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She had been waiting for so long now, and he still wasn't there. With glaciers in her eyes and rose colored hair she waited. Poor Magnolia had been forgotten again by her father. She always forgave the busy man for being late for their dinner dates, that's just how she was. Besides, she wasn't the most important or beautiful thing in his life. Work was his first priority and money was, in his eyes, the most handsome thing there was in the world.

Magnolia should have been his gold; she was the shiniest thing, the prettiest thing, but not to him.

Magnolia glanced at the clock on the wall. It read "never too late" but it was already for her. "Daddy, I wouldn't really care if you came late. It's just that you never come at all."

Through with waiting, Magnolia pushed her chair back and got up. "Thank you, garson."

"But madam, won't you stay for an appetizer or some wine?" She hadn't much money and despite her appearance she wasn't old enough for wine.

"I'm not hungry," she lied, "and I believe I've had enough wine for today. I think I'll go walk it off. Thank you." She pulled out the last of her pocket money, two dollars and fifteen cents- for his hospitality and the water she drank. "Oh and if a man comes... never mind, he won't come."

The distressed and now broke young girl headed out of the restaurant onto the pier. It was irregularly empty for a pier just after sunset- No one was fishing or holding their love or pouring their sorrows into the sea. But it didn't strike Magnolia as odd; she was too preoccupied with disappointment to bother with mundane details like a deserted pier.

*Hooverphonics: Magnificent Tree*

She reached the end of the long, wooden boardwalk and leaned on the rail so she could not see anything but the ocean in front of her. The horizon was still violet from the sun's decent.

Her hands were delicately laid over the rail before her. She looked down at them and cringed at her imperfection. The magenta gems that were embedded in the back of them was her only downfall. She was attractive, charming, witty and smart, and even though these were the qualities people loved her for she couldn't look past her horribly disfigured hands. They reminded her that she was special and abnormal, and that destroyed her inside.

Magnolia looked back up and the place where the sea met the stars, but now it was not the perfectly straight line it was once before. Something was there against the sky and it seemed to be growing quickly. Yes, it was growing; it appeared to be a tree, far out in the ocean. As it grew its leafless branches stretched across the heavens. It got closer, bigger and more magnificent. Magnolia could pick out small details- A nest at the very top, a feline face in it's trunk and large lines of foliage that hung like a rolled up sail from the level branches. Hung like a sail...

Magnolia looked around to see if anyone else was around to witness this, but there was not a single light or shadow of a being aside from the bird that laid lifeless on the floor. She stared back at the wonderful tree, which now, as it approached the pier, seemed to be a great ship. It floated not on the water but just above it. And at the top flew a black flag with the crimson skull of a cat painted on it.

Magnolia stepped back, her icy eyes consumed with fear. A large plank fell from the bow onto the rail Magnolia had once been leaning on. Figures, bodies, ran down the plank, coated in blackness. Magnolia couldn't run, she could hardly move to scream as her legs gave way and she fainted.

One of the silhouettes knelt beside her and patted at her sides. "She has no money, why would Tax want her?"

"Don't argue, just grab her."

The figures picked up her fallen body and ran back up the plank. The wood slid back onto the ship and the mighty vessel left as quickly and majestically as it had come.

And to think, no one but a dead seagull could testify the kidnapping of Poor Magnolia.

Friday, December 7, 2001::12:41 p.m.:: Des

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I hope that they bring you back to me, my Beloved Mao. You were sleek, calm and quite from afar, slinking just above the water's surface. You created a wake where fish could play and you warped the sky around you. An ocean's ripple could halt you, but the sea's unfair, ugly storms couldn't damage you. You were the strongest of all ships, your flag flying high against the sunset. I never understood your smooth logic; you still amaze me even in my dreams. On board you were a fair mother, looking after her children. And your kids- they were a band of disciplined pirates, enough to crew five prize ships, searching for their own individual treasures that would bring their hearts peace. Mao, you were busy. Always needing attention, which your children lovingly brought to you. They mended your tattered scarves, bandaged your battle wounds and bathed you in oil so that you always smelled sweet and clean. You came to us as a carrack, cog, sloop and castle all in one. You were a giant among the seafarers but you were fast as you were wide and proud as you were tall. Your tremendous hull provided housing to us all and became and inspiration for song, art and writing. There was something magical about you, be it your shining sales, golden embroidery, fighting cannons or blacken flags. You were magnificent! Where did you go? You have abandoned your captain, a fierce and devoted pirate. You have broken beneath your own children, and they have watched you fall. You sank on them and left them to find gold and love on their own. Mao, you have been cruel.

Friday, December 7, 2001::12:39 p.m.:: Des