The writer was thinking now furiously about LA. It had been quite a ragged haul since Stockton, Santa Cruz, Carmel, then Monterey, San Diego, Big Sur and also Salinas, Lucas Valley and finally Sausalito. It was like a bread and butter dream as the remains of more victims were suddenly found in these panhandle buildings near the vicinity of GROUND ZERO only a few days after the ceremony marking the end of the final relief effort. Workers found bone fragments, just a jaw with teeth still intact and pieces of the rack that once held the luggage from one of those sinister hijacked planes.

What was it really all for? The writer asked himself. He was back on Cloudview Road and people were munching away bagels outside the Alta Mira hotel. It was a sort of paying crowd that was just out hitch-hiking for a hot Sunday and it looked like a bare market these days as groveling starlets greeted the approaching summer in these off-the-shoulder blouses that glimmered for a hundred miles. It was all about being sexy without going really overboard. It was classy to show off skin without any cleavage whispering too much during this current climate of psychic showers and thunderstorms.

The long trek had had its brilliant moments. Hitch-hiking to the monastery on top of the hill overlooking the blue ocean. Feasting on Korean kimchi in Carmel, it was certainly yummy. The Tibetan spare-ribs in the forest and that roaring silence that spilled through the hidden trees. Yes, there was also evidence now of these swift hordes of dark, miniature galaxies that possibly lent credence to the offending theory that the universe was mostly just comprised of dark, cold matter. " What are you selling? " The writer then asked the little girl who stood on Santa Rosa street. " Oh, I'm not selling anything. I'm just giving away books for free. " The little girl was holding up a sign and flashing it awkwardly at the speeding cars. "Do you want some? " She asked quietly. " Oh. I don't know. " The writer said grimly.

There had been the usual amount of high-frequency noise, those digital giveaways and those hungry models in their cheap short skirts at the computer show only few weeks ago. But less obvious was whether a clear sign could be seen hinting that the high-tech sector's anemic recovery would get a significant boost this brutal year beyond the second-half tick. While three men were moved suddenly out of that jazzy space station as a new fresh crew arrived on the shuttle Endeavor. But no one on earth saw this silly exchange because of the interrupted TV coverage. It was so sad.

The little girl then handed a few small books to the writer. " Maybe you can give them to someone who really needs them. " she pleaded. " Well, you know I do have a friend in China who might want them. " The writer then suddenly remembered. " Does he have any kids in the third grade? " The little girl asked quickly. " No. Just a baby. " The writer slowly responded. " Oh…" the little girl said. " Sausalito was so beautiful as it now shined in the sun. The forlorn war in Afghanistan seemed very far away. In the Philippines, too. Also in Palestine, Iraq, Kashmir and New York. " So what's your name? " the writer quietly asked the little girl. " It's Olivia, " she said.