1. How am I supposed - do you think I've forgetten? It hurts. Because
you never really talk to me. I trust you but. You're not making it
easy.

2. It was the same lake as always. The trees, the boats, the rocky
beach, the empty beer cans. Deserted this morning, except for a few
birds. Eric checked his watch again.

3. Maxwell's demon had his reasons, all right. The whispers, the
proddings, the subtle deceptions. Perpetual motion would be
unspeakably dangerous in the hands of these creatures and they had to
be put off track before they got any closer.

4. It seemed this day would never end. But somehow she knew this was
only the beginning. Debra brushed the sand from her blouse, took a
last, wistful look at the now putrefying horse, and stepped into the
hot-air balloon.

5. Terry is sick. I don't know what kind of sick spiders get, but he
don't seem right. I gave him some crickets but he didn't touch 'em. I
hope he don't have those wasps eating his insides out. That's gross!

6. You couldn't blame him for being bitter. Born without thumbs,
struck by lightning, leg devoured by a whale, ship destroyed. But
losing that winning lottery ticket was more than Ahab could bear.

7. Hundred dollar bills trace the invisible currents of air left
behind by the rapid receding Chevy Nova. Debra, squatting over the
bucket, stares blankly after him. The sound of squealing tires gives
way to a metallic tinkle.

8. Fuck this shit. Fuck this dead end job and all these lifeless
people and their bullshit marriages. What I need is to just lock this
door a minute and kick it up a bit. Yeah.

9a. Shit, that mail was cc:ed to everyone. Fucking reply-all, she's
gonna kill me.

9b. I'm gonna kill him. That fucker's gonna burn.

10.
Peddler: Name me someone that's not a parasite and I'll go out and say
a prayer for him.
Louise: Ya can't look at much can ya man?

11. Debra looks at Eric wordlessly. He really didn't know. She opens her
laptop back up, logs in to LJ, then turns it to face him. After a
minute he puts his head on the table and starts making pathetic
sobbing noises. So typical. She puts a hand over her eyes; she can
feel the other coffee housers staring at her.

12. Eric probes delicately in the box, at what appears to be a mass of
charred hair. Whose is it? How did it get there? Then a lightbulb goes
on over his head. Debra liked to keep souvenirs from her past boyfriends.

13. Just then he notices something brushing against his leg. In a
blind panic Eric struggles to pull his body out of the water onto the
door, which pitches heavily in the waves. Pressing his body against
the door, he fumbles his key card into the lock. Red. Then he notices
the room number on the door. 615.