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an excerpt

After reviewing your application and interview scores, we would like to welcome you to the Enchantment Management Program at Festiva Resort. This program is designed as an entry-level position into the world of Festiva, the home of Family, Friends and Fun. Enclosed in this packet is the necessary information you will need to help you settle into your new home in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, the birthplace of Festiva.

Your assignment at the resort will be in Memory Memorabilia, and further details of your position will be given to you at check in, August 2, 2009. Once checked in and completed the two-day orientation with your trainer, you will be an official employee of Festiva Resort.

Once again, welcome to Festiva, where Family, Friends and Fun come together.

Sincerely,

*Greek Name*
Enchantment Management Director

Eric looked up at Iota and back to the letter again, and than back at her again. He was trying to find the words to express what he was feeling, but he was having a hard time of being tactful. Sensitivity was just not in his nature.

“Are you serious,” was all he could express vocally.

Iota carefully folded the letter and slipped it back into the original envelope. “I knew it! I knew I shouldn’t have showed you the letter. It was a bad idea to share this with you. You were going to say something like that.”

Eric turned up his nose at himself, and watched her lean back in her chair and cross her arms in front of her. “I’m sorry. You know I’m not good at being sensitive. How ironic is that? Me of all people should be sensitive and caring. All of those loving emotions but I’m not. But seriously? Festiva? New Mexico?”

The problem with Iota was that she always felt lost, always on a mission to find something. She never got what she wanted, and for the first time she did. This was a sign in her eyes. “I know you think it’s stupid, but it’s a change, a change that I need. This place is a wasteland for me.”

“I know. It’s a wasteland for me too, but this isn’t the answer. You aren’t going to find what you are looking for in an amusement park. End of story. That’s like me saying I’m going to find my match at Eharmony.com and my mother is coming back. It’s not going to happen. It’s just too obvious. Go to Festiva and find your nine sisters at Zeus’s Thunder Bolt Ride.”

“First of all it’s called Zeus’s Zany Ride and that happens to be my favorite ride. It’s a roller coaster in the dark and it spins in a circle with thunderbolts flashes, but that isn’t the point. The point is that I’m bored here. All of my friends are gone and all that is left is a few friends and some of my family. Everyone is moving on but me.” Iota than squeezed the lime in her Sprite and than dunked it into the fizzy liquid. “Besides my parents think it’s a great idea.”

Eric laughed, “That’s because your parents want to see you happy. I’m sure when you told them about the letter your face was all a glow. I know you weren’t jumping up and down, but you were excited. They knew that. How could they say no to you? I never could.”

Iota smiled, “Eric, you know when you said before that you weren’t sensitive and caring. Just in that moment you were.”

Eric smiled and buffed out his chest a little, “I was wasn’t I?”

“I will say that you aren’t modest.” Iota was glad when her hamburger arrived because she was starving. “Besides I don’t have any friends here. I drove them all away.” Iota saw the look on his face when she said that. Their mana [not sure I’m sold on that word for their abilities] wasn’t a burden but a promise of good in the world, at least that is what he told her repeatedly. “Okay..okay…I didn’t drive them away. They went off to fulfill their potential, but in the end it means leaving me behind. Besides, I didn’t want this. I did this on a whim and I got it. That has to mean something.”

Eric stole one of her french fries. “You have a point. A small point but you have a point that if you didn’t really want this for yourself than you wouldn’t have been accepted. I guess I have to start planning the go away party. I’m thinking hearts and lots of pink…maybe I should dress up in a diaper with a bow and arrow for laughs.”

Iota started to laugh and had to calm down or she was going to snort Sprite out of her nose. “Please stop it. I can’t believe you did that for Halloween one year. I just almost died.”

“Who ever said we couldn’t have a sense of humor about who we are,” he laughed.

*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*

Eric was glad when Iota opened the door to her apartment. “Wow you have boxes every where. You really are getting a move on this moving thing.” He was doing his best to stay calm on the outside because in the inside he was dying. The beads of sweat were already pouring down the side of his face but it wasn’t due to the Peoria summer. “So how many days do you have left with us?”

Iota waited for the sound of the packaging tape unraveling to die down before she answered, “I have about a week. I rented a U-haul and I’m going to attach it to the end of my car and drive down, or it’s more like down and over. Well you get the idea.” She placed the tape careful on the box to seal the edges and than placed another strip to seal it properly. “I was thinking of maybe you could drive down with me. Maybe we could make a road trip of it. Our last hooray before we go our separate ways. Eric…E…Ro are you even listening to me?”

Eric looked up from biting his nails when he heard her scream Ro, her pet name for him. “I’m sorry. Yeah…road trip…great…fantastic idea.”

“What did you do? I know you did something because you’re pacing back and forth like a lion in a cage. Just give it to me straight and we can deal with it.”

“I didn’t know. They were sisters.”

“Eric.” Iota took a deep breath and clasped her hands together in prayer before answering him. “Eric, you know you can’t do that. Have they done anything together? You know what? Don’t answer that question. Eric how could you,” she said hitting him several times.

Eric flinched away when she started to beat on him. “I’m sorry but everyone in this town has fallen in and out of love with each other. There isn’t any combination left for me to discover. I was bored and I wasn’t paying attention. Funny thing is that they’re both lesbians.”

“Not Funny! Focus! You have two sisters that might hook up! That’s disgusting. You aren’t suppose to create incest.”

There was one thing that Iota learned was when you didn’t use your mana wisely there was consequences. She was pacing back and forth trying to come up with a solution, when she came up with a solution. “You could just always…,” she began to say but Eric read her mind.

“Can’t. I can’t undo it. Seriously, if I could undo what I’ve done, it would have saved me a lot of trouble. There would be 40 less black eyes, the need to move from town to town. You know the deal.”

“Eric! Just tell me this. Did you do it on purpose? Do you create havoc where ever you go?”

Eric moved a box from her couch to the floor so he could have a seat. “It’s not that I like doing it. I just get bored.” Eric was only telling part of the truth. He wasn’t fully admitting to himself why he did it. To admit it to another person would make his entire world crumble. “I have a very simple and real solution.”

Iota raised her eyebrow at her. “Oh this has to be great. I’m all ears on this one.”

“How about a roommate? Now before you say no. Think about it. You don’t know anyone in this Truth or Dare place or at Festiva. I’m sure they are paying you nothing and getting help with the bills would be a good, no scratch that a great idea.”

Iota bit her bottom lip and continued to back up her boxes. It really was not a bad idea when she thought about it. She did like living alone, but only her savings would only go so far. The salary Festiva was giving her was making her parents worry, and in fact, it was an hourly job with a very small benefits package. She made more money working at the non-profit because her benefits package was excellent. At times, she was thinking this was the dumbest idea she has ever had in her life.

“So,” Eric said trying to break Iota out of her trance, “What do you say?” I promise I won’t be in the way. I’ll beg if I have too.”

“Well, technically, I haven’t signed the lease, so if we can get a two bedroom and two bathrooms, I don’t see the problem. Besides, since I’ve met you, you’ve always been around. It kind of makes things easier when you know more people, you know?” She could barely breathe when Eric started to hug her and thank her repeatedly. “But that doesn’t solve the problem of your consequences of your discretion. I don’t think I want to be around for that. I mean do you know what your consequences are if you break a rule?”

Eric walked over to the counter that was in her kitchen to study the red Jell-O stain that was on the counter. He remembered the night they decided to make Jell-O shots for her birthday and some of the mixture spilled onto the white counter. They tried to clean it up the next day but it permanently stained the counter. “So what day and time are we getting out of here?”

“I’m leaving Friday at noon which hopefully puts me on the road by 2, and you are avoiding the question.”

Eric looked like he was calculating something and than whispered damn to himself. “Let’s just say on Friday don’t be shock at what you see and it won’t last past Saturday. I just…I can’t tell ya…not just yet. I’m not ready. I usually go in hiding when I screw up like this, but I don’t want to make you late. I need to go home though so I can pack up my stuff and tell my roommates they need to find another roommate.