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Apologies for the general lateness of things. Many work projects donchano. Because I am busy with house guest, you get to read some of the work I've done on my NaNoWriMo novel. Here is an excerpt from Chapter 3. Enjoy. from Chapter 3 Ryutaro Murai, of no relation to the author, is a large man. Despite being severely lactose intolerant and thus avoiding the moo-juice allegedly required to build strong, healthy bones, his 6-foot-3 frame supports 300 pounds of flesh. A lot of that has to do with his love of pie, but don't let his soft exterior fool you. He's spent most of his life doing manual labor, and has the strength of an ox wrapped around his large bones. His twin brother Ryupert, younger by a minute and a half, is 100 pounds lighter. Lacking his brother's mental defects, he took the GED exam as a sophomore, obtained his Associate's from Simon's Rock, a small liberal arts college that specializes in gifted high school students, took a Bachelor's from MIT at 19, and joined the Peace Corps. When he returned he had a wide scar on his chin, which he covers with a goatee, earning from his brother the moniker of "evil twin." He retorts by referring to his brother as the "stupid twin." Ryutaro often goes by "Ryu," and was tickled when "Street Fighter" came out. Ryupert usually goes by "Mr. Murai," but to those who would assume familiarity, he goes by "Ryupert." He didn't notice when "Street Fighter" came out because that was the summer he made Eagle Scout and built houses for the homeless. He has an assistant named Jack Hass who looks vaguely like a ten-foot tall version his brother, but with his face punched in. The twins have been known to tinker with nature, share little more than a hatred of milk, and have a younger sister who is of no consequence to this story. Ryu has a live-in girlfriend, the hot-blooded Carolina native Mary Lee Maran. A former doctoral candidate at Duke University's Primate Center, she is known by her friends as "The Lemur." She currently works at corporate juggernaut Giant Bookstore A and prefers not to talk about herself, her past, or her impetus for things. For instance, she never explains why a svelte 5-foot-10 woman with dark, smouldering eyes and jet hair would shack up with someone who drives her absolutely bat-shit insane. Which brings us to Tyler. This Seattle-area native went to high school in Honolulu, as his father, a shady character with some goverment job, was stationed there. He and Ryu became best friends, having many adventures which, like the Murai sister, have nothing to do with anything. What's important is that, after graduating, Tyler headed back to Seattle for college and suggested his best friend do the same. After several years of kicking around the island, Ryu relented and followed Tyler to Seattle. He has never forgiven him. Ryu met Mary at the Honolulu zoo. She was there inspecting the red-ruffed lemur population. He was trying to talk to the lemurs, which she found endearing. Weary of cold Durham winters, she fell in love with Hawaii and, after an intense long-distance relationship over instant messenges, e-mail, and phone calls, she confided in him that she was thinking of leaving the program for undisclosed personal reasons. He convinced her to move in with him, failing to mention that he was himself planning a move to Seattle. She has never forgiven him. — Wednesday, November 12, 2003, 7:43 a.m.; Really F'n Behind 
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