THE FINE PRINT

COPYRIGHT 1999 by bardsmaid (aka LoneThinker.)  Feedback gratefully received at: bardsmaid@gmail.com.  I'd love to know what you thought.  And your feedback will remind me that I'm not actually writing in a vacuum, sending stories out into the deepest reaches of cyberspace where they may never connect with an actual reader.

KEYWORD-TYPE INFORMATION: Character-centric explorations:  personal crises... MSR... unemployment (and overwork)... family ties reawakening... mystery... surprises... Krycek... a homeless girl by the lake on the Mall...

RATING: Worksafe

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Story-writing is a solitary, often intense process that can leave you without perspective, or fairly bursting with the incidents/emotions of the story itself--both states that are hard to handle on your own. I'm overwhelmingly grateful not to have had to go through this major event alone. Listen and Michele have provided me with meticulous commentary that's helped all of us dive into the depths of this story and which has resulted in a stronger final tale... Okay, and we had a whole lot of fun in the process, too. Many, many thanks to them, to Littljoe for her characteristically probing questions that make me ponder and improve, and to Gwoman for her many experience-based insights into Scully. Thanks to Carol for the half-hour, and to the Scottish Celtic musical group Capercaillie for the words on the slip of paper that Byers gives to Scully--even though we don't see them. Yet.

DISCLAIMER: No, the X-Files characters in this story aren't mine.  They belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and the folks at Fox. I just try to listen carefully to these fascinating people, and this story is where they led me. Heaven knows I'm not making any money from this effort. I like to say I'm just improving my writing skills by doing this, but the fact is that it's a great opportunity to listen to some of the most incredibly real of fictional characters and follow where they lead.  Which can be fascinating.

WARNING: This being the second part of a three-part story, there won't be any definitive resolution at the end of this segment (actually, it's a cliffhanger.). The sequel, however, is finished and available on this site. Walking Through Fire is a sequel to Paradise Lost.