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  • Artist Info: SHARK CH1 <br />
    “Honey, I’m home!” I said as I walked into my San Francisco cliff-side home. I hung my Calvin Cline jacket on a coat hanger in the hallway. “Where are you?” I said wondering where my wife, Kathy was. She did not answer so I went into the family room, where she was cuddled in the corner of the couch, gripping the leather arm, watching Jaws. “I told you to try not to watch that, honey.” I said looking at her. “I just wanted to see what all the hype was about in the 70’s.” Kathy replied. I sat down next to her and asked her what was for dinner. Of course, she had made green veggies and pork chops like she always does. But I was actually glad to be home from work for once, because everything was quiet. <br />
    I looked into the fridge and pulled out the dinner that Kathy had made hours before. I saw an empty cake plate with smeared blueberry icing all over it. “Who ate that whole plate of cake?” I asked my wife. “You did, it was probably one of your midnight-snacks or you are just not telling me that it was you.” She boasted. I had to agree with her. I have a habit of getting up around midnight and having a special midnight snack. That is still under investigation though. I walked over to the microwave and set one plate of pork chops in to heat for about two minutes and thirty seconds. After I had put the other plate in the microwave for me and it was done, I pulled a small table over to where Kathy and I were sitting and we had dinner. When Jaws was done, I put on our favorite show, “Full House” and my wife fell asleep. I gently and quietly picked up Kathy and put her in our bed. I was tired as well so I shut everything off in the house, locked the doors, and then lay down, and fell asleep. That night, I had a dream. Not like Martin Luther King Jr’s, but a real dream. My wife and I were on a plane, it was a nice summer day as it was today, and we were skydiving. I put on my parachute and jumped out of the plane with my wife. We would land in the San Francisco Bay and be alright. But this dream went different. I showed her where we were going to land and where we were going to swim to. As we were in mid-air at about one thousand feet, I exclaimed, “Pull the orange strap on the left side of your parachute!” She did as I told her to, and we were about to hit the water when I saw something white and silver in the water. I tried to dodge it but turns out it was a Great White Shark. As I hit the shark I woke up. I was sweating, and my wife was just about to say something when I shushed her. We both went back to sleep. As soon as I woke up, I had noticed that it was 7:30 am and that I had to be at work in an hour. So I got out of bed, put my warm feet on a cold, hardwood floor and walked sleepily to the kitchen. I made myself breakfast and left the leftovers for my wife, as I always did. By the time I had eaten, put the leftovers in the metal fridge and walked into my bedroom, Kathy was just barely awake. I opened the square doors of my closet and grabbed a clean white undershirt. Then, I went into the bathroom, took a shower, dried myself off, put my clean undershirt and a clean pair of underwear on, shaved the stubble of an overnight beard and then went back into the bedroom, put my Calvin Cline suit and my Calvin Cline jacket I had been wearing the day before, and began to mentally prepare for my day of work. <br />
    As soon as I had noticed that she was awake, I kissed her goodbye and walked outside into the warm, summer morning of June. I walked down a twenty-foot long path to my driveway, where I got into my Chevrolet Suburban 2009 and drove away. In the humid morning, I put on the AC in my SUV and drove to 19 Mallberry St., which was where I worked. As I got there, I parked my Suburban parallel to my office. When I walked in the door, I greeted my secretary, Janette as I always did. I walked on the black tiled floor until I got to a fancy elevator. I walked in and I heard a soft voice say, “Where to Mr. Raymond?” It was Mike, a friend of mine from two years ago. “Forty Eighth floor please” I replied to him as he was pushing in buttons with numbers on them. Then out of the blue, I heard a song that I had never heard before. “What song is this?” I asked Mike. “Beethoven’s 3rd Symphony.” He explained. I liked this song. It wasn’t like that Rock n’ Roll crap that today’s teenagers and kids listen to. <br />
    I walked into my top-floor office and hung my coat on a hanger behind the door. As I sat down in my leather office chair, I noticed a new pile of papers in my incoming mailbox. As I opened one letter, I gasped in grief because the letter said that there was a viscous shark attack in the San Francisco Bay a few hours ago and that one of the attacks was on a famous writer. I am not going to mention his name. As I allowed this new information to settle in my head, I thought about just looking at the marvelous view from the back of my office. It was a view of San Francisco that I liked. It made me calm when I was mad or agitated at something. <br />
    My secretary barged in and roared, “Mr. Raymond, the hospital is on the phone and they need to talk to you, now.” “I’m coming.” I said walking over towards the hallway phone. “John Raymond, can I help you?” I said waiting for someone to talk on the phone. “Yes, Mr. Raymond, we will need you to come to the hospital immediately because your wife has been vomiting all day and a few minutes ago, she gave birth to a small baby boy. She has been pregnant for eight and a half months. Did you know this information already?” “No, and I am on my way right now.” I hung up the phone, revealed to my boss the situation, and then got into my Suburban. As I was going to the hospital, I called my boss again to say that I had forgotten to tell him that I was taking off for the next week or so. He agreed that I should take off and I hung up the phone. I felt like such a jackass for making my wife go through this unimaginable pain. As I was walking into the hospital, I asked the secretary at the front desk where my wife was and the secretary began, “I am sorry sir but you have to fill out these papers before even stepping foot passed this desk. And sorry for the stress, there have been a lot of casualties in and out of this hospital in the last few months.” I thought about that for a minute and then said, “Thanks.” After I had filled out the papers necessary to get into the room with my wife, I stepped outside to take a breath of fresh air and then I went back into the hospital to the room where Kathy was laying down. She looked like she was scared, and I could tell that she was. <br />
    “It’s ok.” I said comfortingly. The nurse came in with a sky-blue blanket in her hands and said gleefully, “5 pounds, 11 ounces.” I started to cry and I looked at Kathy and held her hand tightly but gently, just enough so that she could feel my hand. “Thank you.” I politely said to the nurse. She handed me a small, baby that looked exactly like I did when I was little. “How is this possible, honey?” I asked my wife softly. “Remember that night we were in New York, we were both drunk and then.....nobody remembers after that. That was almost 9 months ago, remember?” I thought about it for a minute and then replied, “Yea, now I think I remember. We were at a Hooters club and then we left with a friend.” That’s how this beautiful thing happened, I guess. We had then decided on a name. Gabriel. Gabriel Jonathan Raymond. Two days later, my wife and Gabriel were released from the hospital and that is when the ‘fun’ started. <br />
    SHARK CH2 <br />
    We weren’t prepared for a baby so we had to postpone a cruise we were planning and then use that money for Gabriel. When I went to the store to buy a crib, I knew that I had to buy the best one possible. So I bought a 600 dollar crib, the most expensive one in the store, and brought it home in my Chevy Suburban. After I got home, I had to go to Shoprite to get baby food and regular food for the household. “No more naps during the day!” Kathy said sarcastically. “Why?” I asked. “Because now you have to pitch in with Gabriel all the time just like me.” “Oh boy,” I thought to myself, “What fun!” That night, all my wife and I heard was our little Gabriel crying, most likely wanting breast milk or formula. So I woke up Kathy and softly insisted, “Please, go help the baby.” She moaned, got up, and then walked on the cold floor towards the baby’s’ room. As I went back to sleep, the moonlight seeping into our bedroom window started to dim, and I went into my nightmare that started a few day’s before Gabriel was born. I didn’t hear Gabriel or see anything. All of the sudden, I was feeling that mid-air feeling you get when you are sky-diving, and I saw my wife, about to hit the water, and a Great White Shark came out and took her right out of the sky. A dark blood-colored, space in the middle of the water, and I felt a strong jolt in my gut, and before I knew it, I was in that blood-colored space that I had seen before, unable to breathe. From above, I saw light red, like a stained glass window in a church. From below, I saw nothing. Nothing but pitch black darkness, which was as dark as the night sky. As I felt the shark bite me, I woke up in a daze and sweat was all over my face. “I’m sorry honey, did I wake you?” She didn’t answer and that gave me the idea that she was still sleeping. It was only 6:30am, but for some reason I felt that I should get an early start to a wonderful day. I went to check on Gabriel, just to make sure that he was ok. I quietly got out of bed and then silently walked over to Gabriel’s room with my blue, furry slippers on. I turned the doorknob and opened it. I walked over to Gabriel, and gave him a kiss on the forehead. As I walked away, I murmured to Gabriel, who couldn’t understand me, “Good night.” I closed the door and walked over to the kitchen. I opened the fridge and I noticed that there was only eggs, leftovers, a bottle of formula, milk, and some bread. I figured that my wife could not go food shopping with Gabriel yet so I walked over to the bathroom door. As I opened it, I smelled a putrid odor. I flipped the switch that was behind the door that turned on the lights and looked at the toilet. I thought to myself, “Maybe as Kathy was checking Gabriel, she had to take a dump as well.” Laughing to myself, I lifted the toilet seat and there it was. What looked like a five inch-long terd was staring me in the face. I almost vomited at this disgusting sight. I pulled the handle to flush the toilet and the terd did as it was supposed to do, go down to the sewers. I quickly sprinted to the kitchen, grabbed the air-freshener bottle, and then sprinted back to the bathroom. I opened the bathroom door again, allowing only my hand and the spray can inside the room, and then I sprayed the glade scented freshener all over the place, including the water inside the toilet. After all of that commotion was over with, I took my pajamas off and got into the hot water and relaxation of my shower. Today I was up early, so I had time to just relax. After about a half hour passed, I got out of my warm relaxation and stepped on a towel I had laid on the floor earlier. I grabbed a towel from the rack on the back of the door and dried my body off with it. I made sure that my feet were dry, and I dashed quietly towards my bedroom with the huge beach towel covering my genitals. I opened the door and saw Kathy, sleeping off all of her troubles. I walked passed the king-sized bed and opened my closet door. As I took a pair of boxers, I dropped my towel and started to get dressed. I had found a nice, red striped dress shirt to put under my tuxedo, and a nice tie that my father had given me a few years ago, before he died. I put my suit on after and got my black socks on. You usually don’t wear white socks with a black and red suit. I heard my stomach roar with hunger so I put my coat on, and took my keys to my Suburban off of the kitchen counter. After, I opened the front door and walked out onto the front steps. I closed the heavy wooden door behind me and started to walk towards my SUV. As I pressed the blue unlock button on my transmitter I heard two beeps come from my Suburban. I pulled the handle to open the door. Then, I got into the drivers’ side seat and put my key into the ignition. I backed out of my brick driveway, which was wide enough for someone to fit a tractor trailer in; I looked both ways out of my driver and passenger side mirror and saw that no one was coming. I started driving down the road, and I came to a traffic light, which was separating our street from the main road. I came to a stop at the white line in the road. It was still dark out but it was getting lighter. I felt that I should go to work today. So that meant that after all I had done this morning, I still had one and a half hours left to do my things. The traffic light turned green and I turned left. Half a mile down the road on the left, there was a parking lot, with a Shoprite in it. So I put my left turning signal on and slowed down to turn left. Coming into the parking lot, I was looking for an empty parking space. Of course there were only three or four people in the whole store, so I had my choice of parking. I parked in one of the first four parking spaces and got out of my Suburban. I pushed the red button on my transmitter which was the lock button, and then started towards the Shoprite. Surprisingly, they were open at such an early hour. I got in and saw that there was one cashier who I recognized. I knew him because he was the same person who worked at my office as the elevator man. “Hey Mike.” I called out. “Oh, hello Mr. Raymond. How are you today sir?” he asked. “Fine, how are you on this warm sunny day?” I asked. “Great, hey there is a sale on baby food today, if you are out to buy some.” He added. “Thanks, I’ll look at it.” I added. I went outside and I grabbed a shopping cart from outside and brought it back into the store. Walking down the baby aisle, I noticed that all of the baby food was about half off, and it surprised me for some reason. I took about double the usual load that I would have taken and then I walked into aisle five, which was the frozen food section. I walked with the cart about half way through the aisle, grabbed a few frozen breakfast meals, and put them in the cart. The ones that I grabbed were pancakes, eggs, and things like that. As I was walking towards the counter that Mike was at, I noticed a small magazine out of the corner of my eye. I looked at it and read that there had been another viscous shark attack yesterday at about 10:00pm. Who knows what some idiot wanted that was so important to go swimming in the dark, but officials said that a man, 24 years old went into the water searching for something he had dropped hours before, and had gotten bit by a Great White Shark. This was odd because every time I had another dream about my family’s death or my death from a shark, someone was killed by one. I thought about it for a minute and then said to myself, “Nah, that’s not possible.” And then it struck me. My co-workers and I were going to the beach today to celebrate someone’s promotion. <br />
    Shark CH3 <br />
    As I walked towards Mike’s aisle, I grabbed the magazine and put it in the cart. I squeezed between the two aisles and put my groceries on the conveyer belt which led the groceries towards the cashier. He put my groceries on the scanner and then into a light grocery bag. I maneuvered the bag off of the metal hook holding it and put it inside the cart. After this was done, I paid Mike what I owed and opened the exit door. When I got to my Suburban, I put the groceries inside the back of the SUV. I got into my Suburban and then drove home to Kathy and Gabriel. I pulled up to my street at about 7:30 am and I parked my SUV in my brick driveway. When I got out of my Suburban, I pressed the lock button on my transmitter and then I walked down a path that led towards my front door. As I got to the wooden front door, I pulled the handle and walked into my hallway. I hung my jacket up on the coat hanger and I walked into the kitchen. When I was there, I put the groceries where they belonged and then I went into the bedroom. Kathy had taken Gabriel, probably because he was crying, and had taken him into the bedroom with her. Of course that is a little dangerous because she could accidentally strangle him without knowing, but otherwise Gabriel looked as peaceful as could be, separated from Kathy by a foot. I gently tugged on Kathy’s left foot and said, “Time to wake up honey.” She moaned a little bit but then she got up as she would any morning. She walked with me as I guided her to the bathroom and I opened the door for her and she walked into the bathroom. I shut the door lightly behind her as I stayed behind. I heard the fan go on, a few sounds that sounded like she was taking her night clothes off, our shower door shut and then the water coming down. After about half an hour, she came out of the bathroom exactly as I did and then she went into the room to check on the baby. After another ten minutes had passed, I realized that I only had an hour before I had to be in my office. That meant that I had to leave in half an hour. When my wife came out fully dressed with the baby sleeping silently in her hands, I smiled politely and then she saw the plate for her and the baby. On one side of the plate, was the baby’s’ cut-in-half vitamin, and on the other side, the breakfast that I had bought when I was at Shoprite. I pulled a chair out for Kathy and the baby and then sat down myself. “I’m going to go to work today because Jimmy, our rich boy in the office, got promoted, and they are going to have a party today. I wish that you could come but you have Gabriel. I will only be gone a few hours.” “Ok, I understand. I mean, if you don’t show up, your co-workers will say that you have no respect for him. So, I understand the situation as it is.” Kathy said. “Thanks for understanding, sweet cheeks.” I ate the rest of my pancake breakfast and then threw my garbage into the trash can, which was under my kitchen sink. I took Kathy’s plate after she was done eating and threw out the remainders. Then, I went into my bedroom, opened the closet doors, put my suit ‘that I have only been wearing for about an hour’ anyway, and then put on my bathing suit and a t-shirt. I sprinted into the bathroom before anyone could see me and I snatched a towel from the rack on the back of the bathroom door. I walked back into the family room, where Kathy was sitting with the baby and a toy in her lap. She was watching Barney with Gabriel. She hated Barney ever since she was a kid, but I was proud of Kathy for finally making the sacrifice for something she loved like a mother should. After I had my moment of being proud, I went into the kitchen and grabbed my car keys, went back into the family room, kissed my wife and Gabriel goodbye and said, “I love you two and I will miss you while I am gone.” I really meant that from the slow beating, central love department of my heart. As I walked back into the kitchen, I held my car keys tightly in my hand and quietly opened the door, stepped outside, and then closed it gently. I walked down the path again for the 3rd time in two hours, and then pressed the little blue button on my transmitter that had an unlock sign on it, and the pulled the door handle to open it. I sat down on my black and brown leather seat and it felt weird to be riding in my Chevy in shorts, because I had never done it before and I never had planned on doing it. I put my key in the ignition, turned it, and then started for the street. I backed up into the street and went through a green traffic light. As I was parking my Suburban parallel to my office, I saw a tour bus, or what people call today city busses, in front of the entrance to my office building. My guess is that my co-workers and I were going to ride in that bus all the way to the beach, which in this case, wasn’t too far. I got out of the Suburban, shut the door, and then pressed the red lock button on my transmitter. I was carrying my beach towel over my shoulder, and you probably couldn’t recognize me as the person I am when I dress like a business man and all. I said hello to my personal secretary, Janette, and then walked up the steps of the bus. Everyone looked at who was coming on, which was me, and then went back to their normal, everyday conversations. I sat with my friend, the one who was throwing this beach party, Jimmy. “Hey Jim, what’s new?” I greeted him. “Nothin’ much.” He replied. “When does this party end?” I asked him. “As soon as somebody starts to leave!” he said jokingly. We both started to laugh and tell some jokes to each other, kind of like when we were teenagers, which was about 13 years ago. <br />
    The bus ride was all down hill from my office and I was not too comfortable with that part. Otherwise, I liked to joke with my friends, and talk about what we were going to do when we got their and things like that. Finally, we got there. It had been about 30 minutes worth of a ride because of the traffic lights and the side roads that busses have to take and that sort of thing. The beach was beautiful. Beach Blondes in bikinis were all over the place, men and girls sun-tanning, the rich counting their money, and anxious hot dog and shrimp stands were waiting for someone to pick a bite to eat at their stands. Of course though, it was way too hot for that. <br />
    I got out of my seat and followed in a single file line all the way to the front of the coach, were we tripped down some steps. After getting off of the bus, we all made sure that all of us were here and then went towards our rented-section of the beach. It was about 30ftx30ft I’d say, or maybe more. But it was enough because Jim paid for the expensive gazebo to put over it to cool down the sand. That made everybody who were older than 60 go nuts in a good way. As I walked out into the golden hotness of the smooth sand, I noticed that the water was extremely clear for today, and that it would be good to swim in. I set my towel down in the center of the gazebo and then took my shirt off. After that, I walked with Jim after he had put his towel down on the sand and walked towards the water. All of the sudden, I get a huge headache, pause, and then I realized that I was having the nightmare, but it was in a split second. Right as I came out of that nightmare, everyone including me heard a scream. It was a kid this time. <br />
    <br />
    Shark CH4 <br />
    <br />
    Everyone on land ran towards the water, and everyone in the water swam towards land. But it was too late. A large pool of rose-colored blood was in the water, and some splashes. Everyone was horrified by the image. The small boy had died. We heard a women asking for someone and I ran over to her. “Who are you looking for mam?” I asked. “My son, his name is Bobby. Have you seen him?” she asked me looking horrified. I faced my head down and a tear came down my face and then I lifted my head in shame. “I’m so sorry mam.” I said with sadness in my eyes and then she went ballistic and started to sob and cry and I held her in my arms, hugging her until she stopped crying. That was about an hour, and everyone just stared at the blood-stained ocean and sobbed. <br />
    I had called the police and they came immediately. As the sirens roared nearer to us, the press was asking everybody questions. When the police came, the press left to go to their offices to publish their story either in the newspaper or the news on television. I gathered all of my co-workers and then sadly made my way into the bus. I sat down and looked out the window and saw all of the cops, the reporters, the photographers, the journalists, everyone, everyone but that little boy. <br />
    As we arrived at the office, no one said a word but “see ya” or “bye.” That was unusual as well. I pushed the blue unlock button on my transmitter and then looked both ways before crossing the street. When there was no one coming, I sprinted across the street and opened my door and closed it before anyone could rip it off with their oncoming car. I put my key into the ignition and then started the SUV. I looked at who was coming behind me so that when I pulled out, nobody could hit me. Nobody was coming, so I speeded off in sorrow towards Kathy and Gabriel. <br />
    As I pulled in the driveway, I noticed that all of the windows were open. I walked up the front path and opened the front door. It smelled of such a putrid odor that I vomited right then and there, but not inside the house, in one of my favorite bushes. “Damn,” I said to myself, wiping off all of the vomit around my mouth. When I smelled this odor, it had to be worse than the five inch long terd in my toilet this morning. I walked into the hallway with my shirt above my nose, so that I could not smell the odor, and then put my dry but sandy towel into the washing machine. “Honey, I’m home!” I said. “So am I!” my wife boasted out, sounding like she was holding her nose shut. <br />
    I walked into the family room, still holding my shirt high above my nose, and saw Kathy and Gabriel watching a stupid show of some sort. Well, at least Kathy was. Gabriel was playing with his huge teddy bear that I had bought him. He looked so happy with that teddy bear so I was very proud of myself for buying it for him. “What happened to the house?” I asked my wife, still holding my nose. “Gabriel pooped, farted, pooped, and then peed and I could not get the odor off of anything, so I opened all of the windows, turned all of the fans on, and then sprayed the Glade Scented Freshening thingy all over the house, except for Gabriel’s room because that could harm him.” She replied holding her nose shut as well. “Ok, I get it.” I said. I had told Kathy what had happened at the beach and she actually started to cry as well, and then I told her that we were going to go to the funeral in three days. She agreed that we should and that we would need a baby sitter for Gabriel. I know a babysitter that is fun and loving towards infants and toddlers. It was 5:00pm by now so I made us all dinner, except for the baby, which just had a bottle of breast milk and his half-a-vitamin. I thought about what to make and I thought that I should make the magnificent meal that Kathy and I had on our wedding night, which was chicken with broccoli, covered in a spicy sauce and a topping of strawberry fuzz, or pink coconut. So I made that exact thing and it made us both tired. We put Gabriel in his crib, and he fell asleep almost immediately. I closed all of the windows, turned every one of the fans off, brushed my teeth after Kathy, and then changed into my night clothes. As soon as I walked into my bedroom and laid down in my bed, I was asleep. But something was different about sleeping tonight. I didn’t have my nightmare. <br />
    When I woke up, my wife wasn’t in bed. There was a note on the pillow on my right side. I took the note in my hand and read it aloud. “I have gone to work today because if I don’t, I will be laid off, hope you understand, bye. <br />
    <br />
    Love, <br />
    Kathy” <br />
    I understood that she had to go to work, but why this early. Well, it didn’t dawn on me that I had to take care of Gabriel and I also had to go to work today. I was thinking of how to get someone to take care of him, so I got out of bed sleepily, went into the finally clean bathroom, got undressed from my nightclothes, grabbed a towel from the rack on the back of the door and placed it on the floor outside of the shower entrance, and then stepped into the shower and pulled the handle so that the water would come out. Then, I set the temperature to something comfortable, and then I stood their, washing my tired body. I counted to a half an hour and then got out of the shower, stepped on the towel that I had put on the floor earlier, snatched a towel from the rack, dried off my body, and then wrapped the moist towel around my waist. <br />
    I walked over to the bathroom sink, took my tooth brush, put Crest Pro-Whitening toothpaste on it and then stuck it in my mouth. I brushed my teeth and rinsed like any other normal person does in the morning and then I rinsed off the toothbrush. I put it back into it’s container and then rinsed out the sink. I tied my towel a little tighter around my waist so that it would fall off, and then opened the bathroom door. Like most people, I felt the cold air rush into the bathroom after the shower and then I walked on the cold hardwood floor in the direction of my bedroom. I opened the door to my bedroom, where I walked over to my closet. I opened the closet doors, pulled out my normal work suit, and then put it on. After that, I walked back into the bathroom and shaved all of my facial hair off, so that I would look like a gentlemen. <br />
    After I was done with that, I went into Gabriel’s room and gently picked him up over my shoulder. I walked over to the kitchen, woke Gabriel up silently, and then gave him his half-a-vitamin. I put him down in his play-pen and then watched him play with his baby toys for a minute. Then, I walked over to the stainless steel fridge in my kitchen, and opened it. I grabbed myself a breakfast meal that I had bought a few days back, and then I heated it up in the microwave for about two minutes. I took it out and put it on a plate so that I could eat it. I put the plate down on the dining room table and then I sat down and started to eat my breakfast. When I was done eating, I picked up my cardboard plate and threw it away. After that, I saw Gabriel still playing with his toys. I walked over to the family room and then sat down on my black leather couch, grabbed the remote for the television, and punched in the channel number that I wanted to watch. I was watching Full House. Full House is a comedic show that is on every night on nick at night, and sometimes, it’s on in the morning. All of the sudden, Gabriel started to cry loudly. <br />
    <br />
    Shark CH5 <br />
    <br />
    I walked over to the screaming infant and put him gently in my arms. He had tears coming down his cheeks and he looked like a sad little baby. After about half an hour of me rocking Gabriel slowly in my arms, he quieted down and fell asleep. I stopped rocking him and then put him very gently in his crib. I walked over to the kitchen phone and dialed Rachel Manolista’s number. She has been Kathy’s friend since about 3rd grade. Rachel and Kathy go way back. Those two are like trees and outdoors, you know, they both go together. Anyways, I dialed her number and she answered. “Hello?” “Hey Rachel, can you do me a small favor if you are not busy?” I asked. “Sure what is it, John?” she replied. “Can you watch Gabriel for a few hours until I come back from work?” I asked. “Sure, but can I bring Gabriel to a little kids beach today, because I am bringing Mandy, my little girl there?” Rachel informed me. “Yea, sure, go right ahead. But make sure that Gabriel doesn’t go near the water, ok?” I cautioned her, “and I will bring him over in about half an hour.” “Ok, see ya later, bye.” She said and then we both hung up our house phone. <br />
    I walked over to Gabriel’s crib and woke him up very gently so that he wouldn’t cry, and then I dressed him up for the beach. I put a small amount of suntan lotion on his skin and then put a tiny baby hat on his head. Soon after, I put Gabriel in his carrier and grabbed my keys from the black kitchen counter. I walked over to my Suburban down my path and pressed the blue unlock button on my transmitter. I opened the back left side door, and then strapped Gabriel’s carrier into the seat. I then closed the door, pulled the handle on my door, got into the SUV, and then put the key into the ignition. I turned the key and backed out of my brick driveway. <br />
    As always, I came to a slow stop at the traffic light at the end of my street. When the light turned green, I made a right, which is the opposite way of which I work. Then, I drove towards Rachel’s house. Her house was not too fancy, but it was larger than mine. She had blonde hair, rosy cheeks, and for some reason her house always smelled like the inside of a new car, which smelled really good to me. As we came upon her mansion, I parked my Suburban next to her 2009 Lexus RX 400h. Her mansion has a lot of solar panels on the roof and a whole lot of bushes and flowers everywhere. <br />
    I un-strapped Gabriel’s carrier from the seat and put it softly on the ground. I closed the door and then pressed the red lock button on my transmitter. I then picked up Gabriel in his carrier and walked down a path to Rachel’s front door. “Ding Dong!” a doorbell rang and I heard footsteps from inside the house. “The door cracked open and Rachel said, “Oh, hello, I was expecting you. Come in, come in.” “Thank you.” I said politely. I walked into the nice clean mansion and looked around. “So, how’s life?” she said to me. “Good, how are you?” I replied. “Great.” I gently put Gabriel, who was sleeping, into Rachel’s arms. “Thanks for the favor.” I thanked her. “Its ok.” She said. I said goodbye and then walked outside and closed the door softly behind me. <br />
    As I was walking towards my Suburban, my phone rang. I took my phone out of my pocket and answered it. “Where are you honey?” my wife asked. “I just dropped Gabriel off at Rachel’s house. Why?” I replied. “Nothing, I just wanted to see what you were going to do today.” She said. “Ok then, see ya later, bye.” “Bye.” I said. I pressed the blue unlock button on my transmitter and then opened my driver side door. I got in, started the SUV, and then drove away towards work. That was only about 20 minutes away, so I could still make it to work. As I was coming up on my office, there was a parade of traffic. Everyone was honking their horns and so was I. As I parked my Suburban parallel to my office, my boss, Mr. Rodgers, a mean, self centered person, was waiting at the door, looking at me with a non-satisfaction look. I looked both ways and walked across the street. <br />
    “Hi Mr. Reynolds,” I said looking at him. “I’m sorry John, but you are not supposed to be late and as the economy stands, I don’t have enough money to pay you. So, I already packed your stuff from your office and I am very sorry. I didn’t want to do it.” My boss said. “I understand one hundred percent, but why me?” I asked. “You get paid the most, and I do not have enough money myself to pay you!” he said. “Ok, I’ll go get my stuff.” I walked up to my office, or at least what used to be my office, and picked up two small boxes with my stuff in them. Then, I took the elevator to the ground floor and walked out to my Suburban. I looked both ways and opened the back of my SUV, put my stuff in, closed it, turned on the vehicle, and left towards nowhere. Rachel was probably already at the beach, so I went to the Marine Biologist Study Hall, MBSH for short, and thought about studying up on sharks. <br />
    I parked my Suburban in the parking lot of MBSH, and walked in the door. I saw a bunch of scientific looking people wearing white coats, and goggles on their heads. I walked up to one of them and asked him, “Where would I find a job here?” “Over there, at that big counter. Ask our boss, Mr. Blair if you can have one. He is nice, so try to be cheery with him.” She said. “Thanks” I walked over to the counter and then talked to Mr. Blair. “Can I have a job here?” I asked. “Sure, but I need to have your resume by tomorrow. Do you have any questions?” he asked me. “Yes sir, I do have just one. How much do I get paid a week?” “You get paid 400 dollars a day, but you have to earn it. We bring dead sharks, and sometimes live sharks into the lab over there and you need to know a lot about them. Do you know a lot about Sharks?” “Yes, I do.” I lied. <br />
    I then trotted over to my SUV, happy to have a job in less than 20 minutes of getting laid off from another one. I was on my way to the library to get about ten or so books about sharks. I parked my SUV in the parking lot of the county library and walked into the humongous building. I then sprinted over to the librarian and asked her where all of the marine species books would be. She pointed to a small section in the corner and I grabbed about fourteen of them. After, I went to the desk, bought a library card, rented the books for two weeks, and then walked out the door with them. I put them on the passenger side seat and then got into my Suburban. I drove away, in a gleeful mood towards home. <br />
    As I pulled into my driveway, I had noticed that my wife wasn’t home yet, but that was usual since she doesn’t get off of work until two, and it was only twelve. So I took all of the marine species books and opened the driver side door. I then closed the door and pressed the red lock button on my transmitter. Then, I walked down my narrow path into my front door and opened it. The house was exactly as I had left it. I walked into my house, closed the door behind me, and then set the books on my couch. I forgot my office stuff in the Suburban, but I figured that I better get it later. I then put my car keys on the counter, walked over towards the black leather couch, and sat down to read. After about half an hour, I was half way through the first book and I was actually starting to like it. Understanding all of this was easier than I thought. Right after I had finished my first book on the Great White Shark, I got an unexpected phone call. It was from Rachel so I immediately answered it. She sounded hysterical and sad, as if something bad had happened. I thought about Gabriel as she was saying nonsense words. <br />
    <br />
    SHARK CH6 <br />
    <br />
    “Talk slower!” I said and then she started to talk some recognizable words. “Gabriel, he’s, he’s, he’s,” “Spit it out women!” I screamed. “Dead!” she said with a sad lump in her throat. “H-H-how, did this happen?!” I said with salty tears coming down my face. “He wa-was sitting on the towel like a good little baby and then Mandy calls me. So I go over about five feet away from Gabriel, and some how he crawled over by the water. As soon as I looked back at where he was last sitting, he’s gone. I look all over the beach, and I saw him by the water. I sprinted over to him as fast as I could but it was too late. He was in the water, not breathing and unconscious, floating away from us. All of the sudden, we hear a scream from the water and a flipper flies up in the air where Gabriel was last seen. A grey and white shark had came up from the deep depths of the ocean and grabbed him down with the sharks razor sharp teeth. It was horrible.” I heard the sadness in her voice. I felt sick, paralyzed, and suddenly I felt a pain in my chest, and that’s when everything went black. <br />
    I heard an engine. Some type of a sound you would hear coming out of a jet engine. I saw Kathy acting as happy as could be and smiling at me. I got up off of my chair, as if nothing had happened in real life, and put on my parachute. I walked up towards the pilot’s cabin and knocked on the door. I heard a beep and the door opened. “Can you fly a little higher please?” I asked for no apparent reason. “Will do.” replied the middle aged pilot. I closed the door and walked over to Kathy, who was putting on her parachute. “You ready?” I asked, picking up a bottle of water. “Yea, you?” she replied. “Yes.” I said, opening the cap of the water bottle. As I was about to take a sip of the water, and a small shark jumped out of my water bottle and bit my nose. Of course it was just a hallucination, so I just went with it. As we saw the door open and a little green arrow flashed, we jumped out of the plane with high hopes. I told her to pull the orange strap on the right side of her parachute, and she did. So did I. As we were about to hit the water, a little baby appeared in front of me that looked almost exactly like Gabriel. I smiled and waved, and then a shark jumped out of the water with teeth grappling Gabriel and myself, as my wife was screaming. “No!” Kathy yelled and then I woke up. <br />
    “Hey, he’s waking up!” I heard my wife say. I slowly and painfully opened my eyes and saw both Kathy and Rachel standing over me with pail faces. I looked at both of them and noticed a white-tiled ceiling above me. I looked around and noticed that I was in the hospital. “Why am I here?” I asked with a sad and depressed face. “You had a heart attack!” Kathy said slowly. “Do you know?!” I asked quickly. “Yes honey, I know.” She replied with a sad and helpless look in her face. “You’ll be out of here and no time, back at home with me and eating all of the blueberry cake again just like old times.” She made me laugh. I felt fine now, but a little confused. “I am very sorry about what happened to Gabriel John, you can blame it all on me since it was my fault.” Rachel said quietly. “Don’t worry; I’m not going to blame it on anyone because it is no one’s fault about what happened earlier. <br />
    The next day, I was back home, sitting on the couch. I got up, walked over to Gabriel’s crib, and hugged his teddy bear that I had bought him, only a few days before. I just sat on the floor and hugged his teddy bear for about three hours. I had never felt such pain in my entire life like I was feeling. I got up with a wet face, and put the teddy bear exactly were it was before. I then put his crib in his room and left a little note on his blanket. It read; “I love you Gabriel and I wish that you could have stayed with us until it was time for us to go, <br />
    <br />
    Love, <br />
    your Daddy.” <br />
    <br />
    I walked into the kitchen sadly and hugged my wife. We just stood there, pail faced and sad. We were both devastated by this natural incident, but it wasn’t enough to start thinking about suicide. I then walked over to my black leather couch and started to read my second shark book. I had forgot about going to my new job today, so I immediately called my new boss, Mr. Blair, and I told him what had happened. He felt sorry for me and told me that I didn’t have to come in for a week, but I disagreed and told him that I would come in with my resume in hand and ready to work. I hung up the phone and started to type up my resume. <br />
    When I was finished with that, I printed it out of the printer and put it with all of my new books. Every time I heard the word ‘shark’, my thoughts ran sadly wild thinking about Gabriel. The next day, I drove over to the MBSH and handed in my resume. He wasn’t so surprised that I had just been a lawyer, but he was surprised that I wanted to be a marine biologist. As a box truck came with two police cars detouring it, I wondered what was in it. “Ahh, our new shipment has finally arrived.” Mr. Blair said. “Have you ever seen a live Tiger Shark before?” “No sir, but I do know a lot about them.” I replied. I looked over at the men bringing a humongous blue carriage bag filled with water. <br />
    “We had just found that baby washed up on the shore, so we decided to just take it with legal permission of course, into our lab.” For the next few hours, we had tranquilized the beast and studied inside the brain. For some reason, Mr. Blair seemed very weird today, like he had plans to kill the shark. For some reason, I felt that he was. I looked at the shark with a disgust look in my face and Mr. Blair finally said to me, “Please inject the poison into the shark so we can begin tests.” I grabbed the needle with care, and injected the poison into the Tiger Shark right below its stomach. <br />
    It made a soft billowy sound and then died. After that, we dissected the shark and put all of it’s guts into separate special bags. It made me feel sad to do this, even though one of those sharks killed my son. I had no hard feelings for the shark because it is just their natural behavior to kill. Anyways, I took my lab coat off, hung it up on the hanger, walked out to my SUV, pressed the blue unlock button on my transmitter, and then opened the door and started towards home. As I arrived home, I had noticed that Kathy was home early. So I got out of my SUV, locked the door, and walked towards the front door of my house. I opened the front door, hung my coat up on the coat hanger in the hallway, closed the door, and then walked into the kitchen. I put my car keys on the kitchen counter and walked over to the stainless steel fridge. I opened the door and took a plate of salad out and ripped all of the cling-wrap off of it. I then opened the fridge again, took the Italian Dressing from the bottom pocket of the fridge, and then poured it all over the salad. I then put the plate on the dining room table, pulled a chair out, sat down, and started to eat. After I was done eating, I took the plate into the kitchen, and then cleaned it using soap and water. I had just remembered that Kathy was home, but I didn’t know where she was considering I didn’t hear anything when I got into the house. So I walked over on the cold hardwood floor over to the bedroom, opened the door, and found Kathy napping on top of the blanket. <br />
    <br />
    Shark CH7 <br />
    <br />
    I walked over to the side of the bed, laid down for about ten minutes, and then went to sleep. I figured it was Friday, so I could sleep as long as I wanted. <br />
    2 Days Later… <br />
    I woke up with a small noise entering my ears. It sounded like bacon, boiling in a frying pan. I got up out of bed and walked over to the kitchen. “Good morning honey.” I said sleepily. “Good morning, John.” Kathy said. “What day is it, I feel like I have been sleeping for years.” I asked. “Its Sunday, and you’ve been sleeping for about two days, I guess you were tired.” Kathy informed me. “I’m making bacon, you want some?” Kathy asked. “Sure.” <br />
    <br />
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