<span style="font-size: 15px">'Well,' thought Marcus, 'what fucked an elephant to make that creature?'  From a standpoint of 'survival of the fittest', he understood why the pterosaurs wouldn't want anything to do with it.  What else could he observe?  It was a mammal.  Humans were mammals.  It ate the fruit, so they could probably eat the fruit, too.<br/>
<br/>
To Marcus, Jenny's understanding of what reality was seemed off.  She was clearly in denial, even with the evidence of her own eyes.  He answered her with, <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(84, 172, 210)">"Whether the thing is real or not doesn't depend on what world we're on.  I think a better form of denial would be that you were slipped some L.S.D. at your photo shoot and this is all a dream.  But I don't think so." </span> <br/>
<br/>
Marcus arose from his hiding position, steering clear of the creature's spoor, to inspect the fallen strange fruits.  The ones that had burst on impact with the ground were likely overripe, but there were some interesting scents mingling in the air.  <br/>
<br/>
He walked over to where one of the purple fruit lay on the ground.  This particular one had not burst on impact with the ground, but Marcus noticed that it had flattened a bit when compared to the still hanging fruit and also detected a small crack in the rind.  He picked it up and managed to pry it open further at the crack.  The inner scent of the fruit was faint to him and he could think of nothing else that he could compare it with.<br/>
<br/>
Marcus stuck a finger into the pulp and moistened it with the fruit's juice.  "Here goes nothing," he said to Jenny and Cassandra as he stuck his finger into his mouth....  His mouth immediatly convulsed into a pucker as he tried spit out the fruit's flavor. <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(84, 172, 210)"> "Oh!"</span> he said, trying to produce enough spit to cleanse his palette, <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(84, 172, 210)">"Freakin' unbelieveably sour!"</span>  Ptui!  Ptui!<br/>
<br/>
Marcus waited a minute or so, hoping for the sour taste to fade away in his mouth, while pondering which other of the fruits to to taste when a wave of sleepiness threatened to cause him to black out.  Marcus tried to fight it, but he needed to sit down.  It was only a little 'juice-lick'....<br/>
<br/>
( O.O.C., <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(255, 255, 255)">A</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(230, 230, 230)">B</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(204, 204, 204)">C</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(179, 179, 179)">D</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(128, 128, 128)">E</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(102, 102, 102)">F</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0)">G</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(97, 189, 109)">H</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(32, 178, 170)">I</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(84, 172, 210)"><b>J </b></span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(44, 130, 201)">K</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(204, 102, 255)"> L</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(160, 115, 221)">M</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(71, 85, 119)"> N</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(46, 139, 87)">O</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(22, 125, 119)">P</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(61, 142, 185)">Q</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(41, 105, 176)">R</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(153, 0, 204)">S </span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(136, 80, 213)">T</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(40, 50, 78)">U</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(247, 218, 100)">V</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(251, 160, 38)">W</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(235, 107, 86)">X</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(255, 102, 255)">Y</span> <span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(163, 143, 132)">Z  </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(124, 112, 107)">1</span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(163, 143, 132)"> </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(250, 197, 28)">2</span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(163, 143, 132)"> </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(243, 121, 52)">3</span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(163, 143, 132)"> </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(209, 72, 65)">4</span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(163, 143, 132)"> </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(184, 49, 47)">5</span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(163, 143, 132)"> </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(204, 0, 204)">6</span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(163, 143, 132)"> </span><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(99, 90, 86)"> 7</span> )</span>