Scott Thelen wheeled on the younger man incredulously. Corky's face was stone cold serious, then melted into a shit eating grin. Scott Thelen realized he had been had, and the two men burst out laughing.

And together, their spirits light, Corky and Ronald McDonald departed from a place of bitter remembrance and entered a world where it was okay to remember.

September 22, 2012.

Lincoln, Nebraska.

Acknowledgements.

Thank you to Steve Walz, Ralph Wall and my wife Leigh Stepanek for your initial readings and wise recommendations.

Thank you beta readers Hollie Case and Anna Kokrda, and to the many betas who were too disturbed by the content to continue beyond page 40. I gave great consideration to your suggestions to soften the imagery of the initial attack, but in the end decided that the horror, and what we learn from it, must remain in pure form. The truth is in the story.

Thank you to Kerry Livgren of Kansas for permission to reprint lyrics from Carry on Wayward Son.

Acknowledgements to Pink Floyd: Money and Us and Them and Ted Nugent: Free for All.

A sizeable thank you to the kind folks at Absolute Write Water Cooler message board. If you are an aspiring author, Absolute Write is an absolute must.

And finally, thank you to my family: Wife Leigh, sons Grant and Christopher, and our dog Drakey-drake.

402.

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