A wide, happy grin creeps across my lips as I dance for the cheering crowd. My face has been made-up with thick stage make-up, making me look a lot older than my thirteen and a half years. My shoulder-length blonde hair has been tied into a bun, and a white, feathered headdress has been pinned to my hair- but none of this compares to my costume.

“So everyone here does something huh?”

Hailey looked around at her new hut. At least, they called it a hut. It was really more like a cabin with solid walls and a strong roof. It was small, granted, but they advised her that with the new ready source of wood, she could expect a full upgrade very soon.

Authors note: There have been a number of negative comments about the discussion of some bathroom issues in the stories. Let me address those, as I think they are germane to the story.

Takes place shortly before the events of the episode "Unfair Weather Friends" from the Hoenn saga of the anime. After being pressured by his coworkers at the Weather Institute about his blatant feelings for their newest employee Millie, Bart musters up the courage to ask her out to dinner. But while the evening seems to go almost perfectly for them both, looks can be deceiving...

CHAPTER 33

June through December, 2015

Megan grew tired of the hospital routine and in late 2013 opened her own practice initially on weekends and evenings. By early 2015, her practice was doing well enough that she resigned from the hospital to pursue it full-time. While she saw patients a couple of evenings a week, she no longer had the burden of giving up her weekends.

“Hello. Can you hear me?” asked the young woman.

“Uhhhh,” moaned the figure lying on the ground.

“Lets get you up. You can’t stay here in the wet.”

It had been raining heavily for several hours and there were deep puddles everywhere.

She helped the Woman to sit up. Then she saw the bleeding. It was coming from a nasty gash on the side of the woman’s head.

CHAPTER 29

Megan’s office - one week later – just before Christmas, 2009

It was late afternoon on a Tuesday. Megan had finished with all of her patients and was completing some notes on her computer when her phone rang.

She answered it as normal, “Megan Phillips.”

“Hello, is this Dr. Phillips?” Hearing the voice, she almost dropped the phone. It was a voice with which she was very familiar, but hadn’t heard in seventeen years. It was her mother.

Heart pounding, Megan asked, “Yes, it is. Is this Michaela Phillips?”

“Yes. Your mother.”