PART 15

Perhaps it was as a result of my staring for a bit too long...which was actually just a show...that the host said something to the effect that I could have three for the price of two.

''That and the shampoo or even this and this and that at a more competitive price.

I picked up one of the frogs and shook its bulbous contents...it was more viscous than bulbous. I smiled in encouragement, and said something knowledgeable and impressive...chances are that we both couldn't tell what I was talking about.

PART 14

Pertraeus...another friend I consulted...did say he was really good, so I decided to say hi. We let him finish what I believe was a table's display of some organic stuff. I was both impressed and unimpressed by what I saw. At first I went along with what Jamie and a few other had said about him...but when I eventually saw him, I think it became a little more believeable...only just so.


I smiled in mock patronage...I had to show some enthusiasm for what he had in display. It was a small frog coloured in an appropriate green with spots of yellow and black for eyes, made of paper, in the middle of other larger frogs containing organic stuffs.


What Julio was promoting in a display of frogs, flowing clear water and a mix of foamy bubbles were luxury toiletries.

PART 13

Jamie touched me on my left arm...I shouldn't be poking too hard at this bit of information. Point made...it was more likely than not that this information given was true.

How can you tell?

Well I don't. whats more relevant to me is that this fellow is the player he is saying he is. That is the player Jamie's friend is saying he is.

When one thinks more thoroughly about it, it wasn't that relevant at that moment.

PART 12

''What would you like, lamb or chicken?''

''Chicken''

''Me too''

''Make that three''

That's him. His name is Julio. We turned quickly to see the referred: promising, agile, poised and sleek...as sleek as a man gets. The red team got him first.


''Please repeat that...are you saying the red team are taking him on?''

''Who is the source of this information?''

PART 11

We turned right at a junction even busier than the one we just left...and head straight for a church on main street...it wasn't a sunday morning actually...but it was a special mid week church activity organised by some preachers I'm used to seeing on TV.


Point made....it wasn't the regular church Jamie...or more to the point...I attended. But it was a fun activity.


That's him over there. The one with the green blazer...looked like a golf buff to me. But then he looked young enough to be my protege. We met him by the buffet.

PART 10

More often than not I had Jamie around, but this was more often on those Saturday nights I happened to be home rather than Wednesdays, which is too far in the week to have him around.Well, Jamie...he is a guy I used to know in church, back then in Greenspolis, right in the middle of the southern axis of Blah Blah country.


Personally I believe the XC8 games series is a bit too complicated for any one person to make an accurate guess without some sort of quiet consultations with those who may be in the know...well one can't be too sure.


Jamie used to have a friend, that knew a friend that had a friend. Jamie and I walked down the busy street with him speaking ...in an unusual context but not so strangely.


''Just tell him ...chewing sticks.''

''Wok''

''Chop sticks''

''Pestle''

''Drum sticks''

''Chicken legs''

''Henry''

PART 09

I dare say this caught on really fast...perhaps for the reason that this prediction was neither entirely nor purely a gamble of sorts. It was expected that with readily available statistics on players' and teams' performances on the ball, one should be able to make a near enough, calculated guess.


But only the very smart seemed to get away with the most accurate predictions. I was one of those. I could sit on my laz-boy chair with a pencil and paper on a cold wednesday night and then draw funny patterns of what I expect the game to be.

PART 08

This wasn't the only significance of the 44th seat actually. The original XC8 promoters, in essence wanted the spectators to participate more...by placing bets...like any other sport we know.


They reckoned that, if they give a special preference to the 44th seat and somehow tie that 44th ticket to a permutation and combination of leading scorers and leading teams of the game, they could diversify the odds it took to make an accurate prediction.

PART 07

Invariably it took a while for the game to be fully developed...catering for players safety and control was the main difficulty in the game. But when the game's promoters discovered that beneath the surface of the poor ratings from the old and middle aged in the country was the growing enthusiasm of the young, they set out to ensure that no cost was spared in developing the game.


They even made a lotto twist out of their promotions. The main promotion was called: win the 44 Hundred, the 44th or both.


The 44th was with reference to a special seat in the Lightening Arena; made to order, such that one could get a bird's view of the whole round...due to it's close proximity...yet could through a carefully chosen and hidden route exit the arena at anytime.

PART 06

In essence the XC8 is a game played by 4 teams of 3 players each....making a total of 12 players on a circular hardwood pitch called the ''round''. All 12 players move on some sort of boots on wheels; well designed to ensure players' balance, mobility and control.

PART 05

In any case I did not need a free ticket....for the XC8 games...point made. I did not know this new enthusiast, I dare say, any better. But I knew, at least enough to say a few things about her though.That would be later.


All in all, my wednesday evenings and a better part of most weekends could be seen occupied by outings to the Lightening Arena. When I'm not so keen on going out it's an evening in-door watching from the secured comfort of my laz-boy chair. My preference when I watch at home is the laz-boy chair.


The reason is that, quite frankly the XC8 game can be a little confusing to watch on telly...most times. In a sense when it gets too difficult to keep track of the leading scorer and the team ahead...it serves as a gradual catalyst to a sleepy end.

PART 04

Such it was: the standard introduction she used whenever we met. In essence I did anticipate in pleasant apprehension...the chance meetings we had. She did introduce herself on one of such occasions and I was obliged to reciprocate the gesture.


''Gosh....I thought I knew you....''


At first I cringed....I thought I may have made a terrible mistake: I was about to be insulted by one whom in essence was a familiar stranger. But what began with a positive feeling, changed a bit later to a sublime yet horrific one...eventually became a feeling with the similitude of a deflated balloon.


In any case, she only gave a knowing smile and moved on. Subsequent meetings were also in public places and purely as incidental as the previous ones. And she gives no more than a knowing smile backed up with a hello and small talk.

PART 03

''I know you'', she says, just like anyone would recognise a face frequently seen in the media but I refrained from revealing who I really was, instead I said an hello and went about my way.

PART 02

She discovered a few hours later that this series was some sort of prelude to an international meet....she became aware of the significance surrounding whom she had received the tickets from.


The note sent with them read: one for you and two extras for any of your friends...please come...it means a lot to me. Surely this was one chaos she wasn't keen on taking on....she muses....how in the world was she to choose from all the friends she has?


She does have a lot of friends. some of which had earned the right to be called close friends. Well one can imagine that. I may or may not have earned that right. I never was quite sure where I stood with Zain. It is improbable that I was no more than an acquaintance....


An acquaintance she had gotten familiar with from the frequent but incidental meetings we had hither to her regular attendance of XC8 games. But I couldn't be so certain.

PART 01

She knows a bit of French but she dislikes numbers; the number 44 seemed to ring a bell for her; not that it had anything to do with her age; it was something to do with a particular game called XC8.

A few years ago....to a certain degree... I was an active participant in the XC8 games of the cities...within the country that is. I guess my initial enthusiasm for the game was with reference to it's newness and multiple features. This went on for a while then it gradually waned off.


But I was still a fan...I am still a fan...without the fanaticism though. To be a bit more open about myself: I am never one to delibrately harm another....well maybe I may have been an offender by error in the past.


But essentially, I tend to exhibit a character that borders on the compassionate with a small degree of reservation. That's why I have never been a fanatic....an ardent fan...yes...but not an extreme fan of the XC8 games. What I love is a little healthy competition.


This would closely descibe her as well. She got a recent ticket to the Lightening arena...she didn't think much of it. She learnt that the Lightening arena wasn't the official or initial name of the new XC8 arena; but that only served to make her no more than a little curious. Hopefully, as it was expected, she was as pleasantly surprised as intended.


Anyway the game was still a good few days away, so there was more than enough time to find out more about the event...she did fancy going...there were very few or no odds against this though. The media were at no end in the coverage of the year's nation's series of the XC8 games.