The coroner shook his head and looked down at the body. "What d'ya think Nick?"

"I should be asking you that, Pete." The detective rolled the toothpick from one side of his lips to the other. "At least one of us here's a happy man," he said as he waved at the grinning body.

"Mr. Vice President," FDR began over the radio before it began to fuzz and crackle. Nick fiddled with the dial. Suddenly, the president's voice seemed to fill the farm house's small living room. "Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 - _a date which will live in infamy_ - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan..." Nick, wide-eyed, looked towards his father in time to see a tear run down his stern face.

Provided by: Templar

I shifted in my chair, feet up on the desk and fedora pulled down low over my eyes, trying to find a more comfortable position to get some shut eye. The sign on the door said, "Mick Callahan, Private Detective" but what it should have said was, "Mick Callahan, Out-Of-Work Bum." I hadn't had a case since before Thanksgiving, and with Christmas three days away, the only thing under my tree I was hoping for was the money to cover the rent and a bottle of something to help me forget my troubles.

I heard the door to the front office bang open, and sat up. I'd given Norma two weeks off because things had been so slow, so I was the only one here. I stood and started to head out front when the door to my office opened. Standing there in the doorway was a pair of little guys, dressed in green and red, with bells on the tips of their shoes, their cuffs, and their little pointy green hats.

"We've got a problem," said the slightly taller one, who still didn't even come up to my waist. "The Fat Man's dead, and we want to hire you to find the killer."

The waterfall pounded down. Nick walked under the cascade and stopped. Water hammered his head, shoulders, and back, it coursed over every inch of him. A laugh welled up unbidden and the young man released it, and kept laughing.

Nick trudged into the murky water and after only a few steps it was up to his thighs. The current was fast and strong. The young man eyed the four other men who were waiting on him. "How far do we have to go?"

"Three more miles, and its only going to get worse."

"So..."

"Yeah..."

Time passed.

"Wasn't really what I expected. You?"

"Nope, nope, wasn't what I expected at all."

"Yeah, who'd have thought death would be like this..."

"No Sparkle, don't!" Christina shouted, but the little mote of light didn't listen. It bounced about the living room for the blink of an eye before it zipped into their father's giant LCD TV. Her baby brother giggled and clapped his hands at the show.