Subject: Instant Message 1/1 From: Kristen Fife Date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 16:04:11 -0700 To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU X-UIDL: 56cb7eebd6809cc455cdce8fee36b189 X-Mozilla-Status: 0001 X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000 Return-path: Envelope-to: stequina@IGLOU.COM Delivery-date: Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:04:21 -0400 Received: from [128.118.141.59] (helo=f05n16.cac.psu.edu) by iglou3.iglou.com with esmtp (8.12.5/8.12.5) id 1E9sfq-0003dr-Eh for stequina@IGLOU.COM; Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:04:21 -0400 Received: from f05n16 (f05s16.cac.psu.edu [128.118.141.59]) by f05n16.cac.psu.edu (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id j7TMJW14095382; Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:04:16 -0400 Received: by LISTS.PSU.EDU (LISTSERV-TCP/IP release 14.4) with spool id 58437154 for FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU; Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:04:12 -0400 Received: from web60425.mail.yahoo.com (web60425.mail.yahoo.com [209.73.178.153]) by f05n16.cac.psu.edu (8.12.11/8.12.11) with SMTP id j7TN4BZG074416 for ; Mon, 29 Aug 2005 19:04:11 -0400 Received: (qmail 32810 invoked by uid 60001); 29 Aug 2005 23:04:11 -0000 DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws; s=s1024; d=yahoo.com; h=Message-ID:Received:Date:From:Subject:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding; b=ve0yOPLBo0otzSHeBKNc5qkTCwRDbh1Q+8X4xiZ/SEKUdliqv3I0dLvAVOMlqbXp9iExFEfo4C20uMSiGdJql9x5OcwJCQfE/YAPOrCvEFN4GcDV1s3TLM6WTJnJDerXnVe4gisGNWifqoEF6dmNvndYtAaiNagWMvnIwR8CPmY= ; Received: from [131.107.0.87] by web60425.mail.yahoo.com via HTTP; Mon, 29 Aug 2005 16:04:11 PDT MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Message-ID: <20050829230411.32808.qmail@web60425.mail.yahoo.com> Reply-To: Kristen Fife Sender: Forever Knight TV show stories Precedence: list Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-MIME-Autoconverted: from 8bit to quoted-printable by f05n16.cac.psu.edu id j7TMJW14095382 X-Foreign-Sender: 128.118.141.59 X-UIDL: 56cb7eebd6809cc455cdce8fee36b189 A brief vignette set in the present. I don't own Nick and Natalie, that would be Sony Tristar. ========================================= Instant Message The doorbell rang, and Natalie went to open it. “Trick or Treat!!” A half-dozen youngsters stared up at her in various costumes, and standing in front was a little blonde boy, who couldn’t have been more than seven. Her heart gave a lurch and she smiled at the group. “My goodness, what a crew you are! Let’s see, we have a ghost, a ballerina, a fairy princess, a fireman, Harry Potter and…what are you?” The little vampire looked at her. “I’m Spike!” He had plastic fangs poking out over his lower lips. “Oh, I SEE. Well Spike, I guess you don’t want any candy, and I don’t have any blood here.” “Nah, I don’t like blood. I want candy!” her little visitor exclaimed. She laughed and pulled the bowl into view, putting Reese’s Cups in each of the childrens’ containers. There was a chorus of “thank you!” that came to her ears. She smiled as they ran away, her little vampire’s cape flapping in the wind. She sighed and turned away from the door, her hand unconsciously going to the scar beneath her turtleneck sweater. She went into the study just off the foyer and turned on the computer. As it booted up, she checked her watch. As her login came up, she pulled up her Instant Messenger and looked at the list of contacts and smiled sadly. She opened a dialogue box with 1228knight. Nat414 says: Hey…you there? 1228knight says: Yes, I’m just catching up on my email. How are you? Nat414 says: Pretty good. It’s Halloween and I just had a little blonde vampire tell me he wanted candy not blood! LOL 1228knight says: *chuckle* I wish… Nat414 says: I miss you. I just wanted to let you know. 1228knight says: I miss you too. I’m preparing a lecture on technology and crime solving-everyone wants to be on CSI. Maybe I should send you the research to proof :-) Nat414 says: *smile* Sure, I’d love to look at it. 1228knight says: I’ll email it to you when I finish. How is work going? Nat414 says: Not too bad. Grossbeck keeps me busy. Brand new ME’s, what can you do, you have to break them in. I never knew there’d be so much paperwork with management! *sighs* 1228knight says: *LOL* that’s what you get for climbing the career ladder. You COULD have stayed a lowly coroner. Nat414 says: I know I know. Oh, I have to go, there’s someone at the door. Send me your notes. 1228knight says: Will do. Good night Nat. Stay safe. Nat414 says: Thanks Nick, ‘night. Natalie closed the dialogue box and a tear rolled down her cheek. She had no idea where he was, she only knew he was teaching again. She remembered the shock the day she opened her email five years after “that night” and saw the email address. She had waited a week to reply. Now, an occasional email or chat was how they kept in touch. She brushed the tear away and got up. She walked into the kitchen, looking at the three figures walking through the door and smiled. “Hey guys, did you have fun?” “Mommy, you should SEE what we got!” Five year old Nicole climbed up onto her chair at the dinner table and dumped her loot from her plastic pumpkin. Her angel wings stuck up behind her as she began counting her candy bars. Natalie leaned down to catch her three year old son Richard (the cowboy) up in her arms as he rushed at her, settling him on her hip. She stood up and he looked at her, his blue eyes wide with mirth. She looked at her husband, just locking the door. A warmth crept through her at the sight of his familiar, safe, sweet face. He truly did love her. A stab of guilt for her short conversation earlier lanced through her. She wished she could return his feelings in full. “Hi honey. We made the rounds and I think they had fun. How was your night?” “Oh, not too bad. A few zombies, firemen, X-Men, fairy princesses and a couple of vampires. Let’s get this candy sorted, shall we?” She seated her son on her lap at the table and started the annual process of sorting the candy with her family. ============================== All rights reserved, Kristen Fife 2005 Kristen Fife http://www.fkvoyage.com/fkfanfic/fife_kristen/ "I have a vampire by my side and I'm not afraid to use him!" -Tanya Huff