Interview with Gabrielle from Reality's Fire

Welcome to another edition of Author Interviews. Not interviews of authors, but an author interviewing their characters. Today, author R. L. Copple interviews his character, Gabrielle, who plays a starring role in the newly released novel, Reality's Fire from Splashdown Books.

RLC: Hello, readers. My name is Rick Lee Copple, thus the author by-line: R. L. Copple. I write fantasy and space opera stories. As stated in the opening, the third and final novel in "The Reality Chronicles" has just been released. One character that has appeared in all three novels, but hasn't played as large a role in the story until this book, is Gabrielle. Why don't you start by introducing yourself.

Gabi: Hi Rick. Funny talking to you. It's almost like talking to myself.

RLC: It does help an author to have split personalities. Maybe to start, tell us a bit about your family life.

Gabi: My parents lived on a mountain just outside Jerole, in the northwest edge of the Cluster Range. My mother died early in my life, leaving myself, my father, and older brother, Seth, to fend for ourselves. My dad did his best, but a wizard of sorts put a curse on him and my brother so that the littlest provocation sent them into an uncontrollable rage. I spent several years keeping them from killing one another. So while life started out pretty normal enough, it went from crazy to crazier after that.

RLC: But Sisko came along and saved them from that curse. Yes?

Gabi: Oh yes, he healed them from their hate, after almost killing us all. But if you think dealing with a miracle man is not crazy, not to mention his children, I have some lake-front property on Dark Lake to sell you.

RLC: You did have a significant part in the first novel, Reality's Dawn, even if it wasn't extensive.

Gabi: Yes, even though I was only in two of the stories, I did play a part in the last story that was key. If not for me, that would have been the end of the series right there. And what was my thanks? The next book, Reality's Ascent, you lock me up in a crystal prison for practically the whole book!

RLC: Yes, I did feel guilty about that. But look at it this way, the readers felt really sorry for you for the whole book too. And you had a couple of good scenes, opening and closing the book. But, that was part of the reason I wanted to give you a starring role in the final book of the trilogy.

Gabi: Indeed, it was quite the part. I had my own point of view for nearly half the book. And not only a big part, but I got to play a part of "eternal significance" to many people, as Father Jonah put it. And it was nice sharing the stage with my daughter, Kaylee. I think we made a good team.

RLC: Naturally, I would agree. But let's talk a bit about your co-star, Josh. Like you, this was his biggest role. He played a part in the first stories of Reality's Dawn as the fledgling wizard. But by the end the second book, we discover that he has become a very powerful wizard. What was it like sharing the limelight with him in Reality's Fire?

Gabi: Yes, he did become a very powerful wizard. He explains that in more detail in this book. However, that turns out not to be as big a help as you'd think in attempting to fulfill my task of finding Kaylee and Nathan, and change the course of events. Naturally, you'll have to read to discover if I succeeded despite that or not.

RLC: How did he make it harder, without giving away any surprises?

Gabi: Let's just say, he doesn't have full control of himself for most of the story. Making him on the unpredictable side. When you have the most powerful wizard in the world not able to control his power, we'll just say, setbacks happen.

RLC: What is your favorite part of the story for you?

Gabi: Despite the frustration of the moment, it was probably turning Josh into a dog.

RLC: We forgot to mention that you end up with a power yourself.

Gabi: Yeah, that steam house. You never know what it is going to do.

RLC: If you had to sum up what this story is about, how would you put it?

Gabi: There's lots of things I could say, but if I were to boil it down, I'd say that the fear of God will either redeem you or defeat you, depending on how you approach Him. Each character experiences that in one way or another.

RLC: I couldn't have said it better myself. Now, let's shift gears a little to some topics the books don't usually touch on. The world you are in, does it have a name?

Gabi: Huh, just the world.

RLC: It doesn't have a name?

Gabi: You call your planet, dirt. Earth.

RLC: Hum, you have a point. But here we have nations like the United States, England, Germany, Australia, and a lot more. Is there anything similar there and why not?

Gabi: Not being from your world, I couldn't say for sure. But our world has a series of city-states. Mostly they get along though there are fights from time to time. A small handful of cities might govern an area, but most have their own king, ruler, or whatever, and they trade and work with neighboring villages and towns in an organic way. So there's not a bigger political entity beyond that.

RLC: And therefore, no need to name a bigger area.

Gabi: There are forest, deserts, and mountain ranges that have names. Like the city I'm in when this book starts out, Reol, is in the Durge Forest.

RLC: So your lands have never experienced wars much?

Gabi: If you believe the myths, thousands of years ago there was a big war between humans and dragons. Some say our peaceful living is in part due to our bonding together back then to fight a common enemy. Most people believe they are scary stories told to frighten kids around camp fires and that dragons don't exist. I used to think as much too, but Sisko's encounter with an invisible dragon gave me pause to wonder about that.

RLC: Interesting. Thank you so much, Gabrielle, for being with us today. Any last words to leave with our readers?

Gabi: Sure. God's reality is the reality. Don't hide from it, embrace it.

RLC: Your on a roll today. Until next time, faithful readers. Be sure to read the series if you haven't and if possible, leave honest reviews on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and anywhere else you please. You can find the book list at my website along with the other books I've written. Thanks for reading.

Reality's Fire is Here!

The Reality Chronicles trilogy comes to a close with the advent of the final book, Reality's Fire.

As of today, the paperback has made its appearance on Amazon, though it is still in process as the cover image isn't up as of this writing. And there are no copies yet to sell, however, you can pre-order and Amazon will ship them when they come in. Additionally, there is the Kindle version for the ebook lovers. In the next few days, expect to see the book appear at B&N both paperback and for Nook, as well as it is currently available at Smashwords in formats that can be read by most any ereader out there.

For more information on the book, you can visit my page which gives you the book's blurb, a sample chapter, and links to where you can buy it.

I thought this would be a good time to give some behind the scenes look at this series. I've told some of this on other sites, in interviews, but I'll go a little deeper here.

The Reality Chronicles series isn't an allegory proper, but does have some allegorical elements to it. Unlike some stories, God is simply God, not some strange name in this alternate world. But certain things do represent other things in an allegorical manner. For instance, as I've written on this blog before, the steam house is an eight-sided building. For history buffs, this represents the baptismal font, which in the early church, was eight-sided representing the eighth day of creation brought on by Jesus Christ's death and resurrection.

And some might complain that Jesus is never mentioned in the books. And that would be true, and yet He is on nearly every page and story. He forms the backdrop for all that takes place, and is present in the climax of Reality's Fire. And that is the beauty of allegory. It not only indicates that something stands for something else (Jesus is the vine, we are the branches), but what the relationship between the two are based on the relationship of the known. (All branches are one in the vine, and so we are one in Christ.) So the allegorical elements in this story, some obvious, some not so obvious, show a relational revealing more than they show a ontological revealing.

But even every relationship in an allegory doesn't translate. Saying Jesus is the vine and we are the branches doesn't mean if the locus come along and eat at us, that Jesus is powerless to stop them, just as a vine would be powerless to stop an insect from eating at its leaves. But where it is an intended relationship, sometimes such things can make us see areas of our lives in relation to each other and God in a new light. Those without ears to hear, will just hear a good story. Which is fine too. Even those can show some good things to us.

So it is in that vein that I started out writing a little short story in the summer of 2006 which I called "Steamy Realities," and is the current first chapter in Reality's Dawn called, "Reality's Advent." In the critique group I was a part of, we did a group challenge, where all of us wrote a short story to submit to a magazine's contest that had the theme of "hot." Thus the idea for using a steam house. And my initial idea is it reflected a precursor to what God's presence would reveal in people on Judgement Day, where every man's work is revealed by fire. And that fire is God's presence itself, as Scripture states multiple times. Not fire as we know it, no doubt, but similar. Except those in Christ experience Him as light and love, while those who don't experience Him as the fires of Hell.

So you see that theme presented in multiple ways through these stories and is the "reality" that is being referenced: God's reality. And so these three books represent a miniature retelling of the Gospel narrative itself in concepts as we all go through it. Reality's Dawn, a person's birth and growth in Christ. Reality's Ascent, the continued growth and revealing that we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, and darkness. And Reality's Fire, the culmination of what Christ accomplished in His battle with Satan, and how He overcame Him.

That first short story was picked up by "The Sword Review" online magazine, which eventually merged with "Dragons, Knights, and Angels" magazine to form what is now "Mindflights." The same magazine decided to run a contest with the theme of "hope." And in deciding what to do for it, I decided to create a sequel short story, currently titled "Anger's Spell" in Reality's Dawn. I entered it into the contest. It didn't win, and they didn't want it for publication, but the owner of the magazine, Bill Snodgrass, took a liking to what I was doing and wanted to encourage me. So he went to the trouble to do a detailed critique of that story in the hopes I would rewrite it and give it another go.

I decided to do more than that. I not only rewrote that story, but I wrote two more stories so that I would have stories based on the themes of faith, hope, and love. The faith story is "Faith's Fire" and the love story is "Love's Sacrifice." With each story I created, the world grew. And when I submitted all of them to the magazine, they accepted the faith and love stories right away, but wanted a rewrite on the hope story. In going through that story, yet again, it dawned on me why it wasn't working. I had my protagonist too passive through the whole thing. Everything was happening to him, but he did little to make things happen. So, I rewrote that chapter to make Sisko do something to affect the outcome, and it was immediately accepted. They accepted those in January of 2007 to run all four stories as a series in the last months of 2007, right before it merged with "Dragons, Knights, and Angels" to become "Mindflights."

But that was not all. Bill Snodgrass liked the stories enough, he wanted to put them into a book to sell through his company. I wrote an additional story to add to it as a "bonus" story not shown online, called "Desire's Trap" in Reality's Dawn, as well as an article on why I write fiction as a Christian, and by November of 2007 he published my first book. The novella we titled Infinite Realities hit the virtual selves of Amazon and other online retail outlets.

As the novella was coming out that November, I did my second National Novel Writing Month, where people from all over the world get together and encourage each other to write a minimum of 50K words of a novel. I started doing that in 2006, and did them every year except for last year, 2011, I ended up doing something different after a week into it. But in 2007, I had outlined a novel I wanted to write in November, but Bill put a bug in my ear about doing a sequel to Infinite Realities instead. At first I didn't think I would do it, as I had what I wanted to do planned out. But then on the first day of November, I made a quick decision to write that sequel, and spent the first hours of the month doing a quick outline of main plot points for the novel, and then jumped in to write it. I spent all of 2008 editing that book, and it ended up getting published as Transforming Realities in March of 2009.

Well, I was on a roll, and so when November arrived in 2008, I wrote the third novel in the series, which after many edits and look overs by various people and going through several names, is now the story being published this month through Splashdown Books as Reality's Fire.

What happened to Bill? Well, by the time I got Transforming Realities published, and went through edits of the third novel in hopes it could come out in 2010, Bill's life took a different turn, and it ended up that his company shut down. So I ended up with a two-book series, and a third book without a publisher. As 2010 headed toward November, I thought I had a publisher, signed a contract, but he backed out at the last minute for personal reasons. So I was back to square one.

But one of the things I had decided to do in September of 2010, was to write more stories to fill in the holes in Infinite Realities. The only big criticism I got was the book was too short. Everyone wanted more. Bill had even prodded me to do that at one point. In September of 2010, I got the itch to do just that. I planned out how many more stories I would need to make a full novel, snagged me a critique partner with the time, and started working on writing those stories at the pace of one a week. I planned to expand the original five stories to a total of fifteen. I had already written one story as a Christmas story the previous Christmas, so I only needed nine more stories. I was in the writing groove, and cranked out one good story after another. I kept thinking at any point, I'll run out of ideas of what to do next that is decently original and interesting, and builds on the character and plot arcs I had in mind. But no sooner would I finish one story, and start thinking about what to do for the next one, than an idea would pop into my head and I'd be off writing the next one. I was even able to fill in some back story for characters and events that appeared in the second book, Transforming Realities, and the third book, which I'd already written at the time, but not yet published.

It was shortly after November's National Novel Writing Month of 2010 that I barely made it to 50K because I was already worn out doing the equivalent of a NaNo with the new stories for Infinite Realities during October, that Grace Bridges with Splashdown Books, after some discussion, agreed not only to take on publishing my third novel, but to republish my first two books, and the first with the added stories. She moved fast on the first two. She published the new and improved Infinite Realities as Reality's Dawn, and republished Transforming Realities as Reality's Ascent in March 2011 and May 2011 respectively. And now the third book is finally coming out in June of 2012: Reality's Fire. Now for the first time, readers who've enjoyed the first two books, can discover how the series ends.

Some interesting notes on this novel. It is unique in several ways. In most of my novels, my outlines are rough major plot point outlines. And what has happened in most of my novels, is by the time I get to the "end" I had planned, I've only written half a novel. For instance, in Reality's Ascent, my original outline had the wedding of Nathan to Crystal being the big block-buster ending. But by the time I reached that spot, not feeling I could extend it any longer without it looking like that's what I was doing, I had only written around 25K words. Far from a full novel. So I made plan B and winged it. And as it turns out, the actual ending I wrote was far better than what I had originally planned. Most of my novels have been like this. The outline gets greatly modified by the time I finish writing the book.

Reality's Fire went nearly exactly as planned. As a matter of fact, unlike my other books where I had a vague idea what the ending would be, and by the time I got there it looked nothing like it, my first realization of what this book would be was the ending. In a hotel room at FenCon in 2008, with Bill sleeping away, I saw in my mind the perfect ending to the series. It fit the theological and series arc, and was exactly what needed to happen. And better yet, few would see it coming, even though it would be logical once they saw what happened, with everything else that had happened to that point through the whole series, even beginning with that first short story I wrote in the summer of 2006. It was like this story simply could not end any other way.

As I wrote this book in November of 2008, it went exactly as planned. Didn't missed a beat, nothing unexpected. Well. Almost. There was one crazy wrench Gabrielle threw into the story. Without giving anything away, at one point, based on what she could do, and Josh's condition, as I was writing what I figured she'd naturally be thinking, it suddenly occurred to her she could do something unusual. And as a writer, I couldn't deny her doing that because it wouldn't be natural for her to do anything else but what she did. And boy did she make a major change to the story. I did not see that one coming. But I worked it into the story as best I could. Not perfect, but it did provide some good story moments, nonetheless. Both drama and humor. It will be obvious when you read it.

But all the while I was writing the story, my mind kept running over and over how the end would go. I was glad when I finally got to write it, because then I could get the visions out of my head and on paper, and they wouldn't keep me up at night. As a matter of fact, by the time I started writing the ending, I didn't have to think about how any of it would go, what they would say. I'd been over it so many times in my head, all I was really doing was writing it all down. I've never had a book go almost exactly as planned, and an ending happen just as I envisioned it before I'd decided anything else the book would be about.

Also, this book was a departure in other ways. On one hand, I'd addressed some issues that my YA audience not only face everyday, but often get swallowed up by in many cases. I felt they were important issues, and because of what needed to happen to get to the ending, a big sin needed to happen. So this story has ended up focusing on more mature material. I've kept it PG-13, but it does mean some of the younger readers that enjoyed my first two books, would probably not be allowed to read this one, at least until they'd grown up some. My only regret is that it will potentially exclude younger children from getting to read this anytime soon.

Readers will also notice more romance and character interaction and not as much "action" scenes. They do happen. There is sword fighting. But it isn't as intense as it was in Reality's Ascent, or even Reality's Dawn. But some really cool stuff happens, even if it isn't high action fighting.

And yes, Joel does make some appearances in this book. Not as many as I know his fans would like, but he plays his parts which are critical. As a matter of fact, Joel is the one character that has so far appeared in every book I've written in this world.

So, that's the story behind this book and the whole trilogy. It is something that started out as one short story, and grew from there into a full world. But the stories don't stop with this book. I'm writing a spin-off series in the same world, that not only expands that world, but reveals how it relates to our own world. This series builds upon the dragon in "Faith's Fire" in Reality's Dawn to reveal a whole dragon culture in that world. So much more to come. Stay tuned!

Big News on the Reality Series

As some of my readers know, I had a contract last year with a start-up publisher for the third book in the Reality series, that had been tentatively titled Fiery Realities. But just over a month from the publication date, the would-be publisher realized he simply wouldn't be able to perform according to contract and had to back out. So I was back to square one looking for a new publisher to complete the series.

On top of that, I became inspired toward the end of August last year to write ten more short stories to fill out the Infinite Realities novella into a full novel. I spent two months writing nine new short stories (one had already been written but only showed up on my blog). I really liked how they turned out and filled out the story arc. But now I had another Reality book that would need a publisher if it were to see the light of day.

After a month or so of discussing options with a new publisher, today I signed on the dotted line, and the Reality series has a new publisher! Splashdown books, run by the adventurous Grace Bridges, has taken on the series for all three books. Here's the run down on what she has accepted to publish:

• Reality's Dawn - this is the new title for what was Infinite Realities before, but now expanded to novel length with ten new short stories that develop the characters better and introduce new ones, as well as provide background on ones that play more significant roles in later novels.


• Reality's Ascent - this is a new title for the same novel currently titled Transforming Realities. Nothing new expected to be done with this one, other than correct formatting and typo issues, though the publisher, once she goes through it, may have some other corrections to make. But the story should stay relatively unchanged.


• Reality's Glory - this is the brand new, third and final book in the Reality series. The ring's journey comes to a surprising end amidst a final attempt by those who seek to control it, the sins of those who seek to preserve it, and a love that gives everything.

Reality's Dawn may see publication soon. More news should be forthcoming in the weeks ahead. Reality's Ascent probably before summer. Reality's Glory yet to be determined for sure, though the publisher might have an idea.

I'm very excited to be a part of the Splashdown team. It is making a mark in the Christian publishing world with speculative fiction titles. Being that publishing speculative fiction novels with a Christian worldview is the primary mission of this publisher, and having already published several titles, I feel confident this will be a good partnership not only for these novels, but future ones. May God use our efforts for His glory.

Update on Fiery Realities

I posted on my blog earlier that the third novel in my Reality Series would be coming out the beginning of December. I'm sad to report that this book will be delayed. The reason? The short version is simply that the publisher who intended to publish it has decided not to get into book publishing due to time commitment and constraints.

I can certainly relate to finding ones self over committed. Kudos to him for recognizing it early and working to avoid burnout and burn down. I wish him all the best in his continued endevors.

But that does mean I'm back to looking for a publisher since the one who published the first two books is no longer focused on speculative fiction. Somehow, this series ending will get published. And you'll read it here first, when I have anything new to report on that.

Until then, faithful readers, you'll have to wait right along with me to see Fiery Realities sitting on your reading shelf.

Home for Christmas—Wherever That Is

As a Christmas Gift for my blog readers, I'm offering this free 1922 word Christmas story from the Realities' world. What happens when you mix an ogre and Christmas together? You'll never guess. Read on to find out. And have a Merry Christmas!

---

Sikso held out a gift. He hoped Josh would like it.

Josh smiled and lifted the gift from Sisko's palm. A couple of children passed by on the road in front of his house as Josh ripped the wrapping off.

They had decided to exchange gifts on Christmas Eve. Sisko wished he could have found something prettier than green leaves stitched together, but he had nothing else to wrap it in. He put such thoughts aside. He knew his best friend Josh wouldn't mind. The excitement of the Christmas celebration forgave many minor trespasses.

Josh pulled it out of the wrapping. A polished wooden stick. Josh smiled. "A wand."

Sisko nodded. "I carved, sanded, and stained it myself. Should be useful in your wizard training."

Josh waved it around. "I like it. Thanks." He glanced at Sisko and back to his new wand. "Did your ring add anything to it?"

"No, why would it?" The ring he'd received allowed him to do miracles, heal people mostly, help them in general. He'd been charged to be his brother's keeper, helping whoever God led him to.

"Just wondering." Josh examined the wand close up. "As a matter of fact, this will help me to give you a gift."

Sisko raised an eyebrow. "Josh, tell me what you're planning."

He smiled. "That would spoil the surprise." He twirled the wand through the air over his head and mumbled some words.

"Josh, hold on!" Sisko jumped from the porch. He felt a wave of distortion pass over him. Combined with the movement, it caused his stomach to lurch. His front yard vanished and a forest of trees took their place.

Josh scanned the area as if searching. Sisko followed his eyes to see a house nestled among the trees. Josh pointed at the house. "Does that look familiar?"

Sisko shook his head. "Never seen this place before."

Josh sighed. "I thought I had the transport spell down better."

Sisko frowned. "Where are we?"

Josh stared at the ground. "I don't know."

"But you sent us here."

"I thought I had a better picture of your Uncle Seth's house."

Sisko slapped his forehead. "So that's why you kept asking me all those questions about my uncle's house."

"Milnore said a transport spell worked if you had a clear image of where you needed to transport to."

Sisko leaned against a tree. "So why didn't it work? I think I painted a clear enough picture of my uncle's house."

Josh thought for a second. "Milnore must have meant I needed to be there. To have a complete visual picture in my mind, I have to experience the place."

"Do me a favor? When you're experimenting with spells, leave me out of it?"

Josh hung his head. "Sorry. I only wanted to let you visit with your Uncle for Christmas."

Sisko placed a hand on Josh's shoulder. "You had good intentions. No harm done. Just send us back. You do have a mental image of our village, don't you?"

He smiled. "Of course."

The door to the house flung open and then a young boy flew from it. A man wielding an ax chased after him. "Get back here, you thief!"

Sisko's heart leaped within him. He glanced at Josh. "I'm supposed to help someone here."

"Are you serious? Who, that boy?"

Sisko shrugged. "That's the only one I can see in trouble at the moment."

Josh shook his head. "You can't go running between that boy and an ax-wielding man."

Sisko jogged toward them. "Someone has to."

Josh huffed. "And of course it has to be you. Some Christmas present this turned out to be." He ran after Sisko.

As Sisko drew closer, the man's features grew clearer. Despite his size, he appeared hunched over, and big warts protruded on his forehead and cheeks. The young boy fled too fast. His black hair, shoulder length, flapped behind him as he ran.

"It's an ogre," Josh huffed from behind Sisko.

An ogre! Sisko had never met a live ogre before. The stories he'd heard weren't too flattering either. And this one's face, jaw locked as he chased after the boy, didn't dispel those impressions.

The boy tripped and tumbled to a stop in the grass. The ogre caught up with him and held the ax over his head. "Give it back!"

Sisko drew close enough to attract their attention. They both watched as Sisko and Josh slowed to a stop before them.

The ogre growled. "Stay out. This is none of your business."

Sisko stepped beside the boy. "When I see bullies chasing someone with an ax, it becomes my business."

The ogre pointed at the boy. "He stole from me. I have a right to get it back."

The boy shook his head. "He wants to eat me."

The ogre laughed. "I don't want to eat him."

Josh cleared his throat. "I heard ogres like to eat people."

The ogre shrugged. "Some do." He raised his ax higher. "I don't have to explain myself to you two. Step aside. I have no reason to cut you down, but I will if I have to."

Sisko nodded his head. "Sorry. You'll have to kill me first."

Josh's eyes widened. "Sisko, what are you doing?"

The ogre nodded. "He's right. Why would you want to die for someone you don't even know? Why protect a criminal?"

"Because he's worth as much in God's eyes as you or me. All I know is you're chasing him with an ax."

The ogre sighed. "Have it your way." He pulled the ax back.

Josh flipped his wand out and said some words. Mud flew from the ground and splatted over the ogre's eyes. The ogre dropped the ax and then wiped his eyes. "You idiots!"

The young boy leaped to his feet and fled into the forest.

Josh motioned for Sisko to leave. "You've done your helping thing, now let's go."

Sisko checked his heart. "No, I'm not done here."

Josh groaned. "Why not?" He watched as the ogre splashed water over his eyes from a basin by the side of the house.

"All I know is I still haven't helped the one I'm here for. The boy must not have been it."

Josh stared at the sky. "I would at least recommend we go to a nearby town to find the one you're supposed to help. I'd rather not still be here when the ogre comes back. He's not likely to be too happy with us."

Sisko ran fingers through his hair. "I feel this ogre is the one I'm supposed to help."

"You can't be serious."

Sisko watched the ogre wiping his face with cloth. "I'm afraid I am." But what the ogre needed help with, Sisko couldn't imagine. Finding out would be the tough part.

The ogre approached them. "You two! Why did you interfere?"

Sisko glanced at Josh before facing the ogre. "Like I said, it appeared you intended to hurt the boy."

"I wouldn't have hurt him. I only wanted to scare him." The ogre sat on a stump. "He's stole from me before. It's become a game with them. See who can steal from the fat, slow ogre." He stared into the forest.

Josh glanced toward Sisko, and then back to the ogre. "What did you do to deserve that?"

The ogre jerked his head up and glared at Josh. "Why do you think I deserve it? Because I'm an ogre!"

Josh stared at the ground. "Uh, no, that's not what I meant."

"Of course it's what you meant. Everyone assumes because I'm an ugly and lumbering hulk that I must be mean, dangerous, and deserve every bad treatment." He barred his teeth. "What are you two still doing here anyway. You've done your humiliate-the-ogre bit. Begone and leave me in peace."

Sisko wondered if the poor ogre's problems would be changed if he appeared more handsome, trim, and winsome. He could change that with one prayer and the power of his ring. He reached out a hand, but stopped. No, it didn't feel right. The creature had been created an ogre, and he shouldn't mess with it. But then what should he do with his healing ring to help this ogre with his problems?

Josh met Sisko's eyes. He motioned with his head to leave as the ogre suggested.

The ogre stood. "Go away. I've no patience for trouble makers." He stepped toward the house.

Go away? The words resounded in Sisko's mind. How lonely must this ogre be? Sisko froze. Orge. That's all he was to the boy, to those who lived in this area. To even Josh and himself.

Sisko stepped forward. "My name is Sisko and this is Josh. What's yours?"

The ogre stopped and paused. A few seconds passed, then he turned. "What did you say?"

"I asked, what's your name?"

The ogre's eyes softened and his mouth relaxed. "No one's ever asked me that before." For the first time, a hint of a smile creased his lips. "My name is Xilner. Glad to meet your acquaintance, Sisko and Josh."

Sisko bowed. "The honor is all mine, Xilner."

He sat back on the stump. "So tell me, how come you stayed?"

Sisko grinned. "Because God told me I needed to help you."

"Help me?" He shook his head. "That's a first. No one has ever helped me. Called me names, scream at me, beat on me, steal from me, yes. But help me? No."

An idea popped into Sisko's head. He'd likely get in big trouble for this. "Xilner, do you have any plans for Christmas."

"Plans? What I do every year. Sit in my house, munch on food, and watch the world drift by oblivious to me."

Sisko nodded. "Not this year. This year, I'm inviting you to my house for Christmas."

Josh's mouth fell open. "Your mother isn't going to like this."

Sisko smiled. "Probably not. But I have a feeling Xilner will grow on them pretty quick."

Xilner grinned. "I wouldn't be too much of a problem, would I?"

Sisko waved a hand. "No, no. You're my personal guest."

"And your mother isn't going to like it." Josh glanced at Sisko. "Just sayin'."

Sisko stared into the sky and nodded his head.

Xilner rose and headed toward his house. "I'll get ready. I need to change clothes." He stopped and turned around. "Sisko, thank you."

"For the invite?"

"Well, yes, for the invite. But mostly for treating me as a person." He grinned big before heading back to the house.

"What do you know, Josh. I didn't even need to use my ring to fix this one. He's just lonely. Needs someone to care about him." Sisko slapped Josh on the back. "You gave me the greatest Christmas present ever."

Josh watched Sisko from the corner of his eye. "Really? You're helping him. What are you getting out of it?"

"The satisfaction of being my brother's keeper. And for finding that brother in the most unlikely of beings."

Josh crossed his arms. "Well, glad I could help. I had this planned from the beginning. Just wanted it to be a surprise."

"Right. Now how about getting that transport spell back in gear. And please, please, get a good image in your mind of Raul before you do the spell? I don't want to end up in some strange place for Christmas."

He blew air from his mouth. "No problem. I'm ready." He watched as Xilner exited the door. "But I know your mother isn't going to like this."

The End