Eleven-and-a-half: A Fantasy Of Great Length by Ray Wilder

Chapter 40: Flashback

This is a work of fiction. All the characters, events and locations
portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real persons,
events or locations is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 1996. All rights, implicit or implied, except for
distribution by this archive and personal use by the individual downloading
the file, are reserved. Inquiries regarding publishing rights for this book
should be directed to: raywild@aol.com

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	Mr. Ridell was dead.
	Arnold had just gotten off the phone with Sam. She'd not expected
Arnold to answer and the desperate need they had for each other, combined
with the inconsolable grief over the loss of their friend, made the whole
event tragic and stupid. Nothing was able to satisfy either of their needs,
there were thousands of miles between them. They hung up without even
saying good bye.
	David, Mary and Ed all tried, in their own ways, to comfort him but
he shut himself in the basement gym for an entire day. The sound of free
weights and metal plates being flung furiously around the room could be
heard all through the house. Huge screams of effort erupted as Arnold tried
to wipe away his grief with the exquisite pain of the pump.
	Finally, at three o'clock the next morning, the house fell
silent. David went to the basement the next day and found Arnold's
collapsed, exhausted body lying on the bench press. Ed was asleep on the
floor beside him, his arm thrown over Arnold's abdomen, the latter's huge,
flat pec his pillow.