I met someone. Who? You mean Whom? I guess so. So Whom anyway. A guy. I would say he's special but thats too cliché. He's not really. Not at first glance. I hated him at first glance. I guess I boxed him. But then not everyone can be slotted. I mean I truly detested him. Thought he was an over eager, over smart, over friendly irritating BOY!! He came over to me and asked me something, I dont even remember what now. It's been over a year and a half. But he surprised me. In many ways. I dont know what it was, but he was always the hub. The metropolis if you will, you know, its always where stuff happens. He was always ragging on someone. I remember once he picked on Rony because Rony and I went on and on about books at the lunch table. That hurt. I guess it felt like he didn't get me, or my friends. But he surprised me again. He's strange that way. Every time I think I've got him slotted. He fits perfectly in this box or that box, he shows me another layer. I told him once it was like peeling an onion, layer by layer. Sometimes he scares me though. When the intensity of his comes through. Its difficult for it to come through but it does show sometimes. Strange an wonderful this boy, who reads my mind like an open book and still tells me that I'm a mystery. Pushy as hell!!! Annoyingly so. Refuses to let me sit on my ass. Much as I would like to. I dont know why I'm writing all this tonight. Guess I just miss him. When we're talking the world ceases to exist. Time, date, prose, poetry, facts, figures, it all seems irrelevant and pointless.

Conversations with a mirror

"So, was it everything you dreamed of?"

"Yes, all that and more"

"So you're happy"

"I think so"

"What do you mean 'you think so', you either are, or you arent, there's no 'think so' in there!!"

"Well, it isn't that simple, people aren't always happy when their dreams come true"

"This IS what you wanted right?"

"Yes, it is, and don't get me wrong, I love it, its just I loved the other too"

"Well, you cant have it both ways you know, you cant be somewhere and want something else, not all the time at least"

"Why not?"

"Well, you'll never be happy that way for one. And it wont work out"

"But its not like I can turn these things on and off, some days I like it, some I dont, some days I love it, sometimes I just want it to be over."

"How long is this going to go on? Is this going to be one of those times when you wished for something so hard, but when you got it you didnt want it any more, because every time something like that happens, you end up getting hurt. Not to mention they do too"

"I dont know, sometimes I think maybe I'm planting, but sometimes all I wish for is to be free again, I guess I hate being disappointed. Its my own fault actually, I expect too much, expect people to get every second of my brain, that doesn't really happen you know. Although I wonder why. I know I know, there are days when they just dont get you, but it wouldnt hurt to try now would it. But then again, little things shouldn't matter, should they? People cant be in a romance 24/7 now can they?"

"Yes, true, all granted, but does romance end in 2 months? Or do we just stop seeing it? Or do the small seeds of doubt take root there. Don't ask me, I'm not the one talking to a reflection now am I?"

Delilah

A memory can be good or bad. It can be true or not so true. It could even be not exactly real. The brain plays tricks on us, getting us to believe what is not real, and disbelieve what is. Delilah had that problem. Her brain never seemed to be able to make out the difference between the real and the not so real. For example, her walking, talking, flying, advice giving, spacesuit wearing fish could not possibly have been real. But no one could convince her brain. Her brain just had a mind of its own, pun intended. After all Murray had proven multiple times that he was indeed very much real. And who could refute Murrays logic. But when he first tried to convince her that it may be a good idea to set her school on fire, Delilah began to have a few doubts.

Not about the fact that Murray was real, that had already been established, but about the fact that was as wise as he let on. You see, Murray and Delilah met the first time under a very strange tree. I say it was a very strange tree because it had this uncanny way of attracting strange incidents. Like the time the neighbourhood cat's tail caught fire by a freak accident involving two crows, a couple of flintstones, and a very strange angle of sparks. Or the time the two lovebirds who were trying to steal a few moments away from the prying eyes of the entire town, had to run home after being ferociously attacked by a pair of very annoyed squirrels. Or even the time when the local trash collector while sleeping under the tree on a hot afternoon, was doused in a very large amount of bird excrement which somehow spelt out ASS on his back. In perfect letters. So you must admit, there was something very strange about that tree.

The day they met Delilah had been severely reprimanded by her mother for breaking yet another of her mother's prized crytal bowls. Her punishment for something like that was usually to go to her room and sit there without food, water or bathroom breaks for 5 hours. However, luckily for Delilah, that very day her grandmother, her mother's mother-in-law was expected t arrive and hence Delilah had escaped with an easy punishment. All she needed to do was to stay out of the house for 6 hours until her tyrannous grandmother arrived.

So Delilah walked around the town for the first few hours. She walked past the derelict post office, the run down old children's park, the community hall that was badly in need of repairs and the shiny new statue of the new local politican. She walked and she walked lost in her own silly dreams, until she realised that she was under the very strange tree that belonged to their town. She looked up to see how big the tree was. She looked at it from root to the highest branch, taking her time to scan it slowly so she could take in all the details, all the contours and cracks, all the funny little scratches on the bark, the nests on the third branch from the left...

"It isn't polite to stare into people homes you know" A boy's voice

"I wasnt staring into anyone's home, its a tree!!" Delilah turned around.

She looked around but there wasn't anyone to be seen.

"Who said that" she asked out loud.

"I did," said the same voice, but it seemed to be coming from behind her now, from within the tree.

"Where are you?" she asked.

"Right in front of you silly. Come closer to the tree" said the voice

She took a step towards the tree.

"Down here," said the voice, "to your right"

Delilah looked downwards to her right to see a strange silver thing. It looked a little like a fish but with a funny rubbery body. No scales, and no water surrounding it.

"What are you?" she said

"I'm not a what, I'm a who. Murray, that's who. And who might you be?" said the little thing in the tree

"I'm Delilah. I live in the town nearby"

"Oh you're one of them are you? When will you people learn? It isn't polite to come here at all hours of the day and night and disturb a man in his sleep you know. I need my rest too. Its not you humans alone who need to recharge their batteries I'll have you know. us advanced beings need to relax our 3-d projections too. Its not fair!!!"

"What's a 3-d projection?" Delilah didnt know that many words yet, they were just getting to the big words in her english class in school and even then she knew that 3-d projection wasnt one of the words in the syllabus this year. No this year was mostly pneumonia, camouflage, fuchsia, what was the other one?

The little fish seemed to be rolling his eyes.

"Humans are such imbeciles. You have such limited capacities for thinking, its no wonder you can never be harvested." Murray was annoyed. "How old are you female?" he asked

"I'm seven,"Delilah answered.

"Seven! hrrph," he seemed to be snorting, "when I was your age I was already through to studying quarks, and you ask what 3-d projection is! Alright fine! A 3-d projection is a shadow of something that exists in 4 dimensions, you know what a shadow is right?"

Delilah nodded. "But a shadow sticks to the floor. It cant move around."

"Yes, thats because YOUR shadows are 2-d projections. I'm a shadow of a 4-d person"

"Huh?????" Delilah was very confused.

"Never mind. I'm Murray. That's all you need to know. Now get out of here before I set the crows on you! Go on! Scat!!"

Delilah turned as fast as she could and started running towards the house. She ran and she ran and only stopped when she saw a familiar lawn. She leaned against the white picket fence to rest a while. There was a black vintage car in the driveway. Her grandmother's car.

That must mean she's here, Delilah thought, I suppose its safe to go in now.

She was barely through the door when loud voices erupted in the hallway.

"I don't care what you think of me, when you're in my house, you will respect my rules. I do not appreciate being blamed for everything that goes on here"

"Dont take that tone with me. You know damn well that the only reason Freddie is the way he is, is your rampant disregard for him and the children. Dont think I dont see what you do when he's away at his business trips. The whole town knows about it. I always knew you were no good. I told him he should never have married you, but the damn fool would'nt listen to me."

"What I do? What I do? Why dont you ask your darling son what he does on his trips to town, when he's supposedly busy trying to support his family? Why dont you ask him about the room in town that is permanently rented out to him. How exactly does he pay for it? His children can barely afford to go to school, but he's busy paying for satin gowns and silk scarves!"

Delilah slipped quietly into her room and locked the door. Sam was already in there. He had his nose buried in a book.