Melanie Warren was the odd contender for gloomiest girl in their year, strawberry blond curls, dainty freckles across her nose, it was almost gaudy costume wear-- to have the rattiest sweaters of the most displeasing dull colors a person could think of. Nor was her pretty hair ever clean either, always full of dandruff.

And her eyes, Melanie had one picture of the color they were supposed to be. A moony grey, but had washed out to a stormy, dark glower that glimmered with scorching lightning.

That picture lay at her chest in a cheap plastic gold locket. Only seen by one person.

Her friend Sierra Gallegos.

**15 yrs. later**

It was technically cheating, Officer Oaks knew that-- except the strawberry blond grand larcenist had simply vanished.

And he cared about her more than the law or his job allowed.

Not simply for being a useful demon half the time, but in part for the fondness she would speak about... 'the one woman she loved.'

A past he used against her now as he dug up the time capsule for the class of Westover Hall 2000.

**Corvallis Oregon**

Sierra spun around the grand empty space.

Her newly bought, simple home.

I pushed the rolled up paper in to the bottle and sealed it.

Staggering to the balcony of my beach house.

I flung it into the water.

My intoxicated mind thought,two birds in the hand with one stone?

Then i thought what if the great whale swallows this,and Jonah finds it.

He probably thinks it's from god to quench his thirst.

I can see Jonah now, Spat out of the whales mouth.

Landing on dry land in the heat.

His eyes burning from journey, from darkness to light.

He's probably taking a sip,or worse he's chugging the bottle to fight the dry temperature.

He's probably passed out now,under a tree.

And the worm has crawled out of the bottle,chewing the roots of the plant.

He's waking up now,the tree is fallen,smashing the bottle to pieces.

He starts walking towards his destination.

A group of villagers approach him.

He slurs a few words,and vomits out the rolled up paper,and falls to the ground and dies.

The villagers take the rolled up paper to a prophet in the village.

The prophet prays to his gods,for him to better understand the meaning of the words.

It reads,smoking maybe dangerous to your health.

.