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Message-ID: <56162asstr$1183349401@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: Kenn Ghannon <kenn_ghannon@hotmail.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Stranded, Chapter 8: A Loss of Innocence (mm, snuff)
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Date: Mon, 02 Jul 2007 00:10:01 -0400
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End Reader License Agreement ("ERLA")

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terms and conditions set forth herein.

1) Kenn Ghannon, his heirs and designates, ("the Licensor") provide
you ( "End Reader") with a non-exclusive license to read, copy and
display all erotic prose contained within the body of this document
("the Document") unless otherwise specifically noted and conditioned
on the following clauses:
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prohibited from or otherwise against the reading of erotic literature
which may include but is not limited to written acts of sexual
intercourse either protected or unprotected, sexual deviancy,
intimacy, polygamy, incest, and/or pedophilia.
	f)	The End Reader shall not, in whole or in part, refer
to any part of the Document as your work.

2) This license Agreement is made between the End Reader and the
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3) This license Agreement is subject to revision at any time without
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4) Kenn Ghannon retains complete rights to the Document, in whole and
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5) The Document is a work of fiction; any and all resemblances to
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Thank you.

==================
Author's Note:

Hello, again.  Yes, it's been a long time.  This note is to explain
why.

Several years ago, when I finished chapter 9 of this story and started
on chapter 10, I grew disillusioned.  I had been posting the chapters
of this story on a 2 chapter lag basis because I thought it would be
enough of a delay that if I found any inconsistencies in the "future"
of the story, I'd be able to go back and change the past to fit around
the future of that chapter.  As it turned out, that wasn't the case.

As I began writing chapter 10, I had a great idea for an 'arc' that
would help to resolve several issues I'd been having -- but I'd need
to go back and lay the ground work starting from chapter 2 or 3 and
adding things in other chapters.  Problem was, I'd already committed
those chapters to the internet.

It got to me.  The story could go on, of course...but it couldn't be
the best story I could tell...and it kind of ticked me off.  So I
resolved to put the story away for a while and get back to it after I
got over my funk -- or figured out a way to add the arc without
involving previous chapters.

With that, I made a pledge: I would never again submit chapters of a
story until the story was complete.  Now, fast forward two years --
which is a very long break.  I've started another story -- one that
won't get posted until it's complete.  I've got all of the story
outlined, and quite a few chapters written.  I was researching some
minutiae for the current chapter of that story-- when I came across
this story on my hard drive -- including the two chapters I hadn't
posted (in raw form).

So, today, I decided I'd finish this story as a kind of break from
that one, that way I don't burn myself out -- a chapter of this one, a
chapter of that one, a chapter of this one, and so on.  So, I took
chapter 8 and reviewed it, cleaning it up and finishing off several of
the paragraphs.  I'm going to do the same to chapter 9.  Chapter 10,
unfortunately, appears to be corrupted -- so I'll have to re-write it.
Strangely, I remember almost everything about it and I've got the
original outline to work from.  So...here it is.  Chapter 8.  I hope
you like it.

==================
Chapter 8: A loss of innocence...

At a dead run we followed Sarah's screams, stopping only long
enough to gather some large dead-fall tree branches.  We were
both expecting trouble.

Jan was more than a competent runner but I was fast as well. 
Still, I didn't have to hold back to let her keep up - if
anything, she pressed me for the lead.  She seemed to have far
more stamina than I, however.  After 5 or 6 minutes I was gasping
for breath while she seemed to be breathing with relative ease.

After a few minutes of running flat out, we had to ease up as
tree roots, vines and indentations in the earth assaulted our
feet while low hanging branches and brush did the same to the
rest of our bodies.  It didn't help that neither of us knew
precisely where to run.  The lush jungle had grown wild for far
too long and our recent entry into this verdant setting was far
too recent to have created any noticeable trails.  Sarah's trek
back to the camp could have gone in any of a thousand directions
- though, from the sound of her scream, I knew she wasn't too
far.

Splitting up to find her had never been considered though I would
have vetoed it if it had.  Individually, the two brothers might
be able to stop us but together it would be far more difficult. 
Strength in numbers and all that.

I was just running completely out of breath when we suddenly
broke through the wall of underbrush.  I knew I couldn't go on
without a break.  Scratched and cut in a thousand places, I bent
forward at the waist with my hands clutching my legs near my
knees.  Air was entering and exiting my lungs in harsh gasps that
seemed to do almost nothing for the dull ache shooting through my
chest.

After gathering a bit of breath, I looked up.  Looking around, I
saw we were in the clearing which surrounded the lake.  Denser
vegetation seemed to avoid most of this area, though the damned
lust-berry bushes grew abundantly, some of them overlooking the
water's edge.  I was somewhat amazed we hadn't heard the
tell-tale sound of the water but I realized our concern for Sarah
as well as the break-neck pace of our run combined with the sound
of our own breath gasping in our ears probably covered that
subtle sound.

The mere thought of Sarah woke me from my exhausted stupor and I
tried to rise and push on.  Still out of breath, though, I just
couldn't manage to go on any longer.  I needed a few seconds to
refresh myself.  I was just about to grab Jan and stop her from
going on without me when I realized I didn't need to.  She was
stopped dead in her tracks, unmoving, just a few feet from me.

I looked up, panting, sweat stinging my eyes, and found myself
looking at Sarah's back not 20 feet away.  She was just standing
there, no movement, her hands clutching at her face and what
appeared to be sobs wracking her body.  I took a step, perhaps
two, the only thought in my mind to make sure she was all right,
my only instinct to comfort her...when I saw where her eyes were
focused.

It was a strange sight, brownish-gray lump with flecks of red
covering it.  It lay huddled under one of the bushes that Jan and
I had examined earlier that day; one of the bushes whose fruit
probably created that liquid that ignited our lust.  I started
towards it though I'm not sure what I was thinking.  Perhaps the
reddish flecks were berries or berry juice - certainly this was
not something Sarah should have been scared of.  True, as I got
closer they kind of looked like blood...

I threw up.  The brownish-gray lump was a body.  There was no
doubt the unmoving mass was no longer alive.

I don't know how long we stay like that, Sarah and Jan unmoving
and me emptying the contents of my stomach.  It could have been a
moment but it felt like a year or a decade.  I knew, whatever
amount of time, I aged 20 years in that moment.  I would never be
the same.

Finally, my stomach still turning over and over, I gathered my
courage and started edging towards the body.  I didn't want to. 
I didn't want to come anywhere near it.  Heck, I was already
hoping that this was some kind of sick dream.  I knew that
someone had to do it, however, and my male machismo wouldn't let
either of the women perform this task.

As I approached it, I noticed that the body was strangely naked.
Just beyond it, strewn haphazardly over the grass was his
clothing.  A single thread of comprehension worked through my
shock-addled mind and I realized that was the reason I had not
recognized the body; I wasn't expecting a naked corpse so my mind
only saw a strange lump. It could not associate what it was
seeing with a naked body - my mind couldn't accept it so it had
rejected it.  I wished I could do the same.

As I drew even closer, I saw a reddish liquid surrounding it.  As
my stomach threatened to crawl out of my mouth, I prayed the
liquid was something innocuous - like the lust juice the
surrounding berry bushes produced.  The thickness of the
substance disproved that theory but I clung to my prayer to
placate my tortured stomach.

The body was one of the male twins.  In life I had been unable to
tell them apart.  In death, nothing had changed.  His staring
eyes were open, half buried into the soft earth with flecks of
dried blood around the corners.  Even his nose and mouth had
small dried rivulets of blood.  'Not enough to kill,' I thought
dispassionately, incomprehensible fear driving my emotions deep
within my psyche, 'but seemingly out of place'.  Strangely, he
looked almost at peace - almost happy.  His head was half-turned
up to me so I could only see part of his mouth - but it looked
weirdly like he was smiling.  I half-expected him to stand and
laugh at me - some strange joke that he and his brother had
played.  Nothing alive, however, could be that still.

He was slumped on his chest, his legs tucked underneath him.  His
arms, too, were curled under him with his hands tucked under his
chin.  With his body in that position, his ass was sticking up -
and one look at the massive amounts of caked blood surrounding
that orifice explained to me how he had died.  For some
unfathomable reason, his anal cavity had ruptured and he had bled
to death.

I had never seen a fresh body before.  I had never even been near
one. I had, however, learned rudimentary first aid skills during
my enlistment in the Navy.  Perfunctorily, my hands trembling, I
reached for the carotid artery shallowly buried in his neck sure
of what I must find but needing to go through the motions anyway.
 I needn't have bothered - as I feared, there was no pulse.

As I stood, I wondered who or what could have done this.  'An
animal, maybe,' I thought to myself, 'Some kind of wild beast
that we must now learn to avoid.'  For a few moments, I clung to
this theory; half-hope and half-rationalization.  Even in my
dazed condition, however, I wasn't able to bring myself to
believe it.  No animal I had ever heard of would reach in and rip
a man's colon.  No, whomever had done this had to be human.  But
who?

My thoughts immediately turned towards Sam but I knew that she
was in no condition to do this.  'Maybe she told the other girls'
I thought.  'Maybe they ganged up on him.'  I couldn't think of
how they would have been able to do this without him running
away, however.  Even if they had somehow managed this feat, there
should have been more signs of a struggle, more signs of him
fighting for his life. Instead, he almost looked like he had
enjoyed his last moments.  It was unnerving, but he looked at
peace.

And where was his brother?

At that thought I began looking around, trying to make sure there
was only the one body.  To my immeasurable relief, however, no
other appeared to my eyes.  I was both comforted and perplexed;
surely this boy's brother wouldn't have abandoned him this way. 
He should be here, shouldn't he?  Unless...what if he had been
dragged away?

Looking closely, though, I could still find no sign of any type
of struggle.  Nothing met my eyes that looked like another body
being dragged away or another person being pulled away.  I
couldn't even find the murder weapon...or a trail of blood
showing where the weapon and killer or killers had gone.  Maybe I
had been watching too many murder mysteries but there should have
been some clue as to who had done this - the why, I felt, was
fairly self-evident.

'He was a rapist,' I heard echoing through the corners of my
mind. 'He deserved to die.'

Confronted with the evidence of that verdict, I shuddered away
from the thought.  I had never been a pacifist - how could I have
been, enlisted in the Navy - but I could not bear the
interminable finality of this death.  He was only a boy.  He
should not be dead.

"Is he..." Jan's voice, already a whisper, trailed off into
nothingness.  Just from the tone, I could tell she already knew
the answer but needed me to confirm it.

"He's dead," I announced, my voice sounding cold and hollow even
to my own ears.

"H-h-how?" Sarah stammered unable even to formulate a sentence.

I didn't know what to say to that.  I didn't want to tell them
but my mind couldn't manage to fabricate a convincing lie.  For a
moment, I hesitated.  I was caught between the truth and a lie -
what I felt I had to do and what I felt I should do.  In the end,
my mind betrayed me and no story would come.

"It looks like someone sodomized him with a stick," I said, my
tone matter-of-fact.  It had to be, inside I was straining not to
break down all together.  "Whoever or whatever it was must have
punctured his anal cavity and...he bled out."

Both women gasped at that, their eyes shocked and maybe a little
outraged.  I could almost see their minds working, trying to
determine who could have done such a thing.  To that question,
however, I had no answer.

"We need to get back to camp," I said decisively.  "Whoever did
this may be after the other twin - or maybe after the girls."  I
started walking towards our beach camp.

"What...what if...what if it's one of the girls?" Sarah managed,
fear tingeing her words.

"Then they'll be trying to get rid of the evidence," I muttered
grimly.  "And we'll need to catch them in the act."


I can only imagine what the three of us must have looked like -
me stalking out of the forest with Jan and Sarah following
timidly behind.  My backward glances at the two women during our
short hike to camp had shown me that they were visibly shaken. 
I'm sure that the idea of punishing Alex and Tony had crossed
their minds...but not like this.

As I marched, I did a quick head count and felt a small tingle of
relief flow over me when I reached 16.  All of the girls were
here, then...but there was no sign of the remaining twin.  My
relief vanished within minutes, however.  The look on all of
their faces was one of confusion, worry and a strange kind of
fear.

"What's the matter?" I called as soon as I came within speaking
distance.  Had they seen something?  Had they seen the monster
that was responsible for that poor boy's death?  Or had one of
them found the body?  Was one of them responsible?

Perhaps one or more of these girls held the answers to my
questions.

"Mikey!" Jamie yelled, tears coursing down her face.  "I was so
worried...after...after..."  Her arms grabbed me tightly, her
face buried against my chest.

"After what, Jamie?" I asked, my arms reflexively clutching her
just as tightly.  I was so relieved that my sister was all right
that I momentarily forgot all about the dead teen left lying on
the bank of our lake.  The questions, however, continued to haunt
me.  Had Jamie been involved?

"Alex...Alex came running out of the woods screaming and he was
covered in blood and I thought...I thought..."

Alex?  Blood?  Had he been attacked?  If it wasn't one or more of
the girls attacking him, then what could have hurt him and killed
Tony??

"Where's Alex?" I demanded, fear making my voice hard.

"He ran up to the bluff," Jamie started.  "We started going up
after him but he threw rocks at us.  He was crying and said he'd
kill us if we came any closer.  We didn't know what to do...we
were so worried about the three of you...so we came back here. 
We were just putting together a search party to go look for you
guys when you came out of the forest."

The last of her words were said to my back as she struggled to
catch up to me.  I had already turned towards the bluff and the
answers to at least some of my questions.

"Jamie, stay at the camp.  Keep everyone at the camp," I called
behind me, my voice stern.  I wanted to do this alone.  If there
was any danger, I would face it.

"How come I have to stay but Jan and Sarah get to go?" she
shouted, her voice angry.

I turned to find Jan and Sarah right on my heels.  I looked a
stern warning at them.

"No."  The word wasn't a question nor even a statement.  It was a
command.  "Stay here.  I'll tell you what I find out."

"Like hell," Sarah replied, her eyes blazing.

"Sarah...Jan...stop.  I don't want either of you to get hurt."  I
strained to push some reasonableness into my voice.

"Same here," Jan remarked.  "We don't want you to get hurt
either...so we're going."  She walked past me.

I looked a question into the heavens, wondering why God or the
universe or whatever had saddled me with such head strong women,
then turned my eyes earth-ward and confronted my sister.

"Jamie...please..." I started, my voice pleading.  I could
already see her green eyes growing as hard as stone.  "I don't
have time to explain, so please trust me.  This could be very
dangerous and I don't want to see you get hurt.  Please.  Please
go back to camp."

I could see that she didn't want to...but her protest died
without ever finding voice.  "Be careful, okay?" she whispered. 
I knew how much the acquiescence cost her.  "I don't think I
could stand to lose you again."

Before I could answer she turned and ran back to camp.

I finally caught up to Jan and Sarah just as we were reaching the
summit of the bluff.  No rocks had been heaved at us but whether
that was because Alex didn't hear us coming or just didn't care I
couldn't tell.  We found him sitting at the edge of the cliff
with the water crashing far below, sobs wracking his body, his
feet dangling dangerously over the edge.

I noticed immediately the blood.  His legs were caked with it and
even some of his torso was splattered with the congealed mass.  
But were they from his wounds or his brothers?  At this point, I
couldn't tell.

"Alex," I called, my voice out of breath.  The steep climb up the
bluff had winded me coming so soon after the run this afternoon.
"Are you...okay?  Come...come away...from there...and we...can
talk."

He turned to us slowly, his eyes red with his tears and an almost
inhuman grief covering his face.  A half-hidden hope that he had
not come across his twin's body died within my breast.  The face
before me said it all.  He knew.

"Go away, cavr�n," he muttered at me through his agony.

"Alex," I said, sitting on the trail's edge as it met the top of
the bluff.  I looked at Jan and Sarah and they sat beside me.  I
needed to be very careful; the teen sitting in front of us was
teetering on the brink of insanity and I knew that my words could
send him in either direction.  I needed to be calm.  I needed to
be convincing.  I needed to save this boy.  "What happened?  Tell
me what happened."

"What the fuck do you care, capit�n?" he shouted at me.  "What
does it matter anymore?  Mi hermano es muerte.  He's dead.  My
brother...my brother is dead.  I might as well be dead."

"No!" I pleaded with him.  I knew that there was no way I could
stop him from thinking about death - not after what he must have
seen.  I needed somehow to reassure him; to reaffirm his life.  I
needed to be understanding.  Supportive.  "I know how you feel. 
I lost my parents when I was young.  You're hurting inside, man.
You feel like the world is caving in.  It isn't.  You can get
through this.  Tony would want you to get through this."

At mention of his brother, his face contorted in rage but I could
see the pain and suffering behind that mask of anger.  For the
briefest of moments, his face went slack.  When he raised his
visage to me again it had become almost calm and his eyes
glittered like agates.  "Tell me something, Mikey," he hissed
over the sound of the water far below, his use of my nick-name a
sign of hostility rather than camaraderie. "Did you kill your
parents?"

I Alooked at him, stunned and confused.  Why would he ask that? 
What possible reason...  I felt a strange mixture of disbelief
and understanding cross my features.   With a horrible certainty,
I suddenly knew what had happened.

"No...No...I..." I stuttered.  I needed to buy myself time.  I
desperately needed to process what I had surmised.  My mind went
blank from the horror of what I now knew.

"Then you have no idea what the hell I'm feeling!" he howled at
me.  "I killed Tony...I killed my brother...I couldn't stop
it...."

"Couldn't stop what, Alex?" I questioned, still trying to buy
some time while wrapping my head around the enormity of it all. 
Even to my ears, however, my voice betrayed me and echoed the
horror I was suddenly feeling.  I tried with all my soul to
convince myself that I was wrong.  I tried desperately to
convince myself that Alex could not have killed his twin.  Maybe
a bear had attacked and he couldn't keep the bear away, I
theorized.  Maybe that's why he feels responsible. I clung to
that hope, clung to that image as I faced the grieving young man.

"Yea...yea, you would want to know, wouldn't you?" he hissed at
me.  "Gotta know everything, don't you el capit�n?  Fine...you
want to know?  You fucking want to know, you son of a whore?? 
I'll tell you....I'll fucking tell you...

"Myself.  I couldn't stop myself.  After Tony and I left you,
after that punta beat us with that fucking rama, we ran down to
the lake. We were hurting - she hit Tony between the legs so hard
he could barely walk and she hit me in the neck and head - so we
stayed at the lake to bandage ourselves.

"At first, we were gonna go back and teach you three a
lesson...but then I had the plan.  Why settle for the two old
bitches when we could have 10 or 15 tight young pussies?  They
were just waiting for us to pluck them, just waiting for us back
at the camp.

"Tony was scared though...because she," he thrust his chin toward
Jan.  "Was able to ward us off...she didn't spread like she was
supposed to.  'What if it doesn't affect everyone?' Tony said.
'What if it's getting weaker?'

"That's when I had the idea.  I figured the water was diluting
it...if the juice mixed with the water wasn't strong enough we'd
just have to get them to eat the berries.  Tony, though...he was
still worried.  'What if the berries don't work?'  So we decided
to test them.  We'd have one berry each and if they didn't work
we'd come up with some other plan or maybe just teach you a
lesson after all."

By now, I could almost feel the story moving towards its
inexorable conclusion and I knew how it was going to end. 
Irrationally, I wanted to stop him from speaking.  Some part of
me believed that if he didn't say the words then they would never
have actually happened. We'd wake up and find this was all just a
terrible nightmare.  With a morbid fascination, though, I
couldn't stop him...in a strange way, I needed to hear the rest.

"So we ate one...and nothing happened.  The berries, though. 
They tasted muy bueno...delicious.  I ate more...I couldn't stop
myself. Neither could Tony.  We started picking them and eating
them; half of the ones we picked we started putting into two of
the empty water gourds.  After a few minutes, though, we started
feeling funny. Strange.  I started sweating and I got so
hot...like I was on fire.  I didn't understand; I started taking
my clothes off.  My heart was beating harder and faster, too.  I
felt like I was dying.  My heart was pounding so hard, I thought
it was going to pop out of my chest.  I looked over to Tony and
he was jerking...he was having some kind of seizure...and I
thought I was going to too.  I needed to get up, to run, to
escape.

"My dick, though...as I struggled to get up I noticed that it got
harder than it ever had before and I needed...I needed.  I had to
use it.  My balls felt so full that they hurt.  I could barely
stand they hurt so bad, but I started to walk towards
camp...feeling the pain every step...knowing that I was about to
die...all I could think about, though, was fucking.  I no longer
cared about dying as long as I died fucking.  Fucking until I
came...my dick was almost painful.

"I didn't take but a few steps, though...when I saw Tony.  He was
still shaking and sweat was pouring out of him.  It looked like
he had just gotten out of the shower, he was sweating so bad.  He
turned to me and said that he was dying...and I saw tears of
blood coming from his eyes and nose...and mouth.  He was still
taking off his clothes trying to get cool.  He was...he was...on
his knees...his hands tugging at his pants," Alex broke off into
sobs, guilt briefly giving pause to his tale.  "When his butt
came into view...I couldn't...I didn't...it was all I could
see...I saw that...that...hole...and I needed it.  I grabbed his
hips and shoved myself home."

As Alex broke into another round of sobs, I didn't know what to
say. I could only look around me in horror...but both Jan and
Sarah were as horror-stricken as I.  None of us knew what to say
or what to do.

"I grabbed his hips," Alex continued from the edge of the bluff.
His voice was worn and guilt-ridden...and we all now knew why. 
We could hide behind our made up stories and inferred truths no
longer. "I plunged all the way in on the first stroke...but the
sick thing is...I knew what I was doing.  I knew who I was doing
it to...and I wanted to do it.  I wanted to share my love with my
brother...and I couldn't stop myself.

"He started saying things to me...things like...like...that he
felt better.  He stopped shaking, too.  He said he was enjoying
it that maybe he wouldn't die after all.  He kept telling me to
go deeper, to thrust harder.  He kept telling me that I was
helping him, helping the pain to go away.  He kept saying he
loved me and that this was how we were supposed to show it.  And
every word...every phrase...it seemed so right.  It seemed like
he was echoing what I was thinking.  And each sound drove me on
and I kept thrusting harder and harder...and faster and
faster...I came once...but I didn't even slow down.  I could not
slow down...I could not stop."

He was sobbing hard now, guilt-ridden sobs wracking his body in
pain-filled spasms.  "I don't know how long it was...I had come
nine or ten times I think and each was more glorious than the
last. That was when I looked down where my dick was joined to mi
hermano...and I saw all the blood.  It was...it was...everywhere.
 All over my legs.  All over my dick...I saw it coated with blood
and I wanted to cut it off...to get rid of it...but the
blood...it was everywhere."

The story broke off as he succumbed to his grief.  Sitting there,
watching his shoulders shake as sobs tore through him...I could
no longer find the strength to hate him.  I could only feel pity
for this poor teen.

"It wasn't your fault, Alex," I started but he cut me off
immediately.

"Fuck you!" he screamed.  "It was my fault.  All of it.  I found
that damned jugo de fruta and figured out what it was.  Tony and
I...we made love to each other on that juice.  We had thought
many times of giving each other pleasure...but we're Catholics
and it isn't allowed.  On that jugo though...we couldn't say no
to each other.  I came up with the idea to use it on Sarah and
then on Samantha; Tony tried to talk me out of it.  He tried to
tell me it was wrong.  He tried to tell me that Dios would punish
us...but I made him go through with it anyway.  I came up with
the plans...Tony just followed along. And Dios, He punished us. 
Tony always followed me, even to the wrath of God.  Well this
time, it is I who must follow."

No more tears came from his eyes as he turned to me.  A calmness
shown through his grief as he looked at me.  I started to rise,
knowing that the moment had come and knowing I had to do
something...anything...to stop him.  "Don't eat the berries," he
said to me.  Then he slid from view.

I was not fast enough to catch him.


None of our eyes were dry as we climbed down from the bluff.

I felt guilty; I felt I had somehow failed both Alex and Tony. 
Maybe if I had just watched them or maybe if I had talked to
them...something...anything...maybe I could have avoided this.  I
just wanted to sit down and crawl into a hole and never come out.

I knew I couldn't, though.  The girls needed me.  They were
counting on me to keep them together until we could be rescued. 
The weight of their need outweigh the measure of my guilt.  The
weight of their expectations felt almost tangible as we walked
back to the camp.  For me, though, rescue no longer held the
allure it once did.  No matter how long I lived, I knew that I
would see Alex and Tony's faces staring up from the dark pit of
my soul.

We barely said anything to one another on the way back.  What
could we say?  Jan, Sarah, and I were each in our own worlds
trying to deal with our grief - and, at least in my case, the
guilt - in our own ways. Walking slowly, trying desperately to
either absorb or forget everything that had happened to us in the
past few days, we had made it about half way to our beach camp
when Jamie came running up to us, screaming.  "Mikey!  Come
quick!  There's something wrong with Beth!"

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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