STORMY FOSTER RETURNS: Chapter Fifteen

POP CULTURE CANTINA

presents

A MARVELOUS LIE PRODUCTION

A MOCK SCREENPLAY

in sixteen chapters

STORMY FOSTER

RETURNS

CHAPTER FIFTEEN:

"YOU'RE ALL AROUND ME"/

"JUST SAY GOODBYE"

YEAR UNKNOWN

LOCATION UNKNOWN

MY NAME IS . . . WAS . . . TOBIAS MAXWELL. I WAS A SENIOR EMPLOYEE OF THE DIAMOND TRUST. IN EARLY 1991, WE WERE HOSTING A PRESS CONFERENCE FOR THE RAP MUSIC STAR, STORMY FOSTER. THE MORNING OF FEBRUARY 2nd, HE ARRIVED AT OUR HEADQUARTERS IN ROME WITH A LARGE ENTOURAGE.

IT INCLUDED HIS MANAGER, ALBERT FOX, HIS BANDLEADER, SINGER AND GUITARIST JULIE B, BOOKING AGENT DAGMAR DIAMOND, FAMOUS AMERICAN CLUB OWNER IRENE BANG SINGAPORE, TWO HIP-HOP HULA DANCERS FROM HIS STAGE SHOW, AND A MAN I RECOGNIZED AS GABINETTO - A FILTHY BEGGAR THAT WE HAD TO CONSTANTLY CHASE AWAY FROM OUR BUILDING ENTRANCE.

“WHAT’S HE DOING IN HERE?” SNARLED MY NON-BINARY COLLEAGUE JODY JAMES. “I’LL CALL SOME SECURITY GUARDS TO ESCORT HIM OUT.” JODY HAD BEEN SITTING ON THE CONFERENCE ROOM STAGE WITH MY WIFE VANGIE AND ME, BUT THEY ROSE FROM THEIR SEAT AND VANISHED INTO THE CROWD.

McKENZIE ABSALOM, KNOWN PROFESSIONALLY AS STORMY FOSTER WAS SPORTING A BRAND NEW STAGE COSTUME. THE PRESS RELEASE THAT PRECEDED THIS EVENT HAD ANNOUNCED THE CHANGE IN ATTIRE. HIS NEARLY-NAKED LOOK WAS SAID TO SYMBOLIZE HIS “NEW STATE OF MIND” REGARDING GENDER, BUT IT LOOKED ANYTHING BUT TRADITIONALLY MASCULINE: PHOTOGRAPHERS SNAPPED AWAY AT HIM IN A BRIGHTLY COLORED BOLERO JACKET, GOLD LAMÉ BIKINI BRIEFS WITH RED SUSPENDERS ATTACHED, THIGH BOOTS AND A LARGE HEADBAND HOLDING BACK HIS UNRULY MANE OF LONG BROWN HAIR.

SOME PEOPLE WERE THERE TO SEE THE RAPPER AND LEER AT HIS BARED BODY, BUT MOST HAD COME TO HEAR HIM SPEAK. THE AFOREMENTIONED PRESS RELEASE HAD PRIMED US TO EXPECT A REPUDIATION OF WHAT OUR CEO ALEXANDRA DIAMOND HAD TAKEN EXCEPTION TO - HIS ANTI-TRANS SONG LYRICS, WHICH SHE CONDEMNED AS "PATHETIC AND OFFENSIVE." CERTAIN MEMBERS OF HIS ENTOURAGE MAY HAVE EXPECTED TO HEAR SOMETHING DIFFERENT, BUT ALEXANDRA WAS AWARE OF THIS TROJAN HORSE SCENARIO. SHE HAD TAKEN STEPS TO GUARD AGAINST IT PLAYING OUT!

WHAT NEITHER SHE NOR STORMY FOSTER’S HANDLERS RECKONED ON WAS HOW HIS PRESS RELEASE - BOGUS OR NOT - MIGHT AFFECT HIS MOST ARDENT FANS. HIS "GAY PRIDE" RAP SONGS WERE SEEN AS A BEACON OF CLARITY BY MANY LESBIANS, GAY MEN, BISEXUAL FOLK AND EVEN TRANSPERSONS WHO WERE CONFLICTED ABOUT THEIR GENDER. SHUTTING THAT BEACON OFF WAS ABOUT TO HAVE TRAGIC CONSEQUENCES THAT NO ONE HAD FORESEEN!

STORMY FOSTER

WITH HIP-HOP HULA DANCERS

THE RAPPER STEPPED BEHIND THE PODIUM WE'D SET UP FOR HIM, BUT BEFORE HE COULD SAY A SINGLE WORD, THE ROOM DESCENDED INTO CHAOS - CAMERA BULBS FLASHING, SPECTATORS JUMPING UP AND DOWN, REPORTERS JOSTLING AND SHOUTING QUESTIONS! MANY IN THE CROWD SEEMED ANGRY AT WHAT THEY ANTICIPATED HIM SAYING, WHILE OTHERS WERE INCENSED AT THINGS THAT HE'D ALREADY SAID. THERE WAS SO MUCH RAW EMOTION IN THE ROOM THAT SOME PEOPLE ACTUALLY HAD TEARS ON THEIR FACES!

ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WAS A YOUNG TRANSWOMAN WHO HAD UNDERGONE GENDER AFFIRMATION VERY RECENTLY. SHE HAD SUFFERED SERIOUS COMPLICATIONS POST-SURGERY, AND WAS IN FACT SO SICK THAT SHE COULD BARELY STAND - BUT SOMEHOW, SHE HAD MANAGED TO DRAG HERSELF OUT OF BED IN ORDER TO ATTEND THIS EVENT.

VIOLA HASTINGS HAD COME TO THE PRESS CONFERENCE ON A MISSION: SHE INTENDED TO KILL STORMY FOSTER! VIOLA WAS ONE OF MANY GAY MEN WHO’D BEEN FORCIBLY TRANSITIONED BY THE SOLDIERS OF MERCY. SINCE THE BOTCHED PROCEDURE, SHE’D BEEN LISTENING NON-STOP TO STORMY’S LYRICS BECAUSE THEY SEEMED TO BRING HER A SMALL DEGREE OF COMFORT. HOWEVER, NEWS THAT HE’D REVERSED HIS STANCE ON GENDER LEFT HER FEELING BETRAYED, ENRAGED AND DESPERATE.

OF COURSE, THE DIAMOND TRUST HAD STRICT SECURITY MEASURES IN PLACE BUT SOLDIERS OF MERCY RECRUITS LIKE VIOLA HAD SPECIAL PASSES TO OUR FACILITIES AND DIFFERENT PROTOCOLS FROM OTHER VISITORS. THAT'S HOW SHE WAS ABLE TO SNEAK A SMALL PISTOL INTO THE BUILDING. AMIDST ALL THE DRAMA THAT THE PRESS CONFERENCE HAD GENERATED, NOBODY SAW HER DRAW THE WEAPON FROM HER PURSE!

THE SIGHT OF ALEXANDRA MOUNTING THE STAGE PRESENTED HER WITH A NEW, EVEN MORE DESERVING TARGET, BUT SHE WAS LASER-FOCUSED ON KILLING STORMY. UP UNTIL THE DAY SHE DIED, VIOLA DIDN'T KNOW WHY SHE COULDN'T BRING HERSELF TO SHOOT HIM! IT WAS AS IF AN UNSEEN FORCE TOOK CONTROL OF HER HAND, FORCING HER TO AIM IN ALEXANDRA'S DIRECTION AND PULL THE TRIGGER.

THE BULLET HIT OUR LEADER IN THE THROAT! WITH BLOOD SPURTING DOWN THE FRONT OF HER WHITE JACKET, ALEXANDRA FELL BACKWARD - THE LOOK ON HER FACE CONVEYED HATRED, SHOCK AND HORROR. I HEARD HER GASP: "THE ELDERS, DAMN THEM! THEY . . ." AND THEN SHE MADE A LOUD CHOKING NOISE AND COLLAPSED. BEFORE HER BODY COULD HIT THE FLOOR, STORMY FOSTER RUSHED FORWARD AND CAUGHT HER IN HIS ARMS! THE RAPPER CARRIED HER OFF STAGE AS MORE SHOTS RANG OUT - VIOLA HASTINGS WAS DISORIENTED AND FIRING WILDLY!

THE ROOM ERUPTED IN SCREAMS. SECONDS LATER, PEOPLE WERE FALLING OVER ONE ANOTHER, SCRAMBLING TO REGAIN THEIR FEET AND DASHING FOR THE EXITS. WHEN I SAW VIOLA POINT HER GUN IN MY WIFE'S DIRECTION, I LUNGED OVER AND SHOVED VANGIE OFF OF HER CHAIR. AS SHE TUMBLED TO THE FLOOR, I SUDDENLY FELT A SEARING PAIN IN MY CHEST! I FELL TOWARD THE EDGE OF THE STAGE AND TUMBLED DOWN THE STAIRS.

A MAN DRESSED IN PRIESTLY ROBES LEANED OVER ME AS I STRUGGLED TO BREATHE. I HEARD HIM WHISPER THAT HIS NAME WAS CHIZA. HE TOLD ME THAT I WAS SERIOUSLY INJURED AND THAT HE WOULD TRY TO STOP THE BLEEDING. I ATTEMPTED TO REPLY BUT ONLY MANAGED TO MOVE MY LIPS - NO SOUND WOULD COME OUT!

A PIERCING CRY MADE ME LOOK PAST HIM TOWARD THE CENTER OF THE CONFERENCE ROOM. I WAS STARTLED TO SEE A HUGE TROPICAL BIRD SWOOP DOWN ON VIOLA HASTINGS AND KNOCK THE GUN FROM HER HANDS! THE TRANSWOMAN PROMPTLY FAINTED.

AS SHE COLLAPSED, I CAUGHT SIGHT OF GABINETTO STANDING NEARBY. SECURITY GUARDS WERE ON EITHER SIDE OF THE OLD BEGGAR - WHEN THE SHOOTING BEGAN, THEY WERE IN THE ACT OF DRAGGING HIM OUT OF THE BUILDING. NOW THEY RECOILED IN TERROR AS THE GIANT BIRD FLEW AT THEM! STILL SHRIEKING, IT CIRCLED AND LANDED ATOP GABINETTO'S HEAD.

IL SALVATORE

THE GREAT DEFENDER

@ DIAMOND TRUST HEADQUARTERS

SUDDENLY, THE BRIGHTNESS OF ITS MULTI-COLORED FEATHERS SEEMED TO EXPLODE! I SAW WHAT LOOKED LIKE A MINIATURE RAINBOW EXPANDING OUTWARD AND UPWARD. MOMENTARILY, THESE DAZZLING COLORS HID THE THREE MEN FROM VIEW. IN THAT MOMENT, MY NOSTRILS WERE FILLED WITH THE SHARP AROMA OF SANDALWOOD.

AS THE BITTERSWEET SMELL SUBSIDED, THE COLORS FADED AWAY AND THE BIRD WAS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN. IN GABINETTO’S PLACE STOOD . . . STORMY FOSTER? NO, THIS WAS A DIFFERENT MAN: MUCH LARGER, MUCH OLDER, MORE MUSCULAR, AND WITH LONG SILVER HAIR THAT TO MY BLURRED EYES SEEMED TO BE ALL AGLOW! THE ONLY REASON I MISTOOK HIM FOR THE RAPPER WAS HIS COSTUME - IT WAS IDENTICAL TO THE ONE THAT STORMY WORE.

WITH A HUNCH OF THE GIANT'S MASSIVE SHOULERS, THE SECURITY GUARDS WENT FLYING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. AS THEY CRASHED IN A HEAP ON THE FLOOR, I HEARD THE ANGUISHED VOICE OF JULIE B RINGING OUT OVER THE SCREAMS. “TAKE HER NOW! WE MUST SAVE MY DAUGHTER!” SHE SHOUTED. SEEMINGLY IN RESPONSE, THE HULKING FIGURE LEAPT HIGH IN THE AIR, RISING BEYOND THE RANGE OF MY VISION.

MOMENTS LATER, HE REAPPEARED WITH A VERY DAZED-LOOKING RAPPER CLUTCHED UNDER ONE ARM AND A LIMP ALEXANDRA DIAMOND CAUGHT UP IN THE OTHER. THE GIANT SQUATTED LOW AND TOOK ANOTHER LEAP UPWARD. I HEARD A RESOUNDING CRASH, AFTER WHICH A CASCADE OF BROKEN GLASS RAINED DOWN - THE CONFERENCE ROOM SKYLIGHT MUST HAVE SHATTERED!

THE LAST THING I CAN RECALL FROM THAT TRAGIC SCENE IS BEING LIFTED ONTO A STRETCHER FOR TRANSPORT TO THE HOSPITAL. I LOOKED TO MY LEFT AND ANGUISH FILLED MY HEART: I SAW THE DEAD BODY OF MY WIFE VANGIE! IN VAIN, I HAD TRIED TO SAVE HER. TEARS CAME, AND I CLOSED MY EYES TIGHT BUT INSTEAD OF MERCIFUL DARKNESS, I SAW . . . A PINPOINT OF LIGHT - THE LIGHT OF A MORNING SKY, SLOWLY GROWING WIDER AND BRIGHTER.

SUDDENLY, A TABLEAU VIVANT FLASHED BEFORE MY EYES. A GROUP OF PEOPLE IN HOODED ROBES OF VARIOUS HUES, THEIR FACES COMPLETELY HIDDEN, WERE STANDING IN A SEMICIRCLE ATOP A MOUNTAIN RANGE. THERE WERE ALSO PEOPLE WHOSE FACES I COULD SEE: JULIE B, DAGMAR, IRENE BANG SINGAPORE, STORMY FOSTER AND HIS TWO DANCERS, CHIZA, THE PRIEST WHO HAD COME TO MY AID, AND KNEELING DOWN IN THE CENTER OF THE SEMICIRCLE WAS THAT SILVER-MANED GIANT!

THE SMELL OF SANDALWOOD FILLED THE AIR AGAIN, AND SUDDENLY I KNEW WHO HE WAS: IL SALVATORE! THE FABLED GREAT DEFENDER OF HAWAIIAN LORE. I HAD HEARD THE SOLDIERS OF MERCY TALKING ABOUT HIS LEGEND WITH VOICES FULL OF SKEPTICISM AND SCORN - BUT NOW HERE WAS THAT LEGEND IN THE FLESH, A MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURE COME TO LIFE.

ON THE GROUND IN HER BLOOD-SPATTERED WHITE PANTSUIT, WITH A BANDAGE WRAPPED TIGHTLY AROUND HER THROAT LAY THE BODY OF TARA NATION FAWS. THE WORLD HAD CALLED HER ALEXANDRA DIAMOND, AND SHE'D APPEARED TO STORMY FOSTER IN THE GUISE OF CHERYL BLOSSOM BUT I KNEW HER BY YET ANOTHER NAME - CARMEN SERNA!

SABRINA REBORN!

IL SALVATORE WAS SEPARATED FROM THE REST OF THE GROUP BY A LARGE PENTAGRAM EDGED IN GOLD AND BLACK. HE KNELT WITHIN THE MAGIC CIRCLE NEXT TO TARA'S BODY. FROM A DISTANCE, I HEARD A CAT YOWLING AT ODD INTERVALS AS IF IT WERE TRYING TO MOUTH WORDS! I RECOGNIZED THAT YOWL FROM LONG-AGO MEMORIES - IT BELONGED TO SALEM, SABRINA’S PET. AS HIS CRIES GREW LOUDER AND LOUDER, THE STANDING FIGURES ALL JOINED HANDS. THEY BEGAN TO SWAY BACK AND FORTH AND CHANT SOMETHING IN AN UNDERTONE.

SUDDENLY, A LARGE CRYSTAL BALL OF PURPLE HUE BURST INTO VIEW. IT WAS SUSPENDED DIRECTLY OVER THE ASSEMBLED CHANTERS. THE SPHERE EXPANDED LIKE A BALLOON, AND PRESENTLY I SAW MOVEMENT WITHIN IT. AT ITS CENTER I DETECTED A PAIR OF MURDEROUS BLACK EYES, BURNING WITH HATE!

INVOLUNTARILY, I SHUDDERED - I’D SEEN THOSE CRUEL EYES FAR TOO MANY TIMES. THEY WERE THE POISON EYES OF CARMEN SERNA - BUT MY FEAR DRAINED AWAY AS I CAME TO UNDERSTAND THAT SHE COULD NO LONGER HURT ME OR ANYONE ELSE. CARMEN’S EVIL SPIRIT HAD BEEN EXTRACTED FROM TARA’S BODY AND WAS NOW CAPTURED WITHIN THAT PURPLE SPHERE. A SECOND PAIR OF EYES WAS SUDDENLY VISIBLE WITHIN ITS HAZY INTERIOR. THEY WERE FELINE - THEY BELONGED TO SALEM! 

LONG AGO, DURING RECORDING SESSIONS AT SABRINA'S STUDIO, I WOULD OFTEN HOLD SALEM IN MY LAP. THOSE GREEN EYES HAD LOOKED AT ME PLAYFULLY, CURIOUSLY OR WITH BOREDOM. I HAD NEVER SEEN THEM LIKE THEY WERE NOW: WILD, BLOODTHIRSTY AND GLEAMING WITH MALEVOLENCE!

CARMEN’S EYES LOOKED INTO THEM AND REACTED WITH PANIC: BULGING AND DARTING WILDLY! THEY SEEMED TO WITHDRAW TO A FAR SIDE OF THE CRYSTAL. SALEM’S BALEFUL GAZE PURSUED THEM, AND THE POSITION OF THE ORBS SHIFTED BACK AND FORTH. SO BEGAN A BIZARRE GAME OF CAT AND RAT!

SAVAGE SNARLS BEGAN TO REVERBERATE, FOLLOWED BY SCREAMS OF AGONY! THE NOW GIANT PURPLE GLOBE BEGAN TO SLOWLY RISE. WHEN IT ROSE ABOVE MY LINE OF SIGHT, I FELT THANKFUL THAT WHAT WAS HAPPENING INSIDE IT COULD NO LONGER BE SEEN.

ONE LAST PITIFUL WAIL RANG OUT OVER THE HEADS OF THE ASSEMBLY. IT LASTED FOR WHAT SEEMED LIKE AN ETERNITY, BUT WHEN IT FINALLY DIED AWAY, THE PRONE FORM OF TARA NATION FAWS GASPED LOUDLY. SHE BEGAN TO BREATHE! JULIE B STEPPED INSIDE THE PENTAGRAM, KNEELED DOWN AND REMOVED THE BANDAGE FROM TARA'S THROAT. I WAS ASTOUNDED TO SEE PRISTINE SKIN UNDERNEATH IT - THERE WAS NO WOUND! MOMENTS LATER, TARA OPENED HER EYES.

JULIE B STEPPED OUT OF THE PENTAGRAM AND BACK INTO THE SEMICIRCLE. SHE EXTENDED HER ARMS AND SPOKE COMMANDINGLY: “DAUGHTER THAT I FEARED LOST FOREVER - RISE UP AND COME TO ME NOW!” STRUGGLING TO HER FEET AND TREMBLING FROM HEAD TO TOE, THE WOMAN WHO WOULD NEVER AGAIN BE CALLED TARA OR CHERYL OR ALEXANDRA STAGGERED INTO THE ARMS OF HER MOTHER.

OVERCOME WITH EMOTION, SABRINA BETHEL LESLIE SPELLMAN BEGAN TO SOB. ON THIS MORNING, HIGH ATOP A MOUNTAIN, A SORCERESS REBORN CRIED A LIFETIME'S WORTH OF TEARS - A TORRENT OF EXHAUSTION, REGRET, RELIEF AND GRATITUDE!

SABRINA + STORMY FOSTER

ALIVE + WELL + TOGETHER FOR

THE FIRST TIME!

EVEN AS THIS SCENE UNFOLDED, IL SALVATORE PROPELLED HIS MASSIVE FORM UP INTO THE SKY. I HEARD THE FARAWAY SOUND OF SOMETHING BREAKING AND SEVERAL MINUTES LATER, I DISCERNED HIM DESCENDING FROM THE CLOUDS IN SLOW MOTION. AS HE DREW NEARER, I SAW THAT THE GREAT DEFENDER WAS NOT ALONE: CRADLED IN HIS LEFT ARM WAS SALEM THE CAT - FUR RUFFLED AND TORN, FANGS AND CLAWS BLOODIED AFTER A BRUTAL FIGHT! HIS EMERALD-GREEN EYES WERE STILL SMOLDERING, AND HE WAS PURRING WICKEDLY.

IN THE DEFENDER’S WHITE-GLOVED RIGHT HAND, THERE WAS A GRUESOME, HORRIBLE THING: WHAT LOOKED LIKE A PULSATING HUMAN HEART, DRIPPING WITH FRESH BLOOD! CARMEN SERNA'S PHYSICAL FORM WAS DESTROYED LONG AGO, SO I KNEW THAT IT COULDN'T BE REAL. EVEN SO, WHAT THAT IMAGE REPRESENTED CHILLED MY OWN HEART TO THE CORE!

THE GIANT MAN TOUCHED DOWN, RELEASED SALEM AND PRESENTED THIS MANIFESTATION OF A WICKED VOODOO SOUL TO JULIE B. WITH A TRIUMPHANT CRY OF “VENDETTA!” SHE HURLED THE SEVERED ORGAN TO THE GROUND AND DUG HER HEEL INTO IT! WHEN NOTHING WAS LEFT BUT A BLOODY, MANGLED MESS, THE ROBED FIGURES BEGAN TO VANISH FROM SIGHT ONE BY ONE.

WHEN THE LAST WICCAN ELDER WAS GONE, JULIE B RAISED HER ARMS HIGH AND BEGAN TO SPEAK IN A TONGUE THAT WAS ANCIENT WHEN MANKIND WAS IN ITS INFANCY. CHIZA THE WISE MAN STEPPED FORWARD AND TRANSLATED THE SPELL SHE HAD CAST: “LET THOSE OF US HERE IN DISGUISE NOW SHOW OUR TRUE FACES.”

REUNITED!

SABRINA WITH HER MOTHER, ALEXANDRA 

WITH HER BROTHER, BASIL WITH HIS WIFE

+ JOSIE WITH HER SON

INSTANTLY THE DANCERS, DAGMAR, SALEM THE CAT, STORMY FOSTER, CHIZA AND JULIE APPEARED IN THEIR AUTHENTIC IDENTITIES: SABRINA'S STEPMOTHERS ZELDA AND HILDA, KNOWN AS THE WITCHES LESLIE. GLAMOROUS ALEXANDRA CABOT - THE REAL ONE. SALEM SABERHAGEN, ONCE A MEDIEVAL WIZARD BUT NOW A SHAPE-SHIFTING WARLOCK WHO TAKES FELINE FORM AT WILL. JONAH BLOSSOM, STRIPPED OF HIS COSTUME AND NOW CLAD ONLY IN UNDERPANTS. SABRINA’S COUSIN AMBROSE, AN ACTOR, MUSICIAN AND STAGE DIRECTOR, AND SABRINA'S MOTHER, A REGAL AND JUBILANT DELLA NIGHTSHADE!

THE RAINBOW BIRD THAT HAD INVADED THE PRESS CONFERENCE, ITS COLORED PLUMAGE EVEN MORE GLORIOUS TO SEE IN THE SUNLIGHT, APPEARED OVERHEAD. PAJARO HINA, THE FABLED MAHU QUEEN, CIRCLED AND GENTLY LANDED ON THE HEAD OF THE GREAT DEFENDER. AS HER SILVER CLAWS TOUCHED HIS SILVER HAIR, AN INSTANTANEOUS TRANSFORMATION TOOK PLACE: THERE STOOD GABINETTO THE BEGGAR, BUT NOW INSTEAD OF RAGS HE WAS CLOTHED IN TRADITIONAL HAWAIIAN GARB. AT THE SIGHT OF HIM, IRENE BANG SINGAPORE SCREAMED “BASIL! MY DARLING!” AND RAN TO HIS EMBRACE.

THEN PAJARO HINA FLEW DIRECTLY TO ME AND COVERED MY EYES WITH HER SOFT WINGS. THE SMELL OF SANDALWOOD ENVELOPED ME, I HEARD GENTLE COOING, AND SOOTHING DARKNESS FELL LIKE A CURTAIN. HOW I WELCOMED IT! I SAW NOTHING MORE UNTIL I WOKE UP IN A WORLD OF WONDER THAT IS NOW MY FOREVER HOME.

THE DULL HORROR OF CAPTIVITY IN CARMEN SERNA'S REALM OF LIVING DEATH IS GONE. A COOL MIST ENVELOPS ME, AND THROUGH MY CLOSED EYES I CAN SEE SOFT LIGHTS IN PASTEL COLORS . . . THEY FLICKER AND PULSE ALL AROUND ME. FOR THE FIRST TIME IN WHAT SEEMS LIKE EONS, I AM FILLED WITH JOY!

MY LONG JOURNEY IS OVER. AT LAST, I AM DEAD, TRULY DEAD AND PEACEFULLY AT REST.

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STORMY FOSTER RETURNS