he took a break and went to check on Darlene and Beth.  When he walked in, the stench of urine and body odor greeted him.  He guessed Darlene had gone to a cruise ship, since she had been the one to organize and keep things clean.  To his surprise, Beth was still there and Stretch, the mouse, had grown friendly enough to sit on her shoulder.  She looked up from feeding him and said, ¡°Hello.¡±Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Danny introduced himself, figuring she was too strung out to remember him.  ¡°I¡¯m Danny.  Do you know if Darlene is still here?¡±


    ¡°No, she left for the cruise ship.  I pretended like I was going to the clinic, so she wouldn¡¯t feel responsible for me anymore and then after she left for the ship, Tropical Cabana, I came back.  I miss her, but the policeman comes most days and brings Stretch and I some food.¡± Beth said.


    Danny felt like he had to warn Beth of things to come and said, ¡°Are you aware that at the end of this week, homeless people are forbidden to be here?  My guess is  what happens to anyone still here won¡¯t be pretty.¡±


    Beth said, ¡°OH, you don¡¯t believe all of that, do you?  That¡¯s what they always say, but it goes back to the same ol¡¯, same ol¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do believe things will be different.  You need to get out of Portland!¡±  Danny said, but realized his warnings were falling on deaf ears.  He went back to work and while he was wondering how long it would take to get these sites cleaned up, a large dump truck and an excavator passed him, heading in the direction of the ¡®Born to be Wild¡¯ lot. ¡° They aren¡¯t wasting any time,¡± he thought.


    Sarah pulled up to the park near her house and parked.  Before she got out, she saw several drug deals take place.  There was a crowd gathered at a picnic table and she figured she would start there.  ¡°Hi everybody, I brought you some food,¡± she said and placed the leftover food from the place where she worked.  She had brought paper plates and disposable silverware, too.  She didn¡¯t have to invite them twice; they were digging in almost before the items made it to the table.  She had brought potato salad, macaroni salad with ham and cheese, deviled eggs, and a couple of bread sleeves of sandwiches.


    Sarah addressed a young lady who couldn¡¯t have been more than 15.  ¡°What¡¯s your name, hon?¡±


    The girl nibbled on a sandwich and answered, ¡°Clare.¡±


    Sarah asked if she or anyone else around had read the new posters being put up.  Everybody was too preoccupied with their food and drugs to answer.  She took a breath and dove right in.  ¡°At the end of the week there will be no more homeless or camping.  It will be so illegal that the final sweep will sweep the people too.  It won¡¯t just be tickets or jail; it looks like it will be elimination this time.  What are you guys going to do?  There are only a few days left to get on a cruise ship or go to the clinic.¡±


    ¡°We are so tired of hearing that junk.  They keep saying they will help us, but it never changes.  I don¡¯t trust them or their cruise ships or the clinic,¡±  one lady said.  Similar comments were heard, but most of them ignored the question and started drifting off back to their tents.


    Sarah was weary from a long day out in the sun, so since she wasn¡¯t getting anywhere, she started cleaning up the mess of paper plates and forks and serving tins.  She took the garbage with her and walked dejectedly back to her car.

 Loose Lips Sink Ships

    Since Leonard was in charge of the unloading of the supply launch, he had made sure he chose  only from the people who were going to fly the coop tonight to help him do the unloading.  He didn¡¯t need any extra eyes seeing the yacht filling up with people.  He got a small cut on his arm and decided to go to the shipboard clinic so it didn¡¯t get infected.  This was the doctor¡¯s day off so he saw nurse Sue.  She was a kind-hearted person.  As he got to the clinic, two elderly people were leaving and they winked at him, knowing tonight was the night!


    Sue received him warmly and started cleaning out his cut.  While she worked, she said the elderly people who were just there had been talking to each other, as if she wasn¡¯t there and  couldn''t hear them.  ¡°Leonard, is there a plan to get rid of the elderly and disabled?  And are you taking a boatload of them out of here tonight to save them from that fate?  And is it possible for me to go even though I am only 52?  I am a nurse and could be a big help to the team.¡±


    Leonard said, ¡°Loose lips sink ships.  I am not very happy they are talking about this out in the open.  We waited to confirm the departure until the very day we are leaving to prevent our plans getting out, but obviously that didn¡¯t work.  Well, I guess we just have to trust that it will work out, regardless.  Yes, that is all true and yes we sure could use your help.  We leave during the movie tonight.  Be at the loading dock  if you seriously want to go.¡±


    Sue¡¯s eyes lit up and she said, ¡°I will be there!¡±After Leonard left, Sue locked up the clinic and took a break to go down to the shop.  She purchased a large purse, the kind people carry their knitting around in and returned to the clinic.  She thoughtfully packed band-aids, anti-bacterial creams, bandages and tape, vitamins, and other necessary items in the new purse, placing her personal items on top and setting it aside to bring with her.


    Sarah, the lady in charge of the base,  was asked if she would like to move to Seattle, once the Portland base was closed at the end of October, along with the other persons who operated the showers, ran the food section, and the others who made the base work.  Sarah decided to go, along with most of the others.  There was a large park and field where they would set up in Seattle.  One cruise ship was ready and waiting and she heard another one would arrive soon.  The construction on the clinic in Seattle would be completed by the first week of November, which was when the base would open and start ¡®helping¡¯ the homeless.  The clinic in Seattle would be considerably larger, actually the size of a city block, in order to accommodate all of the addicts and alcoholics in a more timely manner.  All of the staff at the Portland clinic would be transferred and were being given their own suite at the clinic in Seattle.  That little perk of being given room and board was designed to keep the well-trained staff on board and save them from having to start over from scratch at the new clinic.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Jim and Donald took the yacht out for a test run the morning of the departure of the old folks.  A little ways out, Donald said, ¡°Shoot, the cruise control is not working.  Jim, could you look up cruise control on boats on Google and see if you can troubleshoot it?¡±


    ¡°Of course.  I¡¯m on it!¡± Jim said as he pulled out his phone.  While he looked into Google, Donald continued checking out the steering, the double gas tanks, the holding tanks for the water, the appliances, etc.  Everything appeared to be in working order and after Jim found what they were looking for, they got the cruise control going.


    ¡°OK, I think we are ready to load up and hit the road,¡± Donald said, as it turned late afternoon.  ¡°Carl should be finished loading up the launch here pretty soon and we will follow him out to the ship.  Did you bring your gear, Jim?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did.  I¡¯m all ready!¡± Jim responded.


    ¡°Donald said, ¡°Excuse me, Carl is calling.  Hi, Carl, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°Donald, they are sending a rider with me and I don¡¯t know what to do.¡±


    ¡°Calm down, Carl.  We¡¯ll think of something.  Just act like everything is ok so no one will suspect anything.  Do you think you can do that?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can.  I¡¯m glad you will be thinking about what we can do, too, Donald.

 I Think He is Onto Us

    Carl got a call from Donald, ¡°I¡¯ve got a plan.  You tell your rider that there are some old farts on the ship who like to unload the launch to show off their muscles for the ladies.  Tell him he has paid time off while they unload and he can watch a movie or swim.  Do you think that will work?¡±


    Carl said, ¡°I think you¡¯ve got a winner there.  Let¡¯s do it.¡±  Donald heard a loud horn blowing and Carl¡¯s rider said, ¡°Hey watch it!  I thought you said you knew how to drive this rig!  Stay in your lane!¡±


    Carl sheepishly apologized to his rider and told Donald he had to go and concentrate on his driving.


    Trish and Carol, our college students, got their heads together before class and decided to have a garden party and invite a bunch of their friends from school.  Trish said, ¡°I want to call our party ¡®Farewell to the Homeless.¡¯  What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Oh and we can have a cake made that has tents and needles and stuff on it for the decorations!¡±  Carol said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a margarita fountain and a nachos bar and then a chocolate fountain, too,¡± Trish suggested.  ¡°Oh, have you ever seen those tricycles for adults?  The party rental company has them.  Wouldn¡¯t it be fun to watch our friends ride those around?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that going to be pretty expensive?¡± Carol asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.  My daddy will cover the cost.  He is as happy as us to get rid of the homeless.  In fact, he and my mom will probably come over to celebrate with us!¡±  Trish laughed.


    Carl and his rider, Mikey, made it to the dock and Carl communicated with Donald.  Donald would follow, just out of sight, to the cruise ship.  They would wait for Carl to give the signal for them  to pull up by the ramp, preparing for the old folks to arrive.  The trip out to the cruise ship was uneventful and Mikey rushed off  before Carl could change his mind to enjoy his paid time off.  Carl signaled Donald to pull up the yacht and Leonard started his crew unloading the launch.  The purser had come down first thing to get the movie ¡®Cocoon¡¯.  That was the only thing on his mind.  The kitchen had popped two huge pots of popcorn and brought bowls and water bottles too, so the distraction was complete.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Jim had communicated with Karen to let her know to have the old folks who were leaving with them gather in the tea room beside the elevator.  He was watching the purser, waiting for his chance to send some more people out to Donald who was receiving them onto the yacht.  Lainy drove her wheelchair out of the elevator.  She had her suitcase on her lap and was looking to make sure the coast was clear when the purser caught sight of her.  Her heart sank when he asked, ¡°Where are you going with that suitcase?¡±


    Lainy thought, ¡°Oh no, am I going to be the reason this whole thing falls through?  What do I say?  Help!!!¡±


    She actually kept a cool head, thought fast and told the purser, ¡°I¡¯m just on my way to do my laundry.¡±


    The purser who was really into showing the older people the movie, ¡®Cocoon¡¯ said, ¡°Oh, I can call the steward to do it for you so you don¡¯t miss the movie!¡±


    Lainy said, ¡°Oh, thank-you, but I had rather take care of it myself, because I am really picky about the way my clothes are folded and I want to make sure none are lost.  I have been waiting until movie time so the laundry room wouldn¡¯t be as crowded¡±


    The purser said, ¡°Well, ok, if you don¡¯t want the help.¡±  He watched Lainy wheel away toward the laundry room and then he went into the movie room and scooped a handful of popcorn and started munching it.


    Jim saw his chance and started people out the door and heading down the loading ramp.  They were moving pretty fast for older folks, the more mobile ones assisting the slower ones.  Karen was pushing Johnny, the man with one leg who had diabetes, and Sue nodded to Leonard who was carrying a box of lettuce up the ramp.  He found a dolly in the kitchen area and brought it back to the launch to haul the next load.


    Jim figured he had moved 25 people onto the yacht so far.  Nancy was right beside him, worrying they wouldn¡¯t make it.  ¡°Did you see the look on the purser¡¯s face, Jim.  I think he is onto us.  What are we going to  do?¡¯


    Jim said, ¡°You are going out the door and going to load up on the yacht right now and get that paranoia out of here!  Don¡¯t you know paranoia attracts fear and problems?  Quit worrying and that is an order!¡±


    Nancy meekly followed his orders and made it safely onto the yacht.  Before they knew it, the launch was unloaded and all of the people were safely loaded up.  Leonard came running down the ramp with Jim in tow and they jumped aboard, with Donald shifting into gear and they were off!

 Mass Confusion

    The very handsome ex-actor, Bob Perkins, was roused from his sleep by his cell phone ringing and then before he could reach it, his landline was ringing, as well. He was the president of the homeless initiative in Washington  DC.   His hair was sticking straight up and he jumped out of bed in his boxers.  ¡°Hello?¡± he answered the phone.


    ¡°Bob, we¡¯ve got trouble!  This morning, on Tic -toc and you-tube,  a video was released that may cause us serious problems.  Pictures of the doctor, looking at the camera, wide-eyed  at the clinic in Portland lifting the bed and the body going into the abyss.¡± his aide said.


    Bob yelled, ¡°Well, take it off of tic toc and u tube  immediately!  Who is responsible for this


    crime?  Don¡¯t just stand there, find the criminal and get that video off of the internet!  I thought we got the tic -toc voted out so we didn¡¯t have these kind of problems.


    His aide, John, said, ¡°It was only up fifteen minutes before we got it taken down.  We have also gotten the young lady in custody who caused this ruckus.  What do you want to do with her?¡±


    Meanwhile,  the mayor of Seattle, with his portly body and half bald head, was pacing up and down in his office, smoke coming out of his ears, saying, ¡°I told you I didn''t like this.  That video is going to get the whole city stirred up and I am going to be the fall guy for the ones who planned all of this!  Not only that, ¡° he said as he bent over to look at the man in front of him in the eyes, ¡°not only that but anyone with a conscience  knows that you have to watch out for Karma or reaping what you sow, or something.¡±


    ¡°Sir, our phones are ringing off the hook from all of the people calling in to protest the homeless solution.  We are getting calls, not just from Seattle, but all over the States and from faraway places like Australia!  What are we going to do?  I just got a call, saying there are demonstrations happening at the capitol building and the new clinic and the park where the homeless have started gathering in anticipation of the move to the cruise ship.  How should we handle this?¡±


    Meanwhile, aboard Donald¡¯s yacht, there was mass confusion.  There were people milling about everywhere.  Sue was helping two of the elderly people who were seasick because of the large waves.  The cruise ship had not moved much with the waves since it was a larger vessel.  She managed to get them settled in one of the cabins and looked around to see what else she could do to help.


    She found Jim looking helpless.  ¡°What do we do with all of these people?¡± he asked Sue.


    ¡°First of all, let¡¯s get everyone sitting down and it will be a lot calmer,¡± Sue answered.  ¡°Next, we will go from room to room and write everyone¡¯s name down and what room they are in right now and what they were working on on the cruise ship.  We don¡¯t need anymore than a snack for everyone tonight, so the kitchen is not a major factor tonight.  We do need to assign everyone to a bed and we will most likely, by the looks of things, have to sleep everyone in shifts.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    Jim said, ¡°I would like to start the list.  Some of the supplies from the launch were loaded on here, as I knew we would probably need them and they were intended for the ones here, as well as the ones left on the ship.Those supplies need to be sorted and put way so we don¡¯t have all of these boxes in all of the aisles.  What do you think about Leonard and his muscle men sorting all of them out?¡±


    Sue said, ¡°That¡¯s a fine idea and thank you for volunteering for making the lists, but I think Karen would actually be able to do that and you could help me with organizing, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    Jim agreed and before they knew it, all of the elderly had been assigned sleeping quarters.  The ones who would be awake on the first shift, could do some kitchen prep to get things ready for breakfast.  One of them would make sure all of the bathrooms had supplies so they would be ready for use.  Jim went and checked on Donald to see if he needed anything.  He brought Donald a cup of coffee.


    Meanwhile, aboard the cruise ship, Arnold, the purser, watching the movie,  laughed at the old folks sneaking out of the old folks home and going swimming at the mansion next door.  As the laughter died down in the room, Arnold looked around and wondered why so few people were at the movie tonight.  He figured they were tired and had gone to bed early.


    The next morning, he had to go to the shop first thing to get some tums.  ¡°I always forget what popcorn does to my stomach.  Man, that hurts!¡±  The shop was locked up tight so he waited about fifteen minutes and then sent someone to check on Karen, to make sure she was alright.  While he waited by the shop door, Lucy, one of the kitchen helpers came up to him and asked if he had moved Nancy out of the kitchen and said, ¡°If you did move her, please reconsider and send her back to the kitchen.  We really need her for breakfast prep.¡±


    Arnold said, ¡°No, I haven¡¯t moved her out of the kitchen.  Could you go to room number 216 and check on her to make sure she is alright?¡±  The steward returned from Nancy¡¯s room and reported that she wasn¡¯t there and the room looked as though she had moved out!  Arnold snickered, ¡°She probably has a boyfriend and moved in with him!¡±


    Lucy, the kitchen helper, returned and reported that Karen didn¡¯t come to the door, so she had to go in to check on her.  ¡°And when the door opened, I looked around but there wasn¡¯t anyone there.  It looked like she left in a hurry because the room was a mess.  There were stockings hanging from the shower rack and some dirty plates on the dresser.  The bed was not made either.  ¡°


    Arnold said, ¡°What is it with these elderly folks?  You give them a great movie night and then they turn all flakey the next day.¡±  After breakfast, Arnold received the news that two of the teachers were missing and the children were tossing paper airplanes, spitting spitballs and yelling.  ¡°Why are we missing old folks?  What is going on?¡± he asked  no one in particular.


    His personal steward approached him and said, ¡°Sir, we have got a problem.  At latest count, there seem to be 50 people missing.  Where could they be?¡±

 The Lemmings Escape

    Arnold eventually found out they were missing seventy-eight of the elderly.  He said to his personal steward, James, ¡°I don¡¯t get it how seventy-eight old folks could just disappear.  I mean they are as slow as molasses and where could they go or hide?  Unless they are like lemmings and they all jumped into the sea and committed suicide.  Yeah, that¡¯s probably what happened.  Well, I had probably better report this to the homeless initiative in DC as they asked to be kept informed of any changes.¡±


    ¡°Hello John, is it possible to speak with Mr. Perkins?  I have some interesting news of a new development.¡± Arnold said lightheartedly.


    ¡°Hello Arnold.  I am so sorry but he is not able to come to the phone.  Would you like to leave a message?¡± John, the aide to Bob Perkins said.


    ¡°Yes, I suppose I could do that.  John, have you ever heard of lemmings?¡±  Arnold asked.


    ¡°No, I really don¡¯t think so,¡± John said slowly.


    ¡°They are rodents who live in Alaska and when their community gets overpopulated, the majority of them climb up to a cliff overhanging the sea and they all start following each other jumping off of the cliff.  It is sort of a suicide pact to control the population of the lemmings.¡± Arnold explained.


    ¡°OK, but why is that necessary to tell Bob Perkins?  I don¡¯t think he will be interested in me telling him about suicidal animals.¡±  John said.


    Arnold laughed.  ¡°Well, there is more to it than that.  We woke up this morning and there were 78   of the elderly people missing from our cruise ship!  We looked everywhere, but can¡¯t find any of them, so I figured the only way they could have disappeared was for them to jump ship.  So I am informing you of the missing 78 people,¡± Arnold said.


    John said, ¡°I don¡¯t think this is very funny, Arnold.  Bob is not in a good mood and I don¡¯t think you should joke with him like this!¡±


    ¡°I am not joking, John.  Ok, maybe the lemmings comparison is not a good one, but we really are missing 78 people!¡±  Arnold said.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    John said he was receiving a call and had to go.  ¡°Hello?¡±  he answered the other line.


    The blustery mayor of Seattle was on the other line.  ¡°Hello!  May I please speak to Bob Perkins?  This is the mayor of Seattle and this is really important!¡±


    ¡°Sigh, every call today seems to be really important.  What should I tell him is the reason for this call?¡± John asked.


    ¡°Our phones are ringing off the hooks, with people complaining about the inhumane treatment of the homeless at the clinic in Portland and objecting to the same fate for the homeless in Seattle.  I told you all I didn¡¯t want to enforce the homeless solution in Seattle and now we have this trouble.  You folks are able to hide up there in Washington DC, but we are left to deal with these people and their demonstrations and it has gone crazy over here.  What are you going to do about it?¡± the mayor asked.


    ¡°Ok, let me get Bob.  Please hold on,¡± John said.


    ¡°This is Bob,¡± Mr. Perkins said as he answered the phone.  ¡°How can I help you?¡±


    The mayor was full of his subject and practically yelled the whole problem to Mr. Perkins.  Mr. Perkins calmly explained to the mayor, ¡°The video has been taken down from social media and we have the obnoxious Karen in custody.  Her name is Miranda Cummings.  Miles was sent to talk with her.  She won¡¯t be causing any more trouble.  Also, we have contacted the captain of the cruise ship that was moved into your bay and he will be moving it today to Los Angeles and out of your hair.  Stop moving forward with the homeless solution and post signs at the clinic and at the park, letting everyone know that the operations will not be starting up in November and they are indefinitely suspended.¡±


    The mayor had calmed down  significantly at this news.  ¡°So we won¡¯t be hosting the homeless solution?¡± the mayor asked.


    ¡°Not right now.  We will let the crazies die down first and we will operate in other places first before we get to starting up Seattle,¡±  Bob explained.  ¡°Does that help your situation?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is much better, but what about that pest, the Karen?  What if she starts stirring things up again?¡± the mayor asked.


    ¡°  Miles told her when she was talking about the homeless solution being inhumane, that she just needed to look at the homeless on the street with the concrete as their pillows and with needles strung out all around them and with people spitting on them and with them laying in their own vomit.  Then he asked Miranda Cummings if that was humane, leaving them in that situation.  He also showed her some pictures of the homeless on the cruise ship in Portland and how happy they were.  Then to totally convince her, he threatened her with losing her job and not being able to pay her mortgage.   She is now totally convinced,¡± Bob explained.


    The mayor was satisfied with this answer and was already preparing his speech to the city of Seattle.

 Falling Off of the Roller Coaster

    Leonard flopped down on his bed, exhausted.  He was strong, but he had put in a long day and a half, organizing the other guys and then unloading the launch and after they took off, putting supplies away.  He had no idea how many boxes he had moved.  He felt happy, being useful, but was ready for some rest.  He hoped he had gotten enough of the food boxes to the kitchen on the yacht for Nancy to be able to organize the breakfast.for this morning.


    Bruce, the watch and clock repairman, was watching Donald steer the yacht and paid attention to the knobs and buttons he was pushing.  His mechanical mind was feasting on the new knowledge.  Donald was not used to being the only pilot aboard.  His usual buddy was off on an African Safari, because Donald had not expected  to need his help during the off season for outfitting.  Donald had not ironed out how he was going to face this new situation.  He had thought he would try to stay up all week and do all of the driving or he could put down anchor and sleep for a few hours, but was feeling uneasy about either  of these ideas.  He had a special bed that lowered down over the steering area, like a bunk but without a bottom bunk, but didn¡¯t know how he was going to manage some sleep.


    An idea started forming in his mind.  ¡°Bruce, would you like to steer the yacht for a while?¡± Donald asked.


    Bruce jumped at the chance and Donald cautioned him about a few things he needed to watch out for.  Bruce took the steering wheel and looked like he was in Heaven!  Donald put the captain¡¯s cap on Bruce and sat beside him.  Bruce took to his driving lessons like a fish to water.  After Donald had taught  Bruce all of the basics, he felt comfortable leaving him at the wheel while he slept.  He was sleeping just above where Bruce was driving in case Bruce had any problems.


    Nancy had enough volunteers to pull off a breakfast of oatmeal, bacon and eggs and they set it out buffet style.  Nancy would be the chief chef and meal planner and she had another of her volunteers be in charge of lunches so that she had a little time off of her feet for a nap in the middle of the day.


    Sue was looking for volunteers to do the dishwashing and was getting frustrated with the lack of interest.  Jim walked up and put his arm around her and asked what was wrong.  ¡°No  one wants to help with the dishes and I am completely out of ideas of how to talk anyone into it and this is just the first meal.  We will have 20 more meals before we get to our destination and is this how it is going to go the whole time?¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Jim said, ¡°Leave it to me!¡± with a smile and a wink and before Sue knew it there were so many people volunteering, some had to be turned away!


    Sue didn¡¯t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but her curiosity got the better of her.  ¡°I have to ask how you got these volunteers, Jim.  It seems like you did it effortlessly, too!  How in the world did you do it?¡±


    ¡°I simply promised a kiss to anyone who was on the dishwashing team!  It helps to be 25 years younger than all of the women!¡±  Jim said happily.


    Donald was dreaming about being at the state fair.  He was on the roller coaster, swaying from side-to-side and fearing for his life that the roller coaster was going to fall off of the tracks when he heard, ¡°Donald, wake up!  We are in a storm and I can¡¯t control the yacht.  Please help!¡± Bruce was in over his head, trying to keep the yacht from capsizing!


    Donald sat up, bumping his head on the ceiling and rolling out of bed.  He looked around, checking out the weather, turning on the report on the radio and grabbing the steering wheel, turning into the storm.  ¡°We are going off course right now, but it is necessary to drive into the storm to keep from capsizing, Bruce¡± using the situation for a teaching situation for Bruce.


    They were being tossed around, but were no longer in danger of capsizing.  ¡°Some of those waves are ten feet high!  Jim came running in to ask Donald if everything was ok.


    ¡°Yes, we will make it through, alright.  How are things in the rest of the boat,¡± Donald asked.


    Jim said, ¡°Everyone is ok.  We had to get rid of the lunch buffet and just put out bananas and crackers.  I had to stop the dishwashing for now,¡± he said as he tumbled  to the floor.


    Donald said, ¡°You need to hold on.  We don¡¯t need you to have any injuries.  Please be careful!  I think you need to caution all of the old folks to stay in their bunks or cots and the ones who don¡¯t have either for the moment, to sit and not try to walk around.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m on it!¡± Jim said as he walked cautiously back to talk to the old folks.  Donald and Bruce continued to wrestle with the yacht.  Bruce yelled over the noise of the storm, ¡°Is this a hurricane?¡±


    ¡°No, but it''s not far off,¡± Donald responded.

 Skip Seattle, Lets Take L.A.

    The yacht was being tossed all over the place.  The elderly folks were vomiting non-stop and the ones who were not sick were cleaning vomit off of the floor, the beds, the brass railings and almost any and every surface you could imagine.


    Donald was second-guessing himself about whether he should have rescued this boatful of puking people and wondering if his boat would ever be the same again!  ¡°I¡¯ll get you for roping me into this,¡± he told Carl in his mind.  He continued on his westerly course and worriedly realized they could run out of gas before reaching Alaska!


    Meanwhile, Bob Perkins, the president of the homeless initiative, was meeting with John, his aide and they were working out details for opening the Los Angeles Homeless solution.


    ¡°We have already sent the cruise ship that was going to service Seattle down to Los Angeles, but we will need more.  Put  a call in to our superiors so I can request more ships, then put a call into the clinic in Seattle and let the workers know they can have two weeks off, paid, living at the clinic before we ship them off to LA.  Also, call the ones at the park, and give them the same news.  We will put them up at the clinic in Seattle, since it will mean less cost for us than putting them at a hotel.¡±


    ¡°Then, get contractors working on the clinic in LA, double-time.  We need the whole thing finished in a month.  We also need to find a suitable location for the main base and for the clinic for that operation.  If we can find a close enough location for the base, we won¡¯t need any vans for driving them out to the launches that will take them to the ships.  Just as soon as we have acquired the land for the base, get the posters made up to tell the homeless where to come.  That should be just about enough to keep you busy for a few days.  I¡¯ll be waiting by the phone for the call about the extra ships.  Thank you John.¡±


    Back on the yacht, fortunately, the following day, the waves ceased and there was only light rain.  Donald checked his instrument readings and looked at his nautical charts after turning the steering over to Bruce, who eagerly grabbed the wheel.  Sue went from bed to cot to chair, giving everyone water bottles, encouraging them to rehydrate.  She was concerned about May, a slight, wiry, 80 year old of Asian descent who kept asking for ginger.  ¡°I don¡¯t think we have any, but I will check, ¡° feeling like if May didn¡¯t drink something soon, she wouldn¡¯t make it.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Sue looked through box after box and amazingly enough found a small box of ginger tea, among the other teas!  She had Nancy make the tea for May and asked her to take it to her once it was ready.


    May sipped on the tea for a while and kept it down,  The color started returning to her face and she actually had no more vomiting.  After an hour had passed, May was asking Nancy for some more tea for her Asian friends.  Karen asked May, after seeing how much better she was, if the tea was only for the Asian people or if she could have some too.  May gladly shared the tea with Karen and whoever else wanted it and before you knew it, all vomiting had stopped.  Next Nancy learned the whole yacht full of people was hungry, so cooking was resumed and things were getting on an even keel, if you know what I mean!


    Sarah, who had run the base operations in Portland, arrived in Seattle to find everything had changed and she had a two weeks paid vacation and would be relocating to LA at the end of it.  She didn¡¯t know how she felt about it, since her ex-husband was living there and they were not on friendly terms.  Granted, LA was a huge place and chances were she would probably never run into him, but she would take her vacation time to think it over.


    Sarah, the ladies who ran the showers, the cooks and servers, the drivers and all of the people who would be running the base in LA were each shown to a small suite where they would stay for their vacation.  The lady showing them to their rooms said they could order room service and order whatever they liked.  Sarah thought, ¡°I could get used to this!  I just have to not think about what this place will be used for once we leave!¡±


    Donald changed their course to the northeast, so they were once again headed to Alaska.  He checked on the miles and the gas and felt they would make it on the gas they had since he always tried to take extra in case of an emergency like this!  He realized these people had left the cruise ship with very few  belongings and they would be facing cold weather soon if not immediately.  He tried to think about what supplies they would need and realized there would be nowhere to buy 80 winter coats and pairs of gloves.


    Donald had Jim go around measuring the old folks so he could get coats to fit, pulled out his credit card and phone and ordered  coats for everyone !

 War Heroes and Mothers

    Donald mused about the coats.  Here he was out in the Pacific Ocean, ordering coats with a cell phone and credit card, invisibly and by the time they got to their dock, there would be packages waiting for them.  Times had sure changed!  As he thought ahead, he realized he hadn¡¯t thought ahead.  How in the world was he going to get 80 people transported to the lodge and all of the supplies, too?  He sighed.  Well he had just four more days to come up with a solution.


    Bob Perkins of the homeless initiative had his own share of problems cropping up.  His man on the ground in LA, Ray Moss,  was having a terrible time finding a place to buy for the clinic, which was so essential to this new operation.  Any place near the bay came with an exorbitant price.  Ray  had started looking further away from the Santa Monica Bay.  Bob was eager to acquire the property for the clinic so they would be able to go ahead with the homeless solution in LA.  He asked Ray to even check to see if they could find several smaller places that were more economical  instead of one huge place for a clinic.  After getting off of the phone with Ray, Bob popped a pill and washed it down with a sip of his morning Joe.


    Bob was quite agitated.  The folks over him were not being very understanding about the Seattle crisis.  He felt he had handled it well, but his boss wasn¡¯t convinced that they should be taking on such a huge homeless population as LA, yet.  They reminded him that acquiring large decommissioned cruise ships was not as easy as snapping your fingers.  They would need to accommodate approximately 50,000 people on the ships!!!  Bob felt a growing uneasiness and popped another pill.


    Suddenly he had a thought.  What if, instead of sending the elderly out to a cruise ship, they simply went straight to a clinic?  He had conflicting thoughts about this.  Many of the elderly were men who had fought for their country, for his country!  Didn¡¯t they deserve better than this?  Weren¡¯t they heroes?  Shouldn¡¯t the government express its thanks by treating them like heroes and supplying housing and food and whatever else they needed?  These war heroes had sacrificed time with their young children as they grew up, many had lost limbs or experienced mental problems, dealing with the atrocities of war.  What kind of country were we to just throw them to the curb?Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Then he thought about the elderly women.  Most of them had worked hard, raising the ones who were running the country now.  Many of them sacrificed careers to do the day to day job of raising their children.  Without careers, they had much less to live on as they aged.   We all have to die sometime and maybe sending the elderly to the clinics will save them from the suffering old age brings.  Yes, you could say I am saving them from arthritis, cancer, diabetes, etc!  Bob hadn¡¯t convinced himself.


    ¡® Damn, damn, damn!  Do I give in to my conscience or do I go ahead with the population control and cleaning up our streets?  If I could run away, I would do it right now.  Not a consideration,¡¯  Bob thought.


    Sarah and the others who would be helping the homeless solution in LA, as soon as it was ready for them were enjoying their paid for vacation.  The clinic in Seattle was fully stocked with food and the chef was cooking amazing meals for them.  Sarah couldn''t help feeling apprehensive, though.  Not everyone was aware of what this clinic they were staying in would be used for.  Sarah knew and it gave her the creeps. She thought, ¡°I can¡¯t wait to get back to helping the homeless get to the cruise ships where they will have housing and food and a job waiting for them.  However, do I really want to go to LA?

 A Toast to the End of Homelessness

    Trish and Carol were so excited about the party coming up tonight!  Their large backyard was shaping up, with tables and chairs and a large tent over them.  There were several stations at different locations, with nachos at one, margaritas at another, fruit and veggie trays at another, caviar and bagels at another and a big carrot cake with cream cheese icing and fondant designs of tents, needles and alcohol bottles to decorate it.  There were streamers and balloons everywhere.  And Trish¡¯s  parents had come through with not only adult tricycles, but also a dunk tank!


    While the girls waited for everyone to get there, they tidied up the house and picked out some music to play.  Trish walked all of the prizes for the games out to a table.  She arranged them neatly and then got chinese lanterns hung.  Guests began arriving around 6:30 and everyone started  relaxing in the next hour.  Carol asked for a volunteer to sit in the dunk tank.  Peter Johnson volunteered and started to climb into the tank, when Carol stopped him.  She took him inside and had him change clothes.  When he came back out, two of the girls¡¯ friends rushed him and tackled him.  ¡°What are you doing in here you old bum?  I thought we got rid of all of the homeless!¡±


    Carol laughed and said, ¡°Let him up, you guys.  That is Peter and he is dressed up for the dunk tank.  We thought it would be fitting to dunk a homeless person to add to the celebration!¡±  The guys all laughed and sheepishly brushed Peter off.  Peter climbed into the dunk tank, saying, ¡°I bet I am not hot the rest of the day!¡±  The dunk tank proved to be quite a hit, as they threw softballs at the target to dunk ¡®homeless¡¯ Peter!


    Trish handed out margaritas and she was pretty busy.  It wasn¡¯t long before she had to refill the margarita machine.  At one point, Carol gathered everyone together for a toast.  Trish made sure there were drinks all around and then raised her glass and said, ¡°Today we are rid of all of the homeless and their drugs and drunkenness.  May they never bother us again!¡±  She drank her whole glass down and encouraged everyone to do the same.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Carol thought, ¡°That sure feels odd, drinking to riddance of the addicts and drunks.  Why, I just saw some of these people doing lines of coke in the house before we had the toast.  The doorbell rang and she went to answer it.  The next door neighbors were there.  ¡°This party is too loud!  If you can¡¯t quiet down, we will have to call the police.¡±


    Carol said, ¡°Oh please don¡¯t do that.  We are just so happy that all of the homeless are gone that we are celebrating!  Please come join us.  Right this way to the backyard!¡±


    Meanwhile, Donald had turned the steering of the yacht over to Bruce and he had gone out on deck to stretch his legs.He was met with a curious sight.  Jim, holding a bottle of mint mouthwash in his hand, was kissing an old lady!  Then he handed the mouthwash to the next in a line of ten elderly women, she swished the mouthwash and Jim kissed her, too!  He continued watching  until all of the  ladies had been kissed by Jim and walked off starry-eyed.  Jim was wiping off his mouth with the back of his hand when Donald walked up.  ¡°Have we been on this yacht too long?  Are you missing women?  What is going on?¡±


    Jim said, ¡°We needed dishwashers so I promised a kiss to the ones who volunteered for dishwashing.  I hope I haven¡¯t started something that I can¡¯t stop!¡±


    Donald laughed at him and continued on his walk.  He was going over possibilities of transportation to the lodge.  He called a bus company that was located near the place he would park the boat to check on availability.  When he learned they had availability, he booked two buses to take them to the lodge.  ¡°That should be plenty to hold all of us and our supplies.  What a relief!¡±  he thought.

 The Killer is Sniffing Around

    The following Tuesday, Carl was back on the job, driving supplies out to the ship.  He hadn¡¯t been told of any rider to accompany him in the semi and had breathed a sigh of relief about that, since it was not exactly good news the two previous times.  He wondered how Donald and crew were faring on their trip on the high seas.  Donald would probably call him when he got to the lodge.  Carl was sure he had his hands full in the meantime.


    Carl wrapped up the paperwork for the trip and his inspections and climbed up in the cab and to his horror, there sat Max, the federal man!


    ¡°Hello Carl, you look disturbed.  Is anything wrong?¡±  asked the man who would be traveling with  him to the ship.


    Carl, taken aback, only answered, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°I am not tired this time so I thought we could have a chat while we drive.  Go ahead and get comfortable and I will save the questions for our drive,¡± Max said.


    Carl outwardly managed to look composed, but he was sweating and hoped Max didn¡¯t notice.  He turned on the AC and took a sip of his large hot coffee.


    Max said, ¡°Do you usually run the AC at the end of October?  Is something the matter?¡±


    Carl simply explained, ¡°No sir, nothing is wrong.  I just enjoy hot coffee more than cold coffee, but it makes me hot so I need some air-conditioning.  Is  it too cold for you sir?  I can turn it down some, if you would like.¡±


    Max said, ¡°No, it''s ok.  Carry on.¡±


    Carl heaved an invisible sigh, feeling relieved that he had carried off this first confrontation alright.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Max and Carl made small talk for a while and then Max said, ¡°Now let¡¯s get down to business.  I don¡¯t know whether you heard or not but somehow we have misplaced seventy-eight old people from the cruise ship.  I am going there to investigate and see if we can¡¯t find them.  The purser, Arnold, seemed to think they all jumped into the ocean and drowned.  That¡¯s a convenient assumption.  I, for one, don¡¯t think that is what happened, and I am going to find out.  Now, what do you know about the situation?¡±


    Carl said,   ¡°I really don¡¯t know what could have happened to them.¡±


    Max said, ¡°We invested a lot into getting those people off of the streets and ready for the clinic.  We can¡¯t let them just slip through our fingers.  As long as they are in the United States, they are ours!¡±


    Max said, ¡°I heard you gave the rider you had last week some time off when you got to the ship.  Is that true?¡±


    Carl said, ¡°Yes, it is.¡±


    Max said, ¡°Why would you do such a thing?   Doesn¡¯t that sound suspicious to you?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so but I can see how from your perspective you might think so.  Several of the older men asked if they could do the unloading because they wanted to impress some girls with their muscles and I didn¡¯t see any harm in letting them do that.  Also, my rider was recovering from the flu and he seemed pretty grateful for the downtime.   I¡¯m sorry if I overstepped my boundaries,¡±  Carl said.


    ¡°Well, you should be.  I think that somehow they made their escape during that time.  Do you want to be responsible for the loss of all of those people, Carl?¡±


    ¡°Why no, of course not.  I don¡¯t want to be blamed for something I didn¡¯t do!¡±  Carl objected.


    Max said, ¡°Good, then you will cooperate and help me find out the missing parts to the puzzle.  We will spend the night again on the ship and interrogate every last passenger on the ship, if we have to to get to the bottom of this.  Right?¡±


    ¡°Of course I will help you, sir,¡± Carl said.  His heart was racing.    He had to appear calm.  How was he going to make it out of this alive, with the killer sniffing around so close?

 Wolverines

    The last night before reaching Alaska, Jim had asked Leonard and the other men who could help with loading and unloading to get a really good night¡¯s sleep because they would be called on to do a lot of work once they arrived.  Sue brought all of them some melatonin to help with their sleep.


    Donald eased the yacht into his indoor parking area that was equipped with a dry dock for winter storage.  It was really pleasant weather this morning but could turn into a winter wonderland at any time.  He paid his buddy that he rented the storage place from to winterize the yacht, as having fluids in the holding tanks was a no-no here.


    Leonard and the rest of the strongarms began unloading the supplies from the launch and stacked them beside the boxes of coats which had been delivered, in preparation for loading up the buses which were expected within the hour.  Sue had taken a shopping list and Donald¡¯s credit card to the local store to get necessities.  As soon as the buses arrived, the men set to loading it.  There was a lot of room underneath the seating to carry supplies, but not quite enough, so the last three rows of seats in each bus were also used for supplies.  Everyone boarded and they were off to the lodge.  Nancy had packed sandwiches and bananas and water bottles for everyone so they didn¡¯t have to stop for food.  There was no restaurant  in the area that could seat and feed 80 people, anyway!


    About three miles into their journey, the bus drivers slowed to a stop.  Donald asked what was going on and the driver explained as he pointed that there was a bull moose in the road.  Karen asked, ¡°Why dahling, why don¡¯t you just shoo it away?¡±


    Donald, being an outfitter, explained, ¡°Why Karen, a bull moose is very temperamental and can turn a car over easily.  He couldn¡¯t turn over this bus, but he could destroy the engine if he got irritated and that would leave us stranded.  We simply have to wait until he decides to move off of the road.¡±


    After about 45 minutes, the bull must have heard a female calling because he took off at a run and the buses once more continued on their way.  Just before they got to the lodge, a large hardwood tree stopped their progress as it was laying across the road.  Donald asked the driver if he had his chainsaw and when it was produced, he began sawing the tree into manageable pieces.  He had some of Leonard¡¯s men stack the pieces of wood on the side of the road while he cut.  They would come back down here and retrieve the wood to use in the fireplaces at the lodge.


    When they arrived at the lodge, Donald went to open it up and discovered he had misplaced the key.  He knew Anne, his housekeeper always hid her key in a new location every time she left, so he called Anne to ask her where it was.   Anne, in her Irish brogue, said, ¡°Well Donald, ye really shouldn¡¯t be forgittin yore key ever time and wanton to use mine!  Try lookin under the flowerpot on the porch.¡±The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Donald did and reported, ¡°It isn¡¯t there.¡±


    ¡°Well lovey, look under the rock that is holdin down the rope for the awnin.  Not there either?  Hmm.  Oh I remember now!  Go around by the back door and reach way up on top of the door on the right side.  You got it?  Good.  Enjoy your stay.  I will see you later in the year.¡±  The lodge was opened up so it could air out, the supplies were moved in and people were assigned to rooms and Nancy and crew started cooking  a nice meal.


    Karen looked around the rustic lodge and marvelled at how many people it could accommodate and had to wonder how such a large place had come to be way out here in the woods!


    In the middle of the night, Donald was awakened by a noise.  His first thought was, ¡°I hope we got all of the food moved inside.¡±  He got out his flashlight and his shotgun.  Bruce walked in and asked what he was doing.  Donald said, ¡°Have you ever eaten wolverine?¡±


    Bruce said, ¡°I don¡¯t think so, why?¡±


    Donald said, ¡°I think we have one wandering around outside.  Can you shoot a gun?¡±


    ¡®Why, yes I can,¡± he answered.


    Donald cautioned him, ¡°Wolverines are extremely dangerous, so please be careful.¡±


    When he opened the front door, he closed it immediately when he heard snarling.  ¡°I think there are two of them and they are fighting over something.  They devised a plan.  Bruce would open the front door while Donald had his gun raised,  then close it promptly.  They went for it and just as Donald pulled the trigger, the wolverine jumped toward the open door!


    Meanwhile, as soon as the launch had  been offloaded onto the cruise ship, Max started interviewing people on the ship to find out who knew something about the missing old folks.  He was bound and determined to find these missing people, because their time was at hand and if they got away, they would just have to be rounded up again and at more expense to the government.


    Since it was late and most people had gone to bed, they started with the nightshift.  ¡°We may as well start at the top with the captain. ¡° Max wandered onto the bridge and introduced himself to the captain.  ¡°Hello, I am Max and I wondered if I might ask you a few questions,¡± Max said pleasantly, as he flashed his credentials.


    The captain said, ¡°Hello!  I am Captain Reynolds.  Welcome aboard!  What are you here for?¡±


    ¡°I brought supplies and need to ask you if you know anything about the missing elderly from this ship?¡±


    ¡°Why no, I don¡¯t.  Why don¡¯t you ask some of our other older folks. They may give you some insight,¡± the captain said.


    Max and Carl continued making rounds, asking the ones who were doing all of the nightly chores and they made so little headway that Max was feeling angry.  He was starting to feel this was a lost cause when Carl brought in Lorraine to be questioned.  Max offered her some coffee, which she gladly took.  When he asked her if she had any clue as to  what happened to the old folks, Lorraine answered, ¡°It¡¯s just like the movie we were watching that night.  They made their escape on a boat.  I didn¡¯t see it go up into a space ship, though.  You know aliens are real; I saw one once.  It wasn¡¯t green, though.  Did you ever see one?¡±


    Max could feel his blood beginning to boil.

 They are in Alaska

    Max thanked Lorraine, civilly and told her she could go.  He turned to Carl and asked him if there was some way he could screen the old folks a little better so he wasn¡¯t bringing old folks with alzheimers to him.  Max said, ¡°I can¡¯t get any answers from them that will do any good at all!¡±


    Carl said, ¡°You know, Max, things might go smoother if we stopped and got some rest.  We have worked all through the night and tensions are high since we haven¡¯t gotten much information on the missing old folks.¡±


    Max snarled, ¡°We will rest when we get some leads.  Bring me some food!¡±


    Carl wished then that he had gone with Donald and Jim just so he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with Max and his unpleasantries!


    While Carl went to get lunch for the men, Max came up with an idea that he thought just might work!  He just needed to get all of their cell phone numbers and information on their credit cards and tracing them should be a cinch!


    Meanwhile, Ray Moss was reporting in to Bob Perkins, the president of the homeless initiative, about his progress, in looking for a base and a clinic location in Los Angeles.  ¡°With your permission and pull, I would like to suggest using Venice Beach for our base, Bob.  It could be rent free if you talk with the right people and the constant sweeps do no good in discouraging the homeless from camping there again within days after each sweep.  So, since the homeless gravitate toward there anyway, it would actually give us a headstart in that area.  What do you think, Bob?¡±


    Bob answered slowly, ¡°I like how you think.  We would obviously get objections, as it would take up one of California¡¯s beaches, temporarily.  Well, that can¡¯t be helped, let¡¯s get this started!  What about your progress in finding a location for the clinic?   That is of the utmost importance, Ray.  Remember we still need to get the clinic built, after we do locate a place for it.¡±


    Ray said, ¡°We have found a good possibility.  There is an old mine for sale up in the mountains .  There are no nearby neighbors and it would be easy enough to construct a usable road up there.¡±


    ¡°How much land comes with the mine and is any of it flat?  We still have to deal with the recent publicity that circled the globe.  I want to do things differently from Portland.  I think if we put a swimming pool and a hot tub or two on the land, we can bring all of the homeless people over 55 up here to a ¡®resort¡¯.  I think taking care of them first, instead of shipping them off to a cruise ship, will prevent having to move the older people twice and will cut our need for cruise ships in half!  I say, go for it!  Get the contractors started as soon as the deal goes through and give them a week to get the roads finished!  How quickly can the contractors get the building built and ready for our homeless seniors?¡±


    Ray said, ¡°I¡¯ll get it all started immediately and send you the estimates within a couple of days.  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Max, excited by his thinking of finding the missing elderly by their cell phones and the GPS, went straight to the purser¡¯s office and demanded to see him.  Arnold complied and went to see what Max needed this time.  Max asked Arnold, ¡°May I please have a list of all of the missing elderly, their cell phone numbers and their credit card information?  I will need it asap!¡±


    Arnold thought for a minute and said, ¡°I will be glad to get you the list of the people and their cell phone numbers, but we don¡¯t have any lists of credit card information.  I honestly don¡¯t think any of them have credit cards anymore, because we operate on tokens here on the ship.¡±


    Max felt irate, because he had counted on finding the elderly fast by tracking their spending.  He tried not to show his temper, because he really needed the other information from Arnold and he didn¡¯t want to tick him off.  He went to his cabin for a nap while Arnold got his information.


    ¡°Hello?  Is this Karen?¡±  Max asked, calling her the minute Arnold brought the information.


    Karen hadn¡¯t been expecting any calls and answered, ¡°Yes, who is this, dahling?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask the questions.  Where are you  and how did you get there?¡± Max asked excitedly.  His plan was working! He had reached one of the missing elderly!  They had not jumped in the ocean and he was going to find them!


    Karen answered, ¡°Alaska,¡± and realized the minute it came out of her mouth that she had messed up!  She quickly hung up the phone and went to find Donald.


    Donald, after hearing of Karen¡¯s phone call, got everyone together in the great hall of the lodge for a meeting.  ¡°Karen just got a call and they wanted to know where she was.  We suspect a government official and that they are trying to find all of you.  Has anyone else gotten a suspicious phone call?¡±


    Although no one else had gotten a call from Max yet, Donald asked everyone if they would be willing to turn in their phones to him to destroy so they would not be found by GPS.  Everyone eagerly turned their phones over to Donald to protect their safety.  Sue asked, ¡°But they know we are in Alaska.  They could be here any minute to get us!¡±


    Donald patiently asked her, ¡°How big do you think Alaska is?  It is very unlikely they could find us from that information alone.


    Max eagerly called Washington and told Bob, ¡°I have found the missing elderly!  They are in Alaska and I am going to get them!¡±


    Bob, always the practical one, said, ¡°Do you know where in Alaska they are?  Also, how many of them escaped?¡±


    Max said, ¡°No, I don¡¯t know what part of Alaska they are in, but I can call another of their cell phones and get more information.  Seventy-eight elderly are up there.¡±


    Bob asked him, ¡°Did you know there are approximately 1,400- 1,500 elderly still on the ships there in Portland?  And, the clinic is set up, ready to go?  We simply need to get the elderly over to the clinic and take care of business.  Do you have any idea of the cost of going up to Alaska to get the 78 people?  Think man.  A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.  We need to get finished with the Portland clinic so that the skeleton crew there can leave for Los Angeles.  We need to do this quickly and efficiently before we get any more negative publicity.¡±


    Max felt humiliated and angry.  He had been an agent for over 14 years and knew what he was doing.  He was not going to put up with Bob emasculating him.

 Spa Day for the Elderly

    Bob Perkins phoned the clinic in Portland to let them know they would be expecting a large influx of people.  The Doctor at the clinic objected, saying the odor was too bad to continue to operate.  Bob said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we are on it.  Just be ready for the people coming in.¡±  Bob got his right hand man to contact a cement company and to order large amounts of lime powder.  The man who was in charge of the clinic¡¯s skeleton crew now, Les Smith, received the shipment of lime and had it dumped into the holes in the downstairs rooms.  Next, he received the cement trucks and had the cement poured into the two holes.  This was allowed to dry for three days, before they could receive the new people.


    There was a noticeable change in the odor of the clinic after the three days had passed.  During this time, decorations had been placed in the main living area and dining room to welcome the elderly and put them at ease.  There were also candles lit all over the two rooms, creating a nice atmosphere and fragrance.


    Arnold, the purser on the cruise ship, called a meeting for the 55 and older in the movie theater of the ship.  ¡°We have just received word that a very special event is scheduled for you folks.  You must be 55 or older to go on this spa adventure.  It is to begin the day after tomorrow.  You will not leave all at the same time; it will be a rotating schedule and each day 300 of you will leave by launch to go for your spa day.  Please pack and be ready.  The lucky first ones will receive a note slipped under your cabin door!  Don¡¯t worry; each of the following days, a new batch of you will also receive a note until everyone has had an opportunity to attend the spa!  What do you think?¡±


    There was a roar in the theater of people talking all at once!  ¡°I never expected to be treated like this after being homeless!¡±  ¡°I wonder what fun things the spa includes.  I hope they will do manicures and pedicures for us.  I haven¡¯t been able to reach my toenails for a while  and they are out of control!¡±  ¡°You know, 20 years ago I would have said a spa day is sissy, but now that I am older, a massage sounds heavenly!¡±  and  a whispered, ¡°Do you trust this spa day?  Karen from the shop said there was an evil plan to get rid of everyone over 55.  I didn¡¯t believe her and refused to go with the ones who left.  Could she have been right?¡±


    Max thought, ¡°Those old folks are not going to get one over on me.  I will find them and bring every last one of them back here!  I don¡¯t care if Bob Perkins says it is too expensive and a waste of time.  You don¡¯t make a fool out of old Max.¡±  Max realized he wasn¡¯t going to get back-up from Bob or any of the other government people so he took a leave of absence from his job and started making his plans.  Max decided on a houseboat since he would most likely be spending a lot of time on the water, going to different ports, looking for the elderly who had eluded him.  He had no idea what he was getting into!


    Donald and Bruce had their hearts pumping 100 miles an hour!  They had just shot a wolverine!  Donald held his finger to his lips for Bruce to be quiet.  He whispered, ¡°There were two of them out there.  Let¡¯s see if we can still hear the other one.¡±  They strained their ears and eventually heard, ¡°shhh-lump, shh-lump¡±  which Donald figured was the live wolverine dragging the dead one.  He reloaded and motioned for Bruce to get the door, got the wolverine in his sights and ¡®ka-pow¡¯!  They had theirselves a double wolverine kill!  Donald said, ¡°Well there is supper for tonight!  He didn¡¯t want to leave the two dead animals on the porch, as it would probably upset the ladies when they went out for their morning coffee, so he and Bruce dragged the animals out to the processing shed.  He had this shed for his outfitting business.  Many of his clients liked to save the skins to take home for showing off to their friends.  He was not a taxidermist, by any means, but he could preserve skins.  They got back to bed, both feeling satisfied and useful!This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The next morning, Donald and Bruce went straight to the processing shed and got to work.  Donald had a little stove out there and he put on a huge 2 gallon pot to boil while he cut the heads off of the wolverines.  They went straight into the pot.  The brains would be used for tanning the hides to preserve them.  Donald got out two knives and taught Bruce how to skin the creatures.  It went slower than normal as Donald walked Bruce through each step.  They had already gotten the guts out of the creatures and Donald put them in a tightly tied up package in his small fridge that he kept in the shed.  He would save the guts for a polar bear trap later.


    The men cut the meat into usable sized pieces and wrapped them in butcher paper to take to the kitchen.  Bruce was bubbling over with excitement!  He had gone from being very queasy, to being proud of providing his ¡®family¡¯ with organic, sustainable nourishment!  Nancy received the fresh meat in the kitchen and said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me.  I don¡¯t want to know.  I heard the shots last night.  I would rather pretend that you found this meat at the  grocery store.  It just makes it easier to prepare.  One question, though.  Can I make chicken nuggets in the air fryer with this meat?¡±


    Donald laughed and said, ¡°Yes, it should be perfect for that!¡±  He and Bruce retired to the processing shed after each retrieving a cup of coffee and set to work on preserving the hides.  Bruce asked Donald, ¡°Why are we going to all of this trouble, Donald.  Why don¡¯t we just use the food we brought with us and why are we spending all of this time on tanning the hides?


    Donald replied, ¡°The food we brought with us is not going to last for long.  We have to fill the deep freeze with as much meat as we are able to hunt and we need to do it now before the harsh winter hits.  As far as the wolverine pelts, the elderly have not brought much in the way of clothing since they didn¡¯t have much living on the streets.  The hope is that some of these ladies are good seamstresses and can make warm, usable clothing out of the skins we just got  and hopefully continue to get!¡±


    Bruce said, ¡°I¡¯m glad you are thinking ahead!¡± and the phone rang.


    Donald answered, ¡°Hello?¡±


    Carl, his brother said, ¡°Donald, I¡¯m glad you answered.  Max just called Karen and she told him you are in Alaska.  He tried some of the other numbers of the elderly you have with you, but no answer.  Can you please tell all of them not to answer their phones.  He is trying to pinpoint your location so he can bring all of them back.  He says as long as they are on American soil, they belong to him!¡±


    Donald felt chills run down his spine.  ¡°Is the government backing him up?¡±


    ¡°No, he is going on leave and is going to do this all on his own.  Do you think he can find you?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.  There are too many places we could be up here.  I think we are pretty safe, but I had better talk with the boat storage man and the bus company to ask them to keep us on the downlow if anybody starts asking questions.  By the way, we have  destroyed all of the cell phones except for mine, so he can¡¯t locate them by GPS,¡± Donald explained.  ¡°What new developments have happened with the rest of the elderly?¡±


    Carl said, ¡°It is happening.  They are going on a ¡®spa day¡¯  starting tomorrow.  Three hundred of them a day will go to this so-called spa.¡±


    Donald asked, ¡°How are they going to explain it away when the elderly don¡¯t come back to the ships?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea but I will let you know when I hear,¡± Carl answered.  ¡°I had better get back to work.  Keep your phone on, brother.¡±


    ¡°I will.  Talk with you later,¡± Donald ended the call.

 Plans and Preparations

    Ray Moss¡¯s head was spinning.  He had just gotten off of the phone with Bob Perkins.  Bob told him that Venice Beach was theirs.  LA was so happy that they would get all of the beaches back for tourist trade that they were willing to sacrifice Venice Beach for a time to get rid of the homeless!  The first cruise ship had arrived from Seattle and the next one from Portland would arrive as soon as the elderly were cleared out in Portland, when the remainder of the people on the second ship had been moved to the one remaining ship in Portland.  He had so many things to organize to make this all work smoothly, that he needed to sit down and get it all on paper.


    Ray was to meet today with the owner of the mine in the mountains to see if they could come to an agreement.  He had the road construction crew on standby, as well as the ones who would construct the swimming pool and hot tub, and of course the clinic, itself.  No matter where they built, the crews would have to be ready to start at a moment''s notice.  When Ray got together with the owner of the mine, he asked if he could send a camera down the two holes to find the depth and the size at the bottom of the holes.  The owner agreed and said, ¡°You will not find any jewels that way.  You need to use a pick and shovel to find the good stuff!¡±


    The owner thought, ¡°this guy is a real greenhorn.  He don¡¯t know what he is doing.  I better close this deal real fast before he finds out the mine is all tuckered out!¡±


    Ray  made an offer, slightly under what the owner had originally quoted.  The owner jumped on it and they headed to the bank to take care of the details.  Before he knew it, the mine was bought and Ray made a couple of calls, getting the road started and the construction on the resort, swimming pool and hot tub going full speed ahead!  He returned home, reporting the good news to Bob Perkins.  The construction crews had to get all of their heavy equipment up to the building site before the road construction could begin.


    Once this was all started, Bob sat down with a martini, no, closer to 5 martinis, and took a breather.  He knew things were going to be crazy for a while.  He still felt conflicted about getting rid of the elderly.  They hadn''t done anything wrong and weren¡¯t drug addicts.  They were mostly victims of inflation.  What to do?  What to do?  The martinis helped, but there was still the nagging feeling that maybe it wasn¡¯t right to just throw away people¡¯s lives.


    Sarah, the lady who was supposed to move to Venice Beach to run the base, was enjoying room service.  She had ordered a filet mignon, green beans with bacon bits, a baked potato with the works and a hot fudge sundae!  She was being treated royally.  She had to remind herself that this was only temporary.  It was almost time to leave for California.  She had decided to go because LA was so humongous that she would probably never run into her ex.


    Her mind wandered to the park near her house in Portland where she often took food for them.  The last time she had seen the homeless there was late one night.  The next morning, they were all gone and it was eerily silent.  She had tried to warn them.  Sarah had heard that moving crews came in the middle of the night when the addicts were all strung out and asleep and picked them up and took them to the clinic.  She supposed that was what had happened but didn¡¯t really know.  All of their junk, tents and trash had been left just as it was until a clean-up crew came three days later and made it look as if no one had ever been there.  Spooky!Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Max had found a houseboat to rent in Seattle and was on his way to pick it up.  He would leave his black, 2024 Ford pick-up truck parked there in Seattle until his return.  He completed the paperwork with the owner and proceeded to load the supplies from the truck into the houseboat.  He was pleased with himself, having thought  of a less expensive way than hotels to sleep and he would cook his own food.  The houseboat had cooking facilities, as well as sleeping accommodations.  He had even brought seasick pills just in case.  It took him the better part of a day to get set up and he decided to spend the night at the dock and start for Alaska early in the morning.


    Excitedly, the next morning, Max jumped out of bed, ready for his new adventure!  He untied the houseboat from the dock and immediately complained about the tight quarters, trying to get out and away from the dock.  He went slowly, so as not to jostle any of the other boats and finally made it into clear waters!  Max thought, ¡°I am tired of going slow, let¡¯s see what this baby has got!  He accelerated and put the boat into third gear.  He  kept waiting for the houseboat to pick up speed, but when it simply wouldn¡¯t go over 25 miles an hour, he just about cried.  He called the man he was renting the boat from and asked what the deal was.  The man told him he should have realized a houseboat only goes so fast and if speed was what he wanted, he should have rented a speedboat!


    Ray Moss received word from Bob Perkins.  He sounded really excited.  ¡°Guess what just happened?  We just got news that the government bought a decommissioned cruise ship that is huge!  It will hold over 7,000 people!  That gives us the two smaller ones plus this one, meaning we have room, as soon as they get in town, to put close to 12,000 people out there!  How are things going with the resort?¡±


    Ray Moss gave him the news that the road was halfway completed, the cement had been poured in both the pool and the hot tubs and the rebar had been laid for the whole ground floor of the building! ¡° You know we sent a camera down into the mine holes and they go down three stories plus there is a huge cave at the bottom! Things are moving ahead by leaps and bounds.  The lady who will be running the base at Venice Beach will be here the first of next week with all of the equipment, large tents, shower trailers, etc.  We are just about ready to get started!¡±


    Bob said, ¡°You are bound to have demonstrators at the base after the publicity Portland got  so here is how we are going to handle the demonstrators.  We will make a big deal out of the fact that there is no clinic in LA, that we are putting the sober homeless out on the cruise ships and that a resort is being built up in the mountains for the elderly.  You know, the mountains are much cooler and it is a better place for the elderly.  Come up with something to that effect on the posters.  The posters need to get drawn up, printed and posted about the same time Sarah, the lady in charge of the base gets here.   Get that resort built just as fast as it can humanly be done, Ray!  I¡¯m counting on you!¡±


    Max was putt-putting along out in the Pacific Ocean and fuming!  He figured this was not one of his brightest ideas.  The problem was he hadn¡¯t realized how many variables there would be on this trip.  Alaska has a lot of coastline and it would take him waaaaay longer than he had been given leave for, to stop at every little town to ask for information.  Also, he was forced to travel incredibly slowly and how was he going to sleep and drive the boat at the same time and if he put down the anchor so he could sleep, he wouldn¡¯t be making any time.  Aaaarg!  What to do?

 The Human Aspect

    Max wasn¡¯t ready to give up yet.  He couldn¡¯t let those old folks triumph over him, a trained FBI agent.  Max stopped and put down anchor three times on the way to Alaska in order to sleep.  He  made up sandwiches for the day each morning so he didn¡¯t have to stop to eat.


    Max found himself relaxing more than he had in a long time, being out on the open water.  He saw a school of whales and then saw some seals sunning themselves on a big rock outcropping as he traveled.  One evening after a big storm, Max saw a huge rainbow stretching as far as he could see.  He was definitely not a spiritual man, but he felt renewed and strengthened being away from people and his job.  He decided to keep going and even though he would only be able to check in a few towns for the missing elderly, he just might be able to find the one they were in.  Were his convictions easing off some?  ¡°God, I hope not!¡± he thought.


    Max thought, ¡°There is no way 78 people could have landed in a small Alaskan town and not be noticed!  Well, there is a good possibility that I will succeed!  Onward!¡±


    Sarah and her crew were setting up on Venice Beach and ended up having to have the police help them cordone off the area they needed to work in because it was already so crowded with homeless people.  ¡°Oh dear, I have a hard time working when it feels like I am being pressed to hurry up and open up and there are people looking over my shoulder.   I just need to not think about that and realize these people have been waiting much longer for help than just today while we are setting up.  I need to think about how happy they will be on the cruise ship and know it is for the best to get totally organized before we open up.¡±  She looked up and could actually see the giant ships way out in the water.  It looked like they were smiling, ready to receive these needy people.


    Sarah was dreading when the base did open and she had to tell people that the cruise ships were only for 54 and under.  But she would explain to the 50 and over that there was a brand new resort being prepared for them in the mountains!  She had been told this morning that the resort would open in two weeks.  Sarah had seen some pictures of the resort and it was so nice that she wouldn¡¯t mind going up there for some more RNR!  Also, she would have to tell the addicts that there was nothing for them at this time, but they hoped to have help for them soon.  To keep checking back.  Sarah hoped the posters would be posted soon to help explain all of these things so she didn¡¯t have to keep seeing the disappointed look on people¡¯s faces after telling them.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Sarah really did enjoy her job, seeing the grateful faces of ones she gave food to and helped to get ready for the cruise ships.  She had enjoyed getting to share leftovers with the people in the park by her old home.  She was enjoying being here  with the wonderful breezes and the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach and the sounds of children playing and laughing!  ¡°That¡¯s it,¡± she told herself.  ¡°Just keep thinking about the things I like and the grumpiness will go away!¡±  Sarah laughed  and went back to work.


    The road had been completed and Ray Moss had hired a second construction company so that one company had the day shift and the other the night shift.  Fortunately, the two companies had worked together at a few different  sites and were able to coordinate their crews to work together with a minimum of strife.  Hiring was going on for the staff at the resort but Ray didn¡¯t have to concern himself with that detail.  He needed to make a trip down to Venice Beach later today to see how the set-up was going.


    Ray had heard from a buddy that the cruise ship was now fully staffed and ready to receive its new residents.  He was really glad that he hadn''t been asked to work on staffing that monstrosity!  He drove down the mountain and immediately got into heavy traffic.  What a contrast to the beautiful pine tree surrounded resort!  Even with all of its heavy equipment humming all around the property, it was still peaceful compared with the city!


    He got to Venice Beach around noon.  Sarah was busy getting people in line for the food that was already set up.  He  wandered over to the shower trailer and was pleased to see it was set up and there was a line there, as well.  When Sarah finally got a breather, Ray went over to talk with her and they sat down and continued discussing details over lunch.


    ¡°So, you are saying you believe we are ready to start sending people out to the ships?  He asked her.¡±


    ¡°All we seem to need is the launches and the drivers.  As you said, the crew is ready on the ship and as you can see, people are more than ready to get off of the streets and get into a nice room with some security.¡±


    Ray thought of his little family of three boys and how important security was to his wife.  She was just asking about his benefits this morning and figuring what all they needed to schedule before the first of the year at the dentist and family doctor.  That was the first time he had thought of the homeless population in comparison to his family, as real people.  He put the idea out of his mind, knowing that compassion was the enemy to getting this project done.  The next thought that popped into his mind was a picture of himself as a guard in the nazi uniform! ¡° Is that what  I am like?  Naaah!¡±

 An Old Timey Pantry

    Donald had called a meeting for everyone who could be spared.  Nancy had fixed coffee and coffee cakes and set them out for everyone.  There were folding chairs set up too in the main room of the lodge.  Donald quieted everyone down.  ¡°I appreciate you all being here.  I called the meeting because we need to make preparations for any eventuality.  Alaska is known for the electricity going out, large snowstorms, earthquakes, etc.  I am not saying that to frighten you.  It is actually a protector for us, because not so many people want to deal with these situations, so we don¡¯t have people watching and judging us  like they would  if we were in the lower 48.   However, we need to think ahead and prepare.


    You may have noticed Leonard, Jim and some of our other strong men spending a lot of time chopping wood.  Someone asked me why the other day when the temperature has been in the upper 70s and we have central heating.  Well, it won¡¯t be that way long and when the electricity goes off, we don¡¯t want to depend solely on body heat!  Everyone laughed!  Seriously, a large woodpile is essential.  We also need to make sure we have enough food at all times.  We brought a substantial amount with us, but we need to continue to supplement that.


    I want to put a double team in the kitchen.  Nancy, do you think you can oversee the daily meals and also a crew cooking meals to freeze that can just be heated up if we have an emergency?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem.  We have experienced, ready workers.  However, we do have somewhat of a problem.  At the moment , our deep freezes don¡¯t have a lot of space.   Where would we store prepared meals?¡± Nancy asked.


    ¡°Ok, that is a great question.  I think we may have an answer for you.  What if we dug out an old timey pantry underground?  To give it double protection, we could build an igloo over the top of it to discourage any animals from getting in.  What do you think?¡±


    Leonard said, ¡°Man, I am going to be ripped after all of this chopping and digging!  And Jim and Bruce too!¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Yeah, I imagine you will be!  Thank you for being so willing to work, Leonard.¡±


    Leonard said, ¡°Right back at you man!  I appreciate you sharing your lodge with us and paying for winter coats and using your boat to rescue us!  If it weren¡¯t for you, we would be facing death right now!  We owe you our lives, man!  None of us can ever pay you back, so it is the least I can do to chop wood and dig a pantry!¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    Karen spoke up, ¡°Yes, dahling.  You are our hero!¡±


    ¡°Hear, hear!¡± someone said and they raised a glass of coffee(in place of wine) to Donald!


    ¡°Leonard, I am afraid I will need to take Bruce from you.  He is a sharp-shooter and is needed to help me hunt for meat!  Also, I wanted to ask if anyone has botanical training.  That is very important, because there are plenty of good, nourishing foods growing here, but we don¡¯t want to bring in anything that would poison us.  We also need experienced seamstresses or tailors who can sew either by hand or machine.  The animal skins we will be bringing in will make some fine boots and other clothing.  Anyone with these talents please report to me and we will get going on these projects.  Time is of the essence because once it starts snowing, we will be greatly limited.¡±


    Meanwhile, the first 300 of the elderly on the cruise ship in Portland were being ferried to the clinic for their ¡®spa¡¯ day.  There were excited whispers and conjectures as to what they would experience.  The supper at the clinic was a candle-lit occasion and they were each given a schedule of where to go and when.  Irma Smith was at the table with Rob Pierce, Angela McFarland and the doctor (Incognito).  Irma was talking about how she had dreamed of a spa day when she was a nurse.  She said, ¡°I used to get so tired on those long shifts that thinking about going in a  hot tub and pool and getting my nails done was what would help me get through the long hours of changing beds and diapers and bandaging people up.  Don¡¯t get me wrong, I enjoyed helping sick people get better, but sometimes I would just be weary.  I never got to go to a spa, but here I am and it is a dream come true!¡±


    The doctor asked Irma, ¡°How long were you homeless?¡±


    Irma answered, ¡°Way too long, honey.  I had a nice house in Portland in a beautiful area.  I had a little black pug named Horace.  He would run and greet me with a bark and turn in circles when I got home!  Then one day, I was at work whenI received the news that there was a big fire in my neighborhood.  I got off of work early so I could go check on my house, but it had already caught fire before I got there.  I tried to go in to get Horace out, but the firemen wouldn¡¯t let me.  I just hoped he had gone out back through the doggy door.  I waited there until we were allowed to go in and I rushed out back first, but Horace wasn¡¯t there.  I knew then,¡± she sobbed, ¡°Horace was gone!¡±


    The doctor asked, ¡°How did you become homeless?  Didn¡¯t you have insurance?¡±


    Irma said, ¡°Yes, I did.  I paid on that insurance for twenty years.  Come to find out, it was a scam and I didn¡¯t get one red cent to rebuild.  How can people with a conscience live with themselves after treating a body like that?¡±  Irma cried softly.


    The doctor excused himself and went up to his room to think.

 Max Finds the Elderly

    The doctor sat in his room, drinking soda and thinking about what Irma had said.  It brought up memories he had buried deep.  Many years ago when he was 7 years old, they had had a house fire, too.  He too had lost his precious dog, Henry, a cocker spaniel who was his best friend.  But he had also lost his mother in that fire.  She had gotten all of the children out and then went back in to get Henry and their bird and a burning wooden beam had crashed down over the door, blocking her exit.  The doctor sobbed.  He had been homeless for a number of years, separated from his brothers and sisters and staying with relatives who didn¡¯t really want him or understand what a young boy who lost his mom and his dog was going through.


    The doctor stayed up late, thinking.  The words kept ringing in his ears that Irma had said,¡±How can people with a conscience live with themselves after treating a body like that?¡±


    Max found himself in Alaska, at last!  He had figured out by now that to get that large an amount of people up here, they would have had to have a very large boat.  So he started asking around at the dock about a large boat and if anyone had seen a large number of elderly people.  The Alaskan people were helpful but no one at this port had seen anything.  So, after satisfying his curiosity, Max left for the next town.  When he first got to town, Max saw several older folks fishing by the shore.  They caught his eye and he wondered¡­..¡±Hmm, I am going to watch them for a while and see where they go.  Maybe this time I have found them. ¡° He sat at a little sandwich shop by the dock and kept watch over them.


    After a couple of hours, Max didn¡¯t want to wait any longer.  He strolled over to them and started talking about fishing.  ¡°How long have you folks been fishing here?¡± he asked.


    One of them answered, while pulling in a fish, ¡°I been fishing here ever since I was a small boy.¡±


    His friend said, ¡°Yeah and that is the biggest fish you ever caught!¡±  Ribbing him because the fish he pulled in was only about 6 inches long!  Then he said, ¡°I just moved here ten years ago and I always pull in bigger fish than he does!¡±  Then they both roared with laughter when he pulled in,  not a fish but an inner tube from a bicycle!This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Max was disappointed and said good-bye.  These were long time residents and not the ones he was looking for.  It was getting dark so Max tied up for the night and figured he would look again tomorrow.


    Donald had marked out a ten by ten foot area for the pantry and enough room for stairs leading to it and explained it simply to Leonard and turned it over to him.  He knew Leonard would take this project and run with it.  Leonard and Jim were the main men on the digging, but there were several others who were not quite as fit who also wanted to help.  They were able to work a short while to spell Leonard and Jim while they took a break two or three times a day.  When Donald and Bruce got back from hunting, they were amazed at the progress the guys had made on the first day.  The hole in the ground was already 6 inches deep!  Donald said, ¡°At this rate, we will be able to frame the pantry next week!  You guys are amazing!¡±


    Bruce said, ¡°Come look at what we got.¡±  The guys walked over to the little shed and Bruce showed them  a beautiful buck!  Just then the supper bell rang and Bruce decided to stay and get the deer started being processed.  He had the guts out and half of the deer skinned before Donald got back from dinner.


    Donald took over and Bruce went to supper.  He thought while he finished skinning the deer,  ¡°Bruce has the confidence to lead a hunting party, now.  I want to ask around and see if we have any other men who are good with a gun that Bruce could take out tomorrow.  I want to see if anyone is interested in setting traps.  I was thinking we could start with wire traps for rabbits.  We have an overpopulation of rabbits this year and rather than see them starve this winter, let¡¯s put them to good use feeding our crew.¡±


    The following day, Max traveled further up the coast to the next town.  He saw a large yacht parked inside  a boathouse and a man working on it.  He walked over to him and asked, ¡°Nice yacht!  Is it yours?¡±


    ¡°No, I am just servicing it.  It belongs to the man who owns a hunting lodge up the way,¡± the man answered.


    Max said, ¡°Oh, I was hoping to do some hunting while I was here. ¡±Where is this lodge?¡±


    ¡°You probably couldn¡¯t find a room there.  He has got a bunch of elderly people living there¡± They just came in last month.  But I can give you directions if you are still interested.¡±  He wrote down directions for Max.


    Max was so excited that it was hard for him to conceal it.  He thought, ¡°I have found them!  I have done it!  They are within my grasp now!¡±

 Attack While They are Asleep

    Ray Moss smiled in satisfaction.  They had done it!  The building on the resort was completed.  Now, the last step which would only take about a week, was decorating  and bringing in supplies and they could start receiving guests!  The large equipment would be vacating today, since they had finished their part of the build.  He would go down to Venice Beach to talk with Sarah and check on how the transporting  of the under 55 was going to the cruise ships.  If all was on track, he figured there should be several hundred people already on the ships.


    Ray got to town about midday and took a few minutes to find Sarah.  Sarah poured them both a cup of coffee and they sat under the large tent that served as a dining hall for the homeless.  This tent was always full, since at this location they had to feed the homeless  in shifts.  It was a considerably larger operation than Portland had been.  Ray asked Sarah how it was going, getting the homeless moved to the cruise ships.  Sarah said, ¡°It is going much slower than anticipated.  The first day,  two of the three drivers of the launch simply did not show up so we were operating at 33% capacity.  Day two we managed to hire new drivers for the launches, but we were sabotaged by  Lord knows who.  None of the launches would run.  Someone had put sugar into the fuel lines of all three launches!  Later that week, we had the launches replaced and locking gas caps were installed and a security guard was stationed by them at all times.  Things have been running smoothly since then. ¡°


    Ray asked, ¡°How many people would you estimate have been moved onto the cruise ships by now?¡±


    Sarah said, ¡°Only about 150.¡±


    Ray thought about how his report was going to look to the higher ups and went quiet.  Then he realized they were almost ready to move the elderly to the resort and that there would be much more to report at the end of this month!  He tried to cheer Sarah up, saying,¡±We will see those numbers change dramatically this time next week!¡±  He said good bye to her and got on the next launch heading out to the cruise ships.


    Meanwhile, Donald had gotten walkie talkies for the team leaders for each day to be able to keep  in touch in case of emergencies.  They only had his cell phone now, having destroyed everybody else¡¯s and they were in a remote location.  It is always wise to take precautions he had learned from years of outfitting.  Jim, Donald, Nancy, Bruce and a few others would get together each evening to discuss the following day¡¯s activities so they could stay on  the same page.  At this point, everybody had been plugged in to different tasks to help prepare for the winter.


    With 80 people, including Jim and Donald, there was a lot of organization involved.  Basically, everyone had been assigned to a team.  The teams included: trapping, hunting, cooking the daily food, cooking the future meals, laundry,  digging the pantry, fishing, house maintenance, house cleaning, processing meats and tanning hides, sewing by hand and by machine, and, believe it or not, an ornithologist team!  Even though the individuals stayed on the same team everyday, there was a lot of interaction involved between teams and the daily meetings helped iron out problems before they happened most of the time.


    Donald was concerned that the pantry might not be finished in time before the first frost came and the ground was too frozen to dig into.  They still needed to frame it with wood and make a roof on it and also dig out the stairs and frame them.  As far as he was concerned, this was top priority so there would be enough food and storage for the food.  He ended up putting more men on digging the pantry and thankfully they started seeing better results.  The pantry was now five feet deep and he figured within two days, they would be ready for framing!


    Max stayed in town that first night and rented a slip for his houseboat.  He would need to have the houseboat returned to Seattle pretty soon, but that didn¡¯t concern him because he had found what he came to Alaska for- the missing elderly!  He got  directions to the lodge from the friendly dock manager and started planning his attack.


    Next morning, at the lodge, everybody was up at 5:00, preparing for their tasks.  The hunting team and the trapping team left as soon as they scarfed their oatmeal and coffee.  The processing team set to work on the moose that had been bagged yesterday.  The ornithologist was putting last minute touches on the indoor quail cage in the living room.  It was ornate and didn¡¯t look out of place there.  The quail would provide eggs and meat for everybody.  Our ornithologist was going with the team hunting live quail today.  They needed three pairs to begin with.  Nancy and the rest of the cooks were busy, making all kinds of racket in the kitchen.  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Max had hired a taxi and was headed up to the lodge.  He had the taxi driver drop him off before they got to the lodge so he had a chance to scope things out and make a surprise attack.  He hadn¡¯t decided whether he wanted to go in while the older folks slept or do it in daylight.  He was still considering his possibilities.  His gun was loaded and at the ready and he had plenty of ammunition if they gave him any trouble.


    Meanwhile, Bob Perkins had contacted Ray Moss and told him to drop everything else and contact the media.  They needed a distraction long enough to be able to get all of the elderly off of the ships in Portland, get them to the clinic for their ¡®spa¡¯ and finish at that location.  He didn¡¯t want any possible demonstrator stragglers finding out and throwing a monkey wrench into  the works.  Bob asked Ray to play it up big in the media about the homeless going out to the cruise ships in LA. He asked Ray to oversee the photos to make it look wonderful and have something in the news every day for the next five days.


    Ray was relieved at first to be given a new temporary  assignment because he had just gotten to the first cruise ship in LA and it was total chaos!  He didn¡¯t want to have to deal with that, but then realized ¡®the buck stops here¡¯ because he needed to have everything organized and working like clockwork for the photo shoots!  He got the main lady in charge of the homeless on the ship and all of the ladies who would be doing the interviews of the homeless to see where they fit in on the ship and they had a major meeting.  By the time he got finished with the meeting, he felt wrung out, but was pleased to see things falling into place!


    Max got to the woods by the lodge just about the time everyone was wrapping up their tasks for the day and heading back to the lodge for supper.  He watched from the woods and was pretty impressed that these old folks were working together and not just vegetating in rocking chairs inside!  He saw three old men and a little old lady coming back to the lodge with what looked like a dog cage on top of a little red wagon with some kind of birds inside, flapping all around at every bump they hit!  That was a head-scratcher!  It reminded him of an old movie called ¡®The King of Hearts¡¯ about some people in an insane asylum!  He hadn¡¯t thought of that movie in years!


    Max¡¯s eyes went to the woodpile next.  His eyebrows raised as he saw a 20 foot long woodpile!  He wondered who had the strength to chop all of that wood!  Then his eyes fell on a couple of men walking toward the lodge with a pole between them and what looked like a dozen large rainbow trout on the pole.  He thought he had seen everything when he spotted  three men on a side-by-side with a trailer behind full of rabbits and martens!  They went for the outdoor shed and put their haul in there before going to dinner.  Max¡¯s opinion of the elderly took a direct hit.  These people weren¡¯t a drag, but were proving pretty useful!  He sat down and had a peanut butter sandwich and a cup of water.


    After eating, Max decided to wait for dark and attack when they were asleep.  Max called Bob Perkins and after finally getting through to him, said, ¡°Bob I have found the old folks and am waiting outside the hunting lodge for dark to go in and get them.  I may need back-up to bring them in.¡±


    Bob laughed,  Max, what are you thinking?  I told you to scrap the idea of going after the missing elderly.  We have our hands full in Portland and LA and don¡¯t have the time or personnel to take care of some errant elderly up in Alaska.  They are just a drop in the bucket and will probably just freeze this winter and save us the trouble of going after them.  It is too costly for the number of people we would apprehend  there and in these other cities they actually come to us!  Much less trouble.  I¡¯m glad you had a nice trip to Alaska on your time off, but forget your self-contrived plan and get back down here where the action is!  And those are my final words on the subject!  Do you understand?¡±


    Max said dejectedly, ¡°Yes sir.¡±  Max thought, ¡°What now?¡±  A bright idea came to him.  He loaded his gun and strapped on his ammo belt and started walking toward the lodge. ¡° I will walk around and look in the windows from a distance and decide where to start.  I can get rid of the elderly, myself.  I¡¯ll go in after they are asleep and just go from room to room and put a slug in each one!  Then I¡¯ll be a hero!¡±  He started around the lodge and was getting a good idea of where to start tonight when, ¡°AAAAAAhhh!¡±


    Donald said to Jim, ¡°Did you hear something?¡±


    Jim said, ¡°I sure did.  Sounds like it came from out back.  Grab a gun and let¡¯s check it out.  It might be a cougar!

 Distracting the Public

    JIm and Donald took flashlights  and walked carefully, with their guns raised and cocked.  They didn¡¯t hear any other noises and checked with back and forth motions of the flashlights, all across the yard.  When they came to the backyard, Donald said, ¡°Come over here.  I want to show you something.  We may not have found what caused that scream, but our late night trip in the yard doesn¡¯t need to be wasted.  Come look at the pantry pit.  It just needs one more day to be seven feet deep.¡±  And they shone their flashlights into the pit to see¡­.a man!  Max had fallen into the pit and hit his head on the hard packed earth and was knocked out cold!


    The men raced down the pantry stairs and over to the man.  ¡°Who could he be?¡± Donald asked.


    Jim said, finding his pistol, ¡°I don''t know but I can wager he didn¡¯t come here on a friendly visit. ¡° They took Max¡¯s pistol and ammo and Donald said, ¡°We had better check him for any other weapons.  They found a chest revolver and one on his ankle, as well.


    ¡°What do we do now?¡± asked Jim.


    ¡°Well we bring him into the living room,and  tie him up to a chair for starters.  I guess you and I had better take turns guarding him,¡± Donald answered.  ¡°I¡¯m curious.  I think I will call Carl.  We only have one enemy that I can think of.  Hello, Carl?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I was just falling asleep and I haven¡¯t been sleeping well.  I hope this is important,¡±


    Carl said.


    ¡°What does this fella Max look like?¡± Donald asked.


    Carl said, ¡°He looks like the  stereotypical FBI man, with dark hair slicked back with greasy kid stuff  and either a three piece suit or a polo shirt with grey slacks.  Oh and he has a lightning scar on his left cheek, I think.  But you don¡¯t have to worry.  The government is not backing him up and I don¡¯t think he could ever find you, way up in remote Alaska.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°It¡¯s him.  He has the scar!¡±


    Carl  said, ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be a monkey¡¯s uncle!  What do you think he had planned?¡±


    ¡°I think he was going to shoot us all, judging by the guns and ammo!¡± Donald said.  ¡°He must have been walking around outside, casing the place and he fell into our pantry hole and knocked himself out!  We have disarmed him and will take him inside and tie him up.  What''s next after that, I don¡¯t know!¡±


    Max woke up about three o¡¯clock in the morning, he guessed.  He was inside in a great living area and he couldn¡¯t move a muscle.  He was tied up.  They must have thought he was Houdini and could get out of anything, from the way he was tied up.  His hands were tied in front of him and then down under the chair and finally up to the back of the chair!  His legs were tied together and then there was another rope from each leg to the opposite leg of the chair.  Then his belly was tied to the railing of the stairs behind him.  They may not have been lawmen, but somebody knew his knots!  Max realized all of his guns were gone; he couldn¡¯t feel them.  He didn¡¯t know what his strategy was going to be now.  Max heard some chirping beside him and looked.  There were birds in a very nicely crafted large house.  ¡°I think they call it an aviary.¡± Max said.   He watched them for a while because what else was he going to do? Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Ray Moss was present for the visit of the media the next day.  They took a picture of one of the homeless women in the beauty shop on the ship, getting her hair done, wearing a big smile.  Then they took pictures of the children in the pool, laughing and splashing and squealing for joy!  There was a puppet show put on for the children and that was photographed, as well.


    After the photo shoots, it was time for questions and answers.  ¡°Sir, the big question we are all wondering is, are you going to take the homeless addicts and put them into a clinic here in LA like you did in Portland where they will all be murdered?¡±  There was a hum of people talking in the background.


    Ray answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened in Portland, but nothing like that is going on here.  Have you seen the posters that say we only accept sober people under 55 on the cruise ships here?¡±


    Another reporter asked, ¡°You do know that a very large number of homeless people are elderly and disabled and addicts?  You will only be helping a portion of the homeless with this cruise ship solution.  What do you propose to do with the rest of them?¡±


    Ray answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know at the moment.  We are taking it one step at a time.  Feel free, if you think of solutions to let your mayor know.  I¡¯d like to invite you back tomorrow to visit our on board school and to see how the homeless have been integrated into the work force on the ship.  Some are teachers, some are chefs, some are mechanics, etc.  I think you will find it interesting.¡±


    He got good reactions and was pleased.  Hopefully this was enough distraction from the clinic in Portland.


    In Portland, the elderly were comparing notes about what they had gotten for their spa treatment and seemed relaxed and happy at dinner.  They were promised a special spa sleeping formula drink that would be delivered to their rooms.  Some of the rooms had been rearranged to be able to sleep two people, so different friends were asking to room together.


    The doctor was trying to take a nap before he went on duty for the night.  He was tossing and turning, thinking about what Irma had said .  It really hit a nerve with him.  He couldn¡¯t sleep and then it was time to go to work.  The nurse brought in one of the elderly for each of the two rooms.  The doctor walked in, gave the sleeping elderly person their shot then went to the other room and did the same to them.  Then back to the first room and dumping that person into the deep pit and then the same for the second person.  The nurse brought in two other sleeping elderly people and it started over again,  and over and over all night long.  When the doctor had finished and gone to his room, he sank down on his bed in exhaustion.  But could he sleep?  No, he kept seeing the faces of those elderly people.  People who hadn¡¯t done anything wrong.


    The doctor had been doing assisted suicides for twenty years, but the difference was they asked for it and wanted it.  These people hadn¡¯t asked for it or consented to it.  They weren''t drug addicts, their only crime was that they were old.The doctor thought about Irma and started weeping.  ¡°What have I done?  What have I done?  She was just like me and I hurt her even more.  I killed her!¡±  He cried and cried with no relief.  The doctor got up and found his belt.  He pulled some rope out of his medical kit.  He moved a chair over to the middle of the room.  He stood on it and looped his belt over the support in the false ceiling and then pulled it tight.  He tied the rope to the belt.  Then he  said, ¡°Irma, this is for you.¡±

 Stinky

    Max was yelling, ¡°Hey, get me out of this!  You have no reason to tie me up like a damned animal!  Help!  Help! Help!¡±


    Jim, who had been sleeping on one of the couches close to Max, woke up, looked around and remembered finding Max, disarming him and tying him up.  He walked over to Max, who had a crowd around him now of elderly people who had just woken up for the day.  ¡°What is going on?¡± Bruce asked.


    Max said, ¡°I was just looking for this hunting lodge so I could go hunting and I woke up all tied up!  I would like to know what is going on, too!¡±


    Jim interjected, ¡°Yep, you were going hunting all right.  But not for animals.    You would¡¯ve brought a rifle if you were hunting for animals, but you brought a pistol and revolvers.  You came here to hunt for people.¡±


    ¡°How could you accuse me of that?¡± Max asked in mock innocence.  ¡°What do you think I am?


    ¡°If you were, as you say you were, coming up here to hunt animals, you wouldn¡¯t have been walking around the lodge in the dark.  You would have come to the front door.¡±  Jim answered.  ¡°You are nothing but a troublemaker!¡±


    Donald walked up about that time and was listening to the conversation between Jim and Max.  Max said, ¡°I have had this trip booked for three months and am a regular customer of this facility.  Just wait until I tell the owner how you are treating me!  You will all lose your jobs!¡±


    Donald asked him, ¡°What is the name of the lodge?¡±


    Max said, ¡°Uh, it has slipped my mind.  I must have hit my head last night, or maybe one of you clobbered me!  This is going to be such a big lawsuit!  Hitting me over the head and then tying me up!  You guys are in so much trouble!¡±


    Donald looked him in the eyes and said, ¡°You don¡¯t remember the name of the lodge because you never booked a hunting trip with us.  You are not a regular customer and have never been a customer here.¡±This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Max interrupted and asked, ¡°How would you know that?¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Because I am the owner!  Also, you were not knocked over the head by us, you fell into a big pit and knocked yourself out with the fall.  You are not being honest with us and I don¡¯t like you!¡±


    Max said, ¡°Well I don¡¯t like you either!  Untie me right now!  I have to go to the bathroom and I am hungry!¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Good luck with that.  You can piss yourself and defecate all over yourself and we will call you  stinky!  Ok everybody, time to get to work.  The show is over.¡±  He called Jim aside and said, ¡°Jim do you think you can get him safely to the toilet and get him back tied up here?¡±  When Jim answered affirmatively, Donald asked him to wait until Max calmed down and was no longer trying to run the show.  ¡°Don¡¯t let him escape and keep the bathroom door open so you can keep an eye on him.  Also, could you please get someone assigned to feeding him?  He needs to have his hands tied up, so whoever it is will need to actually feed him.¡±


    Everybody got to work and Jim asked Karen if she would be so kind as to feed this contrary prisoner.  Karen was happy to take care of the young man and show off her new updo that Grace Wilkens had done in her hair.  Grace had been a beautician and was enjoying designing hair-dos for the women and cutting the men¡¯s hair, as well.


    Karen came in with a tray of food for Max and said, ¡°Hello Dahling!¡±


    Max looked over at Karen, his mouth dropped open and he said, ¡°Eva?  Eva Gabor?¡±


    Karen looked at him, pleased and said, ¡°I do look rather like her don¡¯t I dahling?¡±


    Max said, ¡°And you sound like her too!  What are you doing here?¡±


    ¡°Why, feeding you, of course!¡±  Karen said and sat down to take care of him.


    Meanwhile, the doctor got off of his chair, knelt down and said, ¡°God, if there is a God, can you forgive me?  I have killed people and don¡¯t deserve your forgiveness, but if you are up there, I plead for your mercy.  Amen¡±  He stood up, climbed onto the chair, fastened the rope around his neck and stepped off of the chair.  Later, when he didn¡¯t show up for work, his assistant found him.  He called their superior, who was not pleased and asked him if he felt capable of doing the doctor¡¯s job and when he answered affirmatively, was told someone would be sent to take care of the doctor¡¯s body and the PR necessary.  This young man, Quenton Appleby, took the elevator downstairs and began taking care of the second group of elderly.

 Planning the Escape

    By the end of the week, all of the homeless elderly in Portland were gone.  Only one cruise ship was left in Portland, because there were considerably fewer people.  The second ship had already been moved to LA.  The elderly were already being sent up to the ¡®resort¡¯ in the mountains above LA.  It had been decided not to publicize this move, but simply to use word of mouth down at Venice Beach to let the elderly know.  This seemed to be working fine and the media had not gotten wind of the move, yet.  There were bigger news stories at the moment, with wildfires raging in the area and a small earthquake that took the public¡¯s and the reporter''s minds off of the homeless.


    Ray knew there was probably a small window of opportunity to get the elderly moved and taken care of before the media sniffed out the situation going on, so he was pushing for efficiency.  He had devised a plan for when the media realized the elderly were being taken care of.  He would designate one floor to be for the elderly who would be the distraction.  They would be staying there long-term  so it would appear to actually be a resort.  They would be spared the fate of the others.  These people would be told that the people on the other floors had a serious sickness and needed to be isolated.  That way, when the reporters invaded, as they inevitably would, they would hear the elderly say out of their own mouths that they had been there for a while, so suspicions would be averted.


    Larry Barton was at a dinner party for the heads of commissions and for the top Generals from the Pentagon.  He kind of felt like it was mixing oil and water, but then who could tell?  He might be able to glean some valuable information from the men.  His committee was on the war on homelessness and poverty and he needed to come up with a solution which would please his boss and make some headway in this war.  He was seated next to none other than General Horace Smith, who was one of the leaders in military strategy.  While the awards were being given out, he planned what he would ask General Smith.


    After the awards, while dinner was being served, Larry turned to the General and asked him what he attributed his success in military strategy to be.  The general said, ¡°Well you have heard that we win wars by not delaying, but the very best strategy is absolutely cutting off their supply.  An army runs on its stomach, so by coming between the enemy and their food and medical  and fuel supplies, it starves them,makes it impossible to heal them again and causes their tanks, planes and cars to be unusable.  Why, what war are you fighting?¡±The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    When Larry explained, the general got excited and said, ¡°I¡¯ve always said that if we could run this country like we run the military, it would run a hell of a lot smoother!¡±  He turned away when the man on the other side of him asked him something.  Larry was disappointed that he was unable to ask the general anything else, because the general stayed too busy to talk with him the rest of the evening.  Larry did have that time to think how he could apply the general¡¯s wisdom to his problem.  That meeting happened in 2019, pre-covid.


    Larry was very intrigued and while the current homeless were not his specific target, he knew the poor in the US were the next likely to become homeless, since many of them were living paycheck to paycheck.  In order to break the cycle of poverty to homelessness, something had to be done and he just needed to figure out what it was and he was pretty sure he had come up with the perfect solution!


    Max¡¯s wheels were turning.  He was in a bad situation.  The homeless elderly had a jump on him and he needed to figure out how to get away.  He didn¡¯t have a plan how he would take them back to Portland and definitely didn¡¯t have any help.  Bob Perkins had made that perfectly clear.  He also couldn¡¯t put into effect plan two, which was to simply shoot all of these people because his guns had been confiscated.  The sweet old lady, Karen, might just be his way out.  She reminded him so much of Eva Gabor that every time she walked into the room, he could hear the theme from Green Acres playing!  She was adorable!


    He thought, ¡°I heard that these people have walkie talkies.  What if I asked for Karen and I to have a set of walkie talkies tonight in case I have to go to the bathroom.  Then when she comes to take me and unties me, it will be a piece of cake to overpower her and get away!  Will I take her as a hostage or just leave alone?

 The Click of the Guns

    Larry Barton thought back to 2019 and how he had pondered what General Horace Smith had said and how it could be implemented.  He realized it was not an option to cut off the food from the homeless.  The food was actually drawing them to the area where they could easily be transported to the ships or the clinics or the ¡®resort¡¯.  It reminded him of when he grew up on a farm.  The animals were given grain several times a week, not just to supplement their grazing, but to make them more tame and to get them used to coming to the farmer when he needed to move them or load them up for market.


    It was soo much easier to have the homeless come to them instead of how they had to retrieve the addicts and alcoholics by sending teams out to search for them.  Yes, that concept would not work for the homeless.  But what about the people who were soon to become homeless?  The ones working two and three jobs and just barely getting by?  There were an unbelievable number of them.  He addressed the committee after he had had time to organize his thoughts in January of 2019.  He presented his ideas and then asked for discussion.


    Larry suggested cutting down on small family homesteads.  During the Great Depression the family farms had been the salvation of many of the ones who lost their homes, businesses and everything else.  Many had simply gone back home to ¡®ma¡¯ and ¡®pa¡¯ and had a place to live and food to eat, even if it was only vegetables.  So, If this step was eliminated by outlawing backyard chickens, vegetable gardens, etc.  this would not be an option.  His clever plan included diverting some of the large bodies of water down to the reservoirs underground which were even now being constructed for water storage for the elite, who already had underground cities built for them to go to when things got too crazy.


    His plan would cause several large bodies of water to get dangerously low, necessitating water conservation so they would not run out of water.  The small farms would be cited as essentially enemies of the state, using water that should be conserved.  The committee had a lively discussion.  It actually was approved and the committee went a step further by encouraging food additives that were known to affect health negatively such as red dye in foods, more sugar in everything, and an increase in cancer causing chemicals.  This was a huge step in eliminating poverty.  If it eliminated the ones who were poor and had no choice but to eat the cheaper processed foods and fast food by slowly poisoning them, that would eliminate poverty by eliminating the ones who consumed the food.  If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The fact that the government was already pushing electric vehicles and working on outlawing gas powered vehicles didn¡¯t hurt the agenda any.  Of course the poor wouldn¡¯t be in a position to buy an expensive electric vehicle, so they would have fewer options of where to work, not being able to drive and they wouldn¡¯t have a car to move into when they lost their homes!  Larry was getting pretty excited, seeing these things come together.


    Karen walked into the room with a tray of food and Max lit up!  Karen had been feeding him for several days now and knew just how he liked his coffee and that he wouldn¡¯t eat broccoli or cauliflower, no matter how it was fixed!  She sat next to him and he smiled and flirted with her.  If this plan was going to work tonight, he needed to make sure he did the best job he could of getting her on his side.  Max thought of himself as being a suave James Bond type, very attractive and persuasive.  He had apparently forgotten that he hadn¡¯t had a shower in at least a week, possibly longer and his hair had grown long and shaggy and he smelled!


    Karen had grown fond of Max.  She entertained the idea of a younger boyfriend.  Karen held a napkin under his chin while she fed him his coffee.  Max said, ¡°You are looking lovely this morning, Karen! Thank you for the delicious breakfast!¡±


    Karen said, ¡°You are welcome, Max.  How did you sleep dahling?¡±


    Max said, ¡°Pretty good, except I needed to go to the bathroom since five o¡¯clock!  I was wondering if it would be possible to borrow some walkie talkies tonight so I could contact you if I need to go to the bathroom again?¡±


    Karen said, ¡°Of course, dahling.  I will ask to borrow some.  How do you like our hotcakes?  Is that enough syrup and butter for you?¡±


    Max barely heard her as he was already planning his escape.  It would be a piece of cake, getting away from this 72 year old lady!  True to her word, Karen brought him a walkie talkie later that night and he checked to make sure they were on the same channel.  He positioned it so he could use it, even tho tied up.  Along about five in the morning, Max called Karen.  She took a little longer than he expected, but his heart started racing when he saw her come down the stairs in the faint light of the nightlight.


    Karen untied him and walked him to the bathroom.  He decided to wait until after he used the facilities because he really had to go!  He came out of the bathroom ready to grab her when he heard the clicks of several guns!

 Spilling the Beans

    ¡°Yep, foiled again!  These guys may not be FBI agents, but they are no fools!  And Karen too.  She must have alerted them, having suspicions, and that¡¯s why she took so long coming downstairs.  She was getting these guys up!¡±  Max reacted quickly and acted all innocent, like ¡®why are you drawing guns on me; I wasn¡¯t going to do anything!¡¯


    After getting Max tied up again, it was time to get everyone going for the day.  While eating breakfast, Donald asked Jim and Bruce what they were going to do with Max.  ¡°I feel like it is cruel to keep him tied up all of the time.  I wouldn¡¯t treat my dog like that.¡±


    Bruce said, ¡°If we untie him he will just either get away and go buy some more guns and come back after us or go get someone to help take us all back to Portland where we will be eliminated.  I don¡¯t see any good alternative.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°We could give him what he was going to give us and execute him.  As far as I know, nobody knows where he is.  Then we could be done with him.¡±


    Donald said, ¡°I just wish I had talked with the boat storage man and warned him to keep his mouth shut.  That would have prevented all of this.  I can¡¯t see us executing Max because then we are no better than he is.   Something will come to us.  Let¡¯s get a move on.  Today the pantry gets framed and the roof gets made and put in place.  It is not a moment too soon.  You can smell the snow in the air.  I reconsidered the igloo over the top of the pantry.  I think, after talking with Randy, our main builder, that a very steep A-frame roof will be best and making it about three feet in front of the entrance will prevent most of the snow from building up so we are able to access it all through the winter.¡±


    Bruce said, ¡°I would like to hunt today, if you can spare me.  A bull moose has been hanging around and who knows how much longer we will have a chance at him.


    The new doctor at the Portland clinic had finished with the elderly from the cruise ships and was headed to his new job at the resort in LA.  The clean up of the clinic was being handled by Edgar Hamilton.  He had been there for the clean up after the elimination of the addicts so he knew what to do.  He would have to hire a new cement company though because the first one had started asking questions and he didn¡¯t know if he could satisfy their curiosity if they returned to the job.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Sarah was swamped with people coming to her to prepare for moving out to the cruise ships and now she had a place to send the elderly, as well.  She was so glad that they would go to a resort this time, unlike the way the elderly had been handled in Portland.  She did have to wonder at the change of heart of the organizers.  She thought about that for a while longer and realized they had to make changes after the negative publicity about the addicts.  The food tents on Venice Beach were busy day and night and Sarah had had to hire  people for a second and third shift.  She was eagerly looking forward to a day off since she had not had one since moving here to LA.


    Today the news reporters were all over the beach, talking to the homeless, the ones who cooked and served food, neighbors to this monumental undertaking, etc.  Sarah didn¡¯t know they hadn¡¯t been briefed on the resort so when they came to interview her, she spilled the beans, unintentionally.  The reporters were all over that news like flies on poop.  Reporters have a sixth sense; they have to in order  to get the scoops they need for their job.  After learning about the resort and the elderly being moved up there, they only had to observe the vans loading up the elderly homeless and follow them to get the big scoop!


    Ray Moss showed up after the reporters had left and asked to speak with Sarah.  He said, ¡°We have not told the reporters about the elderly moving to the resort.  They will eventually find out, but we have a big job to attend to up there so I would rather they not know as long as possible.¡±


    Sarah said, ¡°Well, too late. The news is out and they left, following the vans this afternoon!¡±


    Ray Moss excused himself and took off for the mountains to make sure things went the way he meant them to.  Driving up there, he said to himself, ¡°We need to make sure the long term elderly are the ones the reporters are talking to and that the short term elderly are kept busy in their rooms and not turned loose with the reporters.  Although, since they have just arrived, they will not have anything to spill to the reporters.  Oh, this is a mess!  I¡¯ll just have to cross my fingers that this goes as planned.  I just didn¡¯t think they would find out so soon!¡±

 The Reporters Find the Resort

    At the end of the day, the pantry had been framed and also had a roof.  The shelves had not been made yet and they also lacked a door.  Those were on the schedule for the framers for the following day.  A smoker for preserving the meat was also to be made the next day.  It would be a small house, built with thick wood and metal bars on the door and window, to protect the meat from bears and other predators.  A team had been gathering lots of leaves and pine cones to burn so they would have smoke even after the snow came.


    When Karen came downstairs to feed Max his breakfast, Max asked her, ¡°Karen, what do you do all day when you are not feeding degenerates?¡±


    She laughed and said, ¡°Well dahling, it is not yust one think.  One day I polish the wood banisters, one day I help with laundry and sometimes I take care of the sick.  I am a rotator!¡±


    Max laughed at her funny language and said, ¡°I get so bored sitting here all of the time.  It is enjoyable watching all of the activities going on but I would like to do something.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know vat ve would have you do, dahling.   You are so naughty your hands would find trouble.  Do you see?  I mean ve have so many things to be done, but how can ve trust you?¡±


    ¡°Oh, that,¡± Max said.  ¡°I see what you mean.  To be honest, I wouldn¡¯t trust myself either.  I do need to return the rented houseboat to Seattle, though.  I am overdue on getting back to work too.  I guess I made a mistake coming after you guys when I had been told to leave you alone.  This is a real perplexing situation.  I could help a lot around here if I could be trusted.  I am a sharp shooter and although I have never hunted game, I am a quick study and could help with stocking the pantry.¡±


    ¡°Oh no, dahling, the guns do not belong in your hands!¡± Karen said.  ¡°You see, if we untie you, you run away.  If we give you a gun to help hunt, you shoot us.  If you work in the kitchen, all the women hide from you and the knives and the frying pans.  You are young and fast, we are old and slow.  Not a good match!  You are finished eating.  I must go.  Put the thinking cap on.  Maybe there is a solution.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Max understood.  He could see things from their perspective.  These people had not run away to spite him but because they were not finished with their lives, yet.  They simply wanted to keep living until it was their real time to go.  They were not hurting anybody here, except maybe Donald¡¯s pocketbook!  They were off of the streets and they worked damn hard for people in their golden years.  Maybe he was wrong about the whole thing, at least with these particular people.  Why, they had been feeding him and had him in a warm place.  Sleeping upright was getting pretty old, but hadn¡¯t he been trained to get by in difficult situations in his FBI training?  This seemed like a convoluted way of thinking, but who was to say?


    Bruce came home that night beaming!  He had bagged the biggest moose that Donald had ever seen in all of his outfitting years!  It had taken the framers to build a litter to drag the moose back to camp and four men to drag the moose on it and then get the whole contraption back to camp!   What an ordeal!  He was too large to bring into the processing shed, so he had to be processed outside on the ground the same evening and all of the meat had to be put away safely before they could call it quits for the night!  The smokehouse was put to work the same night it had been built!


    Bruce and Donald were too busy to do the tanning of the hides so they had taught two other men to do that job.  Clarence and Simon went straight from supper to the shed and got right to work.  Clarence had very thin gray hair done in a comb over and was a jovial sort.  Simon was tall and slender and was actually one of the younger men.  They got along really well.  Simon asked Clarence what he thought about making something special for Bruce out of the hide and while Clarence thought it was a fine idea, he thought they should probably ask Donald if this hide had been planned for anything else.  They got the ok and went to work on the project for their friend!


    Meanwhile, Ray Moss made it up to the resort and was surprised how smoothly things had gone with the reporters snooping around.  He thought, ¡°The real test is going to be seeing what they actually put on TV about this place.¡±  He knew sensationalism sells, so he realized if the story was not what they expected, they might simply embellish it and he was hoping they wouldn¡¯t.  Later, he caught the eleven o¡¯clock news and marveled at the show.  The hot tub was full of people talking and having fun, the pool had a young lady leading the white haired old ladies exercising, there were people outside playing badminton and croquet, and so on.  The reporters couldn¡¯t have done a better job convincing the public that this was a fine resort and the perfect place for the elderly to go!  He heaved a sigh of relief and turned off the boob tube.  ¡°Well, we did it for now,¡± he told himself.

 An Uneasy Feeling

    The morning after the bull moose had been harvested, everybody was in for a surprise when the curtains were opened for the day.  It was snowing and had apparently been snowing all night!  There were already two feet on the ground and there was very little visibility!  Nancy had the kitchen make hot chocolate for breakfast and mouth watering cinnamon rolls!  Everyone was in high spirits and the snow helped everything seem magical!


    The youngest men were doing the snow shoveling around the house and out to the pantry and processing shed.  The framers finished up the shelves in the pantry so that the next clear day, all of the canned goods and other meals that were made for the future could be moved out there.  The ground was way too slippery to risk working on that today.  Sue, the nurse, had suggested to Donald that only the ones who absolutely needed to go out today, because of fall risks for the elderly.


    After hearing the forecast the day before, Donald had made the trip into town and loaded up on fuel for the generator and salt, sugar, flour, bacon, beans and some fresh fruits and veggies since he didn¡¯t know how long this snowstorm would last.  He was thinking about how his life had changed.  He had never had a wife and children to be responsible for  and had only experienced having to watch out for the outfitters that he worked for infrequently, so having a lodge with 81 people, including himself, to care for was very sobering.  His money was not his own anymore.  He had to make sure everyone had their needs met and he was trying to stretch the money he had as far as he could.  How long was this situation going to last?  He started feeling resentful as he realized these people had nowhere to go and he was probably going to have to take care of them from now on.  ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t think this whole situation through when I signed up for rescuing the elderly,¡±  he mused.


    Then a thought occurred to Donald as he drove back to the lodge.  These people have lost everything.  I have talked with several of them and heard their life stories and this is not how they planned on spending their golden years.  Most of these people worked hard all of their lives and planned so they could retire and travel or just live comfortably in their own homes.  Being a burden on me was not in their plans.  Let¡¯s face it, I still have my home, my yacht, my lodge and my business.  I need to quit complaining and be grateful I could be a little help.   I will have something to show for my lifetime!  He drove the rest of the way home at peace with himself.Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    Ray Moss had an uneasy feeling all morning and decided to revisit the resort.  He couldn¡¯t put his finger on what it was that was bothering him.  The news report had gone off without a hitch, in fact making it look like the elderly were being well cared for and spoiled.  So why was he so uneasy?  He drove up into the mountains to the resort, enjoying the scenery along the way, just with the nagging suspicion under the surface.  Once there, Ray walked around the perimeters, marveling at how quickly the construction crews had not only gotten everything built, but at how quickly they had gotten the clean-up done , as well.  The sprinklers had been installed and the grass was as green as if this had been a golf course!  There were beautiful gardens of colorful flowers and grecian urns on cement stands.  Clearly there was nothing wrong out here.


    He went into the cafeteria and stood there watching for a moment.  No, everything was running like clockwork, it was full of the  happy noise of people visiting while they ate and was perfectly clean, with workers standing by ready to clean up the least spill.  Then Ray checked the kitchen and saw no problems there, except the Italian chef cussing at someone in Italian!


    When he walked out of the kitchen, he caught something out of the corner of his eye.  There was a man with a TV camera  and a pretty young lady who looked like a reporter getting on the elevator.  Oh no, what were they doing here today?  Ray ran for the elevator but just missed it.  He watched the indicator to see which floor they were going to and when it stopped on the bottom floor where the rooms were for the disposal of the elderly, he completely freaked out!  ¡°Hopefully the doors are locked to the rooms,¡± he said to himself as he ran for the stairs, not waiting for the elevator!

 Heart Attack

    Ray ran down five flights of stairs, breathing heavily.  He bent over to catch his breath and thought, ¡°I¡¯ve got to get to those reporters!  He went over to the door to leave the stairs area and it was locked!  ¡°Noooooo!!¡±  He knocked on the door, but it was a heavy metal door and made little sound.  No one came.  He listened for footsteps, but there was nothing.  ¡°What do I do?¡±  He decided to go back up to the third floor, but was having a hard time breathing.  He had to go slowly and he knew with each slow step more damage was being done by the reporters.  Well, he was pretty sure.  When he finally got back to the top of the stairs, he would¡¯ve raced out of there, but had little to no breath left.  The door was unlocked up there, so he moved toward the elevator.  He glanced outside as he walked over to the elevator and saw the reporters getting into the car.


    Ray ran out to their car and said, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Ray Moss.  Who are you?¡±


    The young girl gave him her name and said, ¡°Boy have we got a story.¡±


    The man with her quickly shushed her and Ray knew then that the resort¡¯s little secret had gotten out of the bag.  They loaded up quickly and while they were driving away, Ray wrote down their license plate number on his cell phone.  Before they were out of sight,  Ray was already calling on his cellphone and when it was picked up he said, ¡°This is an emergency.  We need an accidental death, no make that two.  They are driving a red Honda Accord heading away from the resort.  License plate number 00cal26.  You need to confiscate the video camera and destroy it.  No, just get the tape.  It will look suspicious if the camera is missing.  Hurry!  They have pictures of the disposal room.¡±


    Ray could not calm down and his heart was still racing.  He started having pains in his chest and he couldn¡¯t think of anything else.  He walked to the desk of the host and said, ¡°Get me an ambulance.  Heart attack!¡±Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The young man at the host desk ran around the desk and put his arm around Ray and took him to a nearby sofa and gently lowered him.Ray¡¯s face grew increasingly pale and he fell over face first on the floor.  The resident nurse was called and she tried doing CPR with no results.  When the ambulance got there, they tried as well.  The driver looked up and said, ¡°He is gone.¡±


    Meanwhile, Sarah was on her break at work.  She had lost count of how many homeless people had been moved onto the cruise ship today.  She hadn¡¯t made any new friends here in LA since she had moved here and was eating alone, so to speak.  She wasn¡¯t really alone, she was surrounded by the throngs of homeless people just trying to get a bite to eat.  But, not really conversing with anyone, her mind began to wander.  She thought how yesterday and several days before, many, many elderly had been through here and sent to the resort.  Today, there had been a stop put on moving the elderly.  She heard the resort was full.  That led her to thinking about the hundreds, if not thousands of elderly people who had not gotten to go to the resort.  ¡°Those poor things, what will happen to them?  They can still come here to eat and take showers, but what happens when we close down?   This definitely is not a permanent site for the homeless.  Unless, they are planning on doing away with the elderly like they did the addicts in Portland.¡±


    Sarah thought, ¡°Why would they stop taking the elderly up to the resort if they are going to get rid of them?  Oh, I know, it is because of the reporters.  I saw that great news bit about the resort last night on TV.    They want to make people think they are treating the elderly humanely.  That explains why Ray Moss was upset about the reporters following the vans with the elderly up to the resort yesterday.  He wanted to make sure everything was squeaky clean before he invited them up there!  Oh no!  I hope I am wrong.¡±

 Censored

    Ray ran down five flights of stairs, breathing heavily.  He bent over to catch his breath and thought, ¡°I¡¯ve got to get to those reporters!  He went over to the door to leave the stairs area and it was locked!  ¡°Noooooo!!¡±  He knocked on the door, but it was a heavy metal door and made little sound.  No one came.  He listened for footsteps, but there was nothing.  ¡°What do I do?¡±  He decided to go back up to the third floor, but was having a hard time breathing.  He had to go slowly and he knew with each slow step more damage was being done by the reporters.  Well, he was pretty sure.  When he finally got back to the top of the stairs, he would¡¯ve raced out of there, but had little to no breath left.  The door was unlocked up there, so he moved toward the elevator.  He glanced outside as he walked over to the elevator and saw the reporters getting into the car.


    Ray ran out to their car and said, ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Ray Moss.  Who are you?¡±


    The young girl gave him her name and said, ¡°Boy have we got a story.¡±


    The man with her quickly shushed her and Ray knew then that the resort¡¯s little secret had gotten out of the bag.  They loaded up quickly and while they were driving away, Ray wrote down their license plate number on his cell phone.  Before they were out of sight,  Ray was already calling on his cellphone and when it was picked up he said, ¡°This is an emergency.  We need an accidental death, no make that two.  They are driving a red Honda Accord heading away from the resort.  License plate number 00cal26.  You need to confiscate the video camera and destroy it.  No, just get the tape.  It will look suspicious if the camera is missing.  Hurry!  They have pictures of the disposal room.¡±


    Ray could not calm down and his heart was still racing.  He started having pains in his chest and he couldn¡¯t think of anything else.  He walked to the desk of the host and said, ¡°Get me an ambulance.  Heart attack!¡±Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The young man at the host desk ran around the desk and put his arm around Ray and took him to a nearby sofa and gently lowered him.Ray¡¯s face grew increasingly pale and he fell over face first on the floor.  The resident nurse was called and she tried doing CPR with no results.  When the ambulance got there, they tried as well.  The driver looked up and said, ¡°He is gone.¡±


    Meanwhile, Sarah was on her break at work.  She had lost count of how many homeless people had been moved onto the cruise ship today.  She hadn¡¯t made any new friends here in LA since she had moved here and was eating alone, so to speak.  She wasn¡¯t really alone, she was surrounded by the throngs of homeless people just trying to get a bite to eat.  But, not really conversing with anyone, her mind began to wander.  She thought how yesterday and several days before, many, many elderly had been through here and sent to the resort.  Today, there had been a stop put on moving the elderly.  She heard the resort was full.  That led her to thinking about the hundreds, if not thousands of elderly people who had not gotten to go to the resort.  ¡°Those poor things, what will happen to them?  They can still come here to eat and take showers, but what happens when we close down?   This definitely is not a permanent site for the homeless.  Unless, they are planning on doing away with the elderly like they did the addicts in Portland.¡±


    Sarah thought, ¡°Why would they stop taking the elderly up to the resort if they are going to get rid of them?  Oh, I know, it is because of the reporters.  I saw that great news bit about the resort last night on TV.    They want to make people think they are treating the elderly humanely.  That explains why Ray Moss was upset about the reporters following the vans with the elderly up to the resort yesterday.  He wanted to make sure everything was squeaky clean before he invited them up there!  Oh no!  I hope I am wrong.¡±

 Bruce

    Bruce woke up to his emphysema acting up.  He went in search of Sue.  He had to go slowly, because it was difficult for him to catch a breath.  Nancy saw him walking slowly, struggling for breath and went to Bruce, putting her arm around him and walked him over to a chair in the main room.  ¡°Now you just sit right there and I will find Sue.¡±  She looked all over the downstairs before she saw Sue coming out of the bathroom.  ¡°Honey, come quick.  Bruce is not doing so well.¡±


    Sue followed Nancy to the main room, took one look at Bruce and ran to the kitchen.  She found a pot of boiling water on the stove that was supposed to be used for oatmeal and told the kitchen worker she had to take it.  She grabbed a few kitchen towels and brought her supplies to the main room.  Sue put the pot right in front of Bruce, draped towels over his head and told him to breath as deeply as he could.  ¡°Bruce have you ever been diagnosed with COPD or emphysema?¡± Sue asked him.


    Bruce nodded.  ¡°Emphysema,¡± was all he could get out.


    Sue asked Nancy, ¡°Do we have any honey?¡±


    When Nancy told her they did, Sue asked her to bring the honey and a teaspoon.  As soon as Nancy got back, Sue fed Bruce a teaspoon of honey.  Bruce responded by  coughing and coughing.  Sue asked Nancy if she could put on another pot of water so it would be hot by the time this first pot cooled off.  She asked Donald, who had shown up by this time and was checking on the situation, if he could make an announcement to ask if anyone had an inhaler.  She knew an inhaler would help with Bruce¡¯s breathing.


    Donald went immediately and made the announcement.  Glenda, a frail 86 year old lady came up to Donald and handed him her inhaler.  ¡°I hope Bruce feels better.  I can rub his back if you like.  That always makes me feel better when someone rubs my back.¡±


    Donald smiled at Glenda, thanked her for the inhaler and said he would let her know if they needed her to rub his back.  As he walked the inhaler to Bruce, he thought how kind that was of Glenda to share her lifeline with Bruce.  Living with these people had restored his faith in man.  He had gone through a few years where he had wondered if there were any kind people left in  the world, who unselfishly thought of others. Well, he had his answer now and it felt pretty good!


    Nancy had  Leonard bring in the next pot of water and take the old one back to the kitchen so the kitchen staff could get on with the oatmeal for the meal.  Sue had Bruce take a deep breath of the inhaler while the pots got switched.  Bruce was looking a little bit peaked.  The inhaler helped him and he got out a word, ¡°Thanks!¡±  and a smile.


    Sue was calmly talking to Bruce to try to distract him.  ¡°You know, Bruce, the cold weather probably brought this on.  That¡¯s it.   Breath the hot steam and it will help to open your bronchial tubes.   You are a real trouper, Bruce!¡±  Sue told him a story and got him to laugh.  Pretty soon, Bruce was able to breathe normally. Sue made them both plates and had him follow her up to her little clinic.  She asked him to sit in the office chair and eat slowly.  She also asked him to take small bites and wash each bite down with water.  It was important  to keep his passage clear so he could breathe better.Stolen novel; please report.


    Sue stayed with him all morning.  Bruce finally told her, ¡°I want to lay down, Sue.  Do you think that would be ok?¡±


    Sue agreed and had him lay down on the comfy bed in the clinic.  Bruce fell asleep, exhausted from his ordeal.  She stayed with him until his breathing became regular.  Even though Sue was a nurse and had seen all kinds of illnesses and injuries, seeing Bruce suffer was hard on her because she was close to him.  She told herself not to worry about the inhaler running out and what would happen if it did.  Worry never helps anything.


    Sue had to go check on a couple of other patients and get on with her day.  She came back from time to time to check on Bruce.  She was glad he was getting some sleep, as she knew nighttime was usually the time when things flared up and he would fare better if he got some rest now.


    Sue came back to the room and said, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake!  I was just going down to supper.  Do you feel like going downstairs to eat?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Bruce answered with difficulty.  He was wheezing, with each breath.


    ¡°Ok, I will bring you up a tray.  I¡¯m glad you are resting!  Be back in a minute,¡±  Sue said.


    Sue asked Nancy for some fruit, knowing it would be good for Bruce.  Nancy brought her an orange, an apple and a banana.  Sue started up to where Bruce was resting and met Angie on the stairs.


    Angie said, ¡°Oh, Sue quick come with me!  I checked on Bruce just now and his lips are blue!¡±


    Sue dropped the fruit and ran up the stairs!  She got to Bruce in record time and checked his pulse.  Nothing.  She held a mirror in front of his mouth and nose.  Nothing.  Sue began doing mouth to mouth.  She alternated pushing on his chest and then went back to mouth to mouth.  After ten minutes, Angie said softly, ¡°Sue, I am not a doctor or a nurse, but I think you have given him enough time.  He¡¯s gone.¡±


    Sue said with tears streaming down her face, ¡°No, I have to keep trying,¡± and she went back to doing CPR on her dear friend.


    Angie slipped out of the door and went to get reinforcements to help Sue.  She came back in just a minute with Jim.  Jim took a look at Bruce and had to force himself not to lose it for Sue¡¯s sake.  ¡°Sue, Sue,¡± and when she sat up and turned around, Jim took her in a hug.


    ¡°Why Jim?  Why did Bruce have to die?  He was such a necessary part of us.  He didn¡¯t do anything wrong; he was always trying to help.  Why Bruce?¡±


    Jim held her for a long time and said, ¡°No, he didn¡¯t do anything wrong, Sue.  It was his time.  Death is not a punishment.  It is a normal part of everyone¡¯s life and it was just time for Bruce to go.  He was happy here.  He escaped homelessness and found a life full of excitement.  He learned to drive a yacht, he killed the biggest moose ever, and he learned how to hunt and tan a hide.  A lot of men younger than him have never experienced those things!  It is normal for you to be sad because you will miss him but don¡¯t be sad for Bruce.  He has been set free and we need to remember to be happy for him and celebrate his life!¡±

 The Whistleblower Returns

    Danny, the young man who put up posters in Portland had gotten a new job, since the posters were no longer needed.  He was delivering pizzas.  He was making bank because delivery drivers for pizza places and other fast food restaurants were practically non-existent now.  Oh there were still uber drivers, but their services were quite a bit more expensive for the ones who used them than the companies who had their own drivers.


    This was Danny¡¯s day off, although his boss had tried to get him to work today, as well, because their pizza place was one of the few left in the Portland area who delivered.  He had reluctantly said no because the money was almost too good to pass on, but decided he needed a break worse than the money.  He was taking a walk downtown out of curiosity to see first hand what changes had occurred as a result of the homeless solution.


    He thought how being told about changes was not the same as seeing it with your own eyes.  He walked past the area where there had been 200 people gathered and drug dealing rampant and saw a beautiful block with  neatly trimmed grass growing and flowers draped over the edges of huge pots.  He had to look at the neighboring shops to get his bearings and to reassure himself that he was in the same place!


    Many of the shops that the homeless had worked in before had ¡®help wanted¡¯ signs hanging in the windows and most of the fast food places were closed down altogether.  This was a surprise to Danny, as he had thought most of the homeless were beggars.  He had to admit the city looked a hundred times better and it looked like tourists were coming back.


    He wandered over to the warehouse where Beth and her pet mouse had been living.  To his surprise, the building had been completely cleared away.  He wondered what had happened to Beth and Stretch.  He walked over to the mission where many of the homeless had gone every day to eat.  It was all boarded up, not being needed anymore.  After Danny had his curiosity satisfied, he returned home.


    James and Mason got together at a city council meeting to talk about the progress of the homeless solution.  James addressed the council meeting, telling them about the recent increase in property values, the complete elimination of the homeless and the increase in tourist trade.  ¡°We should be very proud of ourselves, being the first city to eliminate the homeless!¡± he said.  Mason said, ¡°I would like to bring up a little problem that has come up as a direct result of the homeless solution.  Many of our fast food places have closed as a result and it is almost impossible to get a pizza  or a chicken sandwich delivered at home any more.  I hadn¡¯t realized so many of the homeless worked and that it would impact us in this way.  With the tourist trade increasing, we will need to figure something out because they do depend on fast food for the most part.  What can we do?¡±


    Lenny Parson said, ¡°I have an idea.  What if we brought back the homeless who are on the cruise ship out in the harbor and had them staff the restaurants?  That would save us a ton of money, taking care of them.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    Jenny Atkins asked, ¡°Where would they stay?  Would they just go back to being homeless?¡±


    Lenny said, ¡°Heaven forbid!  We just got over all of that.  With the money we save paying the crew on the ship and all of the supplies we get for them, we can build several apartment buildings that are designated for them and simply keep the rent and utilities reasonable enough so that it is affordable for them.¡±


    Jenny said, ¡°I get it.  They will have to go along with our plan because they couldn¡¯t afford to move anywhere else!¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡±  said Lenny


    Meanwhile in LA, Sarah was busier than ever preparing homeless people for the cruise ship.  As she checked the showers, she thought, ¡°I haven¡¯t heard anything else about preparing the elderly for the resort.  I wonder if that is off the table and if so, what will happen to all of these older people?¡±  She checked the food line next and the supply of food to make sure there was plenty for the day.  Sarah decided to take a break and eat since this was probably the slowest the food line would get for now.


    Sarah walked over to one of the picnic tables and asked the young lady with red hair if she could sit with her.  The lady smiled and nodded.  Sarah sat down and sighed.  It felt so good to be off of her feet.  The young lady spoke to her as she took a sip of her pepsi.  ¡°I have been watching you and you haven¡¯t stopped for a moment all morning, until now.  Do you work this hard every day?¡±


    Sarah said, ¡°It¡¯s a pretty busy place, but it gives me a sense of fulfillment, working here.¡±


    The young lady said, ¡°My name is Miranda, what is yours?¡±


    Sarah introduced herself and said, ¡°Miranda, there are showers, if you need them and there is plenty of food.  Please help yourself!¡±


    Miranda said, ¡°No, actually I was waiting for a chance to talk with you.¡±  When Sarah looked up from eating , surprised, Miranda said, ¡°What do you think the people find when they go out on the cruise ships?  And up to the resort?¡±


    Sarah asked, ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Miranda asked, ¡°Do you know what happened to the people in Portland?¡±


    Sarah said, ¡°I did this same work in Portland.¡±


    ¡°But do you know what happened to the elderly and the addicts?  Do you have any clue?¡±  Miranda persisted.


    Sarah looked her in the eyes and said, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°How do you feel about it?¡± Miranda asked.


    ¡°I feel like it is no better than what Hitler did to my people.¡±  Sarah said emphatically!


    ¡°Then why don¡¯t you do something about it?¡± Miranda asked.


    ¡°I am only one person; what can I do?¡±  Sarah asked.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry Miranda; I would like to continue this conversation, but I¡¯m needed.  Can you write down your phone number and bring it to me, please?¡±

 Can You Trust Me?

    Everyone was gathered in the main room of the lodge, watching the news when a blurb came on about Ray Moss and the ultra nice funeral his wife had arranged for him.   Max looked visibly disturbed, Jim noticed.  After the others had dispersed, Jim went over to talk with Max.


    ¡°What¡¯s troubling you, Max?  You seemed upset by the news.¡±


    ¡°I have had a lot of time to think while I have been tied up here, Jim.  You know there was no funeral or even acknowledgement of the addicts or the elderly who were, um, what would you say, disposed of in Portland.  This man, Ray Moss, was one of the main men who arranged things for their death.  He got a fine funeral and send-off.  It just doesn¡¯t seem right.  I was all for getting rid of them.  It was a boost to population control and made property values better and cleaned up the city, but I am having second thoughts now.  Bruce didn¡¯t have a lavish funeral, but it was heart-felt and I think he would have loved it.  That isn¡¯t what I am trying to say.  I think I have been wrong.  When I go back to work, I am going to ask to be reassigned.  I can¡¯t be involved with that  ending of human life anymore.  Living with you folks has opened my eyes.  You are all hard workers and you do it together as a team!  You care about each other and this is the way society should work.  Oh, I don¡¯t know how to say what I am thinking.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°I understand.  I had given up on society after my buddy on Wall Street screwed me over and then took my wife on top of it all.  I hardened my heart.  You can change, Max.  In fact, I think you already are.¡±Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Jim went to talk with Donald.  ¡°Donald, I think we may have the solution of what to do with Max.¡±  He explained what Max had told him and asked if  Donald could come talk to him.


    Donald said, ¡°I don¡¯t know, Jim.  FBI agents are pretty sneaky.  After Carl told me about the speech Max made congratulating the people who disposed of the addicts and after him pursuing us and almost killing us all, I would have a hard time trusting him.  I will come talk with him, but I just don¡¯t have much faith that he has changed.¡±


    When they went back to Max, he asked if he could have his cell phone to make a call.  Jim looked at Donald  and stood up to get Max¡¯s phone.  When Max got his phone, he called his boss and put it on speaker phone.  His boss asked, ¡°Where have you been, Max?  I haven¡¯t been able to get in touch with you for almost a month and you said you would only be gone on your vacation for two weeks.¡±


    Max said ¡°I¡¯ve been all tied up and couldn¡¯t call.  I¡¯ll explain later.  Boss, I can¡¯t work at that job anymore, could you please reassign me?¡±


    The boss said, ¡°If it has affected you that much, I do have another job I will put you on.¡±


    Max thanked him and they said they would talk later. ¡° I wanted to ask you, Donald, if you would feel comfortable taking me back to the houseboat now.  I need to return it to the owner and I need to get back to work.  I think I have learned a valuable lesson here, but I need to go home.¡±


    ¡°How can I know you won¡¯t just get a bunch of guns and ammo and come back up here and kill us all?¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess you are going to have to decide if you can trust me.  I have no way to convince you,¡± Max said.


    ¡°Let us talk it over and we will get back to you,¡± Donald said.

 The Plan

    The City Council meeting ended with a unanimous vote to have Lenny Parson draw up a plan for bringing the homeless back to Portland  to staff the restaurants, fast food places and other jobs that had been neglected.  He was given until January fifteenth, which was the time they would reconvene.  Lenny was delighted to be the one doing the planning.  He had a building company and would be able to keep his company busy for a few months  with this plan.  He decided to present to the city council the plan for three high rises, as this would take less property and hence less initial money to purchase than if he had designed fourplexes or duplexes.  Each of the high rises would have a large park on site with a playground his own children would be jealous of  and a nice swimming pool.  After the presentation on January fifteenth, the actual building of the properties would commence immediately, if approved.  Then they could be completed by mid May to provide housing for the staffing of the fast food establishments  for the summer tourists!


    Lenny knew things didn¡¯t always go as planned and there were likely to be delays, so he prepared himself for any eventualities.  He got pretty excited about this project and had his secretary looking into prices on lumber, rebar and all of the many other necessary items they would need.  He started looking for and pricing properties, himself so he would have that to present to the city council.  He actually hired an interior decorator to find inexpensive furnishings for the apartments and a contractor to do a price check on appliances.  Getting all of these estimates ahead of time would enable him to have a jump on any other contractors who might be also considered.  Yes, he was pretty sure he had this whole thing in the bag!


    Lenny also planned to put shops around the bottom of the apartment buildings, which included a grocery store, a place for free childcare and other shops so the only transportation the ex-homeless would have to work out would be their rides to and from work.  In his proposal, the rent would be only $800 per month, which would prevent the homeless from looking elsewhere and assure that they would stay put in these new apartments, as rent was considerably more  anywhere else in Portland.  It was important that they didn¡¯t resort to homelessness anymore.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Lenny knew building these apartments and buying the properties would be pricey, but planned to present the council with how much they would save on paying the personnel on the cruise ship, food on the ship and also the cost of transporting all of the food and supplies to the ship.  Once the ship was moved to LA, and the people moved into the apartments, each of the ex-homeless would be paying their own way!  He felt like this was a win-win situation and that the committee would jump at his plans!


    Meanwhile, in Alaska, Jim and Donald were discussing Max and his situation.  Jim said, ¡°Donald, you know we can¡¯t keep Max tied up here forever.¡±


    Donald said, ¡°I know that,  Jim, but any decision we make is going to affect not just him, but all of these elderly people.  We could set him free and it could come back to bite us, because he might decide to kill all of our friends. Or he could turn us in to the ones who are executing the elderly.¡±


    ¡°Or, he could do just what he said he would do and leave us alone and go back to his FBI job and we could never see him again,¡± Jim added.  ¡°Granted, it would be taking a huge risk.  I have a feeling in my gut, Donald, that he is telling the truth.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but what if you are wrong?¡± Donald asked.


    ¡°Working on Wall Street, you had to have discernment and you had to trust your gut or you simply wouldn''t make it out there,¡± Jim said.  ¡°I have the feeling I used to get when a big deal was about to go my way.  I don¡¯t think I am wrong.¡±


    ¡°I want to think it over tonight, Jim.  We can get back together tomorrow.¡± Donald said.


    Jim stood up and stomped out of the room.  He went outside to cool off.  He didn¡¯t know how to get through to Donald how he was feeling.  He did cool down, but was still bothered and didn¡¯t know what to do.


    Later that night, Max, who had been moved to  a recliner, needed to go to the bathroom.  He reached for the walkie-talkie and was suddenly wide awake!  He was not tied up as tightly as usual.  He felt around and was able to untie himself.  Max moved quietly to the bathroom and thought, ¡°Now I can put my plan into action!¡±

 Max is Missing

    Miranda came up to Sarah while she was working and said, ¡°I have not given you my phone number to protect you.  We can meet somewhere, but I am being traced and you would most likely be traced as well if you and I spoke over the phone.  I don¡¯t know if you know who I am,  but I feel like it is necessary, before we go any further, to explain it to you so you can count the costs of being associated with me.


    I was key to getting the pictures on tic-toc about the disposal of the addicts.  That didn¡¯t last long on tic-toc, only about fifteen minutes, but it sure stirred up a hornet¡¯s nest!  They found me and threatened me and actually caused me to lose my job.  If they catch me again it will be much more serious.  I wanted to explain that to you so you can make a decision.  If you do choose to be associated with me, meet me tonight at ¡®The Crab¡¯s Delight¡¯ restaurant.  If you don¡¯t show, I will understand.


    While Miranda walked off, Sarah thought how surprised she was that Miranda would continue to try to educate the public on the operations of the clinic in Portland and what was going on here in LA.  Sarah thought, ¡°Miranda must have strong convictions.  She obviously is not getting paid and sure won¡¯t be paid by the homeless, so money is not her motivation.  In fact, she must be in a difficult situation, losing her job!  I am not sure what I will do.¡±


    Donald came downstairs in the morning and seeing the recliner empty, figured someone was taking Max to the bathroom.  Shortly after he went to the kitchen for morning coffee, Karen walked in and told everyone hello.  Donald said, ¡°Oh, I saw the empty recliner and thought you were taking Max to the bathroom.¡±


    Karen said, ¡°No, dahling, it must be Jim.  They poured their coffees and fixed them the way they liked and Karen got a cup for Max, as well.  Walking to the living room to enjoy them and wake up a little, Donald asked Karen what she had planned for the day.  She was in the middle of a long explanation when Jim walked in with his coffee.  Donald and Karen said, in unison, ¡°Where¡¯s Max?¡±


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Jim looked around and said, ¡°Oh no!¡±  The three of them started running in circles.  Donald went straight to the guns and made sure they were all accounted for.  Then he loaded a rifle and headed for the back door with Karen and Jim both on his heels.  They were all talking at once, Karen and Jim trying to convince Donald not to shoot Max.  Once the door was open, the sound of an axe chopping wood rang out clearly through the chilly air.


    Donald marched straight over to the wood-chopper, who was dressed warm and whose hat came down low over his face.  He was going to ask him if he had seen Max.  As he walked up, the wood-chopper put the axe into the stump of wood with a resounding thud and walked up to him.  To his surprise, it was Max!


    ¡°Good morning,¡± Max said, just as if it was normal for him to be chopping wood.


    By this time Karen and Jim had caught up and they all three stood there with their mouths open, not believing what they saw!  Jim said, ¡°What are you doing, man?¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Why are you chopping wood?¡±


    Max said, ¡°I noticed we could use some more wood and I needed some exercise and thought I could help out!¡±


    Donald said, ¡°But you could have gotten clean away.  I don¡¯t understand.¡±


    Max said, ¡°I know.  But it means a lot to me that you all know I have changed and am not going to hurt you.  I want your friendship.  If this doesn¡¯t convince you, it just isn¡¯t going to happen.  The people who live here are honest, hard-working people who care about each other and those are the kind of people I want in my life.  You have the values my grandparents had and I haven¡¯t found anywhere else.  I really do need to get back home and straighten things out, but if you feel like you need to tie me up again, I won¡¯t resist.


    Donald looked at Jim and said, ¡°I was wrong.  Max, come in and have breakfast before you go!¡±


    Karen said, ¡°Dahling, I am so happy for you!  I must go inside now, it is too cold!¡±  They all laughed at their one of a kind Karen!


    Max had breakfast with everyone, took a shower and headed back to civilization.

 Does History Have Solutions?

    Sarah decided to meet with Miranda, although she wasn¡¯t sure how involved she would be.  She needed to hear how Miranda planned to buck the tide.  She drove over to the Crab¡¯s Delight, pensively.  As far as she could tell, there was no way anything good would come of standing up to the powers that be.  As she pulled up to a stop light, she made the decision to go back home.  By the time the light turned, she had talked herself into continuing on to the restaurant.  Sarah knew she was faced with a big decision.  This decision could impact the rest of her life.  Pulling up to the restaurant, Sarah spotted Miranda.  Sarah¡¯s heart was racing wildly, but she summoned up her courage and got out of the car and walked up to Miranda¡¯s table.


    Meanwhile, it took Max a while to get the engine of the houseboat started, after sitting in the cold for days.It finally caught on and Max drove it over to the dock to get gas.  After getting gas, he went into the little store for a cup of coffee and some groceries.  When he went to put the groceries away in the little refrigerator, he nearly gagged.  Of course he hadn¡¯t planned to be gone so long, so he hadn¡¯t cleaned out the fridge.  There was bologna with green mold growing on it and rotten liver.  He had been trying to eat healthy, well sort-of!  He found a fisherman who gladly took the rotten and molded meat off of his hands to use for bait and with that done and the food all put away, Max was off!


    Max had to admit, as much as he had enjoyed the wholesomeness of his elderly friends, it was awfully refreshing to be untied and to feel the cool air blowing over him!  Max had a lot to think about.  He hoped that the new assignment his boss had for him would not conflict with his renewed morals and if it did, could he stand up for the way he believed?  What exactly did he believe?  Well, for one, he didn¡¯t feel it was right to take another human being and decide to end their life in the name of population control or cleaning up the country.  He really didn¡¯t have a better solution and the homeless situation had certainly come to a crisis.  He was so disgusted by the stench and the filth and the drugs of the homeless and how it affected not just them but had spilled over into the streets and was affecting the whole country.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Max liked to compare situations today with situations back in history.  Often he found solutions in the past could be applied to today.  He thought for a while, trying to find a similar situation.  The best he could come up with would be the French Revolution.  The solution of the elite and rulers of that day had been to, in the words of Marie Antoinette, ¡®let them eat cake¡¯ when the poor had nothing to eat and many had nowhere to go.  The poor of that day got fed up with the inaction of the rulers and overthrew the government.  Max thought, ¡°Um, let¡¯s look at another place in history.  I really don¡¯t like that solution so much.¡±


    ¡°What about the great potato famine in Ireland in the years of 1845 to 1852?  I don¡¯t know if that relates.  Let¡¯s see, oh yes, absentee landlordism was a big factor then.  Over 2 million people fled Ireland and another 1 million people died, tens of thousands of people were evicted from their homes and during the famine, large amounts of food was exported from Ireland!!!  Interesting!  Continue to turn a profit from selling food while your countrymen are dying.  That situation doesn¡¯t seem to offer a good working solution.  Where would the poor go today?  America has already been colonized and besides that, they are in America!  No, that doesn¡¯t present a working solution.  Oh, I don¡¯t know.  I guess I don¡¯t know what to do!¡±


    Max continued to mull over his dilemma, not having much hope for  a solution.  He was surprised how quickly he was getting back to Seattle.   He really hoped he wouldn¡¯t catch a bunch of flack from  the man he rented the houseboat from.  He slept so peacefully that night in a real bed while the boat was anchored out in the ocean and woke up in a great mood.  It took him a minute to figure out where he was and then he fixed some coffee and breakfast and got on his way.

 Shark

    Miranda knew there was a need for a way to get the truth out there about the homeless solution.  She had tried to inform the public by way of tic-toc but had gotten shut down really fast and needed another means.  She didn¡¯t know how seriously that tic-toc video was taken by most people.  It had resulted in enough people reacting that the demonstration had caused Seattle to close down before  any damage had been done there.   That was a temporary victory, only.  The action had simply  moved to another location, LA.


    She had had a stroke of luck.  The TV reporter who had been fired for trying to expose the resort up in the mountains above L.A., Johnny Cooper, had come to her and wanted to work together!  This was big news, as far as Miranda was concerned!  She knew they may only  have one shot at an independent effort like this and wanted to save it until they were ready to film demonstrations so it would make a big impact on the public.  Meanwhile, Johnny was working on all of the necessary preparations to get this media sensation all lined up.  He felt the visual was a large, necessary part of their expose and television or you-tube or something of that sort would be called for to put it into action.


    Sarah walked over to   Miranda¡¯s table and sat down.  The ladies  exchanged greetings   and ordered some food.  Miranda explained why she had started organizing the demonstrations, saying, ¡°If we don¡¯t stand up for the people who are being violated, soon those same forces will be coming after us and there will be no one to stand up for us!  It is true!¡± She said when Sarah looked startled.


    ¡°Sarah, I have been thinking you may fit in better in an informative position.  You are in a situation where you are privy to some valuable information which we don¡¯t have any other way to get.  It would be a fairly invisible involvement, which would be better for your health, if you know what I mean.  However, there would still be danger.  I assume you are consenting to become one of us, since you are here today.  Tell me what you are thinking.¡±


    Sarah said, ¡°I am totally against murdering innocent people but don¡¯t you think demonstrations are going a little bit far?  Some people are going to end up in jail over this, Miranda.¡±


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    ¡°Don¡¯t I know it?¡± Miranda said.  ¡°Sarah, there won¡¯t be just demonstrations, this is going to spearhead a revolution!  Well, let¡¯s enjoy our supper and I will quit talking for now.  I do want you to think  things over and let me know if you are all in.  It is a lot to think about.¡±  The ladies finished their supper and Sarah drove back home, deep in thought.


    With Ray Moss gone, a new director over the ships, the Venice Beach operation and the resort was needed.  After careful consideration, Andrew Weeks was chosen and jumped in with both feet.  He spent a full day at each location and after experiencing Andrew¡¯s hovering  over her for a full day, Sarah  was totally glad when he wasn¡¯t there for the next two days.  She did find his presence helpful, though, as he seemed to fully trust her and was taking her into his confidence.


    Max was thoroughly enjoying his drive back to Seattle on the houseboat and decided to drop a line in the water and see if he could catch a fish.  He wasn¡¯t experienced at fishing, but had found some equipment on board, belonging to the owner.  He saw the pole was strung up and even had a hook and sinker.  The hook was huge and he simply put some shrimp  on it and was ready to go!  He made sure to keep the line away from the motor when he threw it in and put it into the pole holder and went back to steering the boat.  After a while, Max heard a bell ringing and thought that was odd.  He looked around but couldn¡¯t see any other boats where the sound could be coming from and then checked his phone and anywhere else it could be sounding from.  Nothing.  Max saw the pole twitching and ran for it.  He had a fish on!  Max pulled the pole out of its holder  and nearly dropped it. Quickly recovering, Max started reeling his fish in like crazy.  The fish must have been on for a while and covered a lot of distance, because it was taking Max forever to reel it in.  It seemed to be a big fish, because it was very heavy!  Max¡¯s arms were burning, but he kept reeling it in.  He had to stop once to rest but went right back to work on it.  He looked around for a net and when he caught sight of it, brought it over to the side of the boat.  Max saw his first glimpse of the fish and nearly fell forward into the water out of surprise!  It was a fifteen foot shark!

 Decorating for Christmas

    Max caught sight of the shark and thought, ¡°I¡¯m not eating that!   That thing would kill me before I get it into the boat.  What do I do?¡±  Max  first took a picture of the shark  and then pulled out his pocketknife and cut the line.  He watched the shark flip his tail into the air and disappear deep into the Pacific waters.  ¡°Too bad I couldn¡¯t have pulled it up into the boat!  I would have had bragging rights and even Donald would be jealous!  I wonder how everyone is doing up at the hunting lodge.  I miss funny Karen.  She actually gave me a sweet kiss when I left and it looked like she had tears in her eyes.  I¡¯m not usually attracted to older women, but Karen¡­.maybe .   And that Jim!  What a guy!  He believed in me and went to bat for me with Donald.  Well, I hope they are all well.¡±


    The first morning after Max departed, Jim came downstairs for his coffee to find Karen weeping in the living room with two cups of coffee beside her.  She was sitting beside the easy chair where Max had been tied up.  He went over and put his arms around her.  Karen leaned on him and sobbed.  After a  few minutes, Jim reached over and got Karen¡¯s coffee and handed it to her.  They sat there and drank their coffee together.  Karen said, ¡°I miss him, Jim.  We got close in the time we had together.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°Let¡¯s take a walk outside.  The snow has melted and it will do you good to be out in nature.  I don¡¯t think you have had a chance to see the pantry.  I think you will be really impressed by its progress.¡±  They walked over to the newly built pantry and Jim gave her his arm to lean on while they went down the stairs.  Karen¡¯s eyes grew wide as she saw the amazing food that had been prepared by the kitchen and the hunters and the processors.  ¡°Jim, this is amazing!¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.


    ¡°I know!  It is pretty incredible what can be accomplished when people work together!  Even a bunch of old farts, like us!¡± Jim said.


    One of Andrew Weeks¡¯ first jobs, after visiting the cruise ship, Venice Beach and the resort  was to get decorators started putting up Christmas lights, trees, Santas and evergreen boughs everywhere at all three locations.  He knew such a simple act would lend an air of happiness and wholesomeness to the whole operation.  They could surely use that after the negative publicity they had received.


    Aboard Portland¡¯s lone cruise ship which stood as a beacon to remind people of the victory over homelessness, some of the teenage boys were talking after school one day.  ¡°I have always wanted to play sports in school, especially football,¡± Jimmy Askins said.


    ¡°Yeah, but there aren¡¯t enough of us to make one team, much less a second one so we have someone to play against,¡± said Simon Obenchain.  ¡°I wish we could go to a regular school.  Then we could have a sport for every season.  Basketball, Baseball, Football and maybe even hockey!¡±


    Jimmy said, ¡°Yeah and you wouldn¡¯t have any front teeth because I¡¯m a better player than you!   Ha  ha ha!¡±  They were both laughing!  Jimmy said, ¡°Let¡¯s go swim some laps and see who is faster!¡±  They both went to change and met at the pool.  Little did they know that in about 5 months, they would have their chance at school sports!


    After Andrew Weeks spent a day at Venice Beach, Sarah made up her mind.  This man not only trusted her, but had taken her into his confidence and told her some things that Miranda would be very interested in!  She had come to the realization that being an informant would be fun, but risky and couldn¡¯t wait to tell Miranda her decision and what she had learned!

 Land Ho

    Donald came down to breakfast, hooting and hollering!  He walked over to Jim and Karen who just happened to be enjoying their coffee together on the couch, as neither one was a breakfast person.  ¡°Guess what?  We got a text from Max.¡±  He turned the camera around and they both jumped!


    Jim asked, ¡°Is that a shark?  Did he catch it?  How did he land it and is he ok?¡±


    Karen asked, ¡°Did he send a note?¡±


    Donald said,  ¡°Yes, he said in the note that he had to cut it loose and he lost his hook, but he wasn¡¯t injured.  Karen¡¯s face dropped, as she had hoped Max would have at least said hello to her.  Donald continued, ¡°Max also said that he misses Karen¡¯s coffee and food and her sweet smile!¡±  Karen¡¯s face lit up and she walked off in a daze.


    Donald and Jim looked at each other, knowingly but didn¡¯t say anything.


    Meanwhile, back at Venice Beach, Sarah was guiding people to the different lines and thinking about her talks with both Miranda and Andrew Weeks.  She didn¡¯t like the idea of demonstrations, but was starting to agree that something needed to be done to halt the loss of innocent lives.  She also had information to pass on to Miranda and was wondering how she would handle that as they hadn¡¯t made any plans on how they would meet again.  Sarah walked over to the showers and needed to check the back of the shower trailer, as the water pressure had decreased.  She had pretty much become  a jack-of-all-trades, since working here and felt like it was comical.  She was  college educated and had never taken care of home repairs or car repairs and yet here she was, trouble-shooting plumbing!  She found the problem.  Someone had snuck back here and turned the water down enough that it affected the pressure!  Whew!  That was a simple solution.  She simply turned it up again and made a note to have some kind of lock put on it so it would not happen again.


    She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned quickly.  Sarah let out a sigh of relief.  It was just Miranda.  Miranda put her finger on her lip to shush Sarah and slipped a note into her hand and left as quickly as she had arrived.  Sarah put the note into her pocket to read for later and continued on her business.  Her guess was that Miranda had been watching her for a while, looking for a chance to give her the note and the quick exchange behind the trailer would probably go unobserved, but stopping to read the note would most likely stand out.


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    After work, Sarah had almost forgotten the note and it fell out of her pocket when she went to grab a tissue for her nose.  ¡°Oh, I need to see what Miranda said.  Maybe she wants to meet again.  The note said, ¡°If you have any news for me, please be at The Dirty Dancin Bar at 8:00 tonight.¡±


    When Sarah got there, it took her eyes a while to adjust to the dark room.  It was noisy and confusing and Sarah could see why Miranda had decided to meet here.  She saw Miranda waving from a booth in the corner and walked over.  Miranda handed her a notebook and a pen and Sarah noticed that Miranda had one as well.  What was going on?  Miranda wrote on her notebook, ¡°It is too loud, so we will have a conversation by writing it down!¡±  Sarah had to laugh at Miranda¡¯s ingenuity!


    Miranda wrote, ¡°Any news?  I¡¯m assuming you have some since you showed up!¡±


    Sarah said, ¡°Yes.  My new supervisor, Andrew Weeks, has made me his confidant!¡±


    Miranda said, ¡°Great!¡±


    Sarah wrote, ¡°Things will be starting up again at the resort after the first of the year.  He said they are not sure if they will start with the elderly or the addicts first.  He wanted me to be prepared  for either and will let me know in the future.¡±


    Miranda wrote, ¡°This is a great help.  Is there anything else?¡±


    Sarah wrote, ¡°I think there is because he acted very excited about something but he hasn¡¯t told me yet what it is.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I will check back with you soon.  I will take your notebook and pen and will destroy the notes.¡±  Miranda wrote.  ¡°Let¡¯s leave separately.¡±  Sarah left and went back home.


    Max got back to land and turned in the houseboat.  He got  a good cussing out and got charged double and walked out happy and whistling!  Max got into his vehicle and headed to the bank.  After that he took a ride to the post office and addressed and sent his mail.  He thought about his experience in Alaska and about how his views had changed on many things and smiled, thinking about the folks receiving his letter.

 In a Bad Way

    Jim asked Donald, ¡°Buddy, I know you have spent a lot of money helping all of us, but where exactly do you stand financially, if you don¡¯t mind me asking?¡±


    ¡°Actually, I need to talk with you about the finances.  I figure two heads are better than one, as the old saying goes.  I paid for the lodge and the land outright so it is mine, but I am still paying on the boat, my house and car.  All of those payments come out of my checking account automatically, as well as the utility and cable payments and I have enough left in the account to pay for three more months.  So, it is time to get our heads together to get some more money coming in.  I have had some requests for outfitting trips, so we would have to figure out places for them to stay, if everybody is ok having them stay here at the lodge.  My savings account is drained, which is the money we have been living off of.  Do you have any ideas, Jim?¡± Donald explained.


    ¡°I like the idea of you leading outfitting this winter, Donald.  Sue and Karen and I can run things around here.  As far as rooms, we have Bruce¡¯s old room and I¡¯m sure some of our people would be willing to double up so we can have enough rooms for the hunters.¡± Jim answered.


    ¡°We do need to stock up more supplies for the winter, so we can make it through.  The roads will become inaccessible pretty soon, so that is very important.  I figure we will need close to $1,000 to get the bare necessities.  The man who owns the store in town might let me have the supplies on credit.  I could go talk to him in a couple of days.  If you could arrange the room changes, I will get in touch with the hunters and give them the green light,¡± Donald said.  He knew they really needed more than a thousand dollars, because they needed a couple of new generators, with the old one being almost ten years old.  That would be their only power source, if the electricity went off this winter, as it was prone to do.  He also wanted to get vegetable seeds for a spring garden.  Fresh vegetables were very expensive in Alaska.  But he didn¡¯t want to discourage Jim by telling him all of this.


    And then,  there was the roof on the lodge that needed replacing.  Donald knew that those were not the only expenses, but he didn¡¯t want to think about it any more.  They were going down the tubes fast and he seriously didn¡¯t know how to solve it.  Donald thought about his situation and knew he had made the right decision in helping these elderly people.  He felt like it was his life¡¯s mission, so he would just have to believe that somehow they would make it.


    Andrew Weeks was getting itchy feet to get started up at the resort, but he had his orders.  He did go up there and inspect the whole place to see what he could do to prepare for January.  There were little things that would make it more secure, like covering the window in the downstairs rooms so if someone who didn''t belong got down there, they couldn¡¯t see what was going on.  He beefed up the locks on the doors down there and started working on securing each of the floors.  The ones responsible for letting others on and off of the floors would have a special key so the elevators didn¡¯t open automatically unless someone had the key.  That was easy enough to explain.  If anyone asked, they would be told it was because it was necessary for alzheimer¡¯s patients.


    Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Jim started organizing room changes and freeing up several rooms for the hunters the next morning.  Donald started off toward town.  He cringed, thinking about talking with the store owner about buying on credit.  He had maxed out his own credit card, buying coats and groceries, so he didn¡¯t have that to fall back on.  He walked in and seeing  Ben Mulligan busy with customers, decided to check his mail at the post office.  He groaned when he saw a letter from Max.


    Donald had been afraid Max would retaliate and sue him for keeping him tied up and here was the letter.  He didn¡¯t open it right away, but put it into his folder to read when he got home.  He didn¡¯t need any more bad news right now.  Donald was not doing so great.  He went back to the store and saw Ben was not busy, so swallowed deeply and said, ¡°Hi Ben, how have you been?¡±


    Ben said, ¡°Well hey there Donald, ¡°It is good to see you!  How are things up at the lodge?¡±


    Donald said, ¡°That is why I came to talk to you today.  We are needing some supplies and I am running short until the hunters get here.  I was wondering if you could extend some credit to me?¡±  He thought, ¡°Well, at least I didn¡¯t stumble over my words.  That came out smoothly.¡±


    Ben said, ¡°I would love to Donald.  You have been a good friend and customer, but I am overextended.  I gave credit to that young man who came up from  Washington State and was surprised to learn that he flopped up here and had gone back to Washington without settling up with me.  That really hurt.  I am just hoping I can make it through the winter.  I¡¯m sorry Donald but I have to say no.  I hope there¡¯s no hard feelings.¡±


    Donald, devastated by the news, both for himself and his friend, tried not to show it and smiled and said, ¡°Of course not, Ben.  I¡¯m so sorry you got screwed over like that.  Maybe you will hear from that young guy when he gets back on his feet.¡±


    ¡°I sure hope so.  Something like that takes a while to get over, if I ever do!¡±   Ben said.


    They talked a while and Donald left for home, wondering how he was going to tell Jim what was happening and wondering how they were going to make it.

 Max is Going to Sue?

    Tricia and Carol were hosting a Christmas party at their house and had gone all out, decorating.  There were several large blow up decorations for the front yard; a Santa, a train and a jack-in-the-box.  The front door was wrapped in a red and green wrapping paper with a wide red ribbon on it.  Inside, there were candles lit everywhere.  There was a fully stocked bar and a red hurricane punch on the table and a table next to it with every dessert you could think of; coconut balls, cheesecake, red velvet cake, ambrosia, red and green cookies, etc.  Trish said, ¡°I would really like to get pizza delivered, but the pizza shop said we would have to come get it ourselves.  They said there were very few delivery drivers anymore since the homeless were no longer around to work there.  Boy, those homeless people are still causing us problems!  I thought by now we wouldn¡¯t have any more trouble out of them!¡±


    Carol said, ¡°Yeah, me too.¡±  She put on some modern Christmas music and went to answer the door and start letting the guests in.


    Danny was so busy delivering pizzas the last few days before Christmas that he wasn¡¯t sleeping.  He was like the donut guy who met himself coming to work and Danny found himself living  off of energy drinks!  He had to call in to work on Christmas day because he was at the hospital with a pounding heart!  He was relieved to find out it wasn¡¯t a heart attack, but the energy drinks causing it.  The doctor did advise him to cool it on the energy drinks for a while to give his body time to recover.  He went to a family restaurant for his Christmas dinner and then went home to play his new video game that he had gotten himself for Christmas.


    On the cruise ship in Portland, as well as the ships in L.A., the formerly homeless people had a simple Christmas with a nice dinner and presents they had bought with the tokens earned aboard.  The general consensus was, if they had still been homeless, there wouldn¡¯t have been any presents at all, so they were very grateful for the little they did receive!


    When Donald got back from town, he was so discouraged that he went straight to bed.  The next morning, he tried to be cheerful so he didn¡¯t bring anyone down, but Jim saw right through his efforts.  ¡°What is going on Donald?  What happened in town?¡±


    Stolen novel; please report.


    Donald said, ¡°Well, Ben can¡¯t help us.  Someone already got credit from him and then left the state.¡±


    ¡°I am so sorry to hear that, Donald, but something will work out,¡±  Jim said.


    Donald groaned, remembering the letter from Max.


    Jim said, ¡°What?¡±


    Donald told him about the letter from Max and he was afraid Max was going to sue him.


    Jim said, ¡°Donald, I think the letter might be about something else because Max seemed like a changed man when he left here.  Let¡¯s read it together.¡±


    Donald went up to get the letter out of his room and took it to Jim to read.  Jim tore it open and a card fell on the floor.  While Donald was picking it up, Jim started reading the letter.


    ¡°Hello and Merry Christmas, my friends!  I say that because you folks are my only real friends.  You are honest and you don¡¯t put on airs or pretend with me.  I am sending a credit card with $50,000 on it.  I know you have spent a lot, Donald, because you were the only one with money and I suspect you could really use some help, so here it is.  Hopefully there is enough to make a difference and cover whatever expenses you may have.  This is a gift, not a loan.  I miss you all and will be thinking of you this Christmas and how you all changed my life.  Oh, is there any way you can find a red rose for Karen and tell her  Merry Christmas for me?   Much love to everyone, Max.¡±


    Jim looked up and tears were streaming from Donald¡¯s face and dripping onto the floor.  ¡°He said, I am so happy right now that I could spit!¡±


    Jim roared with laughter and said, ¡°I never in a million years would have guessed you would say that!¡±


    A crowd had gathered around to see what the hullabaloo was about and the roar of everyone talking at once filled the room!  A trip was planned the next day, bright and early so they could lay in supplies before the next storm hit!


    Sarah sat at home crying.  She thought, ¡°Christmas is this week and these poor people on Venice Beach have nothing and nowhere to go.  Then , when they do have a place to go in January, it will be to their death, for most of them.  I wish I could help them.  Oh, I know I help them with food and showers and it is something, but they are humans and it isn¡¯t right that they have nothing to look forward to and have no homes.  Everyone should have a home.

 Celebrating Christmas

    Sarah dragged into work the next day, which was Christmas and tried to put on a brave face.  She was short a few people, so she had to serve the food.  It smelled amazing!  One of the restaurants in town had taken it upon themselves to make 20 roast turkeys, ten trays of stuffing, mashed potatoes to feed an army, hawaiian rolls, Karo pecan pies, pumpkin pies, apple pies, green bean casseroles and more.  Sarah smiled when she saw the reactions of the first ones to be served.  They were happy!  She figured if they could be happy with this wonderful meal, so could she!  The tears were put aside.  Besides, who needed presents?  There was still that little niggling pest in the back of her mind, trying to rear its ugly head to remind her of the coming inhumanity, but she managed to push it down.  ¡°It is possible that a miracle will happen.  It has been known to happen before!¡±  This thought was her best weapon to defeat that pest!


    Sarah served every plate with a smile and found her smiles returned.  ¡°This is actually fun.  I am so glad I came today.  I really can¡¯t think of anything I would rather be doing on Christmas!¡±  Someone had brought a squeezebox and was playing Christmas carols and after a couple of songs, everybody was singing together!  A scripture from her childhood came to Sarah, ¡®Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me!¡¯  ¡°How in the world did I remember that verse?  It must have been 30 years since I thought of it!¡±


    Sarah thought.


    Meanwhile, in Alaska, Nancy and the kitchen crew had outdone themselves!  They too had a feast and Karen surprised everyone by sitting down at the piano and playing Christmas carols in a ragtime way!  At first, they were all so surprised that the room filled with laughter, hearing the carols presented in such a way and so out of character for Karen!  Then the singing was so whole-hearted that you could barely hear the piano!  The doorbell rang and Donald and Jim just looked at each other, wondering who would be out in the snow in this weather!  Karen jumped up from the piano while they were sitting there, surprised and almost ran to open the door, as if she was expecting someone!


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Karen threw open the door to a Santa Claus!  Behind him was a dogsled with ten beautiful dogs.  Stunned, no one spoke at first!  Then, Santa scooped up Karen and gave her a big smooch on the lips!  ¡°Hello love!¡±  Santa said.


    Karen was the first to recognize Max and started doing a jig!  ¡°I thought it was you, I just didn¡¯t know until you kissed me!  I¡¯m so glad you are back!¡±


    The whole room was talking at once.  Donald thanked Max for his present and asked what he was doing here.  Jim asked what was going on with the dogs.  Nancy asked if he was hungry.  Come to find out, Max had purchased the dogs and sled for the hunting and shopping trips for Donald!  He said, ¡°You needed back-up for when the snowmobiles might act up.  There are also generators in the sled for emergencies.  Believe it or not, I have found happiness with you all and I am no longer happy working for the FBI.  I want to live here permanently, if you will have me, well, that is if you are not planning to tie me up again!¡±


    Everyone roared with laughter!  Donald sighed a big sigh of relief.  ¡°Max, you are welcome here and not just because of the presents.  Yours is one of the biggest transformations I have ever seen in a person¡¯s life and it came about in a most peculiar way!¡±  Everyone laughed again!


    Santa sat down at the table and after Karen had fixed his meal just the way he liked it, he pulled her into his lap!  Karen blushed!  While he was eating, Karen went back to playing the piano and the singing commenced again!


    Christmas was not as happy for everyone.  Andrew Weeks could not wait any longer.  He and the doctor arrived at the resort shortly after the Christmas dinner there.  As soon as the elderly had retired for the night, they were drugged and taken two by two downstairs, never to return.  All through the night and into the next day, it continued.  Two days after Christmas, Andrew arranged for vans to bring addicts up to the resort with the same results.

 Its Happening

    Andrew Weeks spoke to Sarah and told her they had gotten rid of all but one floor of the elderly and had begun getting rid of the addicts.  There was no need to shower them first, but  she needed to encourage them to head to the vans, so they could get loaded up faster.  He was on a mission and it turned Sarah¡¯s stomach.  Andrew was so excited about the progress he had made that he was spilling everything to Sarah over their coffee break.  ¡°Yes, we have 150 permanent residents left on the 4th floor.  They are our decoys.¡±


    Sarah asked, ¡°What will you tell them when they find out their friends on the 5th and 6th floors aren¡¯t there anymore?¡±


    Andrew smirked, ¡°There has been an outbreak of shingles and the residents on the 5th and 6th floors are  in quarantine for the health of the 4th floor residents!  I thought of everything, Sarah!¡±  and he pointed to his temple, as if to say, ¡®aren¡¯t I smart!¡¯


    ¡°How will you bring new people in without the staff and the permanent residents questioning where they will stay?¡± Sarah asked.


    ¡°We thought of everything.  There is a freight elevator in the back of the building.  The vans can be driven right up to the covered entrance and the passengers unloaded with no one seeing them exiting the van and entering the building.  We have managed to get rid of 300 elderly to make room for the addicts, who we will start transporting today.  Just think, LA is going to be cleared out of all of the homeless before 2025 is over!¡±


    Sarah had to fight becoming physically ill.  She had to hold it together so she could gather as much information as possible.  This might be the last time Andrew Weeks confided in her.  Once she leaked this information, she didn¡¯t know what her future was.  She was in so much conflict.  She had been hired to do a specific job, which she was doing to  the best of her ability, but she was, in a way, biting the hand that was feeding her by undermining their purpose.  However, if she didn¡¯t do something to try to stop the inhumanity that was going on, she felt like her ancestors would turn over in their graves!  Her mind went back to Queen Esther who risked her life to talk to the King, her husband, to save the Jewish race.  That had to be terrifying for Queen Esther, but she did it anyway.  Thinking about Esther gave Sarah the courage to do what she knew needed to be done.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    It was two days before Miranda showed up again.  She was disguised, with hair dyed a mousy brown and ragged clothes and pushing a cart with her ¡®homeless¡¯ belongings.  She went through the line and got a plate of food.  Sarah was serving today and caught Miranda winking at her.  It took her a second to recognize Miranda and then she managed to excuse herself from the food line and find a table with a couple of empty places.  She sat down with her lunch and was joined soon by Miranda.  They were able to talk without anyone listening in.  Sarah filled Miranda in on what had transpired since Christmas Day and could see Miranda¡¯s body stiffen with the news, even though Miranda was not making eye contact and was eating with her head down, looking at her plate!


    ¡°Johnny Cooper, the ex-TV man will manage to get himself hired on at the resort so we can get the pictures we need.  We are already organizing the demonstration and will use the pictures during the demonstration and will get it out on social media at the same time, so people will be bombarded with the truth.  You may want to quit your job and go into hiding, Sarah, because retribution from Andrew Weeks is a definite possibility.  Who knows if he has any other confidants?  You may be the only one he is confiding in and if so, there will be no doubt where this information is leaked from!  I don¡¯t know what will happen to me, but I have a strong suspicion, so this may be good-bye for us.  Thank-you for everything you have done.  You won¡¯t be forgotten!¡±  Miranda finished her food and got up and left.


    Sarah had a lot to think about.  Her country had changed but her moral values had not.  What would she do?  The rest of the day, she continued her work on auto-pilot, thinking about her next move.

 Moving Forward

    Max was up early the next morning and without restraints, was able to head outside for a run before setting in to chop wood.  Feeling the burn in his shoulders, he was glad for the chance to strengthen his body.  For so long, he had been cooped up inside and involved in meetings in the FBI that he had not had much opportunity to strengthen his body.  After chopping wood for an hour, Karen appeared with his morning coffee.  Max grabbed his and her coffees, set them down on the stump he used for chopping wood and gave her a long, mushy kiss!


    Karen said, ¡°Why dahling, I don¡¯t think I need any coffee now!  You made me wide awake!¡±


    Max laughed and handed her her coffee, saying, ¡°Karen, I missed you!  I am so happy to be here!  I don¡¯t know what the future holds, but if we all face it together, I believe we can figure it out!¡±


    Johnny Cooper had gotten specialized equipment for recording that would not be seen, in preparation for the TV show that would be seen during the demonstration.  He had gotten hired by the resort.  He was just the man they had needed for all of the lifting and moving of the addicts.


    Johnny met with Miranda after his first day on the job.  She asked him how he was doing and if he had gotten any footage.  Johnny said, ¡°This has to be the worst job I have ever had, Miranda.  I have gotten some excellent footage, but I have to appear like none of this affects me.  My boss thinks I have a stomach problem because I keep having to go to the bathroom to throw up!  I don¡¯t know how long I can manage to do this job because it goes against everything I believe in.  If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that gathering this information will most likely stop other unnecessary deaths, I wouldn¡¯t go back!¡±


    Miranda said, ¡°Let¡¯s see the film and that will tell us what other pictures you need to capture.  Maybe you won¡¯t need to be there much longer, Johnny.  Thank you so much for going through that hell of a job.¡±


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    After viewing the film, Miranda said, ¡°The first few minutes are excellent!  You sure know what you are doing.  The pictures of the nurse giving the shots and the patients completely relaxing, get the point across of what is happening.  We need more clear shots of the doctor dumping them into the mine shaft.  We don¡¯t want there to be any question of how serious things are up at the resort.  Do you think you can manage several shots of that?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I do, Miranda,¡± Johnny replied.  ¡°How are things going organizing the demonstration?  Are you going to have more than one demonstration?¡±


    ¡°At this point, we have enough personnel to handle three locations and we were thinking of having the first one at the capitol building in Washington DC and the next one ten minutes later in LA and then the last one beginning in Portland ten minutes after that.  Hopefully, staggering the meetings will allow us the element of surprise and the whole video clip will be seen by most of the United States!¡± Miranda explained.


    Johnny was tasked with not only working at the resort, but getting the film ready so that all three places would show the film independently of each other.  That way, as soon as one location went off air, it would not affect the other locations.  It took Johnny a couple of more days to figure out how to get the shots he wanted and actually get them.  The demonstrations were scheduled for January 17, three days before the new President of the US would address the nation.


    Meanwhile, on January 15th, Lenny Parson addressed the city council of Portland with his plans for the new apartment buildings for the ex-homeless people aboard Paradise Found.  Lenny showed them his plans, explaining in great detail how it would work, how long it would take to put up the buildings and how the finances would work.  He also explained about the house mother in each building and how they would keep their finger on the pulse of the people, preventing them from quitting their new job  or moving out of the apartment and back to the streets.


    Lenny¡¯s proposal was met with smiles and he thought it was in the bag, until one of the councilmen said they would let him know after they listened to a few other builder¡¯s proposals.  Lenny¡¯s face fell, although he tried not to show it.  He had put so much effort into his plans, he couldn¡¯t afford to not get this job.  He excused himself to go to the men¡¯s room and splashed lots of water in his face to calm down.

 The Demonstrations

    Johnny had gotten the video clips from the resort that Miranda needed.  He had also recorded the video of Miranda explaining the reason for the demonstration that would play while the pictures were shown.  He contacted Miranda at their secret location to let her know they were ready on January 16th.  The videos were shipped to each of the three locations to the ones organizing the demonstrations.  Miranda told Johnny that at last count, there were over 200 signs for the demonstrators to carry at each location.


    Miranda laughed out loud while she and Johnny were wrapping up the preparations.  Johnny asked, ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡±


    Miranda answered, ¡°I was just thinking about the high level of adrenalin.  A line from my favorite movie, ¡®Flashback¡¯ came to me.  The old hippie said, ¡°I haven¡¯t had a rush like this since the Berkley riots!¡±  It just hit me funny.¡±


    Johnny said, ¡°OK.¡±  He didn¡¯t find anything funny about this super serious situation.


    January the 17th came and Johnny had arranged for a huge screen to be set up about a block away from the capitol building.  At the stroke of twelve, midday, vans rolled up and many people got out with their signs, the video started rolling on the huge screen and the demonstration was on!  The demonstrators went every which way and news cameras were on the scene almost as fast as the police!  Miranda¡¯s voice rang out loud and clear over everything.  ¡°My fellow citizens of the greatest country in the world, the preamble to the constitution says all men are created equal.  Our ancestors came to this country to escape the tyranny and confines of Europe and other countries.  What is happening in our great country is so horrifying that our ancestors are probably turning over in their graves.  Our own countrymen are killing the homeless addicts and elderly.  This is not being done by an enemy of the US, but by our own!  If we do not stand up, soon our rights will be violated, as well.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    It was at this point that the swat team arrived, turned off the video and started throwing canisters of teargas into the crowds.  There was screaming, running, no stampeding actually, and the demonstrators who were still left were carted off to jail.  Meanwhile, the demonstration had begun in LA and since this was much closer to home, where the pictures had actually been taken,it was not as peaceful a demonstration!  The crowd joined in and the police had a much more difficult time breaking up the throngs of people!


    Portland¡¯s demonstration was met with indifference for the most part.  One lady summed it up when she said, ¡°How does this apply to us and our city?  We don¡¯t have any more homeless.¡±


    Needless to say, the demonstrations were the big news of the day and were all over social media.  The main TV stations tried to upstage the story by having big stories from Russia and Ukraine plastered on the TV.


    Andrew Weeks showed up at Venice Beach and angrily approached Sarah.  ¡°I don¡¯t know what you think you are doing.  I know you leaked the information and you''re in deep shit! ¡°


    Sarah was ready for him.  ¡°I don¡¯t know what you are talking about, Andrew.  It seems to me like you are the one who is in a lot of trouble!  What are you going to do now?¡±


    Andrew looked like a deer in the headlights, scared to death and frozen in place.  He had no way to prove that Sarah had leaked this information and since it had all happened on his watch, he knew she was right.  He turned around and ran like his life depended on it!

 The Preamble and Riots

    Donald got everyone who could be spared together in the main room and turned on the television.  He had heard over the radio about the demonstrations and wanted his companions to be able to see first hand that there were people standing up for the elderly!  Leonard said, ¡°Yeah baby!  That¡¯s how it¡¯s done!  Preach it lady!¡±  Jim got  out a few bottles of apple cider and passed glasses all around and said, ¡°Let¡¯s toast to progress and humanity! ¡°  He proposed the first toast and said, ¡°To all the ones who went before their time and helped bring attention to the inhumanities!  May they be mightily blessed and in a happier place!¡±


    ¡°Hear, Hear!¡±  was the response from all corners of the room.  Sue said the next toast, ¡°To all the ones who sacrificed their freedom to give us ours!  May the penalties of standing up to the powers that be, be minimal!¡±  All agreed again with one accord.


    Karen said, ¡°I think we should pray for the new president to make the right decisions and that he has compassion.¡±


    Robert Costello, who had had theological training, volunteered and was given the green light.  ¡°Dear Heavenly Father, we come before you as a united group, asking that you would intercede for all of us and all of the others who are affected by this homeless solution.  We ask that you would indeed give the new president great compassion on all of the people and great wisdom as to what to do.  In Jesus¡¯ name we pray.¡±


    Nancy had just come in from the kitchen and said, ¡°Were there demonstrations in more than one place?  And who was it who organized this whole thing?¡±


    Jim said, ¡°I suspect the young lady who they called a Karen, who led the demonstrations before.  Wasn¡¯t her name Miranda Cummings?¡±


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Donald said ¡°Oh, I remember her!  Ten to one she is the one responsible.  She seemed to really have a heart for the homeless.  Did you hear her quoting the preamble to the constitution?  Wait, look at what else is going on.  It looks like there are riots springing up around the different states!  I don¡¯t think that is so good for our cause!  Look at the chaos in New York!  And Dallas/FT. Worth!  Oh, now there is a riot in  Memphis, Tennessee!  We are watching history in the making!  I am really eager to see what the new president¡¯s take on this will be.  There are only three days until he addresses the nation for the first time.  I am so glad we are up here and not in the lower 48, in the thick of things!¡±


    The TV switched pictures to a scene in Chicago, where the riots had taken a violent turn.  The police were using clubs to try to stop the rioters who were looting shops in the downtown area and attacking the police.  Laurence forgot the issue for a moment and reverted to his boxing career when he saw the punching going on!  ¡°That¡¯s right!  Give him an uppercut!  No!  Get out of the way!  Oh man!¡±


    Jim said, ¡°Leonard what are you saying?  I¡¯m glad you aren¡¯t on site, encouraging the fighting.  We want to reach a peaceful solution.  There has been enough violence already!¡±


    Leonard backed down but kept looking at the TV and you could tell by his eyes that he missed the boxing days!


    By the evening, the riots had been stopped and the jails were filled to overflowing with rioters.  Miranda had been hunted down and identified as the speaker on the videos.  She was put in jail until they could bring her to trial and decide what to do with her.  She was warned that this was a second offense and the sentence was likely to be harsh.  Andrew Weeks took off for parts unknown, knowing that he had begun the mass killing without the go ahead and not wanting to have to face the music.  Although the riots had stopped, there was still an undertone of unrest and the police and swat teams across the country were on full alert.


    The next  few days drug out as the whole country held their breath, wondering how their new president, William James Adams, would handle this volatile situation.

 The President Addresses the Nation

    On January 20th, 2025, the 47th President of the United States, Mr. William James Adams began his first address to the nation as president.  He first thanked the Americans for their faith in him by electing him to the office.  Then he jumped right into the issues of the day.


    My fellow Americans, we have reached a crisis in our great country.  It is normal to be faced with challenges such as we have as our country matures.  But it is not the proper response to ignore this crisis and pretend it doesn¡¯t exist or to shuffle the responsibility to someone else.  We are all involved and affected, either directly or indirectly and as such, we must all work together to solve this crisis.


    I am speaking of the homeless crisis.  Each of us are involved in one way or another, whether it is because we have a homeless family member or because our business is affected by homeless people sleeping on the street in front of it.  I¡¯m sure many of you are thinking of other ways you have been impacted that haven¡¯t been mentioned.  Nevertheless, my point is we must work together to solve this problem.


    My commendations go to the homeless solution experiment in Portland, Oregon.  Their streets are completely cleared of all homeless.  The sober ex-homeless who are aboard Paradise Found will be moving back into Portland into one of three beautiful apartment buildings where they will find a job waiting for them and truly affordable rent!  I am proud of the ones who have worked hard to make this happen.  However I am saddened to think of the other part of the program that has failed our citizens in a major way.  Around 1,500 of our elderly were put to death and buried in a mass grave. Many of them were veterans who gave up years of their lives for our country.  Fellow countrymen these things ought not to be!  All of the drug addicts and alcoholics faced the same tragedy.


    I want to suggest we learn from both the good examples and the bad.  We can emulate the good examples, adding improvements and change what did not work.   We need to build housing for all of the sober, homeless people.  This will include our elderly.  The elderly, our grandmothers, grandfathers, veterans, etc. are not disposable people.


    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Next, we will have to deal with the addicts.  The original idea that Portland had will be put into effect.  Each of the homeless addicts will be put into a 6 month rehab program and the successful ones will be reincorporated into society.   The ones who refuse to cooperate and revert to drugs will then be eliminated.  Street drugs will no longer be legal.  Anyone dealing drugs will be eliminated immediately, no mercy shown.


    Mr. Bob Perkins, the present president of the homeless solution, will be in charge of the operation, reporting directly to me.  He is experienced and I believe he will make a fine leader for this important project.


    Next, an all important question I imagine most of you are asking is where will we get the money to accomplish all of this?


    Good question.  Let me share with you a quote from the good book. ¡®He that cares not for his own is worse than an infidel.¡¯  It means just what it sounds like.  It is a wonderful thing that we care about struggling countries and want to give them a leg up, but not at the expense of our own countrymen.


    When the poor and or homeless, most of whom have been paying into taxes for most of their lives, see us sending billions of dollars of tax money to other countries but find themselves unable to get basic everyday necessities, there is something wrong with our system.  This must be addressed and changed.


    Jim looked at Donald and asked him, ¡°What do you think, Donald?  Is this new president actually going to do anything to help the people or is he just blowing smoke up our asses?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know Jim, we have had plenty of people make beautiful promises that came to nothing once they got elected.¡±


    Jim returned, ¡°Yes, but there is a difference.  He is already elected!  Maybe this country stands a chance!¡±

 President Adams Causes Division

    The new president, William James Adams, continued.  ¡°Until further notice and until all of the homeless have been taken care of, all foreign aid will be halted and the money will go to the homeless solution.  Also $841 billion a year goes to our national defense budget.  This is a necessary program to protect our American people.  However, we will be taking 25% of the defense budget, $210 billion to also put into the homeless solution.  We have robbed social security long enough and it is time we gave back to our seniors.  They worked long and hard to set aside their money into social security so they would have security in their old age.  I for one think we should honor their decisions.


    This is an executive order  and is effective immediately!  We will keep you informed with monthly updates as to the progress made.  At the first monthly meeting, there will be a question and answer session, at which time we will be in a better position to answer your questions.


    I look forward to working with you all and I believe we can change things for the better.  For those who are skeptical, I say just give it a chance!  Good night and God bless you all!¡±


    Quite a variety of reactions happened.  The homeless people who had heard the president¡¯s address were cheering cautiously, not knowing whether to believe these plans would really work.  The men and women employed in the department of the defense for the most part had a shocked look on their faces.  One general said to another general, ¡°Can he really do that?  Can he take away our money and give it to those indigents?  Shouldn¡¯t he look somewhere else for the money?¡± One of  the men working closely around the new president said, ¡°We need to double our security for the president and the White House.  It is inevitable that there will be some kind of attack on him and we need to be prepared.¡±


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Alice, who used to serve food at the mission in Portland, stood looking at the TV in the cafeteria that she and Roy worked in now and said,  ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have believed it if I hadn¡¯t heard it and seen it for myself!  Did you hear what the president said he was going to do for the homeless?¡± she asked the person whose water she was refilling.  And then she answered her own question, ¡°Of course you did!  You were watching it right alongside me!  This is going to give the homeless people another chance at life!  But the thing that surprised me the most was that he will give the addicts a real fighting chance.  It still doesn¡¯t seem right that he will kill them if they don¡¯t cooperate, but what else can he do?¡±


    Roy came up while she was talking and he said, ¡°Most of the addicts are spoiled brats and if they don¡¯t clean up in six months, they deserve to die!¡±


    Alice looked at him, shocked and said, ¡°How can you say such a thing?  You are being heartless!¡±


    Roy said, ¡°It is just like when you teach children.  They have to know there will be consequences for their actions or you are not going to get anywhere with them.  If the addicts know they are fighting for their lives, they will be more likely to truly reform.¡±


    Alice said, ¡°Well when you put it that way, it does make a lot of sense!¡±


    After hearing the President¡¯s address, the city of Portland decided ahead of the February meeting that because of the President¡¯s high accolades, Lenny Parson¡¯s plans would be the way they would go.  Lenny was more than happy and began the very next morning.  He was going to live up to the President¡¯s expectations and realized that he would have visitors from other cities studying his plans in order to emulate them!  What a position to be in!


    Not everybody was as happy.  There were murmurs in the White House of dissent.

 Should I Stay or Should I Go

    ¡°Everytime there is a new President he comes in like a bulldozer, thinking he is God and that he can change things and save the world.  It won¡¯t take him long to realize that he is just a puppet and cannot make a difference and things will revert to the way they have always been,¡±


    said Tony Brasillios, the personal chef to the President to his sous chef, Robert Jinx.  Robert just listened, feeling his two cents worth hadn¡¯t been asked for and probably wouldn¡¯t be appreciated.  Tony continued, saying, ¡°He¡¯s going to make some enemies, taking the defense department¡¯s money.  He will find out pretty quickly that he shouldn''t get on the bad side of the warmongers!  Hey, have you gotten those veggies chopped up yet?  President Adams is waiting on his stir fry.¡±


    Donald and Jim had just brought in  a polar bear that had been sniffing around the lodge for a few days.  He was one of those stubborn ones who was not going to leave the area until he scored big.  They went out early Monday morning and before the day was up, they had bagged him.  ¡°How much do you think he weighs?¡± Jim asked Donald.


    ¡°My guess would be about a ton.  He will provide a lot of meat for us!¡± Donald said.  ¡°I think we should dress him out and cook up one of the roasts for dinner.  There isn¡¯t a lot of room left to store the whole bear, which is a good problem to have!¡±  They quickly got a team out to the processing hut to get the animal butchered and the hide started being scraped in preparation for tanning it.  The team worked well together now after a few months of practice.


    While they worked, the team talked about the new president and his policies.  Laurence asked, ¡°What do you think will happen to us when these programs get underway?  Will we continue to live here or will we go down to Portland to join up with the others from Paradise Found?¡±


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    Donald said, ¡°Well, I can tell you one thing.  My door will remain open for all of you who want to stay here.  And if things seem to go south with his program, you only have to give me a call and I will be there to bring you back home if you do end up going back to Portland.  So, at this point, it seems like a win/win situation.¡±


    One of the other men said, ¡°Well, that comes as a relief.  I thought you might be eager to get rid of us.  I know we have put a cramp in the way you are used to doing things and have cost you an arm and a leg to support and thought it might give you a way out.¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Well, to tell the truth, I have been happier  since you have been here than I have been in years.  You have given me companionship and actually we are better off with food storage than we have been in years!  I feel fulfilled being able to teach you men how to hunt and trap and process your own food!


    Jim said, ¡°I for one, am staying.  I am looking forward to leading out an outfitting team, once you show me how.  I want to learn everything I can.  It feels like we are living the way we were meant to and I go to bed at night feeling fulfilled.  The way we are living together, everyone having their own areas of expertise, feels like the native Americans must have felt in their longhouses or wherever they lived.  You know what I mean.¡±


    The men laughed at Jim¡¯s lame description.  Max said, ¡°I can speak for Karen and I.  We want to stay here as long as we can be a help.¡±


    Donald said, ¡°I never would have believed I would say this but, Max, you are welcome to stay as long as you desire!¡±  The men laughed again!


    But  it was not as peaceful everywhere.  There was trouble  brewing in Washington DC.  Several of the top generals had gotten together in a private meeting to discuss President Adam¡¯s decree.

 CIA or Hitman

    At the meeting of the top generals, General Warbler said, ¡°How much time do we have before they start putting these new Presidential decrees into effect?  We need to put our thinking caps on and figure out a way to stop him from taking our money.  After all, we need to do some repairs on our missile launching equipment.  It needs to be top notch and ready for any attacks from Russia or China.¡±


    General Miller added his two cents worth to the conversation.  ¡°We have given away some of our planes and bombs to both Israel and Lebanon.  It is important we replace those asap!  They were given away, with the understanding that our ammunition  would be not only replaced, but beefed up.¡±


    General Titan said, ¡°We have three bases that need barracks added as we move in more troops.  That money was voted to be used for that purpose and it is not right for the President to take it for those losers!¡±


    General Warbler asked, ¡°Well, do we ask the CIA to do us a favor?¡±


    General Titan said, ¡°I suggest we go outside of the CIA and find an independent hitman to help us, what do you guys think?¡±


    ¡°That is a top notch idea.  That will prevent anyone from tracing the hit back to us,¡± General Warbler said.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Sue came to speak to Donald.  ¡°Donald, I would like to remain here, if that is an option.  I really enjoy the location and especially the camaraderie.  This has been the most exciting time of my life and I feel like it would be boring to return to Portland.  If you could use my services as a nurse, it would make me very happy.¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Of course you can stay, Sue!  You are an invaluable part of our team and besides that, I have grown quite fond of you.  I love to watch you taking care of people when they are injured or needing other care.  You have such a motherly heart!¡±


    Sue blushed at hearing Donald¡¯s words.  Donald was approached all day by different members of the team, some asking about leaving and some asking about staying.  At the end of the day, he called everyone together in the main room.  I know we have received some exciting news and each of you must be a little apprehensive, besides being excited.  I don¡¯t know if you realize or have thought about the fact that it will be a few months, at least, before any of this takes place, because first  places must be found and purchased and then the buildings must be built.  So, it will be a while before you have to have your mind made up about what you personally want to do.  So, I think you should take your time and consider all options before deciding.  Now, Nancy has brought a celebratory snack of caramel popcorn, freshly popped and some wine!


    Jim put on a movie and ironically enough, it was Cocoon, the movie they had missed the night they left the cruise ship.  Most of them were unfamiliar with the movie or had forgotten what it was about so when the scene appeared with the old folks leaving their present situation in a boat and having to make a quick getaway, it stirred everyone up and got quite a reaction!

 The Birds Escape

    Max and Leonard were out feeding the sled dogs.  Max asked Leonard what he was going to do when the time came to either stay or leave.  Leonard answered, ¡°You know, I have given it a lot of thought and I believe, since it has always been a dream of mine to teach young boys how to box and defend themselves, that I will return to Portland.  My skills are just going to waste and the YMCA is always looking for trainers.  Besides, there is a young lady I used to date down there and if she is not already dating someone else, I would like to renew our relationship.¡±


    Max said, ¡°I really hope things work out the way you want them to, Leonard.  You are a good guy and have a lot to offer.¡±  The dogs were eagerly devouring their polar bear meat.  They usually got leftovers and the parts of the animals that were not going to be used for human consumption.  Max would take them out to exercise and practice pulling the sleigh as soon as more snow came in tomorrow.  He didn¡¯t know very much about running the dogs, but Donald had used sled dogs before and the two of them would work on it together.


    Karen walked up and asked how they were doing and opened a container she was holding and handed each of them a piping hot apple turnover.  ¡°Nancy¡¯s crew outdid themselves this morning and I thought I would run these out to you guys so you didn¡¯t miss out.  They are disappearing pretty fast,¡± she explained.


    Max and Leonard thanked her and made short work of the turnovers.  They both had a big grin on their faces,  enjoying the cinnamon and brown sugar goodies!


    Inside was mass chaos when Karen returned from outside.  It seems someone new was feeding the quails in the living room and had opened the wrong door to the cage.  That allowed the quail, who by now had multiplied several times, to escape and fly all over the main room!  Women were shrieking, birds were everywhere, people were rushing to close doors so the birds would be confined to one room and it is fair to describe the whole living room  as a place of pandemonium!  It took close to an hour to get things under control.  Karen was running around with paper towels, cleaning up bird poop off of the furniture, the railing of the stairs, the floor, etc.  Jim was barking out orders and the birds were losing feathers and generally freaking out!  Nancy brought two large colanders from the kitchen, handed one to Jim and used the other one herself and they captured ten of the birds, using the colanders for nets!  Nancy said, ¡°Well, I have done my day''s work, someone else can handle the kitchen for today!¡±  Everyone roared with laughter!


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Meanwhile, aboard the Paradise Found, Jimmy Askins and Simon Obenchain were swimming and horsing around in the pool.  Jimmy said, ¡°Did you watch the Presidential address to the nation?¡±


    Simon said, ¡°You know I did.  We watched it together; remember when he messed up and said Oahu instead of Portland and we both cracked up?!¡±


    Jimmy laughed and said, ¡°Oh yeah!  It was a dream come true when he said that Portland was building apartment buildings for us and we would go back to living on land.  Don¡¯t get me wrong.  I have been so happy to have a nice place here and be off of the streets, but I can¡¯t wait to go to a real school and play sports!¡±


    Simon said, ¡°Oh yeah!  Wow!  Why can¡¯t it happen today?  We are going to have our choice of babes, too!  I can just see those hot cheerleaders in their short skirts!  You know, girls usually go for the new guys and we sure do fit into that category!¡±


    The boys went back to playing in the pool while their moms were talking together on the edge of the pool, trying to get some tan on their legs.  Dorothy, Simon¡¯s mom said to Judy, Jimmy¡¯s mom, ¡°What are you going to do first when you get your new apartment?¡±


    Judy said, ¡°I want to go for a long walk in a park, go grocery shopping and decorate my apartment.   Anything to just be normal!  How about you?¡±


    Dorothy said, ¡°I want to go get a Starbucks coffee!  Just one though.  I need to do better with my finances with this chance to start over.  I believe managing my finances better than I did before will be a big key into keeping this apartment.  I can¡¯t believe we are getting our own apartments and they will be brand new!  It is a dream come true!¡±

 Donald Makes a Mess

    Donald was sitting at the desk in his room, checking on the dates they would have men coming to hunt.  He liked to have a large calendar on his wall with these important events written in so he didn¡¯t forget or leave anyone out.  So far, there were five groups of men scheduled for next month so it was going to be quite busy.  While he mused on those facts, there was a knock on his door.  ¡°Come in, it¡¯s open,¡± he said.


    The door opened and Sue walked in.  ¡°I hope I am not bothering you, Donald,¡±  she said.  I didn¡¯t see you at supper and thought I would bring you a plate.¡±


    Donald said, ¡°No you''re not bothering me and I appreciate you bringing me some food.  It looks good!¡±  He took the plate from Sue and asked, ¡°What do you have on your mind?¡±  While he dove into the fried chicken, Sue summoned up her courage to say what was on her mind.


    ¡°Donald, there are some supplies we need in the infirmary.  I don¡¯t like asking you but I think


    all of the things I have on the list are things we need to have on hand.¡±


    Donald said, ¡°Please sit down.  I don¡¯t know  where my manners are.  I saw the plate of food and was so hungry, my good senses took leave of me!  Sit here next to me.  Sue, I have been wanting to tell you for a while how much I appreciate you and all you have brought to the table.  I really don¡¯t know what we would have done with Rachel, without you  when she broke her leg.  It was a relief to watch you confidently stabilize her and keep her calm until the ambulance got here.¡±


    ¡°It is my pleasure to help.    I can''t express to you enough how grateful I am to you for bringing us up here and giving us a place to live.  How is it you are not married?¡± Sue asked.


    Donald had a mouthful and at her question, he sprayed his mashed potatoes all over his pants and the floor!   ¡°I¡¯m so sorry!  I just wasn¡¯t expecting you to ask that!¡± he said as he took his napkin and started cleaning up the floor.  Sue grabbed a paper towel and started helping him.  Out of embarrassment, they were scrubbing fast and bumped heads!  They both grabbed their respective heads, looked at each other and burst out laughing!


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    After the laughter had died down, Donald said, ¡°I actually was married once a long time ago.  Her name was Violet.  She was very pretty, but we both wanted different things.  I wanted to settle down in a place like this where I could hunt and live off of the land and Violet wanted to be in New York, where she could shop all of the time.  After our honeymoon, which was one of the nicest times of my life, we made it about 6 months before we both realized we had made a mistake.  We got divorced and I have chased my dream ever since.  How about you, Sue?  Have you ever been married?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I was.  We got along great and had a beautiful house and furnishings.  My husband died close to six years ago now.  I had planned to pay off the rest of the mortgage with his life insurance policy, but ran into complications.¡±


    ¡° If you don¡¯t mind me asking, what were the complications?¡± Donald asked.


    ¡°He had already cashed it out and according to one of the bank tellers, spent it gambling often at casinos!  I was shocked at that news.  It was especially hard to take because we had always done everything together and I had no clue that he was spending not only our savings but the life insurance, as well.  We had been set up really nicely until that happened.¡±  Sue said.


    ¡°I am so sorry to hear that.  Is that what caused you to become homeless?¡± Donald asked.


    ¡°Yes, ultimately.  I couldn¡¯t keep the house.  My salary was not enough to cover the mortgage and bills.  So I sold everything and moved into my motorhome and it took me 5 years to pay off the credit card bills.  But I am solvent now!¡±  Sue said with a big smile.


    Donald put his arm around Sue and gave her a big hug.  She hugged him right back and felt long gone feelings stir.  ¡°I had better get back downstairs.  I am on the dishes tonight!  We already have one cranky guy who hides in the bathroom when it is his turn to help on dishes.  I don¡¯t want everyone to think I am hiding too!¡± Sue said as she scurried out of the room.

 We Have Peoples Lives in our Hands

    Directly after taking office,  President Adams and his Vice-President, John Carlson had a private talk over a glass of wine.  ¡° President Adams, there is a lot of unrest;  people feeling like your plans in handling the homeless situation are taking the wrong course.This is not going to give us any brownie points in our political career,¡± John  said to President Adams.  ¡°Aren¡¯t you concerned with that at all?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking that if we don¡¯t solve the homeless crisis, it is only going to escalate to where the majority of the elderly will not have anywhere to go and where young people think twice about joining the military because they will have no future, no health care and no retirement.  I¡¯m thinking about the drug addicts who have given up and are no longer trying.  I¡¯m thinking, that unfortunately,we will be the first President/ Vice President to lay claim to the fact that the country we represent only cares for the rich and has basically disowned everyone who doesn¡¯t have money.


    John, we have people¡¯s very lives in our hands and I for one don¡¯t want to face our Creator and tell Him I did nothing to care for the downtrodden when I was in a position to make a  positive change.  When we have ceased to serve the people we represent and instead are in office solely for what we will get out of it then we are no longer the right persons for the job.¡±


    The Vice-President backed off after the President shared his feelings, deciding to stand back and see what happened.  He had a private lunch meeting   later that day with the Secretary of Defence and updated him on what the new President had said.


    The Secretary of Defence said, ¡°John, this is helpful, but I wish you could have talked the President into not acting so rashly.  My main Generals are ready to take him out for touching their defence spending and I am not sure they are wrong.  However, I have put a halt to any actions from my Generals for now.  We will see the apartments get built and the sober homeless people get a new start in all of the major cities, but  see what you can do about getting the President to budge on the addicts and their care.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Jim had learned to lead a group of outfitters, taking turns with Donald.  After their initial training, the sled dogs made a fine team and were used regularly in the winter for outfitting.  The lead dog, Bossy, had decided she would not go out with anyone except Max, so a second lead dog was being trained.  Max was still too new to outfitting to take teams out by himself so when he went out he either went on Donald¡¯s team or Jim¡¯s.  The goal was to eventually have three men able to lead the outfitting so they could trade off or even have three teams out at once!  Donald¡¯s generosity in taking in  a lodge full of elderly persons had inconsequentially led to his business expanding so that more people than ever could take advantage of the outfitting he had to offer.


    Donald had Max get information on when the new apartments would open so he could make plans on when to take the part of his group who wished to return back to Portland.  May 23, 2025 was the date set for the new apartments to receive his elderly, so their travel date was set for May 14.  When Donald and Max explained the plans in a group meeting, there was a visible sigh.  He hadn¡¯t realized that his friends were worried about the details of returning to Portland and had been worried they wouldn¡¯t be able to fit back in.


    Miranda Cummings had been in prison now for a month and was reflecting on the positive changes that had come about as a result of her demonstrations.  She had caught a news special a few nights before highlighting  the new build for the homeless in various US cities, showing pictures of the progress that was being made.  Miranda felt that even if nothing more came out of the demonstrations she had spearheaded, having housing and jobs for the sober  homeless made it all worth it.


    Another awesome outcome of the demonstrations was that Johnny Cooper, her photographer and videographer friend who had worked with her, had been offered a job by a big wig in Hollywood, after the  man bailed Johnny out of jail!  Miranda hadn¡¯t been as fortunate as Johnny and had no idea how long she would be sitting in there.  She hadn¡¯t been idle however.  Miranda had taken advantage of the great library in the prison and had been researching constitutional laws to determine her next direction.

 The Meeting of the Generals

    The generals, Warbler, Titan and Miller, got together for a meeting with the Secretary of Defense in mid-February.  When the Secretary walked into the meeting room in the Pentagon, with its long table and large picture window overlooking the Potomac, his attention was drawn to General Titan.  General Titan was the embodiment of anger, with his puffy face as red as a strawberry and he was mopping the sweat off of his brow even though the air conditioning was working quite well.  The Secretary decided  to share some good news first to hopefully diffuse the situation.


    ¡°Hello men.  Thank-you for attending today.  I have some good news for you,¡± the secretary said cheerfully.


    ¡°Well it''s about time!¡±  General Titan fumed.


    The Secretary smiled and looked around the table.  ¡°It looks like things are escalating toward a conflict with China.  They are not happy with the President¡¯s idea about tariffs, mainly and I believe things will come to a head right around the end of May.  I honestly don¡¯t think we can avoid it longer than that.¡±


    General Warbler asked, ¡°Why will we wait until then?  Wouldn¡¯t it be better to strike first and use the element of surprise?¡±


    The Secretary said, ¡°I agree about getting in the first strike, however this could be the start of WWIII, so we need to spend a good amount of time in the War Room, going over any possible outcomes, making sure that we succeed.¡±


    At the mention of WWIII, General Titan visibly relaxed, saying, ¡° so we are on track for reallocating the budget so it is being used for defense spending?  That¡¯s great!¡°  and the Secretary could tell he was on board and eager to listen to the plans.


    ¡°The third week of the month of May, the ex-homeless will be moving into the first of the new apartments and while many cities will still be putting the finishing touches on their apartments, attention will be diverted to the rehab clinics for the drug addicts.  That is the time I feel will be perfect for a conflict, to save our defense budget from being spent on drug addicts and we can also put Project Band-Aid into effect,¡±  the Secretary said.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    General Titan went from relaxed to ready to go!


    The Secretary asked, ¡°Have we found someone to rip off the band-aid?¡±


    General Miller said, ¡°Yes sir, it is confirmed.!¡±


    ¡°Remember men, you must keep this under wraps.  This is top secret and you must discuss none of this with anyone outside of this room.  It is a very delicate matter and even one slip up could jeopardize the whole operation,¡±  the Secretary of Defense warned.


    Arrangements were made for their next meeting and the meeting was adjourned.


    January and February were busy months at the Alaska lodge.  Donald¡¯s head was spinning with more people than he had ever seen taking advantage of the beefed up outfitting.  Max was working out well, leading out his dog team.  He was happier than he had ever been and was enjoying challenging himself with filling up the woodpile when he wasn¡¯t leading out a team.  Karen had a lot to do with Max¡¯s happiness.


    Karen always greeted Max with a hot cup of coffee when he got back from hunting trips.  He had caught some of the other men looking at them with longing in their eyes, seeing that exchange.  Max felt pretty special that Karen cared about him and he looked forward to the deep muscle massage Karen would give him later in the privacy of their room each time he came home. He had something special planned for her for Valentine¡¯s Day to show her how much he loved her.  Max woke Karen up early on Valentine¡¯s Day and told her to dress super warm.  Then he blindfolded her and walked her carefully down the stairs and outside.  He had the dogsled all hitched up and gently lifted her in and tucked the blankets around her.


    The dogs, being used to Max and his commands by now, responded quickly and practically flew across the snow.  Karen covered her nose and mouth with her gloved hand to warm her breaths.   ¡°When can I take off the blindfold, Dahlink?¡±  she asked him.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be long now,¡± Max responded.

 You Save Chicken Feet for Me

    Donald asked Nancy if she could come to his room to talk.  Nancy arrived with a tray of sweet rolls and coffee and Donald took it from her, placing it on his dresser/desk.  ¡°Thanks for coming promptly, Nancy and thanks for the snacks,¡±   he said.


    ¡°No problem, Donald.  It¡¯s a nice break from the kitchen,¡± Nancy answered.


    ¡°How are things going in the kitchen, training May?¡± Donald asked.


    ¡°I actually don¡¯t know who is training who, Donald!  I have learned so many new things from her.  Asian cooking is not just about taste, but also actively includes herbal medicine,¡±  Nancy explained


    ¡°Do you think an 80 year old woman will be able to stand up to the pressures of cooking for so many?¡±  he asked.


    Nancy said, ¡°oh, don¡¯t worry.  She has the art of delegation down pat.  She is not at all afraid to ask for help.  Just keep her surrounded with hard-working helpers and she will do great, Donald.  You picked a winner!¡±


    Meanwhile, Max had carefully lifted Karen out of the sled and put her on the newly shoveled snow.  ¡°Can I take off the blindfold now, dear?¡±  she asked.


    ¡°Just a few more steps.  Step up here and now it is the last step.¡±  They entered a warm building.


    Karen was dying to see what was going on when Max untied her blindfold and watched her face.  A look of delight took over her face as she blinked.  ¡°Oh, it¡¯s  lovely!¡±  she emoted.  She looked around the cozy little restaurant with twinkly lights everywhere; around the pillar in the middle of the floor, around every inch of the ceiling and around the large plate glass windows.  There was a gorgeous aroma of roses, with a dozen roses on their table.  ¡°You took me out to dinner for Valentine¡¯s Day!¡±  Karen said, with tears in her eyes.


    Max¡¯s smile that took over his face said it all!  Karen¡¯s happiness fueled his own.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Back at the lodge, Donald asked Nancy,  ¡°Well, it sounds like your department is covered.  What do you think about how the rest of the lodge is running and will run after so many of you are gone?  You are around the house much more than me.¡±


    Nancy looked thoughtful.  ¡°I have a funny story to tell you.  Since your brother, Carl moved up here, he has been taking care of the quail in the main room.  They have settled in and  thrived and you probably noticed Carl has built two other large aviaries for them in the front room.  Well, he is meticulous in gathering the eggs and rotating out the older birds for harvesting.  The other day  he let May know he would be sending 30 birds to the outdoor hut to harvest for supper.  That was figured into the meal for that night and then I watched May become agitated after the little quail were put on to cook and I asked her what was wrong.  She said, ¡°When are they bringing in the feet?¡±


    I thought I heard her wrong because her English isn¡¯t so good so I asked her again and she repeated what she had said before.  ¡°You know, the feet of the birds.  Let¡¯s go get them ourselves.¡±


    She got all bundled up and I followed her out to the shed.  May asked Clarence who was working on tanning hides, ¡°Where is it?¡±


    Clarence looked up at May all puzzled and asked, ¡°Excuse me ma¡¯am, are you missing something?¡±


    May said, ¡°We got the birds; where are the feet?¡±


    Clarence started laughing.  ¡°You want the feet of the birds?¡±


    May said, ¡°I want the birds¡¯ feet.  They make good soup.  Where are they?¡±


    Clarence tried to keep a straight face.  ¡°I¡¯m sorry ma¡¯am.  We fed them to the sled dogs.¡±


    May¡¯s face fell and she started talking angrily in Chinese.  I¡¯m pretty sure she was cussing.


    ¡°You save all bird¡¯s feet for me, ok?¡±


    Clarence meekly said, ¡°ok.¡±  Having taken care of business, May returned to the kitchen.


    Nancy said, ¡°The communications seem to be going well with one exception.  Pete, who won the poker game on the ship (I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of him) and Max are at odds with each other about the woodpile.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just some silly thing about how it is stacked.¡±


    ¡°Well, if that is the worst we have to deal with, we will be fine, ¡°  Donald said and they got back to work.

 The Valentines Day Accident

    Donald went to talk to the kitchen to let them know there would be two more for dinner that night and they would need packed lunches for the hunt tomorrow.  Randall and Angel Thompson were coming in from Michigan and would be there for the week.  He made preparations and had Karen get two rooms ready for them.


    Mr. Thompson had called two months ago to request the week of February 14th.  He was 55 and Angel was 22.  Donald was up early the following morning, getting the snowmobile and the dogsled ready.  He would have Mr. Thompson drive the snowmobile and he would take the dogsled, as not just anyone could drive the dogs.


    When their guests came down for coffee, Donald sat down with them and asked them a few questions. ¡° Mr. Thompson, has your daughter handled a gun before?¡±


    Mr. Thompson, looking confused, asked, ¡°Why no, but I don¡¯t know why you are asking about her.¡±


    Donald, now the confused one, said, ¡°Well, before we go hunting, I would like to know if she needs pointers about how to handle a gun.¡±


    Both Randall and Angel burst out laughing.  Donald just looked more confused and wondered if he had just booked a couple of loonies.


    Randall said, ¡°Just to clear things up, Angel is my wife, not my daughter.  I wondered why you gave us two rooms.  And to answer your question, she has handled a gun before, but could certainly use some pointers.¡±


    They  finished up their breakfast and hit the trail.  Randall had requested a moose hunt, so they brought the trailer to carry it on coming home.  The first couple of hours were spent looking for the creature and once they had located him, the actual kill was pretty quick.  The men drug him to the trailer and put him in.  Donald was tying him down, kneeling on the ground, when Angel started shouting, ¡°Celebrate!¡±  He couldn¡¯t hear what else she was saying, but as he was tying the last knot, heard shots being fired and then felt  a searing pain in his thigh.


    Randall grabbed the gun from Angel and yelled at her for acting so stupid.  ¡°What are you doing; trying to get us killed?¡±


    Donald yelled at Randall, ¡°I¡¯ve been shot.  Help!¡±


    Randall ran over to him, saw the wound  and said, ¡°Oh no!  It¡¯s spurting all over the place!  It has hit an artery!¡±  He wrapped a blanket tightly around Donald¡¯s leg and asked if he was able drive the snowmobile back to the lodge, since it would be too difficult for Donald to drive the dog sled, now.


    Donald said, ¡°I think I can.  We are only 5 miles out.  But the dogs will not cooperate with you  driving them.  You will have to remain here and wait for one of my men to drive back out to get you.¡±


    Randall agreed and Donald left for the lodge.  As soon as he got there, he drove right up to the woodpile where Jim was chopping wood, explained briefly what had happened and where the couple were waiting with the dogsled and asked Jim to get Leonard to help him get the moose out of the trailer and get Sue to bundle up and go with him to the hospital.  Jim left immediately so he could get the couple back before dark and Donald and Sue left for the hospital.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    Sue used a belt for a tourniquet and put blankets down in the trailer for Donald to lay on.  She kept asking Donald questions over the engine of the snowmobile to keep him awake.  Sue shouted, ¡°How are you doing, Donald?¡¯


    He answered, ¡°Good, I think I will take a little nap so it doesn¡¯t hurt so bad.¡±


    Sue said  calmly, tho she wasn¡¯t feeling it, ¡°No, please talk to me.  I need you to stay awake, Donald.  What is your level of pain right now?¡± she asked as the snowmobile jostled over a small mound.


    He groaned, ¡°twenty-five!¡±


    She said, ¡°I know you don¡¯t want to hear it, but that is good that you are feeling pain!  It means you aren¡¯t frozen and things are working.¡±  Sue felt like the 20 minute overland trip was taking 15 hours.  She didn¡¯t know if Donald would make the trip and she started crying.  It was hard for her to see where they were going with the tears clouding up her eyes, so she wiped them quickly, and tried to think of anything but Donald¡¯s injury so she wouldn¡¯t cry anymore.


    Sue drove right up to the emergency entrance at the little hospital.  She had used Donald¡¯s cell phone to phone ahead, so the emergency workers were waiting for them and ran out with a stretcher to move Donald into the hospital.  He was rushed into the operating room, hooked up to an iv and as soon as the anesthetics took effect, the operation was begun.  Sue asked to be in the operating room, but was denied entrance when they saw how bad the wound was and saw her crying.  She was too close to him to be allowed in.


    Jim made it to the Thompsons in record time.  He traded places with Randall so that the Thompsons were on the snowmobile and he took the dogsled.  It was a quiet trip back to the lodge, with all of them thinking about Donald and hoping he made it in time.  Jim thought about how Donald had rescued him and all of the elderly people and sacrificed so that they could all live out their lives.  He owed this man his life and his happiness.  He sent up a little prayer for Donald.  ¡°I¡¯m not much of a praying man, God.  I¡¯ve never gone to church, but I do believe in You.  I know, as complex as our bodies are and as complex as the world is, we didn¡¯t appear from an explosion.  We had to have a creator and a designer.  I acknowledge you right now, let¡¯s get that straight.  I want to bring Donald before you.  You know all that is going on with him and what a wonderful friend he is to me and how he has helped so many people, unselfishly.  He had no ulterior motive.  He just took care of all of us  because it needed to be done.  I¡¯m not asking you to make him rich.  I¡¯m asking you for his life.  Please spare his life, help him to make it to the hospital and help the doctor, guide his hands, help the doctor to be gentle and use his expertise to save Donald¡¯s life.  If it be your will, in Jesus¡¯ name I pray.¡±  Jim felt better turning Donald over to God.


    Jim helped get the couple situated and got Nancy to watch over them.  He left for the hospital even though it was turning dark.  Jim took the road because it was too dark to go off road.  His snowmobile was hitting every bump, but all that mattered to Jim was getting to his friend.


    He parked next to the other snowmobile and practically ran into the emergency room.  Out of breath, he asked the receptionist, ¡°Where are Donald and Sue?¡±


    Being a small hospital, the receptionist was able to guide him to the operating wing easily and he found Sue.  He wrapped her in a big bear hug and asked, ¡°Have you heard anything yet?¡±


    Sue said ,with  a tear stained face, ¡°Not yet, but we have only been here a short time.  But he made it to the hospital, Jim.  I was so scared.¡±


    ¡°I know honey; we all have been.  Donald is so important to all of us,¡±  Jim responded.  ¡°Have you heard any news about his condition?¡±

 Presidential Romance

    The morning of February 14th, President Adams woke up with an excitement he hadn¡¯t felt in some time.  He was ignoring all of the pressing business of running a country, designating the necessary business to his aides and committee heads, to be overseen by his vice-president.


    The President calmly took his wife out to the jet and they quietly left.  Mrs.  Adams was curious where they might be going.  She figured she would be briefed when it was necessary and enjoyed the beautiful breakfast that had been set out for them.  They had bacon and eggs with blueberry muffins and hot coffee.  After scanning the newspaper, President Adams wished his wife a happy Valentine¡¯s Day and asked if she had guessed where they were going.


    Mrs. Adams replied, ¡°No, I have no idea.  I¡¯m assuming it has nothing to do with the homeless buildings or openings since it is too early.¡±


    ¡°And you would be right with your assumptions,¡± the President said.  ¡°Actually this trip is about you.  Well, you and me.  Do you remember when we met in Greece, when we were both in art school?  Do you remember how the white houses stood out in contrast to the blue of the Mediterranean?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course,¡± Mrs. Adams replied.


    ¡°Well, we are going to celebrate Valentine¡¯s Day in  Greece and are going to retrace our steps and visit all of the places we loved!¡± He explained.


    Mrs. Adams smiled and said, ¡°You are an incurable romantic, you know!  You make me so happy, honey.  How long will we be gone?  I didn¡¯t pack anything, since I thought it was a day trip.¡±


    President Adams smiled and said, ¡°I had your personal assistant pack what you would need!¡±  His expression at pleasing her reminded her of a little boy, doing something kind for his mother!


    President and Mrs. Adams stayed at the little apartment house where they had stayed 30 years ago.  After having a lunch of gyros and baklava, they put on swimsuits and went for a swim in the sea.  Next was a nap, before an evening walk.  President Adams had arranged for a lovely Greek spread of all kinds of goodies to be set up when they returned.  Mrs. Adams said, ¡°I have said it once and will say it again, you are the most romantic man in the world!¡±  After an undisturbed night''s sleep, they woke up to a delivery of all kinds of art supplies, which were arranged out on their deck.  They spent a creative time painting with oils,  capturing the beautiful hues and sipping a sweet grape wine.


    Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    The adventure was over sooner than they would have liked and it was back to the White House.


    Back in Alaska, Donald had had a blood transfusion and had been in surgery for three hours.  Jim asked Sue, ¡°Are you hungry?  It¡¯s been a long time since you have eaten.¡±


    Sue said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t eat anything.


    Jim put his arm around her and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go for a walk.¡±  Sue objected briefly but Jim firmly walked her out of the waiting room.  They went to the cafeteria and Jim got them a couple of cups of coffee and sausage biscuits.  Walking outside, they sat on a bench in the courtyard and drank in the sunshine as they drank their coffee.


    Jim asked, ¡°Can you take a few bites?  I know you aren¡¯t hungry and are worried about Donald but you have to keep up your energy for whatever happens.¡±


    ¡°OK,¡± Sue meekly agreed.  After their sandwich and coffee were gone, Sue smiled at Jim and said, ¡°Thanks.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°What are you thinking about?  It¡¯s not healthy to bottle up your emotions.¡±


    Sue looked up at him and said, ¡°It¡¯s odd you should say that.  I used to tell my patients that quite often.  You are right.  I do need to talk.¡±  After a quick pause Sue said, ¡°He lost a lot of blood.  It is hard to come back from that.  I drove as fast as I could, Jim.  It will be a miracle if he pulls through.  I think I love him, Jim.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°Let¡¯s talk while we walk.  I know you are eager to get back to the waiting room and see if there is any news.  Sue, I don¡¯t know if he will make it, but we need to have faith.  I feel like you two were brought together for a  reason and I don¡¯t think it is over yet.  That¡¯s my gut feeling.¡±


    As they walked into the waiting room a nurse approached them and asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you waiting for news from Donald, the man with the gunshot wound?¡±


    Sue eagerly said, ¡°Yes!¡±


    The nurse said, ¡°Donald needed almost a complete transfusion, he had lost so much blood.  He had flat-lined when you first brought him in, but came around again when he started receiving blood.  The doctor got the bullet out pretty easily, but the artery needed a lot of repair.  He is presently in recovery and is doing well.  You will have to wait to go see him.  I will let you know when you can go in.¡±


    Sue and Jim hugged each other with tears in their eyes.  ¡°I am so grateful!  He is going to be ok, Jim!¡±


    Jim said, ¡°Yeah, ¡° as he wiped his eyes.

 Donalds Recovery

    Jim and Sue walked into Donald¡¯s room after an unbearable wait and he turned his head toward them and grinned.  ¡°My peeps!¡±  He said in a raspy tone.


    Sue and Jim looked at each other and laughed!  ¡°Where did that come from?¡± Jim asked.


    Sue said, ¡°Don¡¯t try to talk, Donald.  Your throat is probably very dry from the tubes.  It will heal pretty fast.¡±  She and Jim walked over to the bedside and both sat down.  ¡°You look so good; how are you feeling?¡±  Sue said, forgetting she had just told him not to talk.


    ¡°Oh, a little loopy and glad to be alive.  No pain.  They are taking good care of me.¡±  He looked at Sue and asked,  ¡°Marry me?  I¡¯m alone.  It¡¯s not good.  It¡¯s ok Jim, I still love you but you are not Sue.¡±


    Jim and Sue had to cover up their smiles.  They realized he was affected by the drugs and wasn¡¯t really in control of what he was saying.  Jim thought what a true friend Donald was, being concerned about his friend in his condition.


    Donald¡¯s eyes were drooping.  The nurse had just told them she had put a strong drug in his IV and that he might drop off to sleep.  Donald said, ¡°you didn¡¯t say anything.  Sue, don¡¯t break my heart.¡±  Then he broke out in the most off-key singing, ¡°My achy, breaky heart.  No Sue, don¡¯t break my achy heart!¡±  In the middle of his wacky song, Donald drifted off to sleep.


    After waiting to see if he would wake up, Jim and Sue walked out quietly.  They checked in with the nurse about when Donald would be released and finding out it would be three days, Jim turned to Sue and said, ¡°You need to get some sleep.  You will be very busy taking care of a cranky SOB who will want to get out hunting again when he gets home and you need to be rested for that venture!¡±  He took her hand, against her objections and took her outside to the snowmobiles.  They rode home to mass confusion.


    As soon as Max heard they were back, he made a beeline for them.  ¡°How is Donald?¡±  was his first question.  When he heard Donald was recovering, he instantly asked Jim to go aside and talk with him.  ¡°I took the Thompsons out to hunt today.  It was a disaster.  That young girl may be a trophy wife, but she is a hunters¡¯ nightmare.  She was noisy and drove off our big game, she was teasing the dogs and almost got bit, she must  have complained four times about the cold while we were out and somehow she broke my rifle!  She has no business being here, Jim.  What do we do?¡±


    ¡°How much longer are they supposed to be here?¡± Jim asked.


    ¡°I heard them say their plane will leave in two days.  I am not taking her out again, Jim.  She is trouble,  ¡°  Max emoted.


    ¡°Hey, hey, calm down.  I agree with you.    I will talk to her husband and explain it and I¡¯m sure he will understand.  After all, because of her, Donald almost lost his life.  I will let him know he can hunt with one of us, but she will have to remain behind during the hunt.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not going to like it one bit,¡± Max said.


    ¡°Well, they will just have to deal with it. ¡°They are lucky we haven¡¯t sued them.¡±  Jim said.  He went to check on Sue.  She was frantically cleaning her room and crying.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    Jim said, ¡°Sue, do you have any benadryl?¡±


    Sue answered, ¡°Yes,¡± pulling it out of her closet and handing it to him.  ¡°Who needs it?¡±


    Jim produced a spoon and said, ¡°Open wide!¡±


    Sue protested, but ended up taking the benadryl.  Jim sat down and talked with Sue until she got drowsy, had her lay down, covered her up and said, ¡°Happy dreams.¡±


    Sue quickly fell asleep.  Mission accomplished.  Jim tried not to think about how tired he was.  He had lost track of how many days he had been up.  He went downstairs and found the Thompsons.  It was time to take the bull by the horns.  ¡°Hello Angel and Randall.  How have you been?¡±


    Angel answered, ¡°I got really cold on the hunt today.  Isn¡¯t there a heater we can take with us?  I can¡¯t wear any more clothes on the hunt.  Also, can¡¯t we get better food?  I don¡¯t like game meat and this is our vacation.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°I think we have a solution, at least for your being cold.  We have had to restrict you from going on the hunts, after the injuries.  Randall, you are welcome to go on the hunts.¡±


    Angel said, ¡°Why are you doing this to me?  This is not fair.  After all, Donald was not hurt bad and the hunt went fine today.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°There is a man in the hospital because of you.  He had to have a blood transfusion and he almost didn¡¯t make it to the hospital.  He actually died for a few minutes.  Your carelessness with the gun almost took his life.  Then today, you broke Max¡¯s rifle.  I think you will be much happier staying here.¡±


    Angel said, ¡°These people are not nice, Randall.  They are picking on me.  I want to go home.


    Randall said, ¡°If that¡¯s what you want, then we will call the airport today and get it rescheduled.  I¡¯m sorry, Jim, but I won¡¯t be going on any more hunts with you.  We are going to head back home.¡±


    ¡°Well I¡¯m sorry you have made that decision, but I respect it.¡±  Jim said.


    After a phone call, the Thompsons were scheduled to leave that evening.  Sue woke up rested and told Jim she was headed back to the hospital.  Jim said, ¡°Sue, I¡¯m going too.  Let¡¯s drop off the Thompsons on our way.¡±


    Jim and Sue went to the hospital and stayed with Donald until he was released.  When Donald saw them come into the room, he lit up with a big smile.  ¡°Hey, you two!  It is so good to see you!  Hey I had a crazy dream.  You were both here and I was singing Achy, Breaky Heart to you, Sue.  Can you believe that?¡±


    Jim and Sue looked at each other and Jim said, ¡°You did!¡±


    Donald¡¯s face grew red and he got really quiet.  ¡°Sue, did I ask you to marry me, too?¡±


    Sue giggled, ¡°Yes, you did.  Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t hold you to it.  You were under the influence of some pretty strong drugs.  They will make you say and do things out of character, sometimes.¡±


    Donald looked at Sue, thoughtfully.  He started to speak and changed his mind.  Then he opened his mouth and surprised himself by saying, ¡°But it wasn¡¯t out of character.  I have been thinking about asking you ever since the night you brought a plate up to my room.  Oh, what the hell.  I don¡¯t have a ring and this is not the kind of proposal I had in mind, but Sue I love you and I want you to be my wife, if you will have me.¡±


    Sue said, ¡°Do you want to think about it and wait until you have gotten off of the drugs?  You may change your mind, Donald.¡±¡±


    Donald said, ¡°No, I am tired of waiting.  Will you marry me, Sue?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I will, Donald.  I love you too!


    Donald said, ¡°You heard what she said, Jim.  You are my witness.¡±


    Jim said, ¡°I think that part comes during the ceremony, Donald.¡±  All three of them started laughing.

 Cousin Anne?

    The next couple of months were a blur, as the outfitting was down to two team leaders, with Donald recovering and all of the new leaders of the different jobs being trained.  Before you knew it, it was time for the ones moving back to Portland to pack.  Donald and Sue had decided to wait to get married until Donald returned from Portland.


    Sue had her hands full with the spring allergies.  She had talked with Jim about getting someone to start keeping bees, as the honey from the area should help the ones with allergies to be able to overcome them.  Pete volunteered to build them a hive.  Donald thought how that should help keep him and Max from fighting.


    Anne, Donald¡¯s housekeeper, had come back for the next season of outfitting.  She wasn¡¯t sure how she felt about all of the elderly people who had invaded her domain.  The day she moved back in, she wandered around, looking at all of the changes.  She went through the line for lunch and got some of the delicious sesame chicken and rice that Mai had made.  She walked over to the couch to sit down and she and Sue caught each others¡¯ eyes.  There was a recognition there on both of their parts, but neither seemed to actually know who the other was.  Anne, grumpily started eating.  It was not what she would have fixed, however her eyes lit up at the taste and she had a new favorite!


    All of a sudden, Sue jumped up and said, ¡°Cousin Anne!  You are my cousin!  What are you doing here?¡±


    Anne looked at Sue and realized she was right!  ¡°What are you doing here?  I am Donald¡¯s housekeeper.  I never would have expected to find you here!¡±


    Sue explained about all that had transpired with the homeless situation and how Donald had rescued them.  She also explained to Anne about her own situation and how she became homeless.  They talked for a while and after finishing breakfast Sue offered to walk around with Anne and show her the different changes that had taken place.  Anne was impressed with the pantry and even more impressed when she saw all of the canned goods and the meals prepared ahead.  ¡°This is such a good idea!  Food is so seasonal around here and it makes the out of season foods available when they wouldn¡¯t normally be!  I can¡¯t believe all of the work you guys have put into this!¡±  Next, Sue took her to the meat processing shed and showed her the skins drying out, getting ready for sewing.  ¡°This is amazing!  I am speechless!¡±


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The ladies spent a few hours together until Sue had to go check on Donald.  He had healed just fine from the gunshot wound, but Sue had to watch him to make sure he didn¡¯t overdo it.  Anne was shocked that he had gotten shot from the careless hunter.  She accompanied Sue since she wanted to see first hand how he was doing.


    Donald got the whole crew together in the main room that afternoon for an announcement.  ¡°I am going to be gone for a few weeks.  It is important that this lodge continues to run like a fine tuned machine.  So I am setting up a chain of command that I hope you will all follow.  Jim and Anne will be the head of this machine.  The two of you will need to get together each evening after supper to discuss the next day.  Each morning, I want the heads of the departments to meet with Jim and Anne so that everyone is on the same page.  That will be the time to get everything ironed out for the day.  If anything does get out of hand, Lord forbid, you have my cell number and both Carl and Anne have cell phones that I¡¯m sure they will gladly let you borrow.  Someone walked up and handed Donald a note.  ¡°I just found out Grace Wilkens will be doing all of the ladies'' hair and cutting the men¡¯s hair before we all leave for Portland.  She asks that everyone see her for an appointment as soon as possible so no one gets left out.¡±


    At the tail end of the meeting, Sue saw Carmella head out of the meeting holding her hand over her face.  She followed Carmella and they went to the clinic to treat, yet again, a bloody nose.  Sue said,  ¡°Carmella, you are going to do so much better in Portland¡¯s climate.  I bet you never have another bloody nose!¡±


    Carmella smiled and said, ¡°I can¡¯t wait!  I¡¯m glad you told me why I kept getting bloody noses.  I actually had myself convinced it was something serious like cancer!¡±


    Sue smiled and said, ¡°Oh, I''m going to miss you,  Carmella.  I¡¯m really glad we have gotten to know each other!¡±


    Carmella said, ¡°Oh, you are not rid of me yet.  I am going to write to you often.¡±


    Glenda came into the clinic just then, interrupting their goodbye.  ¡°Oh, honey I am so sorry to have come at a bad time.  I just wanted to get the inhalers  you got for me in town.  I can come back later.¡±


    She turned to go, but Sue stopped her and said, ¡°We were just saying our goodbyes and stopping Carmella¡¯s nosebleed.  Please stay.¡±  She pointed Glenda to a chair and went to get the inhalers.


    Angie, who had run to get Sue when Bruce died, walked in just then.  ¡°The bees just came in, Sue.  What should we do with them?  They are in a box and we should take care of them soon.¡±


    Sue said, ¡°OH, I didn¡¯t realize they would be here so soon.  Pete has been building a hive for them.  You should see if he is able to get them squared away today.¡±