16,115. I HAVE HELL TO PAY

I HAVE HELL TO PAY 

(summoner's song)

When the call rang out for

attendees, I volunteered. Now

I'm stuck in a situation I never

bargained for. Standing at the

straight and narrow, I've got

nowhere else to turn. Damn

this life again.

-

This ancient hotel has a

peeling font; the windows sag

and nothing seals very well

There's a girl in the next room

I'd like to meet, but she's with 

a contingent of old Navy cadets.

-

The guy said the charge here was

$141 a night. I said 'What if I only

stay in the day?' - I can't stand the

creepy types who never laugh at

anything, funny or not. Just go

with the moment, Joe?

-

Have you ever noticed how the

phone never rings anymore? I mean

the old phone, with that rattle and ring,

desktop stuff, that could be used as the

excuse to break up a lousy conversation.

Now? Every conversation's a lousy

one  -  with but little information on

a hand-held walking phone, between

fluff, videos, pictures of food, and

God knows what else. You can use

them for directions, when you don't

know where you're headed? I bet.

-

I'm still holding the dossier they told

me to keep. It's old-fashions spy work

too, and I thought by now they'd be 

doing it in some other fashion. But,

my boss (unknown to me, really), 

said some of these old, crazy and

east-european countries have such 

bad 'service' that such things are

better just kept to paper in the old

style. Well, OK then. He added,

'It's safer that way.'