Eleven-and-a-half: A Fantasy Of Great Length by Ray Wilder Chapter 47: Sam 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 ======================================== "Hi. Can I help you two?" "I hope so. We're trying to track down an old friend. Some people I talked to yesterday said they thought he might have just become a member here." "What's his name?" "Arnold. . ." "You just missed him. He left about five minutes ago." "Figures." "Said he'd be in tomorrow at nine, though. Are you related? You remind me of him." "Not in the literal sense, no. We do have common bonds, though. I don't suppose you could tell us where he lives, could you?" "Sorry. Not allowed to give out any personal information. He'll be here at nine tomorrow morning. You can see him then." "Okay. Thanks. In case he checks in or something could you tell him Sam and Ed are looking for him?" "Be glad to. You want to leave a phone number?" "Good idea." "Why don't you write it down here." "Sure. Thanks." "Okay. I'll give this to him if he comes in. But you can definitely catch him tomorrow morning." "At nine. Right." "Anything else I can help you with?" "Well. . . we were just wondering if he was. . . you know. . ." "Beautiful?" "Yeah. I mean, inside." "Didn't get a chance to talk to him too much, but he seemed real friendly. As far as the outside; nothing but slack jaws and tight crotches around here from the moment he walked in." "That's our Arnie. Good to know he's still in top form." "When did you last see him?" "Ten years ago." "People can change a lot in ten years. But I would have guessed right off that you two were friends of his. Like I said, you look related or something. Got a good aura or something." "Thanks. We'll take that as a compliment. So tell him we'll see him tomorrow, okay?" "Sure thing. You two are welcome to hang out here for a while. His workout partner should be back soon. I think they went to grab a bite to eat. Peter's due back in a little while." "Peter?" "Yeah. Formerly the kid." "Figures." "What's up, Sam?" "Nothing. Just another one of life's stupid tricks. I think we'll just wait and see him tomorrow." "You sure, Sam?" "Yeah. Thanks again for your help." "No problem. See ya." "Come on, Ed. Thanks."