Ok now.. Thanks to Shibari! (For Finding Meebo.com) Saturday Night Blog fever just Officially got Really interesting.. Not only do I have a chatroom in the Tomb but Now I have added one just for the Darkside Tavern. and in addition I have learned how to Password protect both to keep out the Nasties! so if you want to join in on the Chat simply PM me here on the Echoes blog and I will Pm the password back to you.. hope to see you there!!

Oh well So much for that idea.. IT seems that you can't Password protect your room AND still put it on your site.. but I can still block people that aren't wanted.. oh well anyways it time to cruise the stream.

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The room is filled with Smoke and haze, and street people of every denomination. Hustlers, street urchins, and anyone capable of sliding a cue, come here to ply their trade. And yet all tables are full here at the West Gables Pool and Billiard Hall, all save one, his name is Michael, and he has beaten everyone here that there is to beat, but Michael isn’t here for money.. Michael knows that there is another purpose to be here this evening, and when he sees him enter the room amidst the smoke and haze he knows it is time to go to work. The two lock eyes for a second and Michaels stare draws him in. he moves closer almost in time with the low thumping of the music that fills the room. He is tall with jet black hair and dark eyes, that seem to taunt existence itself.
“I hear That you’re the Man to beat here.”
Michael looks him up and down.
“You just walked through the door, you’ve spoke to no one, and yet you hear?”
He smiles confidently.
“I have ways.”
“No Doubt.”
“Do you want to play a game?”
He doesn’t respond.
“A simple game of pool.. With one bet.”
Michael stops. And studies him.
“What are the stakes?”
“If you can beat me, I will give you wealth and fame beyond your wildest dreams.”
“And if you win?”
“I get you.”
“Ahh… of course, I am making a deal with the devil then.. Well suppose we try a different angle devil.”
Now It is the devils turn to look confused.
“A different angle?.. I don’t understand..”
“That boy over there. His name is Jacob Duncan, he is seventeen years old.”
“Ahhh yes.. Jacob… I know him well.”
His eyes narrow.
“I know you do.. That is precisely my point.. Since the age of ten, people have been trying to spare Jacob from the fate that this life has waiting for him, he is a good boy, and yet he continues to make bad decisions, he smokes pot because others want him to, he drinks, he steals and lies.. I sadly fear as do others in his life that what little conscience he has left, is certainly dying.”
He scratches his chin.
“I already have Jacob.. He has nothing to offer. We were talking about you and me.”
“No Devil.. We’re talking about Jacob.. If you win.. I do whatever you wish. If I win, you leave Jacobs life for good. There is however, a catch.”
“A catch?”
“Yes.. If you are going to play MY game, you will play by my rules.”
“Go on, I’m listening.”
“This is a game of Skill, and if we are to have a deal, skill is all that will be used, by you, and by me.. If I so much as smell any tricks out of you, the deals off, agreed? ”
They shake hands.
“Agreed.”



He allows him every confidence knowing full well that he has little physical experience in such things as a simple game of pool. He allows him the break, and almost laughs out loud at his child like attempt at sinking his first shot without the use of his trickery. He scatters the balls across the table but fails to sink even one on the break. He shoots a perturbed glance at Michael.
“DRAT!!! That music is so distracting!!”
He then watches on in disbelief as Michael completely runs the table as he skillfully maneuvers the cue ball around the table sinking every shot he takes until finally the cue comes to rest behind the six ball, to sink the eight and win the game he must now make an extraordinary shot. The devil Laughs out loud.
“HA! You painted yourself into a corner, you’ve left yourself no way to sink the eight ball! This will be an impossible shot to make!”
Michael Smiles and stands fully erect to face the Devil.
“You see there, that will always be the difference between you and I Lucifer.”
He studies the table before stating his intentions for the final shot.
“Cue ball seven rails, hitting the eight, eight ball corner pocket”
“HA!!” the devil howls with delight. “A shot Worthy of-”
He watches in disbelief as the cue ball glides across seven rails before hitting the eight sinking it in the corner pocket.
He stands up abruptly knowing full well that he has been soundly beaten.
“Very well then.” he says, “Jacob shall be left to his own devices, a deal is indeed a deal, even in hell. Jacob is free to follow a path of his own choosing, and your soul remains your own.”
Michael stares him in the eye.
“My soul, was never in jeopardy.”
He turns to leave the room and the devil steps out into the cold night air behind him.
“Michael?”
He turns to face Lucifer.”
“Yes?”
“You never finished your Sentence.”
“What Sentence?”
“What is the difference between you and I?”
“Faith.”
He turns to walk down the sidewalk and when the young man he knows only as Michael gets thirty feet away he disappears into thin air. And the devil smiles.. Because he knows.. That he’s been hustled by an Angel.

Scratch…© 2007.




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Well I just got off of work and came home, a hot shower some Tri tip beef and a little perusing around the Stream tonight, Yeah that will hit the spot, then I’ll hit all of my usual stops. But of course you know I’m gonna cheat a little and so I must confess that I have already hit a few blogs that I don’t usually read, and I happened upon something that seems to be a growing trend around here. It seems that being on the front page, or more importantly, on the Most Popular Blogs list or Featured Blogs list is of Growing importance to some people. From a personal stand point, I don’t get it, I mean is that why YOUR here?.. That isn’t why I’m here, I don’t recall EVER seeing Echoes From The Tomb on the Featured Blogs list. And IT is one of the original blogs that was here in Blogstream’s very first month. Do I care that it isn’t there? Hell no.. See writing of any kind to me has always been about self expression, If I get mad You will see it in my writing.. If I’m happy, well you see that too, its runs the whole gambit for me. Happy, Sad, Mad, funny.. The whole shooting match.. My blogs are my Mood Rings.. My pet rocks.. My own personal rollercoaster.. But if they aren’t popular I’m not going to lose any sleep over it, I have a few friends here, good friends, we share with each other a cup of words now and again, we laugh with each other, but I don’t ever recall the subject of popularity being a major concern, to some people it isn’t as important as some might think, So.. What do you think. Are you here to be popular?
I will be watching for your answers. Later My friends..

Tomb Proprietor.. Local 418.. Scratch.
P.S.
I might not be around until late afternoon tomorrow, I will be checking Mr. P into a local rehab clinic for clam dip dependency.

I tend to keep myself grounded in the real world for the most part, this is me. Its where I live and Breathe. I have a job here, and a few sorted friends that like to remind me that life isn’t always perfect and Sometimes I’m not going to get everything that I want from it, nor would I expect to. Lets face it, not everyone is blessed with the proverbial silver spoon sticking out of their mush. Some of us have to get by on the sweat equity that we put into our daily lives, and it is that sweat equity that makes it all worthwhile. After all, I tend to appreciate something more when I have to work at it. But what about my other world? What about the online community that I live in? is there any similarity here, to the real world that I live my life in? sure there is, there are people here, some I consider Friends, and others not so much. There are some people who say that coming online and blogging has no value, and is a complete waste of time, I tend to disagree. Speaking for myself only, since I began coming online, more specifically on Blogstream, I have learned a lot of valuable things, about myself as a person, My communication skills have improved with people in both worlds, I believe I continue to improve as a writer. But mostly I have learned, that the most interesting parallel between Blogstream or any other online community, and real life seems to me to be that it still boils down to one thing, You can get no more or less out of either one, than what you choose to put into it. I don’t know, It works for me.

Scratch.