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I was flying over Orange County

The as cold, butof clouds, and far below, Christhts twinkled endlessly From up here, it was very obvious that Californians were very led a little higher, caught a powerful jetstrealorious rate My thick, leathery wings were stretched taut, and a part of , endlessly, to continuously trail behind the setting sun, to live in perpetual darkness forever

A guardian angel had professed his love for uided love I suspected he was already well on his way to the dark side, that he had only used me to help facilitate the process Whatever that process was

And yet

And yet, I felt his love for me It had been real I had seen it in his eyes, and heard it in his voice

You can&039;t fake love

Or can you?

Yet, he could have gone about it a thousand different ways, a thousand better ways Any of which would have gotten a better response froether, he had said

The San Gabriel Mountains appeared in the north, and I followed the contour of the ridge-line, rising and falling with the peaks and valleys, just a few feet above the pines and snow-covered cornices Yes, even southern California gets snow, four thousand feet up

I suspected that Ishmael had to break his connection to me, whatever that connection was I suspected that, as uardian

But once I becaled up, followed a ling up, flapping h vaporous clouds, blinded, until finally I broke through

Abovebrilliantly I fleard it, higher and higher, until ice crystals foren disappeared in the air

And there I hovered, briefly, at the far edges of our at destiny, until finally I tucked in ht, faster than I had ever flown before

After all, Christmas was over and I had a killer to find

The End